I enjoy a good psychological thriller – I read enough of them! – but there was something about The Starter Wife that didn’t really gel for me. It took me two attempts to get into the story proper and looking back I think it was because the main narrator Claire is such a completely unlikeable…
Tag: Suicide
Book Review: The Island – Ragnar Jónasson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Icelandic culture has a great history of storytelling and there is a reverence for books and reading that seems to be lacking in other modern European countries. I think this is why there have been so many fantastic Icelandic authors coming to the fore in recent years. The Island is the second book in Ragnar…
Book Review: Watching You – Lisa Jewell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A small community in Bristol, Melville Heights, is the very epitome of British village life. Although it is part of a larger metropolitan area it feels like a small enclave where everyone knows everyone else. It’s a well to do neighborhood with lawyers and doctors and more recently the elite head teacher who has come…
Book Review: Into the Water – Paula Hawkins ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hawkins was the biggest author on the psychological thriller scene when The Girl on the Train hit bookshelves around the world in 2015. It must have been incredibly daunting launching the equivalent of the difficult second album with Into the Water. Jules is swamped by feelings of guilt. She ignored a crisis call from her…
Book Review: Do Not Disturb – Claire Douglas ****
As I waved my neighbours off to their holiday in Wales this morning it struck me that if you paid attention to this years crime fiction you would never set foot in the place. Far too dangerous! First off there was Mark Edwards’ The Retreat (check out my review on that one too) and now…
Book Review: Before I Let Go – Marieke Nijkamp *****
When you are following a smash hit debut novel it could be a bit daunting for a new author. I loved Nijkamp’s first book (This is Where it Ends) and I must admit that I was a bit nervous picking up this one. How could it possibly compare with the sublime piece of young adult…
Book Review: Scared to Death – Kate Medina ****
Scared to Death is the second book in Medina’s Jessie Flynn series. Psychologist Jessie is a complicated character with a dark and disturbing past. Unusually she works closely with the British Army and all of her cases have links to serving troops. Just returned from a tour of duty in Syria and Iraq, Jessie is…
Book Review: Tattletale – Sarah J Naughton ***
It is hard to describe how I felt about this book. There were times when I was so frustrated with it that I almost gave up on it but there was always enough going on to make me keep reading, to persevere. Mags is a wealthy and successful lawyer in Las Vegas. Years ago she…
Book Review: Her Every Fear – Peter Swanson ***
I don’t get much contemporary American fiction coming my way so it was interesting to have the latest Peter Swanson to review. I had some preconceptions because of the inevitable hype around this book but found myself enjoying it a lot more than I expected. Kate Priddy agrees to a six month house swap with…
Book Review: The Deviants – C. J. Skuse ****
Ella, Max, Corey, Fallon and Zane were the Fearless Five. A group of teens living in a small sea-side town. They used to do everything together but drifted apart after the tragic death of Max’s older sister Jessica. She had been a friend and big sister to them all and losing her had been traumatic…
Book Review: Keep You Close – Lucie Whitehouse ****
I’ve had Lucie Whitehouse on my list of authors that interested me for quite a while now but never actually got around to picking up one of her books. I now realise that I was missing out because she is a master craftswoman when it comes to constructing the perfect thriller. Rowan Winter hasn’t spoken…
Book Review : Beautiful Broken Things – Sara Barnard ****
UK Publishing Date: 11 Feb 2016 336 pages Beautiful Broken Things will resonate with any woman who had a best friend to share their secrets with during their teenage years. Marketed as a YA book this debut by Sara Bernard explores the relationship and friendships between three sixteen year old girls and the dynamics of…
