‘No More Games’ by Gordon J. Brown ~ @GoJaBrown @RedDogTweets #BookReview

‘No More Games’ was published in paperback and eBook on the 30th March by Red Dog Press. I would like to thank the publisher for my review copy of this book.

Book Synopsis

Glasgow, 1974 – a time of power cuts, strikes and the three-day week.
Twelve-year-old Ginger Bannerman is playing in the local woods when he stumbles across a gunman in hiding. The man has incriminating evidence of police corruption and forces Ginger to steal a tape recording from a major criminal’s flat.
But when Ginger discovers that his dad, a police constable, is mentioned on the tape, his world is turned upside down.
With both the gunman and the criminal in hot pursuit, he must prevent the tape falling into the wrong hands if he’s going to save himself and his family. Things have suddenly got very serious.

My Review

I enjoyed this book from start to finish and thought the way it started was very interesting indeed.  I liked the way the chapters were set out.  This was a dark and tense read which left me with bated breath.  I absolutely loved the author’s style of writing.

Set in Glasgow in 1974, this book had me totally gripped.  It gave me a very good picture of what Glasgow was really like in the 1970s.  I have never visited Glasgow but hope to very soon. 

I followed Ginger’s story all the way through.  I thought he and Milky were very courageous.  They found themselves involved in something that they should never have been a part of.  It was hard to like the majority of characters and I even found myself doubting Ginger’s father as well.

‘No More Games’ will have you on the edge of your seat.  You will find yourself turning the pages until the very end.

I am definitely interested in reading more from this author.

‘No More Games’ can be purchased from:

Red Dog Press

Amazon UK

Blog Tour – ‘The Devil Upstairs’ by Anthony O’Neill ~ @bwpublishing @LoveBooksGroup #LoveBooksTours

‘The Devil Upstairs’ by Anthony O’Neill was published last September by Black and White Publishing in hardback and eBook formats.  It is being released in paperback next year on the 30th June 2021.

I would like to thank Kelly Lacey of Love Books Tours for inviting me to participate in this tour.  It really is a pleasure to be taking part.

I have an excerpt from the ‘The Devil Upstairs’ for you all which I hope you enjoy.  Let’s just take a look at what this book is about first though.

 

Book Blurb

In a quiet corner of Edinburgh, Cat Thomas is going through hell.

She’s tried everything. He respects nothing.

If your neighbour was making your life hell …

Would you call upon the devil?

Cat Thomas, a brilliant fraud investigator, has just relocated from Florida to a dreamy flat in historic Edinburgh. Everything seems perfect. Everything seems serene. Except for the unbelievably noisy wannabe rockstar upstairs.

Soon Cat’s blissful new life is in ruins. Desperate, she’s willing to try anything. When all else fails, she makes an appeal … to Satan.

And suddenly everything is eerily quiet. But her nightmare has only just begun …

 

Excerpt

‘When I bought the place,’ Cat admitted, ‘I didn’t even realise there was an apartment upstairs. You can’t really see it from the street – the roof slopes in dramatically – and I just assumed it was a storage space or an empty loft or something.’

Agnes grunted. ‘Lots of buildings in Scotland have old nooks and crannies that’ve been converted into living spaces. You should’ve been more careful.’

‘Uh-huh. And then, for my first five or six weeks in Edinburgh, the flat was empty. The guy who lives there was away somewhere. I think he was away when I inspected the place, too, or just super quiet. But now he’s back. And suddenly I get why the previous owner was so eager to sell.’

‘He’s some sort of maniac?’

‘He’s a musician.’

‘Same thing.’

‘And he makes noise. Lots of noise.’

‘All musicians do.’

‘But it’s not just the music – though that’s bad enough. It’s all sorts of things. Dropping stuff. Stamping around. Banging doors.’

‘All through the night?’

‘Day and night. Every night. He never seems to sleep.’

‘Just kill the cunt.’

‘I wish I could,’ Cat said, grimacing. ‘I wish I could.’

It was an unusually humid early August evening and, with Agnes at the wheel, the two women were hurtling down the A91 towards Edinburgh after interviewing staff at the ABC branch in Montrose. It had only been Cat’s third such expedition since reviving her career in Scotland, so she had let Agnes take charge while familiarising herself with the local idioms and procedures. In fact, Agnes, though wildly different in most ways – as plump as Cat was slim, as loud and impulsive as Cat was prudent and methodical – had become her closest colleague in the department, and the nearest thing to a friend outside office hours, for all her fondness for booze, deep-fried food and the c-word.

‘Is the cunt renting?’

Cat grimaced again. ‘I don’t know . . . I don’t know.’

‘Complain to the landlord, if he is. Tenants need to maintain good records, you know – especially in a compact city like Edinburgh.’

‘The previous owner surely would have done that, if it was going to do any good.’

‘Complain to the factor, then.’

‘I don’t know what a factor is,’ Cat admitted.

‘The building superintendent.’

‘I don’t think there is one.’

‘How many flats in the building?’

‘Six, one atop the other.’

‘Maybe the place is too small.’

Honking the horn at a motorist who swung into her lane, Agnes mouthed the c-word again.

Cat shook her head. ‘In Florida I lived for a while in a condo, and there were strict rules in place. Anyone with floorboards had to cover at least seventy per cent of them to reduce noise.’

‘Got bare floorboards, has he?’

‘They creak like ship timbers. And – I swear to God – I think he deliberately leans on them, at their weakest points, just to make a racket.’

‘It’s an existential thing,’ Agnes said.

 

Like the sound of ‘The Devil Upstairs’?  It can be purchased from Amazon UK – https://amzn.to/372fbkd

 

About Anthony O’Neill

ANTHONY O NEILL is the son of an Irish policeman and an Australian stenographer. He was born in Melbourne and now lives in Edinburgh. He is the author of seven novels including The Dark Side and Dr Jekyll & Mr Seek, recommended by Ian Rankin as ‘clever, gripping and reverent’.

 

Links

Website – https://www.anthonyoneill.net/

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/220734.Anthony_O_Neill

Guest Post by Mark Ellis ~ @midaspr @MarkEllis15

It is a real pleasure having Mark Ellis as a guest on my blog today.  His latest book, ‘A Death in Mayfair’, the fourth book in the DCI Frank Merlin series, was published last November in paperback, as an eBook and Audiobook by Accent Press.

Mark has written a post about the research he has undertaken for his books.

 

Researching The World War Two Frank Merlin Detective Series

With this month’s VE Day Anniversary, public interest in World War Two has once again been high. This pleases me as the period is fascinating and one in which I spend considerable time as the author of a series of wartime crime thrillers. My hero, Detective Chief Inspector Frank Merlin, is a Scotland Yard policeman investigating serious crime in London. The series follows his adventures through the war sequentially. Four books have been published so far and I am writing the fifth. The first of the series, Princes Gate, is set in January 1940, at the time of the so-called ‘Phoney War’. The second, Stalin’s Gold, is set in September 1940, at the beginning of the Blitz and the Battle of Britain. The action of the third, Merlin At War, takes place in June 1941, just before Hitler’s invasion of Russia. A Death In Mayfair, the recently published fourth Merlin book is set in December 1941, the month in which the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour.

A considerable amount of research goes into the writing of the Frank Merlin series. I aim to set the Merlin stories against as realistic a historical background as I can. Before starting to write I spend around three months reading everything I can about the book’s particular period setting. When I started out with Princes Gate, I was very reliant on libraries for my research. I spent much time in particular at the Public Records Office in Kew where they had an abundance of helpful books and documents. Since then, as the amount of online information has proliferated, libraries have become less vital, although I still use them. The internet is an amazing source. If I want to find out the weather in London on a specific day in the war, I can find details online. If I want to find out which RAF squadrons were in the air on a particular day in the Battle of Britain, the internet can tell me. And so on.

Apart from the internet and libraries, I have a useful book collection of my own. It includes several excellent histories of life on the Home Front (eg Philip Ziegler, Juliet Gardiner, Angus Calder), great wartime diaries (Harold Nicolson, Chips Channon, Alan Brooke), memoirs and biographies (Churchill, De Gaulle, Eisenhower) and works of period fiction (Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh, Elizabeth Bowen). I also travel for purposes of research. While the action of the Merlin books takes place mostly in London, other locations occasionally feature. These have included Berlin, Paris, Buenos Aires, Miami, Moscow, Berlin, Vichy, New York and Cairo, a number of which I have been able to visit.

When I write a book I do not work to an advance framework of the plot. After the initial period of research, I set out on the first draft with plot lines which have come to my mind during that process. With the most recent Merlin book, A Death In Mayfair, my research drew me to the British wartime film industry. I learned that there were as many as fifteen film studios in and around London in the early years of the war. This struck me as a large number and further reading provided interesting detail on cinema in the war years and of its importance to the British public. I thus decided to set the story of A Death In Mayfair against a background of movie stars, directors and producers making films in a fictional film studio beside the River Thames. As I began to write, I set various plot lines running and went where they took me. Then, as is my method, when I was about three quarters of the way through the draft, I worked out how the plots were resolved. This can be a rather nerve-wracking process but somehow it seems to work for me.

The new work in progress, the fifth Merlin book, is set in August 1942. The plot revolves around art theft, espionage and racism in the US forces. My preliminary research included books on wartime Lisbon, the art world, and the arrival of American GIs in Britain. As I’m not yet half way through the draft, I have no idea yet about what will happen. Thus I’m as excited by the development of the story as I hope readers are when it hits the bookshops! It will be out next year.

 

Book Blurb

December 1941. Japanese planes swoop down and attack Pearl Harbour. America enters the war and Britain no longer stands alone against Hitler. But conditions on the home front remain bleak, and for Scotland Yard detective Frank Merlin, life is as arduous as ever.  He is diverted from his tenacious campaign against London’s organised criminal gangs by the violent deaths of two young women in the centre of the city. Merlin investigates and encounters fraudulent film moguls, dissipated movie stars, mad Satanists, and brutal gangsters amongst others as he and his team battle to uncover the and search out the truth.

 

‘A Death in Mayfair’ can be purchased from:-

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Merlin-Noir-DCI-Frank-Novel/dp/1786156725/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=a+death+in+mayfair&qid=1589374554&sr=8-1

Waterstones – https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-death-in-mayfair/mark-ellis/9781786156723

 

About Mark Ellis

Mark Ellis is a thriller writer from Swansea and a former barrister. He is the creator of DCI Frank Merlin, an Anglo-Spanish police detective operating in World War 2 London. His books treat the reader to a vivid portrait of London during the war.

Mark grew up under the shadow of his parents’ experience of the Second World War. He has always been fascinated by the fact that while the nation was engaged in a heroic endeavour, crime flourished. His father served in the wartime navy and died a young man. His mother told him stories of watching the heavy bombardment of Swansea from the safe vantage point of a hill in Llanelli, and of attending tea dances in wartime London under the bombs and doodlebugs.

In consequence Mark has always been fascinated by WW2 and in particular the Home Front and the fact that while the nation was engaged in a heroic endeavour, crime flourished. Murder, robbery, theft and rape were rife and the Blitz provided scope for widespread looting.This was an intriguing, harsh and cruel world. This is the world of DCI Frank Merlin.

Mark Ellis’ books regularly appear in the Kindle bestseller charts. He is a member of the Crime Writers Association (CWA). His most recent book, Merlin at War, was on the CWA Historical Dagger Longlist in 2018. A Death in Mayfair will be published in November 2019.

 

Links

Website – https://markellisauthor.com/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/MarkEllis15

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MarkEllisAuthor

 

Blog Tour – ‘Sister’ by Kjell Ola Dahl ~ #RandomThingsTours @annecater @OrendaBooks @ko_dahl

I am delighted to be taking part in this blog tour and would like to thank Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to participate.  ‘Sister’ by Kjell Ola Dahl, the latest book in the Oslo Detectives series which is translated by Don Bartlett, is being published in paperback on the 30th April 2020 by Orenda Books and is available as an eBook.

I have a competition for you to win an eBook copy of ‘Sister’.  First though lets take a look at what this book is about.

 

Book Blurb

Oslo detective Frølich searches for the mysterious sister of a young female asylum seeker, but when people start to die, everything points to an old case and a series of events that someone will do anything to hide…

Suspended from duty, Detective Frølich is working as a private investigator, when his girlfriend’s colleague asks for his help with a female asylum seeker, who the authorities are about to deport. She claims to have a sister in Norway, and fears that returning to her home country will mean instant death.

Frølich quickly discovers the whereabouts of the young woman’s sister, but things become increasingly complex when she denies having a sibling, and Frølich is threatened off the case by the police. As the body count rises, it becomes clear that the answers lie in an old investigation, and the mysterious sister, who is now on the run…

A dark, chilling and up-to-the-minute Nordic Noir thriller, Sister is also a tense and well-plotted murder mystery with a moving tragedy at its heart, cementing Kjell Ola Dahl as one of the greatest crime writers of our generation. m

 

About Kjell Ola Dahl

One of the fathers of the Nordic Noir genre, Kjell Ola Dahl was born in 1958 in Gjøvik. He made his debut in 1993, and has since published eleven novels, the most prominent of which is a series of police procedurals cum psychological thrillers featuring investigators Gunnarstranda and Frølich. In 2000 he won the Riverton Prize for The Last Fix and he won both the prestigious Brage and Riverton Prizes for The Courier in 2015. His work has been published in 14 countries, and he lives in Oslo.

 

Links

‘Sister’ is available to purchase / pre-order from Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sister-Oslo-Detectives-Kjell-Dahl-ebook/dp/B07XBW8VR8/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1587228103&sr=8-1

Twitter – https://twitter.com/ko_dahl

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/605240.Kjell_Ola_Dahl

 

Competition

One lucky person has the chance to win an eBook copy of ‘Sister’.  To enter just share this post on social media and leave a comment here.

 

Terms and Conditions

The closing date is 11:59 p.m. on the 30th April 2020.

The winner will be chosen within 7 days of the closing date and their details passed on to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours.

This competition is open to UK residents only.

 

Blog Tour – ‘Beast’ by Matt Wesolowski ~ @annecater @OrendaBooks @ConcreteKraken

‘Beast’, the fourth book in the Six Stories series, is being published in paperback on the 20th February 2020 by Orenda Books and is available as an eBook.

I would like to thank Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to participate in this tour.  I have a competition for you all to enter.

 

Book Blurb

Continuing the unique, explosive Six Stories series, based around six podcasts comes a compulsive, taut and terrifying thriller, and a bleak and distressing look at modern society’s desperation for attention. Beast will unveil a darkness from which you may never return…

In the wake of the ‘Beast from the East’ cold snap that ravaged the UK in 2018, a grisly discovery was made in a ruin on the Northumbrian coast. Twenty-four-year-old vlogger, Elizabeth Barton, had been barricaded inside what locals refer to as ‘The Vampire Tower’, where she was later found frozen to death.

Three young men, part of an alleged cult, were convicted of this terrible crime, which they described as a ‘prank gone wrong’. However, in the small town of Ergarth, questions have been raised about the nature of Elizabeth Barton’s death and whether the three convicted youths were even responsible.

Elusive online journalist Scott King speaks to six witnesses – people who knew both the victim and the three killers – to peer beneath the surface of the case. He uncovers whispers of a shocking online craze that held the young of Ergarth in its thrall and drove them to escalate a series of pranks in the name of internet fame. He hears of an abattoir on the edge of town, which held more than simple slaughter behind its walls, and the tragic and chilling legend of the Ergarth Vampire…

 

About Matt Wesolowski

Matt Wesolowski is an author from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the UK. He is an English tutor for young people in care. Matt started his writing career in horror, and his short horror fiction has been published in numerous UK- an US-based anthologies such as Midnight Movie Creature, Selfies from the End of the World, Cold Iron and many more. His novella, The Black Land, a horror set on the Northumberland coast, was published in 2013. Matt was a winner of the Pitch Perfect competition at Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival in 2015. His debut thriller, Six Stories, was an Amazon bestseller in the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia, and a WHSmith Fresh Talent pick, and film rights were sold to a major Hollywood studio. A prequel, Hydra, was published in 2018 and became an international bestseller.

 

Links

‘Beast’ can be purchased from Amazon UK:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beast-Six-Stories-Matt-Wesolowski/dp/1913193136/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1581867556&sr=8-1

Twitter – https://twitter.com/ConcreteKraken

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5303620.Matt_Wesolowski

 

Competition

One lucky person has the chance to win a paperback copy of ‘Beast’.  To enter just share my post on social media and leave a comment on here.

 

Terms and Conditions

The closing date is 11:59 p.m. on the 25th February 2020.

The winner will be chosen within 7 days of the closing date and their details passed on to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours.

This competition is open to UK residents only.

 

Blog Tour – ‘Three Hours’ by Rosamund Lupton ~ @VikingBooksUK @RosamundLupton

I am thrilled to be taking part in this blog tour today.  ‘Three Hours’ is Rosamund Lupton’s brand new book.  It was published in hardback on the 9th January 2020 by Viking and is also available as an eBook and Audiobook.  It will be released in paperback on the 1st October 2020.

I would like to thank the publisher for inviting me to participate and for my review copy of ‘Three Hours’.  You will find out my thoughts on this book in a minute, after the book blurb.

 

Book Blurb

Three hours is 180 minutes or 10,800 seconds.

It is a morning’s lessons, a dress rehearsal of Macbeth, a snowy trek through the woods.

It is an eternity waiting for news. Or a countdown to something terrible.

It is 180 minutes to discover who you will die for and what men will kill for.

In rural Somerset in the middle of a blizzard, the unthinkable happens: a school is under siege. From the wounded headmaster in the library, unable to help his trapped pupils and staff, to teenage Hannah in love for the first time, to the parents gathering desperate for news, to the 16 year old Syrian refugee trying to rescue his little brother, to the police psychologist who must identify the gunmen, to the students taking refuge in the school theatre, all experience the most intense hours of their lives, where evil and terror are met by courage, love and redemption.

 

My Review

Wow! All I can is what a book. This was an extremely tense, mesmerising and powerful read and is one I won’t forget for a very long time. I thought ‘Three Hours’ was beautifully written with the scene perfectly set. I loved how the chapters were arranged and the way they continued to add to the tension right to the very end.

I found it hard to put the book down, but at the same time I wanted to put it down purely because of the subject matter. It made for quite disturbing reading at times. There you are just getting on with your life not imagining that anything will happen and then in the blink of any eye all hell can break loose. Scary!

The students were absolutely amazing, as were the teachers. They were so courageous and tried to keep positive in their own way despite what was happening. They were literally staring death in the face. The character who really stood out for me was Hannah and the way she did her best to help the headmaster who was badly wounded.

I found Rafi and Basi’s story heart-breaking. They had already been through so much together. They deserved to live a proper life without fear.

I liked Detective Inspector Rose Polstein and admired the way she dealt with things together with the rest of the team. Their theories when trying to work out who the gunmen were and what they would do next were really interesting

The thought about what would happen to those young children just didn’t bear thinking about. It’s enough to make you shiver. Good thinking on the teacher’s part, that’s all I can say.

‘Three Hours’ is a very relevant and thought-provoking book. It will have you asking yourself a number of questions and it will make you realise how precious life is.

This is definitely a must-read.

 

‘Three Hours’ is available to purchase from Amazon UK:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Three-Hours-Rosamund-Lupton/dp/0241374499/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1579543239&sr=8-1

 

About Rosamund Lupton

 

Rosamund Lupton’s new novel “Three Hours’ is out in hardback and ebook.

Her debut novel ‘Sister’, was a BBC Radio 4 “Book at Bedtime”, a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller, winner of the Strand Magazine critics award and the Richard and Judy Bookclub Readers’ Choice Award. Her next two books ‘Afterwards’ and ‘The Quality of Silence’ were Sunday Times bestsellers. Her books have been published in over thirty languages.

 

Links

Twitter – https://twitter.com/Rosamundlupton

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/RosamundLuptonAuthor

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3953740.Rosamund_Lupton

 

 

Blog Tour – ‘White Gold’ by David Barker ~ #LoveBooksTours @urbanebooks @BlueGold201

I am delighted to be taking part in this tour today.  ‘White Gold’, the final book in the Gaia Trilogy, was published in paperback and as an eBook on the 9th May 2019 by Urbane Publications.  I would like to thank Kelly Lacey of Love Books Group for inviting me to participate in this tour.

David Barker has written a guest post for my blog.  First though, here’s what the book is about.

 

 

Book Blurb

VENGEANCE ALWAYS HAS A PRICE

Sim Atkins, Overseas Division agent, returns to Earth, having saved the Moon base from a deadly terrorist plot (see Rose Gold). All Sim can think about is finding the criminals responsible.

But his fury and lust for revenge are put on hold when a nuclear warhead is stolen by Terra Former leader Matthias Larsson. Can Sim and his colleagues track down the terrorist cell and disarm the device in time?

White Gold is the gripping finale in the compellingly original Gaia Trilogy, page-turning thrillers that provoke as well as excite.

 

Guest Post

God of fire

You probably know that volcanoes are not named after Spock’s home planet but after Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, right?

And most Europeans will remember the eruption of Eyjafjallajӧkull in April 2010, not only for the huge disruption it caused to flights across the continent but also because of its challenging pronunciation (EYE-a-fyat-la-jo-kutl). If you’re Icelandic, you might recall first and foremost the huge flooding caused by the melting ice sheet. What many won’t know is that this eruption was classified as a 4 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI). The index is very similar to the Richter Scale for Earthquakes: a one-point increase represents a tenfold rise in the power and violence of the event.

Readers will also probably know about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79, which resulted in the burial and destruction of several Roman cities, including Pompeii. That was a 5 on the VEI, as was the eruption of St Helens in 1980.

Moving up to a 6 on the index, in other words one hundred times more powerful than Eyjafjallajӧkull, and the most famous example is Krakatoa in 1883. It was the loudest sound ever recorded, heard 5000km away and the pressure wave rounded the world three and a half times. The explosion and subsequent tsunamis killed an estimated 36,000 people.

Not many people can name an example of an eruption recorded as a 7 on the index. The most recent example was Tambora, Indonesia in 1815. It killed 92,000 people and its ash cloud was so pervasive and enduring that Northern Europe and America suffered a year without summer in 1816.

The reason all of this is relevant to my latest release, White Gold? Because there’s another volcano that is not at all famous, but whose eruption a thousand years ago was as powerful as Tambora. And if it was ready to go again, well that would be interesting, wouldn’t it?

Which volcano am I talking about? How can Sim, Freda and the rest of the gang prevent such a huge catastrophe? You’ll just have to grab a copy of White Gold, available from May 9^th at all good bookstores, to find out…

 

About David Barker

David was born in Cheshire but now lives in Berkshire. His working life has been spent in the City, first for the Bank of England and now as Chief Economist for an international fund. So his job entails trying to predict the future all the time. David attended the Faber Academy course and he still meets up with his inspirational fellow students.

 

Links

‘White Gold’ is available to purchase from Amazon UK – https://amzn.to/2WCPQai

Website – http://davidbarkerauthor.co.uk/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/bluegold201

 

Book Review – ‘The Last Night Out’ by Catherine O’Connell ~ @blackthornbks @OConnellauthor

Yesterday was a very special day indeed.  Black Thorn, a brand new imprint publishing exciting crime fiction officially launched.  I can tell you readers now you are in for some real treats.  So congratulations to Black Thorn and lets hope they have a long and fruitful number of years ahead of them.

I was given the opportunity to review one of their brand new titles, ‘The Last Night Out’ by Catherine O’Connell, which has been published in paperback and as an eBook.  It is also available in hardback and audiobook.

 

Book Blurb

Six friends. Three secrets. One murder.

Maggie is destined to marry the perfect man in two weeks. Desperate for a last wild night on the town before the big day, she gathers six friends for a night to remember.

Only things go wrong, horribly wrong.

Angie’s body is found in the park the following morning and the night to remember quickly becomes a nightmare they wish they could forget. Under police scrutiny, how far will Maggie and her friends go to keep their secrets – far enough to protect a killer?

‘Few pages are turned without revealing new, surprising twists . . . a clever, enjoyable read’ Times

‘O’Connell’s wry observations on the rich are hugely entertaining’ Chicago Sun Times

 

My Review

Wow! What a mind blowing story this was. I feel like I have just got out of a fast driving car. I absolutely loved this book and was totally hooked and when I wasn’t reading it I found myself longing to get back to it. I really liked the author’s style of writing and the way the story was clearly set out. The shorter chapters meant I could have a quick read when time was limited, although sticking to one chapter wasn’t always easy.

I found myself being taken on an exciting journey. There were so many twists and turns throughout the story. I had a few questions going through my mind and as I got further into the book more kept coming.

The story of what happened is told years later and narrated by the various characters as imagined by Maggie. There were some real shockers and it really was a case of how the other half live. But as we all know money doesn’t necessarily mean happiness. In fact, it can complicate life even more. I felt that Maggie was just getting herself into a bigger hole, one she would find it hard to get out of.

Out of all of Maggie’s friends I would say my favourite was Kelly. I was so very happy at how things worked out for her and would say she deserved it.

I loved the ending and the way the reader is left to make up their own mind about what really happened.

‘The Last Night Out’ looks at a number of issues including drugs and alcohol. It will literally get hold of you and not let you go until you have read the very last page. I recommend this book to all crime thriller lovers.

I look forward to much more from this author.

~~~~~

‘The Last Night Out’ can be purchased from Amazon UK:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Night-Out-Catherine-OConnell-ebook/dp/B07K36G36J/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=the+last+night+out+by+catherine+o%27connell&qid=1556822892&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

 

About Catherine O’Connell

Catherine O’Connell divides her time between Chicago and Aspen, and sits on the board of Aspen Words, a literary centre whose aim is to support writers and reach out to readers. She is also a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. Catherine has appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, the Cox network and numerous radio shows including WGN Radio’s Sunday Papers with Rick Kogan.

Foreign rights for The Last Night Out have already been sold in France, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Portugal and Spain.

 

Links

Author

Website – https://thelastnightoutbook.com/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/OConnellAuthor

Publisher

Website – http://blackthornbooks.com/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/blackthornbks

 

Lynne Milford’s (aka LM Milford’s) Monthly Guest Post – May 2018

It’s time for Lynne Milford’s monthly guest post.  I really look forward to receiving her posts and this month’s is really interesting.

 

What I do when I’m not writing

When Sonya offered me this opportunity I asked a friend what she, as a reader, would want to know about writers. She replied ‘what you do with your spare time?’. I laughed and said ‘Writing’. And it’s true, I do spend a lot of my free time writing. But once I’d thought about it, I do other things as well. So, here’s how I spend my time when I’m not writing (although whatever I’m doing I’m probably also still thinking about writing or feeling guilty for not writing).

Exercise

This is a tough one for writers because we spend a lot of time sitting in a chair. Add into that my day job – which involves sitting down at a computer – and I recently ended up in a whole lot of trouble. My favourite exercises are running and Pilates. The former helps me blow of a bit of steam, the latter helps my poor sore chair body. By strengthening and stretching out my muscles at Pilates I keep my body mobile and protect it from the aches and pains associated with spending time sitting down. Going running helps clear your head and (hopefully) balances the effect of snacking while buried in your writing.

Cooking/baking

I make no bones – I love food. I also find cooking and baking relaxing. In fact, I broke my recent writing blockage by making scones. There’s something creative and yet distracting about cooking that appeals to my brain. The only problem being that I have to eat what I’ve baked or cooked and that’s where the running also comes in!

Watching TV

I could lie to you and say this is in the name of research. I spend a lot of time watching crime drama or thrillers so I am learning about plot and structure. But really I find it to be good down time. Watching TV doesn’t need as much brain power as reading does and it’s a break away from my phone/tablet/laptop. Generally speaking my telly watching is quite targeted. Most of what I watch is recorded so I can watch when it’s convenient for me. This means if I do decide to write in the evenings I don’t miss out on anything.

Reading

I should really include this in writing activities but I find reading very relaxing. Yes up to a point this is research for writing – reading other people’s work helps you learn how to write – but with a really good book you find that you’re not analysing you’re just reading. My favourite book for that is Tell No One by Harlan Coven. What could be better than losing yourself in a different world and with different people.

Going on holiday

Ok this only happens a couple of times a year but a week or two away from home, preferably somewhere hot and sunny, is great for recharging the batteries. It’s a chance to exercise, read and chill out while letting someone else cook your dinner and bring you a beer. It gets me away from work, and mostly from writing as well. The first couple of days are usually affected by guilt for not writing, but after that I start to unwind and forget about anything but relaxing (and where I’m going to have dinner – see, obsessed with food!).

And of course into all these things – and the most important – is spending time with my boyfriend. I couldn’t manage without him and he doesn’t mind too much when writing takes over.

So that’s what my life revolves around on a regular basis. I don’t always manage to fit them all in, after all writing takes priority especially at weekends, but they’re my way of stepping away from the fictional world and into the real one.

 

A Deadly Rejection is available in ebook and paperback from Amazon. UK address is https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0768WP1SB

Catch up with me on Twitter @lmmilford or visit my website www.lmmilford.wordpress.com

 

Previous Guest Posts

First guest post (January 2018) – My writing journey

https://aloverofbooks.wordpress.com/2018/01/31/lynne-milfords-monthly-guest-post/

Second guest post (February 2018) – Where did A Deadly Rejection come from?

https://aloverofbooks.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/lynne-milfords-aka-lm-milfords-monthly-guest-post/

Third guest post (March 2018) – Creating the perfect cast for A Deadly Rejection

https://aloverofbooks.wordpress.com/2018/03/28/lynne-milfords-aka-lm-milfords-monthly-guest-post-march-2018/

Fourth guest post (April 2018) – Why you should write a series

https://aloverofbooks.wordpress.com/2018/04/29/lynne-milfords-aka-lm-milfords-monthly-guest-post-april-2018/

 

Blog Tour – ‘Rose Gold’ by David Barker

‘Rose Gold’ was published in paperback and as an eBook on the 10th May 2018 by Urbane Publications.  The second book in the Gaia Trilogy, it can be read as a standalone novel.  I would like to thank David Barker for inviting me to take part in his blog tour.  This book is getting such good reviews.

I have an exclusive extract from ‘Rose Gold’ for all of you, but first here’s what its about.

 

Book Blurb

Rose Gold is a thriller set in the near future, in the aftermath of a world war for water. Geopolitical tensions remain high and terrorism is a daily fact of life. But a mining base on the moon offers a rare example of international co-operation and a possible solution to the world’s energy problems. Yet not everyone on Earth is keen for this endeavour to succeed…

Rose Gold is the sequel to Blue Gold, but can be read as a stand-alone novel. It draws on influences as diverse as Arthur C Clarke’s A Fall of Moondust, the film Moon and Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries.

 

Extract

Click on the link to read Chapters 1, 2 and 3.

Extract from ‘Rose Gold’

~~~~

Like the sound of ‘Rose Gold’?  Well, it’s available to buy from Amazon UK:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rose-Gold-thriller-thats-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B07CF4NS8Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1526224951&sr=1-3&keywords=david+barker

 

About David Barker

David was born in Cheshire but now lives in Berkshire. He is married to an author of children’s picture books, with a daughter who loves stories. His working life has been spent in the City, first for the Bank of England and now as Chief Economist for an international fund. So his job entails trying to predict the future all the time. David’s writing ambitions received a major boost after he attended the Faber Academy six-month course in 2014 and he still meets up with his inspirational fellow students. He loves reading, especially adventure stories, sci-fi and military history. Outside of family life, his other interests include tennis, golf and surfing. Rose Gold, sequel to Blue Gold, publishes spring 2018.

 

Links

Website – http://davidbarkerauthor.co.uk/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/bluegold201

 

Cover Reveal – ‘Stealth’ by Hugh Fraser

It’s a brand new month and I have something very special for you today. Fans of Hugh Fraser will be thrilled to learn that he has a new book coming out. ‘Stealth’, the fourth in the Rina Walker series is being published in hardback on the 4th October 2018 by Urbane Publications.

I can’t tell you how excited I am to be revealing the cover for ‘Stealth’. I personally love it and think it’s been very cleverly designed.

Well, are you all ready to see it? Is that a Yes??

Feast your eyes on this then…..

 

Book Blurb

Stealth’ is book 4 in the bestselling Rina Walker series, following ‘Harm’, ‘Threat’ and ‘Malice’.

When a working girl is brutally murdered in a Soho club, Rina Walker takes out the killer and attracts the attention of a sinister line-up of gangland enforcers with a great deal to prove.

Rina will need to call upon all her dark skills not simply to survive, but to protect those she loves.

Publishes October 4^th 2018, £16.99 Hardback

 

About Hugh Fraser

Hugh Fraser is best known for playing Captain Hastings in Agatha Christie’s ‘Poirot’ and the Duke of Wellington in ‘Sharpe’. His films include Patriot Games, 101 Dalmatians, The Draughtsman’s Contract and Clint Eastwood’s Firefox. In the theatre he has appeared in Teeth’n’Smiles at the Royal Court and Wyndhams and in several roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has also narrated many of Agatha Christie’s novels as audio books. He has now written three books in the Rina Walker series – Harm, Threat and Malice. Stealth is due in autumn 2018.

 

Links

Hugh Fraser’s other books – https://urbanepublications.com/authors/hugh-fraser/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/realhughfraser/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/realhughfraser

Lynne Milford’s (aka LM Milford’s) Monthly Guest Post – April 2018

Lynne Milford (aka LM Milford) won my Twitter competition last year to feature on my blog for twelve months.  Her debut novel, ‘A Deadly Rejection’ sounds really good and I am still enjoying learning all about it.  This month Lynne is talking about writing a series.

 

Why you should write a series

The definition of a series is probably quite fluid. It could be over a short period of time with a definite beginning and end – like Broadchurch – or over a longer term with the same characters but different plots – like Midsomer Murders. Whichever way you choose to do it, it takes some long-term planning.

When I was a very green writer, scribbling away desperately on my first novel, I envisaged vaguely that it could be a series. I had no firm plans about how to accomplish this (crazy, isn’t it?) apart from that I’d go about it slightly differently. Instead of the series being led by the main character, the link for the series would be that it all happened in Allensbury with a different main character for each book. The police officers would remain the same, because the series is set in the same town, but I wanted a different protagonist to keep things fresh. One of the police officers has his own novella, but in theory that sits outside the series.

However, when I had Book One structurally edited, it was suggested that the protagonists would make good series characters. This pulled me up short, because clearly it wasn’t something I’d considered before.

If I was going to turn the books into a series, there were a few questions I had to ask myself:

• Are the main characters strong enough to carry a series? If not, then I needed to beef them up, or come up with some new ones.
• Is it realistic that they could come across so many murders without people asking questions? I read somewhere that you shouldn’t have a journalist as a main character because their motivation, as reporting on the story, wouldn’t be strong enough. This is another piece of advice that I ignored and gave him a damn good reason to investigate.
• Do you have enough legitimate plot ideas to turn into a series? You need to make sure every book is believable or you’ll lose the readers. I’d say you need to think up at least four ideas before you start working on a series, and have a skeleton plan for each of them to make sure they’re sustainable.

At first I decided that I’d stick with my original plan and change the protagonist for Book Two, but when A Deadly Rejection was published I got some positive feedback about Dan, the news reporter who leads the story. I decided that if people really like Dan then he needs to continue. His job means that he will constantly come up against crimes and have a legitimate reason to want to solve them. He’s also ably supported by Emma, the crime reporter, who can also become the protagonist if necessary. In fact, that will happen in the next book in the series – titled at present Book Three.

I already had Book Two written from start to finish, with Dan only playing a cameo role. It took a lot of thinking and replotting to get the book to a point where he would convincingly fit in as the lead character. I was concerned that it may look like he’d been shoehorned in, but early feedback from beta readers suggests that, in the main, the story works. There is still work to do on the book and it’ll soon go off to my professional editor for her feedback. I’m fairly confident that she’ll be happy with it, but I’m sure there’ll also be plenty of suggestions to make the book better.

At present I have plans for another two Allensbury novels – they’ll be badged as the Allensbury Mysteries once I have more than one, and there are also 2-3 novellas to come as part of the series. However, once I’ve finished those I’ll be considering whether to continue to come up with Allensbury-related ideas or whether to strike out and try something new. All I can promise is that there’ll be more murder and mayhem, and that it’ll be another series.

A Deadly Rejection is available in ebook and paperback from Amazon. UK address is https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0768WP1SB

Catch up with me on Twitter @lmmilford or visit my website www.lmmilford.wordpress.com

 

Previous Guest Posts

First guest post (January 2018) – My writing journey

https://aloverofbooks.wordpress.com/2018/01/31/lynne-milfords-monthly-guest-post/

Second guest post (February 2018) – Where did A Deadly Rejection come from?

https://aloverofbooks.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/lynne-milfords-aka-lm-milfords-monthly-guest-post/

Third guest post (March 2018) – Creating the perfect cast for A Deadly Rejection

https://aloverofbooks.wordpress.com/2018/03/28/lynne-milfords-aka-lm-milfords-monthly-guest-post-march-2018/

Blog Tour – ‘Abel’s Revenge’ by Ross Greenwood

‘Abel’s Revenge’ was published as an eBook on the 25th March 2018 and is also available in paperback. Having read and reviewed Ross Greenwood’s last book I was thrilled to be invited to take part in this blog tour. I would like to thank both Caroline Vincent who organised this tour and Ross Greenwood for my review copy of his book.

This story is set in a city, London to be precise. Like any other place, there’s violence. There are murderers who live amongst us.

This is also a tale about a couple who are sometimes friends, occasionally lovers, but always partners no matter what happens. Dan and Olivia are fighting everyday battles; the ones parents have over a lack of money, time or peace.

Meanwhile an escalating serial killer is terrifying the streets and homes. As the body count rises their relationship crumbles. Society reveals its dark side and it seems no one is safe. Will Abel’s reign of terror ever end or will it get worse?

I loved the sound of ‘Abel’s Revenge’ and was really looking forward to reading it. This is the second of Ross Greenwood’s books that I have read. I really do like his style of writing. The short chapters made the story all the more exciting and left me dying to know what was going to happen next.

The chapters are narrated mainly by the main characters; Abel, Dan and Olivia. There are two different storylines. There’s the serial killer who commits some absolutely horrendous crimes and then there’s Dan and Olivia who are going through a rough time.

I liked the dark humour in this story. There was also quite a bit of toilet humour which might not be to everyone’s taste. Dan and Olivia are an everyday flawed normal couple who are having a few ups and downs. There’s never enough money or time to do everything. Having children also means they don’t get much peace. Dan has a nervous breakdown and is signed off work for months and from then on his relationship with Olivia seems to get worse. In the meantime, Abel is roaming the streets, terrorising and torturing people. He’s out for revenge and he’ll do what he can to rid the city of vermin. Who needs dealers and pimps anyway.

That ending! I never in a million years expected to read what I did. It left me really quite shocked.

‘Abel’s Revenge’ is gripping and exciting and will leave you wanting more.

Thanks for a fabulous read, Ross. You are fast becoming one of my favourite authors and I await your next book eagerly.

I give this book 5 out of 5.

~~~~~

‘Abel’s Revenge’ is available from:-

Amazon UK – http://bit.ly/AbelsRevenge-RossGreenwood-AmazonUK

Amazon US – http://bit.ly/AbelsRevenge-RossGreenwood-AmazonUS

 

Links

Website – www.rossgreenwoodauthor.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/RossGreenwoodAuthor/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/greenwoodross

 

Other Books by Ross Greenwood

Lazy Blood (Sept. 2016) – Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2pqxLfo
The Boy Inside (Febr 2017) – Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2uuGWRQ
Fifty Years of Fear (Sept.2017) – Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2DY1TWB

 

Lynne Milford’s (aka LM Milford’s) Monthly Guest Post – March 2018

It’s time for Lynne Milford’s monthly guest post. I hope you have enjoyed her posts so far. They really are fascinating. For ease of reference I will add the links to them at the bottom. Today Lynne is talking about creating the perfect cast for her book.

 

Creating the perfect cast for A Deadly Rejection

JK Rowling famously said that Harry Potter walked into her head fully formed. Sadly, my main character, journalist Dan Sullivan, certainly did not. Instead he’s been dragged, kicking and screaming into the person he is now.

I started writing A Deadly Rejection a long time ago and, as I was writing what I know, I based Dan very loosely on the male friends I had at the time. Boys in their early 20s are a bit daft and don’t really take things seriously – or at least the guys I knew didn’t – and so that’s what Dan did.

But then I shared the book with my editor and she said ‘he seems a bit childish’. And indeed he was. He was a terrible sulk and didn’t really think things through. This worried me because I needed the reader to take him seriously. So I took a step back and Dan grew up a lot, very quickly.

I’d decided to write a male main character because I always struggled to develop realistic female characters. Instead of coming out as real people, they were always what I wanted to be – tall, slim, gorgeous and brilliant at everything. That doesn’t work for a fictional character because no one is perfect – and frankly they’ll just come across as smug and annoying for the reader. So instead I took a step away by choosing a male lead.

All great characters generally have a fatal flaw, something that will prove to be their downfall. For example, Macbeth’s fatal flaw is ambition. In a journalist, this works particularly well and so Dan developed a serious ambition problem. You can see by the mistakes he makes and the way he acts that he’s getting carried away. He needs someone to bring him in line. That’s where your supporting cast comes in.

Your main character needs friends who bring out the best in them and enemies who bring out the worst. In the first instance, Dan has Emma and Ed, both work colleagues and friends. I often feel deeply sorry for them as they battle to keep Dan from flying off at a tangent. Then there are those who play on his fatal flaw and drag him towards danger knowing that he’ll follow where they lead, desperate for the next step in his career.

But the relationships between Dan and Emma and Dan and Ed are not straightforward. For a start, Emma can’t stand him. His ambition and borderline arrogance get on her nerves. But one of the reasons that happens is because she shares his ambition, up to a point. (There is a reason but that’s for a later book.) However, she has a well developed sense of self preservation. You can’t imagine her behaving the way Dan does. Ed again is different. He’s not ambitious but he does a good job at what he does. At times Dan drives him mad because he doesn’t understand why Dan behaves the way he does. He doesn’t understand the need to prove yourself because he’s secure in himself and what he wants.

It’s equally important to create a good villain. Your bad guy needs to work against your hero and frustrate him at every turn. This means that your bad guy needs to know how to push your hero’s buttons. In A Deadly Rejection, the bad guys know exactly how to reel Dan in until they’ve got him exactly where they want him. But your bad guy needs to be realistic. He (or she) needs to fit into the book, sometimes fit right into the world your characters live in, hiding his evil nature in plain sight. It’s as important for your villain to be right, as for your hero.

I hadn’t initially planned for Dan to be a series character. I’d intended to make the town the centre of the story, with the same police officers, but Dan would only play cameo roles in the later books. But he seems to have been popular with readers so far and so he’s going to be leading the series. Let’s just hope it doesn’t go to his head, eh?

 

 

Book Blurb

How far would you go to get what you want?

Beneath the bustling, respectable exterior of the Kent town of Allensbury lies a world of corruption and greed.

When local news reporter Dan Sullivan scents a story in the local council, he begins to ask questions. But when his source dies in mysterious circumstances, Dan is implicated. He is quickly drawn into a world of lies, ambition and avarice as he fights to clear his name.

The more he digs, the more someone tries to stop the story from ever seeing the light of day.

Dan must decide what’s more important to him…the story, or his life.

 

Links

Book shortlink to Amazon http://ow.ly/57IG30fS5F5

Long link UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deadly-Rejection-would-what-want-ebook/dp/B0768WP1SB/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507972626&sr=8-1&keywords=a+deadly+rejection

LM Milford’s blog – http://www.lmmilford.wordpress.com/

Twitter – @lmmilford

 

Previous Guest Posts

First guest post (January 2018) – My writing journey

https://aloverofbooks.wordpress.com/2018/01/31/lynne-milfords-monthly-guest-post/

Second guest Post (February 2018) – Where did A Deadly Rejection come from?

https://aloverofbooks.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/lynne-milfords-aka-lm-milfords-monthly-guest-post/

Lynne Milford’s (aka LM Milford’s) Monthly Guest Post

I am delighted to welcome the lovely Lynne Milford aka LM Milford back to my blog.  Lynne was the winner of my competition to feature on my blog for a whole year.  Here is her second guest post.

 

Where did A Deadly Rejection come from?

When you’re starting out as a writer, one of the first pieces of advice you’re given is ‘write what you know’. There are several schools of thought on whether this is good advice or not – some say you can write about what you like as long as you’ve done the research. But I think when you’re first starting out, writing about something you know well means you can concentrate on learning how to write, without having to stop and research every step. That can come later, once you have writing experience.

In a former life, I was a local newspaper reporter for about 8 years. In that time I did some great jobs and some awful jobs. One of the not-quite-so-bad jobs was covering council meetings. I’d been to them all – planning, licensing, governance, for example. These meetings could be fascinating and dull in equal measures. Sometimes you had to dig to get a story from them, but there was always something there if you looked hard enough.

It was during a meeting of the ‘Innovation Panel’ that my brain started to stir.

The meeting had run on for two hours, with very little innovation taking place, when the councillors decided they’d better have a comfort break. My heart sank at the idea of yet more time wasted. Bear in mind that it was now after 8pm and I’d been working since 9am. In addition, I have to file what stories I could glean from the meeting before I could go to bed (to fill any spaces left in the next day’s edition). I had pages and pages of shorthand notes and began to review them to make writing up easier. Near me, as I sat at the desk kept for the press, was a small gaggle of councillors and officers deep in whispered conversation. As I picked up my pen to make a note in the margin by a useful quote, they all stopped talking, stared at me and then, as a group shuffled away to the back of the room.

Immediately my suspicious journalist brain lit up with ‘what were they talking about that they thought I’d overheard?’. It was probably nothing, but for the next few weeks I couldn’t shake that idea from my head, that if something was going on, what would they do to stop me from printing what they thought I’d overheard?

There would have been a lot of ways to do that without going to the extremes of what happens to Dan, the reporter in A Deadly Rejection, but I’ve always been somewhat over-dramatic about this type of thing – a good skill for a crime writer to have, don’t you think?

I can’t recall the moment I sat down to write the book, but it probably began to emerge over the next few weeks. It seems strange to look back now, when the book has been edited and changed so much, and think that without that one moment, that one reaction to a journalist, A Deadly Rejection might not have happened.

The book took over my life for many an evening, weekend, holiday for years but finally I’ve got it onto the virtual bookshelves and readers are enjoying it (most importantly).

I thank those councillors and officers for the inspiration. I promise that none of them is in the finished book, nor is the innovation panel. After all, who would believe that such a thing existed? You couldn’t make it up.

~~~~~

You can read Lynne’s first guest post about her writing journey here https://aloverofbooks.wordpress.com/2018/01/31/lynne-milfords-monthly-guest-post/

 

Book Blurb

How far would you go to get what you want?

Beneath the bustling, respectable exterior of the Kent town of Allensbury lies a world of corruption and greed.

When local news reporter Dan Sullivan scents a story in the local council, he begins to ask questions. But when his source dies in mysterious circumstances, Dan is implicated. He is quickly drawn into a world of lies, ambition and avarice as he fights to clear his name.

The more he digs, the more someone tries to stop the story from ever seeing the light of day.

Dan must decide what’s more important to him…the story, or his life.

 

Links

Book shortlink to Amazon http://ow.ly/57IG30fS5F5

Long link UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deadly-Rejection-would-what-want-ebook/dp/B0768WP1SB/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507972626&sr=8-1&keywords=a+deadly+rejection

LM Milford’s blog – http://www.lmmilford.wordpress.com/

Twitter – @lmmilford

 

Cover Reveal – ‘Abel’s Revenge’ by Ross Greenwood

This is such an exciting day.  You might be wondering why and the reason is this.  ‘Abel’s Revenge’ is Ross Greenwood’s brand new book and it is being published as an eBook on the 25th March 2018.  Today, along with a number of other bloggers I am helping to reveal the cover and I can tell you now that it is fab.

So, are you ready to see the cover?  I won’t keep you waiting any longer.  Feast your eyes on this little beauty…..

 

Book Blurb

This is a story about a city. As with all others, it’s a place of violence. There are murderers, and they live among us.

This is also a tale about a couple — sometimes friends, occasionally lovers, but always partners. Dan and Olivia are fighting modern battles; the ones parents have over a lack of money, time or peace.

An escalating serial killer terrifies the streets and homes. The body count rises as their relationship crumbles. Society reveals its dark side, and no one is safe. Dan and Olivia experience this first-hand as danger closes in.

Will Abel’s reign of terror ever end?

Who will live and who will die?

~~~~~

‘Abel’s Revenge’ can be pre-ordered from:-

Amazon UK – http://bit.ly/AbelsRevenge-RossGreenwood-AmazonUK

Amazon US – http://bit.ly/AbelsRevenge-RossGreenwood-AmazonUS

 

About Ross Greenwood

Ross Greenwood was born in 1973 in Peterborough and lived there until he was 20, attending The King’s School in the city. He then began a rather nomadic existence, living and working all over the country and various parts of the world.

Ross found himself returning to Peterborough many times over the years, usually, so he says “when things had gone wrong.” It was on one of these occasions that he met his partner about 100 metres from his back door whilst walking a dog. Two children swiftly followed. And, according to Ross, he is “still a little stunned by the pace of it now.”

Lazy Blood book was started a long time ago but parenthood and then four years as a prison officer got in the way. Ironically it was the four a.m. feed which gave the author the opportunity to finish the book as unable to get back to sleep he completed it in the early morning hours.

Ross Greenwood’s second book, The Boy Inside, was picked up by Bloodhound Books, and in September 2017, Fifty Years of Fear was published. All his books are thought provoking, and told with a sense of humour.

Ross Greenwood hopes you enjoy reading them.

 

Author Links

Website – www.rossgreenwoodauthor.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/RossGreenwoodAuthor/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/greenwoodross

 

Other Books by Ross Greenwood

Lazy Blood (Sept. 2016) – Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2pqxLfo
The Boy Inside (Febr 2017) – Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2uuGWRQ
Fifty Years of Fear (Sept.2017) – Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2DY1TWB

~~~~~

Blog Tour

There will be a blog tour starting on publication day which has been organised by the wonderful Caroline Vincent of Bits about Books.

Lynne Milford’s Monthly Guest Post

Last year I ran a competition on Twitter, the prize being for an author to feature on my blog for a whole year.  The lucky winner was Lynne Milford aka LM Milford.  During the course of this year Lynne will be writing a variety of guest posts which I hope you all enjoy.

 

My writing journey

If you’d asked me as a child what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer would, without any thought, have been ‘a writer’. By that, I meant a published author with a shelf groaning with my books. I think I was about seven or eight-years-old when I developed this ambition. It was last year, at the age of 36 and a half, that I finally achieved that aim. That should tell you just how long my writing journey has been!

But in actual fact, I’ve been a writer since the day I picked up a pencil at the age of seven or eight and started to try and write a story. When I look back at my work it’s clear what I was reading at the time because my writing very much mirrors it. When I was in my Famous Five phase, it was always children having adventures without the problem of parents stopping you from having fun. When I hit my teens and moved on to Sweet Valley High and other romantic fiction, I tried my hand at that but soon realised it wasn’t for me. I simply couldn’t create a heroine who wasn’t a carbon copy of any other heroines out there. Maybe it was that I didn’t really believe in romance – it was something that hadn’t really touched me and so I couldn’t express it.

Then I met (figuratively speaking) a nice lady called Agatha Christie. Suddenly reading, and writing, took on a new dimension. I’d found my home – my genre – in the tightly plotted mystery. I recently said to a friend that Agatha Christie was one of my major influencers and she said you can see it in my book – what a compliment! So it’s clear that you learn to write by reading extensively in your genre.

It was an exercise in a Year 9 English literature class that really set me off on my journey to being a crime writer. We were told to write the opening scene of a novel, using a number of set words. Mine turned into a private detective heading down to a country house party to tackle a mysterious circumstance. You can see Agatha Christie’s influence there, can’t you? I never finished that book (I may one day, who knows) but it gave me the taste for sitting down and creating people and a mystery that my main character had to solve. And, of course, he would be the only person who could solve it!

I’ve always been aware that a career as a full-time writer is a long way off – if not out of my grasp – and so I’ve always had a full-time job. I started out in journalism and it was during a very dull council meeting that the book that became A Deadly Rejection started to develop. That was in about 2007, so that will also tell you how long the writing journey is (or can be). Over the next two years I poured the unplanned story onto the page and then learned, the hard way, that a novel needs to be plotted out before you start writing. Otherwise you spend ages going up blind alleys and wasting a lot of time. At the end of the two years I was quite pleased with the story and after a bit of tinkering sent it out to a few agents. I now recognise this was a bit of a mistake because the book was nowhere near ready, but I have a very nice rejection letter from one agent which I’ve kept all these years.

When nothing happened with Book One, I decided to sit down and write another. Again it took two years, thanks to my full time job and a period of illness. It was also unplanned. However, this gave me the confidence that I could do it again – by which I mean finish something. That’s a big challenge in writing – to not decide that what you’re writing is a load of rubbish (it probably isn’t) and give up.

Since then, I’ve learned a lot. I revised A Deadly Rejection over and over again, learning more and more about the plotting and editing process as I went along. It’s been slow progress and has taken longer than it took to write to kick the book into shape. It’s taken blood, sweat and tears (literally in some cases) to get the book to where it is, but it’s been worth every second. To stand there holding your paperback, knowing that you did it all yourself (it’s self-published) is a feeling that’s second to none.

Publishing the first book is fantastic, but it’s not the end – it’s only the beginning. I’m currently kicking Book Two into shape and am hoping to publish it later this year. Then it’s onto writing Book Three and editing the novella that I’ve already written.

Sometimes writing is hard work. Just getting into the writing chair feels impossible. But it’s worth it for the end result!

A Deadly Rejection is available in paperback and ebook through Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0768WP1SB

 

About Lynne Milford

By day, I work in PR and communications; by night (and at weekends) I write crime fiction (as well as baking pies and chocolate brownies).

In a previous life I worked as a local newspaper reporter. This gave me the inspiration for the story that has become my first novel, A Deadly Rejection.

I live in Kent and spend far too much time on trains commuting into London for work, which does however give me time to work on plotting and writing my books.

You can keep tabs on what I’m up to by following me on Twitter @lmmilford or by checking out my blog www.lmmilford.wordpress.com. I write about what I’m working on, advice on what I’ve learned through my work and how to move forward with writing.

 

Cover Reveal – ‘Disposal’ by David Evans

I am really excited to be revealing the cover for ‘Disposal’ by David Evans.  The first book in the Tendring series, it is being published in paperback and as an eBook on the 16th January 2018 by Orchard View Publications.

Here’s what ‘Disposal’ is about.

 

Book Blurb

August 1976 and it seems as though the long hot summer will never end. Early morning at Clacton on the north Essex coast, a light aircraft takes off from the airstrip but struggles for height and crashes into the sea. First on the scene, Sergeant Cyril Claydon pulls the pilot’s body from the wreckage. But something else catches his eye. A bulky package wrapped in black plastic is on the passenger seat. Returning to investigate, he makes a grim discovery – another body. And so begins a series of events that puts him and others in danger as he is drawn into the investigation, having to work alongside DI ‘Dick’ Barton, a man with totally alien attitudes. Can they work together?

~~~~~

‘Disposal’ will soon be available to pre-order from:-

Amazon UK – http://bit.ly/AmUKtoDisposal-DavidEvans

Amazon US – http://bit.ly/AmUStoDisposal-DavidEvans

 

About David Evans

David Evans is a Scots-born writer who found his true love as well as his inspiration for his detective series, set primarily in Wakefield. Having written all his life, in 2012 he decided to go for it – successfully as the next year, in 2013, he was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger Award.

The Wakefield Series became an International Bestseller in June 2017 with success in Canada and Australia as well as the UK. But now, whilst the Wakefield Series awaits the next instalment, David Evans has written Disposal, the first in the Tendring Series, a completely new detective series set in north Essex in the 1970s.

 

Links

Author Website: http://www.davidevanswriter.co.uk/

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/davidevanswriter/

Twitter: @DavidEwriter

~~~~~

The blog tour for ‘Disposal’, organised by Caroline Vincent of Bits about Books will be starting on the 16th January 2018 so do keep a look out for it.

 

Book Extract – ‘Don’t Tell A Soul’ by D.K. Hood

Bookouture are publishing some amazing books at the moment.  ‘Don’t Tell A Soul’, the first in the Detectives Kane and Alton series was released last month in paperback and as an eBook.  I have an extract from this book for all of you to read, but first here’s what it’s all about.

 

Book Blurb

Small town. Big crimes. Dark secrets.

A wave of panic rushed over her as her heart pounded hard enough to break her ribs. ‘Not a soul knows where I am,’ she thought as she took in the darkness around her.

Sheriff Jenna Alton and her deputy David Kane arrive in the town of Black Rock Falls, each hoping to escape their past for a new beginning. But instead, they find a town living in terror, and a killer on the loose…

Samantha Woodward was last seen driving towards Black Rock Falls to buy a house for her family. They haven’t heard from her since, and they fear for her life.

John Helms headed to town to watch a big game, but nobody knows if he made it or not. He was never seen again.

When a body is found, and Jenna’s life is threatened, she and her deputy become caught in a race against time to find a brutal killer, and to unlock the secret that lies at the dark heart of the town before it is too late…

Don’t Tell a Soul is a tense detective thriller that will have you guessing right up until the end, perfect for readers of Robert Dugoni, Karin Slaughter and Rachel Abbott.

 

Extract

Prologue

Kill me. One blood-splattered cowboy boot crunched on the chipped cement floor inches away from his cheek. A sick chuckle followed by a nerve-shattering kick to broken ribs brought back the tremors. A lightning bolt of white-hot agony shot down his spine. In a desperate attempt to pull precious air through swollen lips, he spat blood and gasped precious air. Lungs burning with effort, he writhed like a worm in the dirt waiting for the death blow. His vision blurred and pain pierced his eyes. He had lost all sense of direction, and his tormentor’s peals of satanic laughter played tricks with his confused mind. Night had drifted into another day of endless torture. He tried to crawl away and puffed out a spray of red, stirring the straw on the dusty floor.

How long had it been since he walked into the stables? One day? Five days? Time had become the periods between attacks. He had suffered unimaginable torture from a man well skilled at inflicting misery, but he’d somehow survived. At first, he tried to reason with his captor and gave him the information he demanded, but he had fallen into a lunatic’s sadistic fantasy. He had had no time to retaliate, no time to bargain for his life. The first hammer blow knocked him senseless and he came out of oblivion into a world of pain, tied hand and foot at the mercy of a monster.

He hovered between reality and delusion. The mind is a wonderful organ, and his tried to compensate by taking him on trips to the beach with his family. At times, he floated into another dimension on marshmallow clouds but reality came crashing back with each round of torment. He soon discovered crying or begging for mercy made the sessions last longer. Biting back moans and pretending to be unconscious gave the wielder of pain no satisfaction.

Under him, the cold floor acted as a balm to his injuries, numbing the agony, and when darkness came, he could crawl beneath a pile of stinking straw. The fermenting horse dung kept him warm, kept him alive. He had spent the first hours in captivity gnawing at the ropes around his wrists, using his teeth to loosen the knot, but one swing of the lunatic’s hammer put paid to any hope of escape. A shadow passed over him. A boot pressed down on his spine, the heel twisting to part the vertebrae in bone-jarring agony. Sensation left his legs. He has paralyzed me. Determined not to give him the satisfaction of crying out, he remained silent. One more night naked on the freezing ground would finish him, and he would welcome the release.

A car engine hummed in the distance and Cowboy Boots bent over him, grabbed his legs, and dragged him into a stall. Straw tumbled over him, coating his eyelashes with dust. Through the golden strands, he peered out the open door and his heart pounded in anticipation. A police cruiser pulled up in the driveway and two uniformed officers climbed out. A female cop handed his captor a piece of paper. He edged forward on his elbows, dragging his useless legs behind him. Sucking in a deep breath, he screamed though his shredded lips but only a long whine escaped his throat. The woman glanced in his direction and he clawed at the ground, edging inch by inch from the stall. He had to get her attention, and fighting back waves of nausea, he tried again. “Aaaaarh.”

The police officer indicated toward the barn with her chin then moved in his direction, but Cowboy Boots blocked her way and shook his head. A grin spread across his face with the cunning of a gargoyle, evil personified. The cop spoke again but her muffled words dissipated in the wind and his tormentor’s attention moved back to the paper in his hand. Somehow, he had convinced her all was well. I have a chance to escape. He dug for his last ounce of strength and bucked to move forward one painful inch at a time.

I must crawl into the open. Spitting blood, he pushed sound through his shattered mouth. Hear me. Please hear me. “Aaaaarh.”

The woman flicked a look his way, squeezed Cowboy Boots’ arm in a comforting gesture then followed the other officer back to the car. Despair enveloped him, and all hope lost, he allowed the tears stinging his eyes to run down his cheeks. Footsteps came tapping on the cement floor like the ringing of a death knell. His cries for help had enraged the maniac.

“How dare you try to alert the cops? I own you.” Cowboy Boots spat a hot, slimy globule on his cheek. “It’s your fault the bitch scanned my yard. You are so gonna pay.”

Blows rained down on him, searing pain exploded in his head, and his vision blinked. A strange fog surrounded him and he embraced the peace of darkness.

~~~~~

Has this extract left you needing to read more?  If so, you can buy it from:-

Amazon UK – http://amzn.to/2wESpf4

Amazon US – http://amzn.to/2vgQtva

 

About D.K. Hood

I’ve always had a wicked sense of humour, and was the kid who told the ghost stories around the campfire. I am lucky to have family all over the world and have spent many wonderful vacations in places from Paris France to Montana USA and Australia. I use the wonderful memories from these visits to enhance my stories.

My interest in the development of forensic science to solve crime goes back many years. I enjoy writing crime, mystery and thrillers. With many stories, waiting for me to write I’ll look forward to sharing many spine tingling stories with you. D.K. Hood is an active member of International Thriller Writers.

Website – www.dkhood.com

 

Blog Tour – ‘A Litany of Good Intentions’ by Andrew Harris

Congratulations to Andrew Harris whose new book ‘A Litany of Good Intentions’, the second of The Human Spirit Trilogy is out today, published by Faithful Hound Media.  I am delighted to be taking part in this blog tour for which Andrew has written a guest post, but first here’s what the book is about.

 

Book Blurb

A thrilling, powerful and important story of a discovery that could change the world, that some would stop at nothing to keep hidden… 

Leading oncologist Dr Hannah Siekierkowski and her partner Lawrence McGlynn are visiting New Delhi for a conference, and enjoying a well-earned break. By chance, they meet Lawrence’s old friend Toby and his passionate daughter Okki, a charity worker. She introduces them to the organisation Sanitation In Action, and its charismatic leader, the young Chinese philanthropist Jock Lim.

An end to world poverty is more than just a dream for Jock. Through his charity connections and his fiancée Nisha’s extraordinary scientific breakthrough, Jock has discovered a way to release 2.6 billion people from the imminent threat of death and disease. Caught up in their passion and energy, Hannah agrees to help present their project at a conference in Uppsala, Sweden.

But with the discovery of a dead body, they realise that someone will stop at nothing to prevent them from achieving Jock’s dream. As the clock ticks down to the conference, Hannah and Lawrence are drawn into a web of corporate greed, racial prejudice and a seething hatred of the new world order: a hatred that originates back in the Second World War, with even earlier links to Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

An urgent fast-paced thriller, about right and wrong, people versus profits, and the best of intentions pitted against the failings and greed of humanity, which fans of Robert Harris, John le Carre and Michael Cordy will love.

 

Guest Post

A Reluctant Celebrity

For most people, finding a cure for cancer or saving the world from poverty, would be a momentous achievement. For Dr Hannah Siekierkowski, CEO of New York’s own Klinkenhammer Foundation for Medical Research, it’s what she gets paid to do: just another day in the office.  Matthew Cox wanted to know how she was coping with so much media attention.   

“Wealth is like sea water: the more we drink, the thirstier we become. The same is true of fame… for most people anyway. But for me? I’ve got other things to do.” She quotes Arthur Schopenhauer like he was her great uncle. Maybe he was – the European connections run deep in her family history, according to the official bio I’ve received.

The coffees arrive with a fanfare. She waits while the table is being laid out. Restless fingers continue to drum on her stylish black skirt. She checks her watch for the third time in as many minutes.

Is this making you nervous, I ask? I offer to turn off the recorder. She shakes her head briefly, flashing a tepid smile before her attention is caught by something going on behind me.

“I didn’t think this place really existed,” she continues, back with me, at least for now, “yet it’s only a few blocks from our office. Even the cab driver didn’t believe me.”

I’d chosen the location for our interview carefully. My boss said Number Sixty Nine was classy and discreet. There was no signage on the outside. Entrance was by keypad through an unmarked door in the back alley. My best friend said it was an upmarket knocking shop for the rich and famous when they were in town….well, Getting It Off Broadway’s what he actually said.

“How was Scandinavia? Good Conference?” I tried to get her talking about her recent trip. Her A-list status was pretty high before the live TV appearance from Sweden. What we all witnessed that day had shaken the world and rocketed her into the media stratosphere.

“Look, I know you’ve got magazines to sell. I have a copy in my apartment. And I know why people are interested in what I’ve been doing. But do they really want to know what razors I shave my legs with or how I take my coffee?” she smiles, warmer this time, sips another mouthful of espresso. “This is good by the way, thank you.”

“OK, try this.” Her bio said she’d been brought up in Brooklyn so I went for the more direct approach. “It isn’t about you. Our readers want to meet the person behind the job title. Someone they can relate to. Someone they can believe in. Someone they can trust with their hard-earned cash.”

She goes quiet. I’ve finally got her full attention. “This article will be syndicated into the business press and picked up by the pharmaceutical companies, the trust funds, the healthcare corporations, the investment bankers. They want to know if you can make a fast buck for them. If you can maximise the return on their investment, as they say. That’s what this is all about.”

She leans back into the sofa and pulls the cuff down over her watch. She looks me full in the face for the first time. I feel her warmth wrapping itself around me. Somehow I’ve crossed a threshold. What will come next will be from the heart. From the heart of a woman who has saved so many hearts from a lifetime of misery and suffering.

“Making money has become an obsession at the expense of really matters.” She holds up her hand before I have a chance to speak, “and before you jump in, I know, I’m just as much a part of a money-making machine. Our medical research could not continue without it.”

Her hands are running over the soft chintzy material. She’s starting to relax.

“Lawrence was right. There never was an economic argument against slavery.” Any pretence at playing the media game has now gone. This was the person I really wanted to meet.

“People used to be more religious, more connected to a spiritual world of right and wrong, of good and evil. It wasn’t economics that led to the abolition of slavery. It was the moral argument. Nowadays, the moral argument has been washed away in a world of accountancy, financial investment, banking….a world of purely making money.”

Lawrence was the new man in her life. Her Head of Diabetes Research at the Foundation: he was also her partner, her live-in lover. Her colleagues told me she had taken fierce criticism over his appointment. Lawrence was under-qualified for the job. He’d had no previous medical training. Accusations of favouritism were thrown at her. It had been a challenging year, she pointed out.

“We have lost touch with our own humanity. People have become resources again to be bought and sold. Even in my own world of medical research, we are developing more and more profitable drugs to treat disease rather than trying to find out what causes the disease in the first place or how to prevent it.

She tells me that Alexander Fleming never profited out of the discovery of penicillin. The most important medical breakthrough in our history was his gift to world, she explains. Such an act of human kindness today would be unthinkable. What’s changed, she continues, is our attitude. For Fleming, it was about how he could save lives. Today is about me and how I can benefit financially, often at the expense of others.

“I can’t change the world. But I can lead by example. I feel very privileged to be who I am.” She checks her watch again. Times up. The ordeal is over. Her media obligation is fulfilled. We shake hands.

And one last question. What about the future? Her work in finding a cure for Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes is reaching a tipping point, so her PR agency reports. Would she like to comment?

The smile says it all. I’ll have to wait. We’ll all have to wait until she is ready to tell us. She may be a reluctant celebrity but I’m hooked – she is one fascinating, enigmatic woman.

 

About Andrew Harris

Andrew Harris moved from the United Kingdom to New Zealand in 2008. He was born in Liverpool, survived a grammar school education and graduated with a first class honours degree from the University of Leeds. He had a successful career in people management before running his own executive search consultancy. In this capacity, he travelled extensively and has been privileged to meet some remarkable and influential characters around the world.

One of his passions is crime fiction. Andrew strongly believes this genre provides the perfect vehicle for stimulating debate and challenging the status quo. He writes thrillers with a social conscience, putting fictional characters in real life situations.

A Litany of Good Intentions is the second book in Andrew’s The Human Spirit Trilogy, a series of thrillers with a social conscience based on exciting scientific discoveries in medicine, physics and biology. The second book follows The C Clef, published in April 2016 and available on Amazon.

In The Human Spirit Trilogy, Andrew combines the factual world of science with pacey, action-packed thrillers to explore urgent questions faced by humanity. Why isn’t there a cure for cancer? How do we end world poverty? What will eradicate addiction? How are we going to feed 9 billion people without destroying our precious planet?

Each book is a standalone novel and features the main characters of Dr Hannah Siekierkowski, leading American oncologist and Lawrence McGlynn, British project manager.

 

‘A Litany of Good Intentions’ is available to buy from Amazon UK:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Litany-Intentions-Human-Spirit-Trilogy/dp/1911195492/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1507744547&sr=1-1

 

Cover Reveal – ‘Hell to Pay’ by Rachel Amphlett

I am more than just a little bit excited today.  In fact I am thrilled as I can at last reveal the cover for Rachel Amphlett’s new book, ‘Hell to Pay’, the fourth book in the Detective Kay Hunter series.  I swear the covers just keep getting better and better.

‘Hell to Pay’ is being published on the 16th November 2017 by Saxon Publishing and will be available in paperback, as an eBook and in audiobook.  Here’s what it’s about.

 

Book Blurb

When a road traffic accident on a dark autumn night uncovers a disturbing conspiracy, Detective Sergeant Kay Hunter’s investigation exposes a ruthless serial killer exploiting vulnerable young women.

With her enemies unmasked and her career spiralling out of control, Kay’s determination to seek vengeance for the victims brings her dangerously close to those who want to silence her.

Undeterred, she uncovers the real reason behind a plot to destroy her career and sets in motion a terrifying chain of events.

Could Kay’s need for revenge be her undoing, or will she survive to see justice served?

Hell to Pay is a gripping fast paced crime thriller, and the fourth in the Detective Kay Hunter series:

1. SCARED TO DEATH

2. WILL TO LIVE

3. ONE TO WATCH

4. HELL TO PAY

A page-turning whodunit for fans of Peter Robinson, David Baldacci and James Patterson.

 

‘Hell to Pay’ can be pre-ordered from Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hell-Pay-Detective-Hunter-Thriller/dp/0994547943/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506969985&sr=1-1&keywords=hell+to+pay+by+rachel+amphlett

 

Blog Tour – ‘The One That Got Away’ by Annabel Kantaria

‘The One That Got Away’ was published in paperback and as an eBook on the 21st September 2017 by HQ Stories.  I am delighted to be closing this blog tour along with Creative Misfit and I have for you a guest post by Annabel Kantaria.  First though, here’s what the book is about.

 

Book Blurb

Everyone has one. An ex you still think about. The one who makes you ask ‘what if’?

Fifteen years have passed since Stella and George last saw each other. But something makes Stella click ‘yes’ to the invite to her school reunion.

There’s still a spark between them, and although their relationship ended badly, they begin an affair.

But once someone gets you back, sometimes they’re never going to let you go again…

 

Guest Post

On the mixed emotions of school reunions

Hello Sonya, and thanks for hosting me today as part of my blog tour.

How do you feel about school reunions? Have you been to one? Avoided one?

‘The One That Got Away’ begins when a couple who used to date at school meet up at their fifteen-year school reunion. As the story begins, you see the protagonist, Stella, who’s now a successful businesswoman, taking a moment to gather her thoughts before she goes into the venue. She’s not sure if she wants to go: she knows that her ex-boyfriend George – who’s now a bit of a celebrity – will be there. They parted on bad terms when they were eighteen, and Stella hasn’t seen him since. In fact, as she sits in the taxi, she’s not sure why she clicked yes to the invitation in the first place. Her life’s sorted now… but then, there always was something special about him. He’s ‘the one that got away’, and a part of her wants to show him what a success she’s made of her life.

My own year group had a reunion a few years ago and I knew at once that I wanted to go: aside from hoping that no-one would remember the incident involving the music teacher and a scotch egg, I had no need to avoid anyone, and I’m very nosy, which is ultimately what it’s about, isn’t it? You want to see how everyone’s really turned out without the benefit of Instagram filters and Facetune. And, despite experiencing last-minute nerves just like Stella, I’m glad I went. It was fun to see everyone again. It was really good to meet them all as adults, and to realise that, no matter who was in the ‘in’ crowd and who was geeky back in the day, we’re all treading the same paths now: even the coolest kids are just pretty normal adults dealing with partners, families, jobs and aging parents.

But, more than that, it was wonderful to meet up with people with whom I have a shared past. I realised that night that, whether or not you liked them at school, you have a unique bond with your classmates. No matter where you all live and what you do now, there’s a pot of really special memories that you can share only with them. Memories of teachers, of catch-phrases and of silly things that happened in the classroom – that time you projectile-vomited on the biology teacher’s shoes / set fire to your pencil case with a bunsen burner / fell flat on your face collecting an award in assembly – no-one else remembers these things and it’s fun to reminisce.

So, yes, for me, the reunion was a good thing, but for my fictitious Stella, the reunion’s a catalyst that kicks off a chain of increasingly dark events. I’d go as far to say that, if you’ve got a reunion coming up – and especially if your ex will be there – you might want to save reading ‘The One That Got Away’ until after you’ve been!

 

About Annabel Kantaria

Annabel Kantaria is a British journalist and columnist who’s written prolifically for publications in the UK and the Middle East. She lives in Dubai with her husband and two children. Her debut novel, Coming Home, won the Montegrappa Prize for First Fiction at the 2013 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. Her second novel, The Disappearance, was published in Spring 2016.

 

Links

‘The One That Got Away’ is available to buy from Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-That-Got-Away-ebook/dp/B01NCMVD8U/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1506016748&sr=1-2

Website – http://annabelkantaria.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/AnnabelKantariaAuthor

Twitter – https://twitter.com/bellakay

Instagram – http://instagram.com/dubaipix

 

Cover Reveal – ‘Fifty Years of Fear’ by Ross Greenwood

I am absolutely thrilled to be revealing the cover for Ross Greenwood’s new book.  I totally love it and think that it’s really eye catching.  ‘Fifty Years of Fear’ is being published on the 1st October 2017 and to coincide with its release there will be a blog tour starting on the same day.  All very exciting!  In the meantime though, here’s what the book is about.

 

Book Blurb

A childhood accident robs Vincent of his memories, causing him to become sensitive and anxious around others. His differences attract bullies, and he comes to rely heavily on the support of his family.

After the devastating loss of his parents, a remarkable woman teaches him to embrace life, and, little by little, he realises the world is far more forgiving than he imagined. When fragments of his memory return, he begins to unravel his past.

Who was his mother? What kind of man was his brother, Frank? And why does death surround him?

Fate is cruel. History is dark. Things are not as they seem.

Perhaps he should’ve stayed at home.

 

About Ross Greenwood

Ross Greenwood was born in 1973 in Peterborough and lived there until he was 20, attending The King’s School in the city. He then began a rather nomadic existence, living and working all over the country and various parts of the world.

Ross found himself returning to Peterborough many times over the years, usually, so he says “when things had gone wrong.” It was on one of these occasions that he met his partner about 100 metres from his back door whilst walking a dog. Two children swiftly followed. And, according to Ross, he is “still a little stunned by the pace of it now.”

Lazy Blood book was started a long time ago but parenthood and then four years as a prison officer got in the way. Ironically it was the four a.m. feed which gave the author the opportunity to finish the book as unable to get back to sleep he completed it in the early morning hours.

Ross Greenwood’s second book, The Boy Inside, was picked up by Bloodhound Books, and soon, Fifty Years of Fear, will be out. All his books are thought provoking, and told with a sense of humour.

Ross Greenwood hopes you enjoy reading them.

 

Links

‘Fifty Years of Fear’ can be pre-ordered from Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fifty-Years-Fear-Ross-Greenwood-ebook/dp/B075FFQVK9/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504811305&sr=1-1&keywords=fifty+years+of+fear

Website – http://www.rossgreenwoodauthor.com

Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/RossGreenwoodAuthor/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/greenwoodross

 

Blog Tour – ‘Last Stop Tokyo’ by James Buckler

‘Last Stop Tokyo’ is James Buckler’s debut novel. It is being published on the 24th August 2017 in hardback and as an eBook by Doubleday and Transworld Digital. The lovely Anne Cater invited me to participate in this blog tour and I would like to say thank you for my review copy.

Alex thought running away from all his mistakes would make everything better. He decides to move to Tokyo where he’ll have a new life.

The bright lights and dark corners of this alien and fascinating city intoxicate Alex and he finds himself transfixed. Not long after he arrives in Tokyo, Alex meets the enigmatic and alluring Naoko. He doesn’t realise it at the time but the peace he is after is about to slip even further from his grasp.

Alex is about to discover that there’s no such thing as hitting rock bottom. Things could get even worse.

Wow! Are you sure this is really a debut novel? It was absolutely fantastic and had me totally hooked. This was such an exciting and fast-paced read and I felt as if I had come off a rollercoaster by the end of it. I loved the author’s writing style and the storyline. I also enjoyed reading about the events which led to Alex deciding to make a new life for himself.

It was interesting reading about Tokyo. Life there seemed to go on non-stop and it sounded like a very modern city. This book is such a good example of being able to travel to another country without actually leaving your seat.

Out of all the characters Alex was my favourite. He thought starting off afresh in another country would solve his problems but unfortunately things weren’t that simple. He found himself in an extremely difficult situation and one that to me seemed impossible to get out of. I didn’t really know what to make of Naoko. She appeared to be nice at first, but there was just something about her. I admired her though for her gutsiness.

I would never have guessed how the story was going to end and I was left quite shocked. I didn’t know who could be trusted anymore.

‘Last Stop Tokyo’ is not a story I will forget in a hurry. It is definitely going to be on my list of favourite books of the year. I am looking forward to more from James Buckler.

I give this book 5 out of 5.

 

About James Buckler

James Buckler grew up in the South West of England and currently lives in London. In the past he lived in America and Japan, where he worked as an English teacher, providing inspiration for Last Stop Tokyo. He studied Film at the University of Westminster and worked in film & TV for many years, most notably as a post-production specialist for MTV and BBC Films. Last Stop Tokyo is his debut novel.

 

‘Last Stop Tokyo’ can be pre-ordered from Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Stop-Tokyo-James-Buckler/dp/0857524968/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1503130393&sr=1-2

 

Blog Tour – ‘Six Stories’ by Matt Wesolowski

‘Six Stories’ is Matt Wesolowski’s first crime novel. It was released as an eBook last December by Orenda Books and was published in paperback on the 15th March 2017. I am absolutely delighted to be taking part in this blog tour and would like to say thank you for my copy of ‘Six Stories’ to review.

In 1996 during a trip to Scarclaw Fell, Tom Jeffries, a member of a group called The Rangers disappeared under mysterious circumstances. A year later his body was discovered. Was he murdered or was it an accident?

It’s now 2017, twenty years since the body was discovered. It seems someone isn’t convinced that Tom Jeffries died due to accidental death. Scott King is an elusive investigative journalist whose podcasts examine complicated cases. His concealed identity has made him something of a cult internet figure. In a series of six interviews King attempts to work out how the dynamics of a group of idle teenagers conspired with the sinister legends surrounding the fell to result in Jeffries’ mysterious death.

I so enjoyed reading ‘Six Stories’. Never before have I come across a book like this. I really liked Matt Wesolowski’s style of writing. He has a way of drawing you into the story and then just like that he delivers a shocker when you least expect it. I thought the idea of the podcasts was totally wonderful and unique.

The podcasts really came to life and it felt as if I was actually listening to them rather than reading them. I guess that’s what the author’s aim was and it certainly worked. The further in I got the more fascinated I was. The interviews were a real eye opener and I learnt a lot about the various characters. I found myself trying to work out who if anyone was responsible for Tom Jeffries death. I think the podcasts definitely opened up a can of worms and I would love to have known what if anything happened next.

‘Six Stories’ has been beautifully written. It is a thought provoking, haunting and thrilling read which will keep you guessing. This could well be one of my favourite books of the year.

I give this book 5 out of 5.

 

About Matt Wesolowski

Matt Wesolowski is an author from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the UK. He is an English tutor and leads Cuckoo Young Writers creative writing workshops for young people in association with New Writing North. Matt started his writing career in horror and his short horror fiction has been published in Ethereal Tales magazine, Midnight Movie Creature Feature anthology, 22 More Quick Shivers anthology and many more. His debut novella The Black Land, a horror set on the Northumberland coast, was published in 2013 and a new novella set in the forests of Sweden will be available shortly. Matt was a winner of the Pitch Perfect competition at Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival in 2015. He is currently working on his second crime novel Ashes, which involves black metal and Icelandic sorcery.

 

‘Six Stories’ is available to buy from:-

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Six-Stories-Matt-Wesolowski/dp/1910633623/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1490721953&sr=1-1&keywords=six+stories