Wicked Game by Matt Johnson

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You can buy Wicked Game.....Here

You can follow Matt's blog....Here

The Blurb...

2001. Age is catching up with Robert Finlay, a police officer on the Royalty Protection team based in London. He's looking forward to returning to uniform policing and a less stressful life with his new family. But fate has other plans. Finlay's deeply traumatic, carefully concealed past is about to return to haunt him.

A policeman is killed by a bomb blast, and a second is gunned down in his own driveway. Both of the murdered men were former Army colleagues from Finlay's own SAS regiment, and in a series of explosive events, it becomes clear that he is not the ordinary man that his colleagues, friends and new family think he is.

And so begins a game of cat and mouse a wicked game, in which Finlay is the target, forced to test his long-buried skills in a fight against a determined and unidentified enemy.

Wicked Game is a taut, action-packed, emotive thriller about a man who might be your neighbour, a man who is forced to confront his past in order to face a threat that may wipe out his future, a man who is willing to do anything to protect the people he loves.

But is it too late?

My Review..

This week in work I would be driving a giant forklift in an enclosed, air conditioned cab. I would not be able to read but could listen an audio book. I had resolved read more Crime Cymru authors so I went for one of the big dogs and downloaded Wicked Game by Matt Johnson. Wicked Game was released in 2016 so I am not exactly up to date but boy what an intense, stress inducing white knuckle ride.

Robert Finley ex SAS ex Royal Protection Squad is winding down as an ordinary copper in a suburban police station. That is until Met colleagues who have also been in the SAS are being targeted. One is bombed, one is gunned down. Finley finds out from his old CO that there is an assassination squad at work and that he is on the hit list. His old CO wants to drag him back into a Black Op. Soon Finley is trapped between his wife (who knows nothing about his SAS past,)  the Terrorists, his old CO and the anti terrorist squad. There is only a small, grey space between them all, and it is shrinking all the time. Finley must defend himself and his family while at the same time trying to find out who the terrorists are and where the leak about his new life after the SAS came from. His only ally is his old mate from the SAS who is also on the kill list. Who can he trust? That list is short. Who wants him dead? That list is long.

As I said earlier, I listened to the audiobook (which was very good.)

The only quibble I had, being a Welshman from the valleys, was with the accent of the character of Kevin Jones. Kevin Jones was supposed to be from the valleys but sounded to me more "Gog" than valleys. I imagine voice over artists must dread doing accents that are not their own. For example to those outside Wales I would imagine there is only one Welsh accent but to those of us that live here, there are many. As I say it is only a minor quibble and did not detract from my enjoyment of this terrific book.

Just when you think Finley's cracked it another curveball comes his way again and again. The author does a stirling job of keeping the tension on. No plot point or action is left unexamined. Every scene is minutely observed. There is no respite for Finley or us. Nerves are shredded, and there is mental tactical chess to go alongside the life or death violence. In reality I have no idea if a plot like this could be real but when you read the author's background, you gain a whole new respect for the narrative.

Think "Line of Duty" but with Special Branch, terrorists and the murky world of MI5. It's LeCarre if LeCarre was in the gutter and gritty. 

Wicked Game is the first in a three book series. It is followed by Deadly Game and End Game.  

Selected Quotes...

"I sensed a degree of discomfort in the room when my real name wasn’t provided. Not everyone agreed with soldiers being allowed such a concession."

"he mentioned there had been a lot of reports in the press about contacts between the security forces and the terrorist factions that were resulting in fatalities. Journalists were starting to claim that both the police and the army were operating a shoot-to-kill policy."

"I could trust him with my life. If he’d had something against me, I’d know about it. He wouldn’t do anything so elaborate as set me up to be arrested. That wasn’t his style. But then …"

"Was that just an awful coincidence? Einstein believed that coincidence was God’s way of remaining anonymous."

About the author...

Matt Johnson served as a soldier and Metropolitan Police officer for 25 years. Blown off his feet at the London Baltic Exchange bombing in 1993, and one of the first police officers on the scene of the 1982 Regent’s Park bombing, Matt was also at the Libyan People’s Bureau shooting in 1984 where he escorted his mortally wounded friend and colleague, Yvonne Fletcher, to hospital. Hidden wounds took their toll. In 1999, Matt was discharged from the police with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. While undergoing treatment, he was encouraged by his counsellor to write about his career and his experience of murders, shootings and terrorism. One evening, Matt sat at his computer and started to weave these notes into a work of fiction that he described as having a tremendously cathartic effect on his own condition.  His bestselling thriller, Wicked Game, which was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Dagger, was the result. 

Kerwall Town by S Reed

 

You can buy Kerwall Town.......Here

You can follow S.Reed's blog ..........Here

You can follow S.Reed on Twitter........Here

The Blurb...

After two strangers appear in the dilapidated 70s' town of Kerwall, the lives of every resident change. Members of the community are forced together as the number of bodies and secrets increase with every passing moment. As tensions rise and the inhabitants reach breaking point the question is raised: is it Kerwall’s newcomers draining its inhabitants or are they simply slipping through the cracks which have existed all along. With knowledge as their only tool against the world’s deadliest predator, the hunt for power commences. Kerwall’s hope rests on the shoulders of its youngest residents, forcing them into the depths of the earth, questioning everything they’ve ever known.
Will Kerwall ever be safe, or is the whole town trapped in the grasp of these outsiders?

My Review...

Always willing to broaden my horizons, Kerwall Town is the first horror book that I have read since I was a youngster in the 80s, voraciously reading Stephen King novels. Two dark clad strangers, one male and one female, come to the post industrial Kerwall and rapidly become Mayor and Mayoress and basically owners of the town.

 Yet nothing is as it seems, either with the mysterious strangers or indeed the town itself. The visitors have a strange persuasive, hypnotic power on most, but not all of the inhabitants. A couple of old wrinklies, the librarian, the town drunk and the mikshake shop owner don't fall under the spell. Also the young guns return to the town from Uni and they too are unaffected. Together they, with a few others band together to form a resistance. But other dark, more human, forces also abound in the town.

 

The town too is distinctly off kilter. It is a strangely semi isolated, semi mythological, new town. It is, at the same time,  part of the UK but also apart  from it. I don't know what the horror equivalent of "cosy crime" is maybe "happy horror" but this is it. I would describe it as "Shaun of the dead" but with vampires instead of zombies set in "Royston Vasey" from the "League of Gentlemen" ( "This is a local place for local people!") but set in the 70s. 

It also has a nod to "Scooby Doo" a wink to "The Adams Family" and a great big salute to "Salem's Lot." That is not too say that it isn't very dark and gruesome in places. There are a couple of murders that are particularly ych i fi.

There were some really good characters. I thought both vicars were especially interesting and memorable.

All in all a scary bonkers, creepy adventure.

Selected Quotes...

"The face staring back at her was impossibly beautiful, with flawless pale white skin and a dark green highlight in her infinitely black hair."

“I do hope we’ll see you in our church one day, and extinguish the demons of the past for you.” Victoria laughed. “I like my demons. They keep me company.”

"Kerwall residents go as far as to say that they often feel watched… not by other people, but by the town itself."

"the country had forgotten Kerwall, and that both parties wanted it that way."

“Don’t shit on my ice cream and call it sprinkles.”

About the Author...

My name is S. Reed, and I like to tell you stories from varying genres. Think of it as having different flavors of ice-cream. One day, you might read about some of my friends in a Young Adult or Contemporary genre and other days you may stroll down a dark and foreboding forest. If that happens, you’ll know that you have stumbled into one of my Horror/Thriller sections. They’re all perfectly safe though, promise, I’ll hold your hand every step of the way, guiding you to a safe and satisfying ending. However, I can’t look after you when the book closes and the lights go out…

I have over 25 years in the mental health and schooling sectors, which is why a lot of my books have a common theme at their core. My characters are real world centric too, so unless it absolutely calls for it, you won’t be reading them saying ‘fancy’ words. Most of them are working-class, and proud of it. They’re quite partial to a few profanities every now and then as a result.

I’ve dabbled in the film and theatre industry too, which is another section I like to include in my novels.

I do hope that you’ll enjoy your time in my company. I’ll show you some of my most trusted friends, and some of my most despised enemies.
Hold on tight, it’s going to a fun ride.
Are you ready?..

Fish Town by John Gerard Fagan

 

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You can buy Fishtown.....Here

The blurb...

"For years my life had been a string of temporary work in factories and call centres or unemployed. Approaching 30 and disillusioned with life in Glasgow, I sold everything I had and left for a new life in a remote fishing village in Japan. I knew nothing of the language or the strange new land that I would call home for the next seven years. Fish Town is an eye-opening true story that paints the reality of living in Japan as an outsider."

My Review...

I was discussing epistemology stories with an author the other day and this is a great example. Essentially a short autobiographical novella, based on  a diary format but without dates. The entries were written on a phone. I don't know whether this is a planned literary sleight of hand or just happened that way, either way it works with this content. This leads to very minimalist, writing style that packs a punch in a straightforward manner. Unlike a lot of autobiographical books there is no embellishment or purple prose.

 The narrative is stripped back to its soul, which reflects the author's experience of being a stranger, in a strange land. Not a word is wasted but you really feel the emotion behind the limited narrative.

Feeling a little lost in his native Scotland, the author sells up and decides to "go on an adventure!". He ends up as a TEFL teacher in a decaying fish-town in Japan However, unlike The Hobbit, there was no magical, thrilling escapade. The author endured, and I think endured is the correct word loneliness, isolation, mental ill health and an increasing drinking issue in a country that looks down on foreigners. You are in his shoes and it is a fascinating insight into an culture most of  us will never see. A culture that holds "respect" and "honour" in high regard but can be extremely cruel. 

Heart-breaking at times, sometimes funny, often surreal but never self pitying, you find yourself rooting for him and hoping that every turn of the page will see him turn the corner and find a place where he is happy. If you have a friend or relative who is considering moving lock, stock and barrel to a foreign culture with a foreign language, do them a huge favour and buy them this book. It is an eye opener.

 I'm not going to tell whether our hero finds a place/person where his soul is happy and content. You'll have to read it for yourself and it is very, quick, easy read well worth it, whether or not you are thinking of travelling to the land of the rising sun.

Selected quotes..

"foreign wounds don’t heal in a place like Japan they only get worse, fester, and bleed out."

"Earthquake drill....they all practised at the school with yellow helmets and hiding under the desk no helmet for the foreigner though again I was to sit in the locked staffroom"

"we went to a spa town in the mountains outside Tokyo so they could experience a traditional Japanese hotel the food was served in the room by an old woman who stared to make sure you ate it whole fish on sticks raw fish Japanese eggs octopus balls my mum tried but couldn’t eat anything but the rice and vegetables they had a hard time sleeping on the tatami floor but got a good idea of the life out there opened both their eyes to a new world to what was far beyond the outskirts of Glasgow."

About the Author...

John Gerard Fagan is a writer from Scotland who has returned home after living in Japan for the last seven years. He has interests in Japanese literature and Noir. He is a university lecturer. He is also a musicain and and artist. He painted the cover of fish town. Find his blog Here

The Man In The Seventh Row by Brian Pendreigh

 

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You can buy "The Man in the Seventh Row"...here

Overview...

 Roy Batty grew up in Edinburgh, the son of a butcher. Roy became a film fanatic and saw many classic films of the 60s and 70s. Still a film buff as an adult, when he goes to the cinema he repeatedly finds himself watching himself playing the familiar characters on the big screen from his seat in the Seventh Row. His soul is slowly dissolving into the ethereal melting pot of cinema. Why? we flashback over Roy's life to see what led him here. Is it real? or is it a mental breakdown, or a dream? Roy meets a kindred spirit, a fellow film fan. Can she save Roy from being swallowed up? In addition to the main story, there are 3 additional short stories that are connected, albeit tenuously and tangentially, to the main story.

My Review..

This is a strange book in many ways. Often when doing a review I know exactly how many stars to give. In this I was torn between 3 and 5. Which is odd in itself, why the gap? why not 3 or 4 or 4 and 5? and it took me a while to work out why. 

It does not follow any set formula for a type of book. Large parts of the narrative are given to describing Roy's favourite movies. Most people spend their lives in reality with the occasional trip to distraction in the cinema. Roy seems to live his life in cinema with the occasional trip to distraction in reality I found that the plot  wasn't really important. The plot seems hazy and blurred. In most books the narrative is a device to move the plot along, yet in this book it feels, to me, as if the plot is an excuse to talk about the narrative. Which if you are as skilled as the author is (both in writing and his chosen subject) is no bad thing.This view may be down to me and my often idiosyncratic tendencies  and obviously others may will have a different take but personally I am not a huge fan of magical realism. I often prefer things to be like me, big and simple.

On the other hand the nuts and bolts of the writing are bang on for me. When I review a book, I underline interesting or unusual phrases possibly to use as a quote. My pen was working overtime in this book. In particular I found one large paragraph (too big to quote) about the hopes and dreams of the people who drift to LA in an attempt to find stardom quite moving.

The early part of the story reads like an autobiography. This was my favourite part of the book. Roy recounted his childhood including trips to the Cinema in Edinburgh and while on holiday in North Berwick. It was here sat in silence with his dad, enjoying a shared experience, that they bonded.  This and the films resonated with me. Substitute the Gwent Valleys and Porthcawl and he could have been describing me. 

We Welsh are known for introspection and melancholia and it struck me that the author writes like a Welshman. He writes "hiraeth" exceptionally well. Hiraeth does not really translate in English. In English it means home sickness but it is so much more. It is home sickness on steroids. It is a deep longing and pull in your soul to a place, time and people that may no longer be there, if they existed at all. It is the irresistible  pull back to the land of your fathers. Reading this part of the novel was like sticking a thumb in a week old bruise. The pain felt so sweet. 

This is not a book that you gallop through towards the crashing end. Luckily enough I am of an age and enough of a film fan to have seen all the movies Roy talks about, which I would imagine is a great help in reading this book. Barry Norman or Mark Kermode would love it. This book is like a conversation with an old friend in front of an open fire with a glass of whiskey talking about old films. It is a book that you wallow in and let the hiraeth seep in through your pores.

The 3 short stories at the end of the book are interesting but add little to the main narrative. Though the second story "hommage" does have a very clever spin.

So 3 or 5 stars. What the hell. I cant decide. We'll split the difference. It's a 4

Selected Quotes

"Cinema is a place where illusion and make believe are real."

"His father was never really the sort of man who would have ever been so presumptuous as take a starring part. He only really had a supporting role in life."

"He thought he had seen him up there on the screen, but it was difficult to be sure because his eyes had filled with tears. They ran down his face and he wiped them away. In the cinema, in the confessional darkness, no one can see you cry."

"but he had seen enough films from Oliver Twist to Lady and the Tramp to know that just because someone is dirty it did not necessarily mean they were dirt."

About the author...

Brian Pendreigh is an award-winning writer and journalist, whose regular outlets have included The Guardian (1999-2007), The Times and The Scotsman. He has written several film books and most recently was editor of The Times on Cinema (2018). He was twice Britain’s Film Journalist of the Year and his work has been picked by the Scottish Examination Board for English interpretation questions. He is a keen long-distance runner and pub quizzer (with wins on Mastermind, Eggheads, 15 to 1 and Only Connect). He lives in Portobello, Edinburgh. His lounge overlooks the Pentland Hills and his bedroom looks out to the sea and romance.

The Gathering of the Seven Stars by Andrew James Graham

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You can buy "The gathering of the seven stars"......Here

The blurb...

 A multi million pound Football betting scam appears to be a front for something much more sinister when a brutally tortured body is discovered. Twelve years earlier Europe's Chinese Communities reported a large increase in crime and disorder and now it's happening all over again. DS Oscar Smiles, returning from compassionate leave, must deal with the ghosts from his past and put aside his personal worries as a notorious underworld figure battles with a Triad gang to control the dragon Gate area of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

My Review..

Somethings rotten in Newcastle. A body is found having suffered numerous cuts. He is soon linked to Newcastle Football Club and illegal Chinese gambling. Enter the unlikely duo of DS Oscar Smiles, clean freak with OCD. His parents have recently passed away and he is a little lost. A sensitive, touchy feely type, but with a very logical mind and his boss. DI McGovern, his boss, is slovenly, fat, slightly racist and misogynist Glaswegian, divorced 1970s throwback. In no time they are on the trail but the bodies begin to rack up as they bump up against each other in pursuit of the killer. 

There are several suspects including a local Chinese man done good and bully boy loan shark intent on moving up in the underworld.

This is a cracking provincial city, police procedural. The author clearly loves his city including the more dodgy parts. The book is definitely  a work of fiction because at one point it says that Newcastle went top of the league! ha ha lol.

The characters and tone are spot on for me. Tough, slightly seedy backdrops. (A particular favourite scene was the kaleidoscope of chaos at a Social Security Office.) The author is a Housing Officer and one can only speculate as to some of the scenes over the years that he has snuck into this book. The mixture of realism, dark humour and  caricature are an intoxicating mixture.

The book gathers pace as the bodies rack up, new characters are introduced and back stories are filled in. 

I can envisage McGovern and Smiles developing into a long running series. Cant wait for book 2!

Selected quotes...

"There's a lot going on. McGovern chimed in, in his usual thoughtless manner, Yes son, far too many turds for one toilet."

"There was such a thing as having to much to say. Which could be translated as boring the fucking pants off someone. Sometimes he needn't wonder how Oscar was still single."

"His few strands of grey combed over his skull in memory of his hair."

"He is the best XangQi player this side of the Great Wall and I mean the Chinese one not Hadrian's one down the road"

About the author....

Andrew James Graham was born and brought up in the town of Wallsend, North Tyneside.
The Gathering of the Seven Stars is his debut crime thriller.
The working class son of a former shipyard worker he has used his many years experience working as a Housing support officer in some of the most socially and economically deprived areas of Tyneside for inspiration in his writing.He is unfortunately a supporter of Newcastle United Football Club.

Backstories by Simon van der Velde

 

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30% of all profits from the sale of Backstories is shared between Stop Hate UK, The North East Autism Society and Friends of the Earth.

To buy Backstories please click the link....Backstories by Simon Van der Velde

Outline...

Dreamers, singers, heroes and killers, they can dazzle with their beauty, their talent or their unmitigated evil, yet inside themselves they are as frail and desperate as the rest of us. But can you see them? Can you unravel the truth?

These are people you know, but not as you know them.

Peel back the mask and see

My Review...

14 short stories of heroes or villains at a crucial time in their lives but with a difference, you do not know the identity of the protagonists and it's down to you to recognise them.

Engaging and intriguing this book is off the beaten track and offers something a little extra to the norm.

It is like a mash up of "through the keyhole" "Quantum Leap" and "Guess Who" board game. Not a whodunnit but more of a who is it?

I can see this type of short story being a very useful tool in the teaching of English or History. You really feel as if you "walk a mile in their shoes" Of course the only downside would be if the reader is not familiar with the person at the heart of the story.

I enjoyed some of the tales more than others. I found I was especially drawn to the killers! Also some of the stories are in the first person and some are in the third person. I found the first person tales to be more immersive. For me the more macabre seemed to be more memorable ones.

14 stories is a lot and personally I think I would have preferred 5 or 6 stories but with more deeper, darker slightly longer narratives. All in the first person. However I'm sure others would disagree.

That not withstanding I found this book to very interesting and engaging. Well researched and cleverly done. Well worth reading and challenging yourself to guess who?

Selected quotes...

"Okay they're not beautiful, they're pretty ugly really, and totally past it, but they've got something real between them. Maybe, I wonder, is that what love is?"

"The officer's hand closes across her mouth reducing her screams to muffled cries that only bring the girls running faster. They burst into the atrium flushed from their morning ride, sweat damp on their faces"

"She can't help it, even though she knows it makes people crazy, makes them leave her, like her father left, like her mother left,"

About the author..

Simon Van der Velde has worked variously as a barman, laborer, teacher, caterer and lawyer, as well as traveling throughout Europe and South America collecting characters for his award-winning stories. Since completing a creative writing M.A. (with distinction) in 2010, Simon’s work has won and been shortlisted for numerous awards including; The Yeovil Literary Prize, (twice), The Wasafiri New Writing Prize, The Luke Bitmead Bursary, The Frome Prize, and The Harry Bowling Prize – establishing him as one of the UK’s foremost short-story writers.

Simon now lives in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, with his wife, labradoodle and two tyrannical children.

Red Zone by Luke Murphy

Outline...

A cheerleader is found murdered at Los Angeles USC football stadium. Calvin Watters ex USC star player, ex mob enforcer and current Private Investigator is hired to find the culprit and not embarrass the USC. He combines family and work by taking his girlfriend to meet his LA cop brother and family.

During the investigation he locks horns with LAPD investigating officer Charlene Taylor. Charlene is driven and trying to live up to the legacy of her murdered cop dad, even inheriting his old partner.

Eventually they work together, Taylor using Watters inside knowledge to progress the investigation. However Watters is not universally welcomed at his old stomping ground. 

My review...

 The investigation takes place in the totally alien (to me) worlds of US college life with fraternities, sororities, cheerleading scholarships and college football. Where crowds of 70k+ often watch inter university US football games. Yes the USA does seem a bit bonkers but college football is big business and the stakes are high. 

The two main protagonists have well filled in back stories with lots of mileage already on their clocks. They both have an aggressive attitude to investigating and interviewing suspects. My unconscious brain, as it does sometimes, cast one of the characters. In this case Calvin Watters was the Rock!

There are numerous minor characters that help to flesh out the story and a few red herrings for us to chase.

Was it a sorority initiation gone wrong, obsessed stalker, love triangle, jealous teammate cheerleader. All possibilities are investigated.

The author has brought his two main characters together from his two previous series so it is a a cross over book. I tried to think of a similar situation (dogged female police investigative officer and handsome private investigator) from a UK perspective and the best I could come up with was Vera and Eddie Shoestring 😳 which quite frankly would be hilarious! And nowhere near as glam and sexy as LA.

I found this to be an enjoyable, and solid police procedural. In an unusual setting.

Selected quotes...

"They called her “Double D” around the LAPD, and it wasn’t just because of her initials. Dana had told Charlene that they had been high school graduation gifts from her parents."

"Watters had a strong relationship to USC, and any college alumni felt a strong bond to their school, and anyone who attended, especially the football family. The bond was tightly wound, unbreakable, and Charlene wondered how the former running back would handle investigating one of his ‘brothers’."

“This is 2020. Social media is everything for a lot of people, especially college students. They live and breathe through how many friends and followers they can attract. That’s why people count the ‘likes’ on their posts,and go back ten times to check it. They wonder if they did something wrong if their count isn’t high, and they’re traumatized if they’re ‘unfriended’ or ‘unfollowed’.”

"There was never an ‘off’ moment for a detective— no punch- out clock, or time to sit back and enjoy the ride. It was constant, case after case, always on call and on the go. Charlene had cop blood running through her."

About the author...

Luke Murphy is the International bestselling author of two series. The Calvin Watters Mysteries: Dead Man’s Hand (2012) and Wild Card (2017). The Charlene Taylor Mysteries: Kiss & Tell (2015) and Rock-A-Bye Baby (2019).

Murphy played six years of professional hockey before retiring in 2006.

His sports column, “Overtime” (Pontiac Equity), was nominated for the 2007 Best Sports Page in Quebec and won the award in 2009. He has also worked as a radio journalist (CHIPFM 101.7).

Murphy lives in Shawville, QC with his wife and three daughters. He is a teacher who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing, and a Bachelor of Education (Magna Cum Laude).

50-50 by Steve Cavanagh

 

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Outline...

Two sisters on trial for murder. Both accuse each other.
Who do you believe?

Alexandra Avellino has just found her father’s mutilated body, and needs the police right away. She believes her sister killed him, and that she is still in the house with a knife.

Sofia Avellino has just found her father’s mutilated body and needs the police right away. She believes her sister, Alexandra did it, and that she is still in the house, locked in the bathroom.

Both women are to go on trial at the same time. A joint trial in front of one jury.

But one of these women is lying. One of them is a murderer. Sitting in a jail cell, about to go on trial with her sister for murder, you might think that this is the last place she expected to be.....
You'd be wrong. 

My Review....
I had seen Steve Cavanagh on a few youtube things with other crime writers like Mark Billingham, Luca Veste and Val McDirmed. He seemed a very entertaining and clever guy so I thought I would read one of his books and it did not dissapoint.

Cavanagh is an ex lawyer so knows his stuff. The setting is the law courts of New York and you would think that the author is a native of New York but surprisingly he is a Northern Irishman with a thick accent to boot.

I think this is the 5th or 6th in the series but I had not read any of the previous Eddie Flyn novels. A situation I hope to rectify throught out the course of the year.

This is a book of multiples. We have two potential killers and two protagonists. Eddie Flynn and Kate Brooks.

Our hero Eddie is an experienced street fighter of a lawyer who was once a conman, so has plenty of transferable skills as well as friends in low places. As a lawyer he will not fight for an innocent verdict of someone he believes to be guilty.

Kate is a junior lawyer representing one of the sisters. She eventually ends up blossoming as a lawyer and unfurling her wings. She too believes her client innocent.

The book is a plotters dream with more suspense than Hitchcock's braces. The chapters are seen through several characters point of view but only two are in the first person. One is Eddie the other is "She" the killer sister, whose identity is not revealed. With all these well written viewpoints we get a slick, fast paced tale.

Eventually the good hearted lawyers (I know eh!) begin to suspect malice aforethought by at least one if not both of the sisters. 

The only negative for me is the fact that I'll never listen to "She" by Elvis Costello again 😳🗡❤

As the investigation continues loose ends must be tidied up and the body count begins to rise.
Well plotted, great characters. Cavanagh writes like a young Grisham. 

Selected Quotes
"A murder trial with an innocent client is like saving someone who’s fallen over a cliff edge. You’ve got their hand. You’ve got to hang on. You’ve got to haul them to safety. Their life is in your grasp. Your strength is all that separates them from a chasm."

"Moonlight seemed beautiful to her. It was the devil’s neon."

"Whoever tells the best story wins."

"Verdicts are often flawed because people are flawed."

"The Magnum held five rounds in its cylinder. Each round looked the same size as a cigarette lighter and cost two and a half bucks. No matter what kind of problem you had, as long as you were carrying that gun, two dollars fifty was probably all you needed to spend in order to solve it."

About the author...

Steve Cavanagh is an Irish author from Belfast and at the age eighteen he studied law by mistake. He is now the international award-winning author of the Eddie Flynn novels. His debut novel, The Defense, was nominated for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for Thriller of the Year, and The Plea won the Prix Polar Award for Best International Novel. Steve is still a practicing lawyer (someday he’ll get the hang of it) and co-host ofthe chart-topping podcast Two Crime Writers And A Microphone. He has been involved in several high-profile civil rights cases, his Eddie Flynn novels have been published in over twenty countries, he’s married with two young children, and in his spare time he is mostly asleep.

Feral Snow by Mark Lowes

 

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You can buy Feral Snow...Here

You can follow Mark Lowes...Here

Description...

Alone and stranded in the Arctic wasteland, would you risk your life to save a stranger or try to get home?

Paul is a father-to-be; traumatised by his past, he's terrified of becoming a father after his own beat him until he was unilaterally deaf. While working as a freelance cameraman in the Arctic, he's caught in a blizzard, separated from his crew, and falls into a chasm. Alone, and waiting for death to come, personal demons plague his mind.

When a young native girl falls into the chasm with him, Paul must learn how to accept responsibility and what it takes to give your life for a child.

My Review...

Good authors know what interests readers, even when the reader themselves dont know. When asked what they like to read, readers will often reply  crime fiction, horror, SF or some other genres. They mistake the frame for the picture. What enchants us is not really the type of story, rather  it is the human condition that enthralls us when we read, love, hope, honour, despair, fear. So for example the Shawsank Redemption is a tale of the endurance and beauty of the human spirit even in the most difficult conditions entwined within a prison break story. A good author can splice the human condition and a rollicking yarn together. I think this is why Stephen King is so successful. In this his debut novel Mark Lowes also demonstrates this author's gift.

We really experience our flawed protagonist through his external trauma of cold, injury, wild animals etc but even more so we feel his internal adventure of fear, shame, regret and possible redemption. We live both his real and metaphorical journey.

The author has a very descriptive turn of phrase, which he uses wonderfully well to describe the relentless, biting cold (see selected quotes) I found my self gripping my hot tea a little closer and edging ever closer to the fire as I was reading. It also speaks to the author's talents that even in a vast  expansive backdrop like the arctic he can still make us feel everything so intensely.

You end up cheering our hero on, even when you find out some of his past that even he would rather forget.

Our protagonist runs away from the imminent birth of his first child to be a wildlife cameraman in the arctic. From the dedication at the start of the book, you can see the author was about to become a first time father himself. Talk about self projection. He need not worry, in my experience any man who stresses this much about becoming a good father already has all the building blocks he needs to be a good dad.

I have seen this book described as a cross between 127 hours and the revenant. I would go a little further and throw in a pinch of "a christmas carol" with a sprinkle of "it's a wonderful life."

An exceptional tale of arctic survival and character reflection. Amazing when you realise this is a debut novel.

Selected quotes...

"Cold sets into his lungs like an infection. It spreads through veins, strangling the life from them until they are no more than scrawled blue ink across pallid skin."

"The coolness soothing the side of his face like the cold hand of a lover."

“I’ve dealt with disappointment forever. But disappointment in yourself is the worst thing I’ve ever experienced."

"His body is beginning to shut down. Someone inside him is going from room to room and flicking the light switches off."

"It isn’t fair that he suffered the childhood he did, that he’s terrified of fatherhood as a result."

About the author...

Mark Lowes is an author from Cardiff, Wales in the UK. He's been writing stories since before it was cool. He also had a beard before it was cool but the less people know about that, the better.  He works for a national charity helping deaf children develop their literacy skills. He has worked in education his entire professional career, however, he will always come back to his dream of writing.  FERAL SNOW is his debut.  Please follow Mark Lowes on Twitter: @MJLAuthor

I am here to kill you by Chris Westlake

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Outline....

A sleepy Welsh village out in the sticks has a women's support group where nothing happens and life continues to meander on its mundane way. That is until a beautiful stranger turns up and ingratiates herself into the group.  She secretly begins to stir the pot and long buried issues begin to surface once more. Sexual tensions rise, cliques are formed and broken. Is she controlling the group? Is someone controlling her? What is her history? A young man's death sparks police involvement. It's all spiralling out of control or maybe it is all going according to plan...

My review...

I was first drawn to this book because it has a great cover and is set in a small village 50+ miles outside Cardiff much like the village I was born and brought up in. However the author's village is very different to my own. It is a lot more middle class and it is full of twisted, duplicitous inhabitants and that's the beauty of this book. It set me to thinking, perhaps the people in my village were like that but I just was unaware of it. All sorts of things go on under a rock but you can only see the rock.

This book is a sequel to Chris Westlake's first book "30 days in June" that tells the tale of a serial killer from the Bridgend area of Wales. Thanks to some clever writing I am here to kill you can be read as a stand alone though with the benefit of hindsight I would have read 30 days in June first. (As an aside; immediately after reading I am here to kill you I bought 30 days in June that should tell you how much I enjoyed this book)

It is written in the first person, however the author avoids the pitfall of only seeing one point of view by having each chapter devoted to one of the main characters and seeing the narrative from their point of view. Very "Quantam Leap" and it works because there are huge differences in the characters. From the bored Thai bride, to ex hooligan with a heart of gold to the sad lonely widow who organises the support group. The author inhabits their souls extremely well.

Old memories are dredged up from those affected by horrific crimes. Others begin to see they are living a lie. Hidden desires  are revealed and passions released. What originally seemed a bland community slowly morphs into Soddam and Gomorrah.

The author writes with a sure touch  about the most scariest of things......yes that's right Women. Here  they can be lovely cuddly bottles of nitro. Each one has depth and shade no 2D cardboard cutout stereotypes here.They can be just as ruthless as the men and a lot more cunning. Take Sheena as a case in point. The sexy stranger who enters the metaphoric quiet pond of the sleepy village of Pontbach and causes the ripples to radiate. She is manipulative and manipulated, depraved and wicked like a cross between Jessica Rabbit and Priti Patel.

The author swings our allegiance between the cast members as our understanding of them grows. There are several plotlines which I would love to expound upon but will refrain from doing so in case I give the game away. 

If you cant tell already I really enjoyed this book. A thrillingly, well plotted, complex thriller that shows that underneath we are all far deeper than can be seen from the surface. Its up there with Alex Michaelides The Silent Patient. 

Selected quotes...

"It's different for me. I've lived here all my life. Why would you want to jump from the big sea, with endless possibilities, into a goldfish bowl, where the same things happen day after day? Why would anybody willingly make that choice?"

"I love her because she stops me from being alone."

"My house is meticulously clean and tidy - very minimalistic. It is the perfect example of how a normal, sane person should live. Of course, there is nothing accidental about that."

"I swear to God, her tiny, child- like tits perked up. Who needs plastic surgery when you have gossip to share?"

About the author...

Chris Westlake was born in Cardiff and brought up in Wick, a coastal village seven miles from Bridgend. He now resides in Birmingham with his wife, Elizabeth, and two young children, AJ and Chloe. 

After completing a Creative Writing course in 2010, Chris' short story, Welsh Lessons, was awarded 1st place in the Global Short Story Award. He followed this up with 1st place in the Stringybark Erotic Fiction Award and 2nd place in the HASSRA Literary Award. 

He has written three previous novels, Just a Bit of Banter, Like, At Least the Pink Elephants are Laughing at Us, and 30 Days in June. You can find out more about Chris, and his books, at his website, chriswestlakeauthor.co.uk