Showing posts with label thriller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thriller. Show all posts
Book links: Amazon, Goodreads
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Adam Oyebanji was born in Coatbridge, in the West of Scotland, and is now in Edinburgh, by way of Birmingham, London, Lagos, Nigeria, Chicago, Pittsburgh and New York. After graduating from Birmingham University and Harvard Law School, he worked as a barrister, before moving to New York to work in counter-terrorist financing in Wall Street, helping to choke off the money supply that builds weapons of mass destruction, narcotics empires and human trafficking networks. His first novel, Braking Day, was a finalist for the Canopus Award.
Publisher: DAW (May 20, 2025) Length: 432 pages (Kindle edition) Formats: Audiobook, ebook, paperback
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Book Review: Anna O by Matthew Blake
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OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: After discovering that the average person spends thirty-three years of their life asleep, Matthew Blake felt the pull of a story. He began extensive research into sleep-related crimes and into the mystery illness known as resignation syndrome, research that sparked a thrilling question: if someone commits murder while sleepwalking, are they innocent or guilty? And so his novel Anna O was born.
Before writing fiction, Matthew worked as a researcher and speechwriter at the Palace of Westminster. He studied English at Durham University and Merton College, Oxford and now lives in London.
FORMAT/INFO: Anna O was published by Harper Collins in the U.K. on February 2024. It is available in ebook, hardback, and audiobook formats.
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Book review: Fever House by Keith Rosson
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Keith Rosson is the author of the novels Fever House, Smoke City, Road Seven, and The Mercy of the Tide as well as the Shirley Jackson Award-winning story collection Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his partner and their two children.
Publisher: Random House (Aug 15, 2023) Length: 448 pages Formats: audiobook, ebook, paperback
Book Review: The Beholders by Hester Musson
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OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: June, 1878. The body of a boy is pulled from the depths of the River Thames, suspected to be the beloved missing child of the widely admired Liberal MP Ralph Gethin. Four months earlier. Harriet is a young maid newly employed at Finton Hall. Fleeing the drudgery of an unwanted engagement in the small village where she grew up, Harriet is entranced by the grand country hall; she is entranced too by her glamorous mistress Clara Gethin, whose unearthly singing voice floats through the house. But Clara, though captivating, is erratic. The master of the house is a much-lauded politician, but he is strangely absent. And some of their beautiful belongings seem to tell terrible stories. Unable to ignore her growing unease, Harriet sets out to discover their secrets. When she uncovers a shocking truth, a chain of events is set in motion that could cost Harriet everything, even her freedom…
FORMAT/INFO: The Beholders will be published on January 18, 2024 by Harper Collins. It will be available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Let me just tell you that Harriet Watkins, young maid newly employed at Finton Hall did something most of us never could. She gets a beautiful diary, a lovely green one, and actually writes in it. If you've gotten over that, let's continue. She flees an unwanted engagement to take up service at this place, and writes entries in her diary, which we get in the form of this simply marvellous debut.
In this house, Harriet gets astounded by what to her service-class eyes looks like a world within the walls of the property, as well as the enigmatic mistress, Mrs. Gethin of the house. Beyond the first entry in the diary, it is clear that this is not a rosy environment, there are something sinister and this feeling slowly builds toward a certain point. I admit, the beginning was slow and will irk some readers, but trust me when I say the payoff is worth it. It's been two days since I finished reading this, and the more time that passes, the more I realises this pace was really effective.
Why does all this matter? Because the mistress, Mrs. Gethin had a reputation among the work staff of being difficult, constantly dismisses servants, but suddenly takes an inscrutable interest in Harriet, who is nothing special. In a few months, she gets convicted of the murder of her child, and our protagonist is swept up in the case, all while not knowing what the complete truth could be, and wondering if she judged her situation correctly.
The writing is quite strong and the voice feels authentic. It acknowledges all the grind and drudgery of being part of the servant class in such a place, as well as the feeling of being trapped with no better prospects, of having been painted into a corner, and possibly pissing off those in more powerful positions. What it does better, is paint a very compelling picture of how scary it is to live in a corrupt man's world. The character introduction and establishment takes about the first half of the book, and the plot is sheer genius in some ways. I feel like certain things could have been written in a more direct manner, but they did add to the gothic atmosphere well.
CONCLUSION: If I said anything more, even more good stuff about this book, I would be spoiling it for you. Hester Musson knocks it out of the park with sheer ingenuity in plotting and fine atmosphere-building. So good, and very recommended.
Book Review: The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland
OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Krystal Sutherland is an internationally published author. Her first novel, Chemical Hearts, was published in over 20 countries and was named by the American Booksellers Association as one of the best debuts of 2016. The film adaptation, produced by Amazon Studios, stars Lili Reinhart (Riverdale) and Austin Abrams (Euphoria); Sutherland served as an executive producer on the project. Her second novel, A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares, was published to critical acclaim in 2017 and has been optioned for adaptation by Yellow Bird US. In 2018, she appeared on the annual Forbes “30 Under 30” list. Originally from Australia, she has lived on four continents and currently calls London home. Her next novel for young adults, House of Hollow, is set for publication by Penguin in spring 2021.
FORMAT/INFO: The Invocations will be launched in January 2024 by Bonnier Books UK. It contains 400 pages long and told from multiple POVs.
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AUTHOR INFO: Gillian Flynn was the chief TV critic for ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY and now writes full-time. Her first novel SHARP OBJECTS was the winner of two CWA DAGGERS and was shortlisted for the GOLD DAGGER. Her latest novel, GONE GIRL, is a massive No.1 bestseller. The film adaptation of GONE GIRL, directed by David Fincher and starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, won the Hollywood Film Award 2014.
Publisher: Crown (May 10, 2010) Page count: 349 pages Formats: ebook, audiobook, paperback, hardback
Don’t read Dark Places if you believe people are good. It pulls no punches and explores the dark side of the human experience. I absolutely loved it. It’s been a while since a book captured my attention so completely.
Dark Places tells the tragic story of the Day family. In January 1985, someone slaughtered Libby Day’s mother and two sisters. Libby’s testimony sent her brother, Ben, to prison for life.
Years later, Libby’s financial situation becomes dire; not surprising since she has no work and lives off donations and insurance cashed years ago. Desperate for money, she gets involved with the Kill Club, true crime enthusiasts interested in famous murder cases. They believe Ben was innocent and share wild theories with Libby who, subsequently, questions what exactly she saw the night of the tragedy. They're also ready to pay for family memorabilia and further investigation of the case.
The story moves fluidly between the present-day first-person narration of cynical and selfish Libby and the hours leading up to the murders seen through the eyes of Patty Day (Libby’s killed mother) and Ben (Libby’s brother sentenced for murders). The narrative is addictive as it slowly and methodically reveals the chronology of what happened on that tragic day. Flynn provides pieces of the puzzle along the way, but I assure you that whatever you suspect is wrong (unless you have a really twisted mind!) I won’t spoil it, but wow, just wow.*
Every character here is nuanced and feels real. I wouldn’t call any of them likable, but their distinct voices kept me glued to the pages. They’re all survivors ready to make selfish decisions to remain on the surface. Especially when the money is short.
Take Libby, who literally fed off the murder of her family all her life, living on donations made by compassionate donors moved by the history of a lone survivor of a family massacre. Libby, whose testimony sent her brother to jail for life and who’s not really sure what she saw (or didn’t see) on a feral night. If she hadn't run into financial difficulties, she might never revisit her tragic past. Still, it was refreshing to get a heroine as complex and psychologically scarred as this.
Ben? Well, I don’t find angry and brooding teenagers who get mixed up in devil worship relatable. But that doesn’t mean his voice didn’t engage me. Quite the opposite.
I loved this book. It’s genuinely disturbing, suspenseful, and full of surprises.
* It's genuinely surprising. Probably in both a good and a bad way. Some readers may be disappointed. Some will appreciate it. I definitely appreciate it.
AUTHOR INFO: Matthew Reilly is the internationally bestselling author of the scarecrow series, the jack west series, and numerous standalone novels. his books are published in over 20 languages with worldwide sales of over 8 million copies. he directed the Netflix film interceptor, which he co-wrote with Stuart Beattie.
Publisher: Macmillan Australia (August 2, 2022) Pages:216 Formats: paperback, ebook, hardback, audiobook
Sunday, April 17, 2022
Book review: The Broken Room by Peter Clines (reviewed by Lukasz Przywoski & Mihir Wanchoo)
Official Author
Website
Order The Broken Room HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic Interview with Peter Clines
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of Ex-Heroes
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Ex-Patriots
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of Ex-Communication
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Ex-Purgatory
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Ex-Isle
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Junkie Quatrain
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of 14
Order The Broken Room HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic Interview with Peter Clines
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of Ex-Heroes
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Ex-Patriots
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of Ex-Communication
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Ex-Purgatory
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Ex-Isle
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Junkie Quatrain
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of 14
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The
Fold Read Fantasy Book Critic’s second interview
with Peter Clines Read I See Dead People by Peter Clines (Guest
Post)
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing (March 2022) Page Count: 248
Book & author information:
Sixty-One Nails is Mike Shevdon's debut novel. It is being published by Angry Robert in the UK on the 29th of October, 2009 in paperback form with a US release date sometime in the next year. The PDF copy has a page count of 460 broken into 30 chapters. The author has also included an afterword which makes a very fascinating read and details some of the important events and ceremonies of the book and the historical basis behind them.
Sixty-One Nails is an urban fantasy (despite it's non-urban fantasy-ish title). All chapters are set in the first person perspective of Niall Petersen and is the first book of The Courts of the Feyre series.
Book overview & analysis:
I had read the book blurb which the plot line sounded all-to-familiar. However the book cover and the title nagged at my mind. I then happened onto this piece (Click here to read the article) by Mike Shevdon about urban fantasy which made me very very curious to read this book. In retrospect I've learnt that the title and the front page are very important to the story!
Sixty-One Nails is set in London and features the primary character of Niall Petersen, who leads an ordinary life but with the added weight of being a father and a testy relationship with his ex-wife.
Readers are introduced to him in the underground subway where shortly after witnessing an accident, Niall experiences something similar to a heart attack. His rescuer is a woman who goes by the name of Blackbird and mysteriously calls him Rabbit as she comforts his fears of his heart and condition. The story line quickly picks up as Niall learns that he may have a possible Fey background. All the unwanted attention due to this possible link causes him to try and run. Niall tries to learn the ropes of how to adjust and survive in a world in which he has no clue about the rules and day to day living. Blackbird is his only contact to this hidden world, and she is very slow in passing information along to Niall. It appears she is part wary of him and part fascinated by him. Together they learn about who is behind the attack on Niall which leads to them trying to change the world that they are familiar with.
Mike Shevdon takes an interesting twist by linking the plot line with an ancient ceremony that is still taking place in current day London. I found this to be the highlight of Sixty-One Nails, as Shevdon seamlessly mingles the origins and traditional ceremony of the entire event and makes it a focal point of the book. The actual origins and history are nicely explained in the afterword of the book and come complete with proper references and further reading for those readers that were interested in it.
The story line of Sixty -One Nails follows the protagonist as he moves from London to the countryside and back again. I feel a reader more familiar with the London setting and countryside could appreciate how eloquently, Shevdon wrote about it.
There are some negatives of the book for myself. First, the events which occur all happen within a period of less than a week. However the prose is cumbersome in places as the story moves at a very slow pace in some areas. It took me a while to come to grips with this writing style as it seemed to take until around page 80-100 to pick up the pace of events.
The second negative was that of the main character coming across as a bit bland. As Niall is supposed to be the main focus of the story and readers are viewing the whole story through his eyes, he seemed to be a bit subdued or laid back. His reactions to the events that are happening to him and the changes around him came across as indifferent. He understood and came to grips with his power a little too quickly for my liking. This may be a result of the fact that I found Blackbird's character to be more interesting then Niall. Maybe the author intended it to be so, as Blackbird is a bit flamboyant with a mix of mystery and 100% Fey'ree fatale.
In the end I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes for something different in the urban fantasy sub genre. Mike Shevdon might not be the next big thing, but he's the next fresh voice in this genre. I look forward to what he writes about next and especially look forward to see what he brings to the second book in The Courts of the Feyre series.
(This review is based off an arc provided by the publisher)
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