Thursday 31 December 2020

A Collision of Lies - Tom Threadgill

This is the first novel by Tom Threadgill which I've read and he's a definite 'must read' author for me now!

Collision of Lies is a fantastic read, completely engrossing and genuinely page-turning!  

Three years before the story's start, there is a tragic accident between a school bus and a train, causing tearing grief throughout a community.  But then a message is received from one of the children long thought dead...  and Detective Amara Alvarez must find out if everything about the accident was really as it seemed.  And if any of the children are really still alive, where are they and why have they been taken?


This is a true suspense novel, fast-paced, gritty, and with several 'hold your breath' moments.

If you like your mysteries a bit darker and tenser than the 'cosy mystery' kind, then this is for you!


9780800736507, Revell


For transparency I read a pre-publication copy, but the views above are entirely mine. I was not required to write any review.

Thursday 10 December 2020

Springtime at Hope Hall - Pam Rhodes

In mid-winter, especially this year(!), we could all do with a bit of light relief and this is a perfect book for escaping the winter and the pandemic...  In Springtime at Hope Hall, the latest of Pam Rhodes’ novels, her ability to capture people and their quirks is perfectly demonstrated.  We meet Ray and his terminally ill wife Sara, the irrepressible Shirley, the ladies from the Grown-up’s lunch club who include the formidable and cantankerous Ida and the members of the Can’t Sing Singers, a group thrown out of St Mark’s choir by the new musical director as not being good enough!  We learn about Kath, the manager of Hope Hall and Maggie, the catering manager whose soon to be ex-husband is the villain of the story. 


Throughout, the characterisation is brilliant. I think any reader would recognise some of the folk portrayed in this enchanting novel.  There were a number of moments where I laughed out loud, and some which made me angry!  Then there was the tension of what would happen with Claire and Gary.  

 

An easy and highly enjoyable read which nonetheless has depth and meaning.  I’m already looking forward to the next book about Hope Hall.

 

Tuesday 8 December 2020

The Promised Land - Elizabeth Musser

You'd be surprised at what gets through when everything else is taken away.

Abbie Jowett is a hyper-energetic person who likes to be in control to the point where it is suffocating her husband and sons.  When her oldest son says he is taking a gap year in Europe, and her husband announces that he is ‘taking a break’ and leaves for Chicago, the smart new apartment she had so many plans for remains full of untouched boxes while she tries to work out what to do.  

She makes the decision to follow her son Bobby to walk the Camino de Santiago, and heads to Europe.  Bobby is initially very unenthusiastic about his mother’s pending arrival, but the Camino is going to be a place of change for both of them, as well as for a number of people they meet along the way.

 

This is another beautifully told story from Elizabeth Musser.  Abbie is a complex person whose nature grew from neat and organising into ever more controlling behaviour as a result of events in her past.  Her transformative experience on the Camino is believably written – and I wonder how many readers will be mentally shouting at her at points along the way!  Bobby, meanwhile, is finding his gap year is bringing pressures of increasing responsibility rather than the escape he’d hoped it would be.  The captivating Rasa, and Caroline, a journalist struggling with a bitter loss, round out the cast of wonderful characters. 


A perfect escapist yet thoughtful read for a chilly winter evening.


 


9780764234453, Bethany House

For transparency, I was sent an advance copy of this book, but I was not required to write any specific or favourable review. All views herein are my own.

Tuesday 1 December 2020

Map of the Sky - Claire Wong

Pulled out of school a week before the end of term, and abruptly arriving at the remote B&B Askfeld with his highly stressed mother Catherine and his sister Juliet who is five years Kit’s elder, Kit struggles to settle into his new surroundings.  A fan of superheroes and adventures, he sets out to find a quest to follow and discovers it in the map being created by B&B owner Beth for her unborn child.  

Beth is co-owner of the B&B, chronically ill, and Kit is confused by her illness and worried by snatches of overheard conversation.  Often finding himself told to stay put while his mother works he also befriends elderly ornithologist Bert, and meets the mysterious and unpredictably angry Maddie.  With his mother and sister keeping secrets about the move and why his dad had stayed behind, Kit has lots of time to draw his own conclusions…

 

This is a wonderful story, suitable for readers from ‘youth’ readers upwards.  The comments or questions at the start of each chapter work really well, and Claire’s writing is beautiful.  As Kit finds a lookout spot over the sea, she writes: ‘He turned his back on the sea, pivoting on the ball of one foot in a perfect spin. But the ground between the grasses was softer than it looked, and betrayed him.’


Kit’s thoughts and emotions are very well outlined, the ‘supporting cast’ are all wonderfully written in their own right and the story is engrossing from cover to cover.  It wraps up with a very satisfying (and surprisingly emotional, for this reader at least) ending.  This is another fabulous novel from Claire, whose debut novel The Runaway I've also reviewed, and I look forward to more books from her.