Garnethill by Denise Mina

Garnethill by Denise Mina
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 352

Publisher - Carroll & Graf

Source - Amazon (ebook)

Blurb from Goodreads

Maureen O'Donnell wakes up one morning to find her therapist boyfriend murdered in the middle of her living room and herself a prime suspect in a murder case. Determined to clear her name, Maureen undertakes her own investigation and learns of a similar murder at a local psychiatric hospital.

She soon uncovers a trail of deception and repressed scandal that could clear her name - or make her the next victim.



My Review

Poor Maureen, life isn't exactly a bed of roses, recovering from a breakdown, in a relationship with a married doctor and zero support from her mother. She has a wee job that keeps her right, a good pal and a not bad relationship with her brother, things could be better but they can always be worse. After a boozy blow out with her pal she awakes with a hangover to find her boyfriend brutally murdered in her house. With a background of mental health Maureen finds herself up against almost everyone. The police officer in charge has little respect or patience for anything Maureen has to say, her brother isn't best pleased with the attention, her mother and sister are downright shocking in their behaviours and Maureen decides if no one will listen she will take matters into her own hands!

So there is a fair bit of depth to this book, we have a murder committed in "an unhinged" females apartment or at least that is what some of the characters would lead you to believe. Maureen's mother is so manipulative, calculating, self centred, dangerous and lacking moral fibre it is shocking. As the story goes on we find out what triggered Maureen and just how despicable her families attitude is. It also highlights just how hard it is for someone, a female, to be taken seriously or respected when they have a history of mental health.

There are a few positive relationships in the book but very overshadowed by so much nasty, small minded, unprofessional and unfeeling characters. Maureen may be vulnerable but she has an edge and strength to her that we see as the story unfolds.

I also liked the location for this book, Glasgow, I always find when you read about somewhere you have been you can visualise a bit better. I also think if you have never visited the city, Mina does a great job of conjuring it up really well that by the end of the book you could well convince yourself you have been.

Yet another book that will infuriate the reader, in parts, just for the shoddy behaviour of almost all of the characters against Maureen. It throws a light on some important issues and just how undermined and silenced people can be when people don't see the person but only their backgrounds. This was my first dance with this author, it won't be my last, 4/5 for me this time!

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Hush Hush by Mel Sherratt Blog Tour

Today is my stop on the blog tour, as you can see it has a lot of stops on the tour so please check them out as we all offer different content.








Before we get to my review I just want to highlight how fantastic a job Sabah from Avon Books does with the book PR. As well as this fabulous book/cover the PR for that comes out of Avon is great. See the photo and tag line, isn't it grand! See the wee bottle of blood and water?





Hush Hush by Mel Sherratt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 2 days

Pages - 400

Publisher - Avon

Source - ARC

Blurb from Goodreads

A gripping new series from million-copy bestseller Mel Sherratt

A killer is on the loose, attacking people in places they feel most safe: their workplaces, their homes. It’s up to DS Grace Allendale to stop the murders, and prove herself to her new team.

All clues lead to local crime family the Steeles, but that’s where things get complicated. Because the Steeles aren’t just any family, they’re Grace’s family. Two brothers and two sisters, connected by the violent father only Grace and her mother escaped.

To catch the killer, Grace will have to choose between her team and her blood. But who do you trust, when both sides are out to get you?

An unforgettable thriller that fans of MARTINA COLE and CARA HUNTER won’t be able to put down.




My Review

DS Grace Allendale has went back to her roots, leaving as the daughter of a gangster coming back a police officer. Under advice of her superiors she keeps her identity from her colleagues, when her first case comes up it is a vicious killer and it takes her right to her "family" background. Juggling the job, her past, keeping her integrity and listening to her boss's advice, Grace is struggling on many levels and there is a killer to catch!

The book flips past and present, we hear from a little girl whose father is vicious and her upbringing horrific. A bully, a sadist and elements of sexual abuse as well as physical and emotional, it is a nameless voice of a child that makes for hard reading due to the nature. We then follow present day and Grace having to recall the past, the things she thought she escaped and now the family she turned her back on. There are so many layers to this book, the violence, the murder, team integration, office politics, family reunion, one who upholds the law and her estranged family who care not one iota for it. It is a busy wee book, lots going on and with it being crime we have lots of skulduggery, murder, abuse, good vs bad, family values it has everything.

Short chapters which as you know by now I love especially when you are working or life gets in the way so you can read as you go and get opportunities. I have never read Sherratt before, this was my first and it sure won't be my last, I have a few of hers on my tbrm I need to bump up. 4/5 for me this time, you can buy your own copy from the 18th of October 2018, ebook and treebook format.

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The Confession by John Grisham

The Confession by John Grisham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - over 3 days

Pages - 418

Publisher - Doubleday

Source - Charity Shop

Blurb from Goodreads

An innocent man is about to be executed.
Only a guilty man can save him.

In 1998, in the small East Texas city of Sloan, Travis Boyette abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high school cheerleader. He buried her body so that it would never be found, then watched in amazement as police and prosecutors arrested and convicted Donté Drumm, a local football star, and marched him off to death row.
Now nine years have passed. Travis has just been paroled in Kansas for a different crime; Donté is four days away from his execution. Travis suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. For the first time in his miserable life, he decides to do what’s right and confess. But how can a guilty man convince lawyers, judges, and politicians that they’re about to execute an innocent man?


My Review

Travis is a bad man, he has served time in jail for some heinous crimes, he is a sexual predator, violent and aggressive. Upon release Travis seeks out a priest to make a confession, he is dying and an innocent young man is about to be executed for his crime. There is a lot to lose, the police force investigation, the prosecutors, did the young man get a fair trial, is he innocent and who believes the word of a convict.

Ooft this book will enrage, upset, anger and get the emotions flowing, a young black man accused and charged with the murder of a young white woman. As the book progresses we get to hear about the investigation, what they did, what they said, betrayal, racism, regret, love, loss, depravity, friendship ooft so many themes. I read this on holiday and I think everyone at the pool knew what was going on as I kept raging and getting angry.

Whilst this is a work of fiction there has been many cases similar in themes to those that are featured in this book and I think that is what got to me. I felt so angry and emotional at so many parts of this, the racism is horrific, the actions of some of these characters or lack of gave me heartburn. I haven't been this ragey emotive about a book in years, I absolutely recommend it but with caution, sexual deviancy, death row, racism, violence are just the top layer of the onion. 4/5 for me this time, a book that will boil your blood and keep you hooked page after page.

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Dark Lover by J R Ward

Dark Lover by J.R. Ward
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 393

Publisher - Penguin

Source - Amazon

Blurb from Goodreads

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.



My Review

The Black Dagger Brotherhood are six warriors who defend and protect their species, vampires! They are targeted by slayers, once human and now their sole purpose is to eradicate the vamps. The brotherhood don't think much of humans although each has their own issues, when something happens to one of their brothers their inner circle is shook and infiltrated in a way none of them seen coming and will change everything.

Wrath is their leader, a pure blood, respected and feared in equal measures. He has his own hangups from his past and that affects how he is now as an adult and a leader. When he has to take his friends daughter under his protection he is in for a rollercoaster of a ride. Everything is challenged, danger is at every turn and Wrath finds himself battling his own demons!

So I have read a lot of vampire books and seen tons of movies, this one flings a fresh take on them. Everything we thought we knew about vampires is turned around in this one. What they need to do to survive, how they interact with humans, their immortality, love, sex, food so much of it is different. I think this is a good opening book, I loved the banter between some of the characters, loyalty, bravery and the female characters. One irritated me for a good part of the book with her passiveness and having seemingly no strength of character. As the book progresses almost all of the characters grow and change or we get a bit more depth about who they are. I have almost all of the other books that follow this one. Certainly a foundation builder type of book and I look forward to the others and sure they will have more depth now we have the basics and a bit of character background, 3.5/5 for me this time.

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The Righteous Spy by Merle Nygate blog blitz

This is my first ever blog blitz, ooh check me. Thanks so much to Katherine and Verve Books for asking me to take part. Please check out the other stops on the blog tour.



I have a wee press release for "The Righteous Spy" by author Merle Nygate.

THE RIGHTEOUS SPY | MERLE NYGATE 

                          VERVE BOOKS | 18.10.18 

 

WINNER OF THE 2017 LITTLE BROWN / UEA CRIME FICTION AWARD 

Innocent lives are at risk. But who is the real enemy...? 

Eli Amiran is Mossad’s star spy runner and the man responsible for bringing unparalleled intelligence to the Israeli agency. Now, he’s leading an audacious operation in the UK that feeds his ambition but threatens his conscience. 

The British and the Americans have intel Mossad desperately need. To force MI6 and the CIA into sharing their priceless information, Eli and his maverick colleague Rafi undertake a risky mission to trick their allies: faking a terrorist plot on British soil. 

But in the world of espionage, the game is treacherous, opaque and deadly… 

A twisting international spy thriller, A Righteous Spy is a shocking page turner that portrays a clandestine world in which moral transgressions serve higher causes. A must-read for fans of Homeland, Fauda, The Americans and NCIS, it will also appeal to readers of Daniel Silva and John le Carré. 

‘A tense, compelling thriller, The Righteous Spy combines the high drama of a spy story with a clear-eyed telling of the grubby compromises and betrayals that are the reality of agents’ lives. With vividly drawn characterisation and a gripping plot, I couldn’t put it down’ – Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange 

‘Relentless - goes where le Carré fears to tread. Merle Nygate’s characters, their tradecraft and their dramas leap off the page in a spy tale that is as gripping as it is authentic’ – Martin Fletcher, author of Promised Land 

MERLE NYGATE 

 

Merle Nygate is a screenwriter, script editor, screenwriting lecturer and novelist; she’s worked on BAFTA winning TV, New York Festival audio drama and written original sitcoms; previously she worked for BBC Comedy Commissioning as well as writing and script editing across multiple genres. Most recently, Merle completed her first espionage novel which won the Little Brown/UEA Crime Fiction Award. It was described by the judge as 'outstanding’. 

https://twitter.com/MerleNygate 

http://www.merlenygate.com/ 

 

Verve Books is a dynamic digital publisher, inspired by a love of great, original, page-turning fiction led by a team of passionate book lovers. 

In a swiftly changing world where great ideas don’t wait for long lead times, we understand that readers want the best books now and that’s why we’re focused on delivering high quality eBooks around the world. 

With many years’ experience in traditional publishing, our team has editorial and marketing expertise which is second-to-none. 

Verve is open to submissions from published and unpublished authors of commercial fiction across all genres. As the company name suggests, each book project will be approached with ‘vigour, spirit and enthusiasm’. 

‘The opportunity to be published by Verve, a digital publisher, is absolutely brilliant. Espionage is politics and politics is currently moving like a runaway train, so digital, with its short lead times, is the perfect fit. Researching and writing The Righteous Spy has been the most intense creative experience I’ve had. Inhabiting the minds of diverse characters who are doing bad but think they're doing good has been fascinating and, I think, timely’ – Merle Nygate 

vervebooks.co.uk