The Lion Tamer Who Lost (Audiobook) by Louise Beech

 

The Lion Tamer who Lost by Louise Beech.

Audiobook narrated by Jordan Metcalfe.

Released 22nd January 2019 by Audible Studios.

From the cover:

Be careful what you wish for…

Long ago, Andrew made a childhood wish, and kept it in a silver box. When it finally comes true, he wishes he hadn’t…

Long ago, Ben made a promise and he had a dream: to travel to Africa to volunteer at a lion reserve. When he finally makes it, it isn’t for the reasons he imagined…

Ben and Andrew keep meeting in unexpected places, and the intense relationship that develops seems to be guided by fate. Or is it? What if the very thing that draws them together is tainted by past secrets that threaten everything?

A dark, consuming drama that shifts from Zimbabwe to England, and then back into the past, The Lion Tamer Who Lost is also a devastatingly beautiful love story, with a tragic heart…

***********

Years ago, Ben made a promise to someone very dear to him that he would one day travel to Africa and visit the lions he has always been fascinated by. He now finds himself at a lion reserve in Zimbabwe, but his reasons for being here are a lot more complicated than just fulfilling a childhood vow.

As Ben develops a bond with a young female lion cub, putting in countless hours towards her rehabilitation so she can some day return to the wild, he revisits the past that has led him to the African plains - primarily the tragedy of his relationship with Andrew, the man he felt a powerful connection with, and the complexities of the family he is unable to confess his secrets to.

Ben must make some decisions about where his life goes from here. Can he set himself free, or will he continue to live a lie?

The Lion Tamer Who Lost is one of the most affecting stories I have ever experienced about family, connection, and finding the courage to be true to yourself. It is very difficult to talk about this one, or express quite how devastatingly beautiful this book is, because so much of what makes this so overwhelmingly moving is revealed over the course of the many layered story - and this is one I have no intention of dropping spoilers about.

For the most part, we follow Ben as he fulfils the promise he made to spend time with the lions in Africa, and reflects on the significant moments with his family and the mysterious Andrew, and as you reach the latter parts of the book, the voices of Ben's father and Andrew also come into play. Each part of the tale winds together with almost exquisitely painful suspense, gradually completing the picture of the heartbreak that has led Ben here, and Louise Beech absolutely flays you to the emotional bone in the process. 

Beech uses the themes of lions, family ties, honesty, love and the power of wishes to utmost perfection in this bittersweet story, ripping your heart out and reducing you to a blubbering mess. And just when you think you cannot cry anymore, she hits you with more moments of sob inducing drama to get you reaching for the, now almost empty, box of tissues again. But having said all this about her ability to make you cry, cry and cry some more, there is a life-affirming aspect to this tear-jerker of all tear-jerkers that lifts you up in the most magical way at the end of the story - and, you guessed it, brings on more tears, if you have any left.

I was assured that this story was both glorious and an utter sob-fest and can report that both these things are true in equal measure. The audio book is narrated with accomplished skill by Jordan Metcalfe, who is a new voice artist to me. He draws you in from the very first word spoken, carries you along with his dulcet tones, and makes you feel every ounce of feeling in Beech's words. I found myself just sitting, listening to Jordan's voice completely spellbound, which is the finest compliment I can pay to a narrator. Superb!

I loved every teary moment of this story, and cannot recommend it highly enough to you all. It is stunning. 

The Lion Tamer Who Lost is available to buy now in paperback and ebook from Orenda Books, and in audio format.

About the author:

Louise Beech is an exceptional literary talent, whose debut novel How To Be Brave was a Guardian Reader's Choice in 2015. The sequel, The Mountain in My Shoe was shortlisted for the Not the Booker Prize. Her third book, Maria in the Moon was widely reviewed and critically acclaimed. Her short fiction has won the Glass Woman Prize, the Eric Hoffer Award for Prose, and the Aesthetica Creative competition, as well as shortlisting for the Bridport Prize twice. Louise is currently writing her next book. She lives with her husband and children on the outskirts of Hull the UK's 2017 City of Culture and loves her job as Front of House Usher at Hull Truck Theatre, where her first play was performed in 2012.

Marple: Twelve New Stories by Various

 

Marple: Twelve New Stories by Various.

Published 15th September 2022 by Harper Collins.

From the cover of the book: 

This collection of twelve original short stories, all featuring Jane Marple, will introduce the character to a whole new generation. 

Each author reimagines Agatha Christie’s Marple through their own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery.

· Naomi Alderman
· Leigh Bardugo
· Alyssa Cole
· Lucy Foley
· Elly Griffiths
· Natalie Haynes
· Jean Kwok
· Val McDermid
· Karen M. McManus
· Dreda Say Mitchell
· Kate Mosse
· Ruth Ware

Miss Marple was first introduced to readers in a story Christie wrote for The Royal Magazine in 1927 and made her first appearance in a full-length novel in 1930’s The Murder at the Vicarage. 

It has been 45 years since Agatha Christie’s last Marple novel, Sleeping Murder, was published posthumously in 1976, and this collection of ingenious new stories by twelve Christie devotees will be a timely reminder why Jane Marple remains the most famous fictional female detective of all time.

***********

If you have spent any time at all around my blog, or social media feeds, you will certainly be aware that the Queen of Crime Agatha Christie is one of my favourite authors. Poirot has always been my first love, but taking part in the #ReadChristie2022 reading challenge this year has made me spend a little more time with the estimable Miss Jane Marple, and I have been won over by the deceptively gentle ways that hide one of the sharpest brains of her era.

The idea of a brand new collection of Miss Marple stories by some of the finest crime authors of the current age was an intriguing prospect, and although I did approach this book with some trepidation, as a newly confirmed fan of the Christie original, I have to say that I have been very impressed with the result.

Some of these tales have Miss Marple on her international travels (funded by her nephew Raymond, of course), some have her visiting friends (with a good sprinkling of familiar faces from the original stories), and some have her observing her neighbours (and the new development) with a shrewd eye in her beloved St Mary Mead. Each one is entertaining in its own way. For me, some of the authors capture the essence of Miss Marple better that others, but I have really enjoyed seeing how they have interpreted what it is that makes a Marple story so captivating, and each one beautifully mixes the feel of a Christie mystery while carrying their own stamp at the same time. 

My personal favourites are The Second Murder at the Vicarage by Val McDermid, Miss Marple's Christmas by Ruth Ware, The Mystery of the Acid Soil by Kate Mosse, and The Disappearance by Leigh Bardugo, which make perfect Marple stories in the way Christie intended, with Miss Marple's twinkling character and intelligence coming across wonderfully. Ruth Ware also wins the Dolly Bantry Award for her delicious portrayal of one of my favourite of Jane Marple's friends - absolutely spot on Ruth!

Interestingly, there are two stories here which are great fun and offer the chance for very interesting spin-offs should the chance arise. The first is Dreda Say Mitchell's A Deadly Wedding Day, which introduces the fabulous Miss Bella from St Honoré; and the second is The Murdering Sort by Karen M. McManus with Raymond's granddaughter Nicola West. I am so ready for more Miss Bella, preferably solving crimes on her home turf in the Caribbean, and Nicola West makes a grand apprentice for Miss Marple, ready and willing to absorb all her wisdom and solve her own crimes in a Nancy Drew sort of way. I have my fingers crossed that we may see more of these characters in the future.

I read this book as my October choice for the #ReadChristie2022 reading challenge. As usual, I also listened along to the marvellous audio book which features the voice talents of some fine narrators. I highly recommend a listen if you get the chance.

Marple is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

The Blue Bar (Blue Mumbai Book One) by Damyanti Biswas

 

The Blue Bar (Blue Mumbai Book One) by Damyanti Biswas. 

Published 1st December 2022 in paperback and 1st January 2023 in ebook by Thomas and Mercer.

From the cover of the book: 

On the dark streets of Mumbai, the paths of a missing dancer, a serial killer, and an inspector with a haunted past converge in an evocative thriller about lost love and murderous obsession.

After years of dancing in Mumbai’s bars, Tara Mondal was desperate for a new start. So when a client offered her a life-changing payout to indulge a harmless, if odd, fantasy, she accepted. The setup was simple: wear a blue-sequined saree, enter a crowded railway station, and escape from view in less than three minutes. It was the last time anyone saw Tara.

Thirteen years later, Tara’s lover, Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput, is still grappling with her disappearance as he faces a horrifying new crisis: on the city’s outskirts, women’s dismembered bodies are being unearthed from shallow graves. Very little links the murders, except a scattering of blue sequins and a decade’s worth of missing persons reports that correspond with major festivals.

Past and present blur as Arnav realizes he’s on the trail of a serial killer and that someone wants his investigation buried at any cost. Could the key to finding Tara and solving these murders be hidden in one of his cold cases? Or will the next body they recover be hers?

***********

When Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput is called to the scene of a gruesome find at a building site, something about the appearance of the corpse reminds him of a case from many years before. As more bodies turn up at the same site, in a similar condition, he knows he is onto something. But his superiors have little interest in pursuing cold cases, especially when an investigation would hold up the plans of the rich and powerful in busy Mumbai.

Arnav, haunted by his childhood and the disappearance of his girlfriend Tara thirteen years ago, cannot let matters rest, even if there is very little to go on other than a hunch and the blue sequins found with the bodies. He is sure there is a serial killer out there murdering young women, and as he tracks down the clues left in dusty old files around the police districts of the city, he realises not only that he is right about this killer that preys on the vulnerable around times of celebration, but that someone is doing their best to stop him pursuing the murderer.

Is Tara's disappearance related to this case? Could she also be buried in a shallow grave somewhere in Mumbai? Arnav will not stop until he finds out and brings the guilty party to justice.

The Blue Bar is an exciting thriller that drops you right into the heart of the chaos of Mumbai for the tense cat and mouse game of tenacious Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput's hunt for a prolific serial killer.

The story moves back and forth between flashes from the past of Arnav and multiple other important characters (who shall remain nameless for fear of spoilers), building up all the background you need alongside the threads of Arnav's investigation in the present. A lot of characters come at you thick and fast, and set against the chaos of a city like Mumbai this means it takes a little while to get into the rhythm of the story, and get a grip on who is who. However, although the diverse threads may seem far apart at the beginning, Biswas keeps them all under tight control and the storylines weave nicely together until they come together in a bloody climax.

Arnav is a complex character, and we know from the outset that he has been shaped by the death of his sister when he was a teenager, and the disappearance of his night-club dancer girlfriend Tara thirteen years ago, which makes him stick doggedly to the search for the killer even when it is quite clear that important people want him to stop. Intriguingly, Biswas also makes sure we know the fateful history of the killer that has moulded him in to twisted person he has become, even if you cannot forgive him for the brutal acts he is compelled to carry out, and I very much enjoyed the way the two characters play off against each other as Arnav painstakingly puts all the pieces of the mystery together.

On the whole, the story is fast paced, suspenseful, and holds your attention well, although I felt that the romantic strand of the book needs more substance to balance out the pull of the more macabre plotlines. Tara's character lacked depth, and Arnav's mooning around over her frustratingly slows the action down for much of the first part of the book. I found myself longing for the story to pick up the threads of the more interesting side of the investigation in those moments, but will admit that Biswas does use the Arnav-Tara relationship to move the plot forward quite cleverly.

What Biswas does do spectacularly well is to immerse you in the melting pot of Mumbai's streets and use the stark contrasts between rich and poor, powerful and powerless to absolute perfection. The descriptions of every location these characters visit is beautifully vivid and often uncomfortably evocative. I really enjoyed the way she employs the themes of corruption, abuse and depravity, mixing together the super wealthy, Bollywood celebrities, and the dark underbelly inhabited by the criminal fraternity in a way that explores how money and fame can buy you everything you ever desire - unless you have someone like Arnav on your trail. There is some lovely misdirection too, that keeps you from guessing where the story eventually goes.

This is the first part in a new series by Biswas featuring Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput, which has the potential to be rather addictive. I look forward to Arnav's next crime busting adventure.

The Blue Bar is available to preorder in ebook, paperback and audio formats.

Thank you to Damyanti Biswas for sending me a Netgalley link to this book in teturn for an honest review.

About the author:

Damyanti Biswas lives in Singapore, and works with Delhi's underprivileged children as part of Project Why, a charity that promotes education and social enhancement in underprivileged communities. Her short stories have been published in magazines in the US, UK, and Asia, and she helps edit the Forge Literary Magazine. Her debut crime novel You Beneath Your Skin has been optioned for screen by Endemol Shine, and her next, The Blue Bar, will be published in 2022 by Thomas & Mercer.

N-4 Down: The Hunt For The Arctic Airship Italia by Mark Piesing

 

N-4 Down: The Hunt for the Arctic Airship Italia by Mark Piesing.

Published 27th October 2022 by Mariner Books.

From the cover of the book:

The riveting true story of the largest polar rescue mission in history: the desperate race to find the survivors of the glamorous Arctic airship Italia, which crashed near the North Pole in 1928.

Triumphantly returning from the North Pole on May 24, 1928, the world-famous exploring airship Italia—code-named N-4—was struck by a terrible storm and crashed somewhere over the Arctic ice, triggering the largest polar rescue mission in history. Helping lead the search was Roald Amundsen, the poles’ greatest explorer, who himself soon went missing in the frozen wastes. Amundsen’s body has never been found, the last victim of one of the Arctic’s most enduring mysteries . . .

Whereas previous Arctic and Antarctic explorers had subjected themselves to horrific—often deadly—conditions in their attempts to reach uncharted lands, airships held out the possibility of speedily soaring over the hazards. In 1926, the famed Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen—the first man to reach the South Pole—partnered with the Italian airship designer General Umberto Nobile to pioneer flight over the North Pole. As Mark Piesing uncovers in this masterful account, while that mission was thought of as a great success, it was in fact riddled with near disasters and political pitfalls.

Braiding together the gripping accounts of the survivors and their heroic rescuers, N-4 Down tells the unforgettable true story of what happened when the glamour and restless daring of the zeppelin age collided with the harsh reality of earth’s extremes.

***********

This absorbing book tells the story of the largest polar rescue mission in history, which took place when the massive Italian airship Italia crashed on its way back from its exploratory journey to the North Pole in 1928, after becoming caught in an unexpected Arctic storm. Conversely, despite the number of lives lost among the crew of the airship itself and the souls involved in the rescue, this was a mission hailed as a great success given the huge logistical difficulties the rescuers faced. This was a disaster that I had never heard of, although it was the focus of a media circus at the time, so I was really interested in learning what Mark Piesing had to say about the extraordinary events that surrounded this historic episode - and what a rewarding experience it was!

There is so much more to this book than a simple retelling of crash, rescue mission and its aftermath, which is not hinted at by the blurb. Piesing starts by laying out an intricate account of the events which led up the disaster, helping to paint the picture about the hows, whys and wherefores of what happened. He includes fascinating information about the international disputes around the ownership of the lands that inhabit the icy Arctic region, and the political wrangling between the countries that wished to lay claim to them, which extends nicely into the rivalries that came with the fierce race to conquer the Arctic for personal and national renown, and the competitive development of the mind-blowing, massive airships that were intended to make the region more accessible.

However, for me it is the personalities themselves that are the stars of the show, and I really enjoyed the great lengths Piesing goes to in making them leap from the page as real people, warts and all. There are more famous names than you can throw a snowball at in this adventure, such as the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, whose fate was sealed when he became involved in the rescue mission, despite being rather less than friendly with the Italia's captain General Umberto Nobile in the years leading up to the crash. At times, the story Piesing tells seems bizarrely like something out of an old-time movie like The Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, or The Great Race, with shady shenanigans, and backstabbing double-dealing, fuelled by the competitive natures of the pioneers of Arctic exploration who pushed themselves to the very limit of human endurance, and sometimes tragically beyond. It is all quite surreal, especially when you discover the intriguing parts played by Mussolini - and the feminist fire-brand American millionaire Louise Boyd whose name really does deserve to be more widely known.

There is also something quite magical about the way Piesing takes you back to the glamourous days of air travel by those behemoths of the sky - the luxurious airships that seem like something out of a fictional steam-punk world (think Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials books). Although at no point does he shy away from the impracticalities and the dangers of airship travel. And to read about the dark times when air ships were used for horrific silent bombing raids in the Great War is intensely chilling.

I came to this book expecting an account of an air disaster that was oddly named a success, but along the way I have learned so much about the Arctic region, its recent history, the politics of exploration (including the propaganda that surrounds it), and the characters that marked this period of history as so captivating. Piesing's own visits to some of the locations he talks about give a poignant perspective too, as he looks back over the gulf of the years between the disaster and the present.

It is fair to say that this is a book heavy in period and technical detail, delving into the intricacies of history, which tells of the amount of research Piesing has undertaken about Arctic exploration and the downing of the Italia. It is not a light read, but Piesing writes in an engaging way and manages to make the story absolutely riveting, which is quite a feat for a non-fiction book of this kind.

N4-Down is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Mariner Books for sending me a paperback copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Literary PR for inviting me to take part in this blog tour.

About the author:

Mark Piesing is a successful freelance technology and aviation journalist and author. He writes for brands such as BBC Future, The Guardian, Wired, and The Economist. Piesing is passionate about aviation, history, innovation, and exploration. His passion has led him to search for lost World War II airfields in the New Forest, find the last surviving Nazi helicopter, fly drones inside a fusion reactor (a world first), and tread carefully around Bosnian minefields. He has been driven by an autonomous car, flown in Britain’s flying laboratory, gone underground at CERN, and dug up the skeletons of gladiators in a lost Roman city in Spain. 

For Piesing’s first book, N-4 DOWN: The Hunt for the Arctic Airship Italia, he travelled to frozen Svalbard and the Arctic Circle, discovered forgotten manuscripts in an overlooked archive in Tromsø, and tracked down one of the last people alive who knew Umberto Nobile, the protagonist, to a Copenhagen suburb. 

Mark Piesing lives in Oxford, UK, with his wife, two children, and dog

The Moose Paradox (The Rabbit Factor Book Two) by Antti Tuomainen

 

The Moose Paradox (The Rabbit Factor Book Two) by Antti Tuomainen. 

Translated from the Finnish by David Hackston.

Published 27th October 2022 by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

Insurance mathematician Henri Koskinen has finally restored order both to his life and to YouMeFun, the adventure park he now owns, when a man from the past appears – and turns everything upside down again. More problems arise when the park’s equipment supplier is taken over by a shady trio, with confusing demands. Why won’t Toy of Finland Ltd sell the new Moose Chute to Henri when he needs it as the park’s main attraction?

Meanwhile, Henri’s relationship with artist Laura has reached breaking point, and, in order to survive this new chaotic world, he must push every calculation to its limits, before it’s too late…

Absurdly funny, heart-stoppingly poignant and full of nail-biting suspense, The Moose Paradox is the second instalment in the critically acclaimed, pitch-perfect Rabbit Factor Trilogy and things are messier than ever…

***********

After the violently chaotic events of The Rabbit Factor, insurance actuary Henri Koskinen finally seems to have his adventure park YouMeFun climbing steadily towards financial stability, providing he can keep a tight rein on the purse strings.

Henri would like to be able to get his hands on the pinnacle of adventure park apparatus, The Moose Chute, which would cement in place all his dreams of a profitable future. However, his equipment supplier Toy of Finland Ltd persist in denying his request in favour of offering him the unappetising dregs of their warehouse at increasingly inflated prices, for reasons that suspiciously seem to have nothing to do with sound business practice.

In the meantime, Henri's relationship with artist Laura has hit a bumpy patch. Henri would like nothing better than to see them spending more time together, but he is not sure that Laura is as keen on being with him as he thought, and these pesky emotions are very confusing.

If keeping a handle on his private and professional affairs was not enough for a man who does not cope well with the unpredictable, Henri's world is shaken to the core when a face from the past walks back into his life and blows his careful calculations to smithereens. Henri must put his very particular, mathematical skills to the test once more to save himself, and everything he has come to care about.

I absolutely loved the first part of this series, The Rabbit Factor, which is a quirky, heart-warming gem of an unconventional crossover between crime and love story, and The Moose Paradox is everything I was hoping for and so much more. As in the first book, this is delicious combination of suspenseful thriller, smartly contrived crime story, and darkly comedic caper, and it was a joy to walk back into the surreal madness of YouMeFun, where sticky-fingered small people run riot on the most bizarre play apparatus imaginable. The plotlines weave beautifully to form a story even more complex than in The Rabbit Factor, and Tuomainen threads in the themes of betrayal and irony to ratchet up the emotional kick to perfection.

Henri starts this book in an interesting place, now fully acknowledging his affection for YouMeFun and the staff that appear to appreciate his steady guiding hand. Things might not be going quite as well as he thought with Laura, but he has no qualms at all that YouMeFun is where he wants to be, and he knows exactly how to ensure a rosy future for the adventure park - through the acquisition of The Moose Chute.

But although Henri is a master of all things mathematical, it is the human element of his equation for success that causes him major problems on the financial and bodily-harm fronts once more. The three goons who have taken over Toy of Finland Ltd are more interested in demanding money with menace than fulfilling their part as an equipment supplier; and a very unwelcome visitor has arrived to throw an unsettling spanner in the works. Soon, Henri starts to lose the support of his team, and events spiral ever rapidly out of control as he finds himself backed into a very dangerous corner by multiple assailants who want upset his precise plans. And guess who is prying into the odd goings on that result? Well, Inspector Osmala, of course - just what Henri needs when he is skulking about about in the dark hiding the evidence of his battle for survival.

I love how the relationships develop between Henri and his YouMeFun team in this second book, You learn more about what makes each of them tick, and where their hopes and dreams lie, which is curiously heart-warming even when they appear to be stabbing their saviour in the back in the process. Henri has to do a lot more learning on the human nature front before he understands what is happening to the cosy team dynamic he thought he had established, and in doing so he gets to know them and their talents a lot better, which I think may be potentially very interesting in the next book. 

Henri discovers how to rationalise a few more of the new feelings that overwhelm him in his dealings with affairs of the heart too, especially when it comes to the old green-eyed-monster jealousy. He constantly makes me smile at the way he sees Laura, and expresses the simple pleasure he derives from being around her, and her daughter. Bless! It also has to be said that Tuomainen does the most splendid job of shaping the exchanges between Henri and Osmala into the most delicious game of cat and mouse, as they both know more or less what is going on without ever being able to admit to each other that they do. 

There were times here when I really could not see a way out for Henri, but I should not have worried. At the genius hands of Antti Tuomainen the slickest of magic happens, as Henri brings his considerable logical talents to bear to bring things to a brilliant conclusion - one that sets the scene for an exciting next instalment too. And a mention, as always, for the stellar translation skills of David Hackston, who keeps the gripping story flowing, the humour bubbling, and the emotion full-on. I adored it, and cannot wait to see what Tuomainen has up his sleeve for book three!

The Moose Paradox is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Orenda Books for sending me an ecopy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour. 

About the author:

Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author in 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the 'King of Helsinki Noir' when Dark as My Heart was published. 

With a piercing and evocative style, Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime genre formula, and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards. Palm Beach Finland was an immense success, with Marcel Berlins (The Times) calling Tuomainen 'the funniest writer in Europe'. Little Siberia (2020), was shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger, the Amazon Publishing/Capital Crime Awards and the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. 

The Rabbit Factor (2021), the first book in Antti's first ever series, is in production by Amazon Studios with Steve Carell starring. The Moose Paradox, book two in the series is out in 2022.

About the translator:

David Hackston is a British Translator of Finnish and Swedish literature and drama. 

Notable publications include The Dedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy, Maria Peura’s coming-of-age novel At the Edge of Light, Johanna Sinisalo’s eco-thriller Birdbrain, two crime novels by Matti Joensuu and Kati Hiekkapelto’s Anna Fekete series (which currently includes The Hummingbird, The Defenceless and The Exiled, all published by Orenda Books). He also translates Antti Tuomainen’s stories. 

In 2007 he was awarded the Finnish State Prize for Translation. 

David is also a professional countertenor and a founding member of the English Vocal Consort of Helsinki. 

Santa Maybe by Mary Jayne Baker

 

Santa Maybe by Mary Jayne Baker

Published 13th October 2022 by Aria, Head of Zeus.

From the cover of the book:

It's going to be a holly jolly Christmas...

Toy Store owner Elodie Martin is not one to get into the festive spirit but nothing gets her fired up more than the chance to get one over on her nemesis, Callum Ashley – the frosty, infuriatingly handsome owner of the local department store.

Christmas is the only time she can compete thanks to her grandad Jim, everyone's favourite Santa Claus. But when he has to unexpectedly hang up his red suit, Elodie is at risk of losing the business for good and has no choice but to rely on last-minute replacement out-of-work actor Nick Winter.

Can a sprinkling of Christmas magic warm Callum's heart and help Elodie find her happily-ever-after? Or is it just possible that love is to be found a little bit closer to home?

***********

Toy store owner Elodie Martin is really not that into Christmas, but it is the only time of year that Martin's Toy Kingdom can compete with the local department store run by her nemesis Callum Ashley, and she relies on the profit she makes to get through the lean times.

Sadly, this year, things are not looking at all rosy for the festive season, and Elodie is worried. Her beloved grandad Jim, the big draw of Martin's Christmas grotto as the best Santa Claus for miles around, is unexpectedly retiring, and Elodie needs a replacement fast. Elodie's advert for a jolly, mature Santa lookalike draws in only one candidate - out of work actor Nick Winter, who really does not look the part. Will Nick be able to top the serious Santa Claus competition fielded by the infuriatingly handsome Callum in his flashy department store grotto? Elodie has little choice by to give him a chance - at least he seems to have a lot of Christmas spirit!

This Christmas is going to be more of a challenge than normal, but it might just give Elodie the chance to find her soulmate under the mistletoe. Who will turn out to be the man on her wish list?

Santa Maybe is a gorgeous story that takes all the ingredients of a perfect romantic comedy, and adds that extra sprinkle of Christmas magic to the mix. At its heart, it is the story of a love-triangle, but in Mary Jayne Baker's hands it becomes something very special. Baker does a really clever job of hiding exactly where Elodie's destiny lies by playing with the theme of second chances, and I was not sure where this story was going to take me until the lovely heart-melting end which was everything I wanted. At first sight, Elodie, Nick and Callum are different as they could possible be, but as the story unfolds all the poignant little secrets that have kept each of them at arm's length from love are gradually revealed, and they all learn to let down their barriers. Unlike in many rom-coms it is not quite so easy to see who is most deserving of Elodie's affection, which was a delight. Well played, Mary Jayne Baker!

Beyond our starring central three, there is a lovely cast of supporting actors in this story, especially Elodie's grandfather, and Baker uses them all to hit you right in the emotional sweet spot, with themes of family, loss and love. There is so much here to laugh out loud about, but Baker also knows how to reduce you to a weeping mess - and I loved every extra sparkly magical festive moment. 

I am now in the mood for a marathon Christmas movie binge, which will, of course, include Elf - and very possibly Christmas Bingo! 

Santa Maybe is available to buy now in paperback, and ebook.

Thank you to Aria for sending me a paperback copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Mary Jayne Baker is a romance author from Yorkshire, UK. She is represented by Laura Longrigg at MBA Literary Agents. 

After graduating from Durham University with a degree in English Literature, she dallied with living in cities including London, Nottingham and Cambridge, but eventually came back with her own romantic hero in tow to her beloved Dales, where she first started telling stories about heroines with flaws and the men who love them. Mary Jayne Baker is a pen name for an international woman of mystery.

Find out more about Mary Jayne Baker:

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The Soho Killer (DCI Rob Miller Book Six) by Biba Pearce

 

The Soho Killer (DCI Rob Miller Book Six) by Biba Pearce.

Published November 2022 by Joffe Books.

From the cover of the book:

The body of a middle-aged man is discovered in Soho. DCI Rob Miller, who’d thought he’d seen it all, is shocked by the violent death. The victim, dressed in a leather bondage outfit, has whip marks on his back and a ball-gag in his mouth. It looks like he's been raped and strangled, but whether it was autoerotic or murder, that remains to be seen.

Just when Rob's team is making headway with the investigation, another man is found dead, killed in the same fashion as the first victim. This turns their theory on its head and they are forced to release their suspect and go back to the drawing board. When a third man is murdered, it's clear someone is sending a message. Criminal profiler Tony Sanderson, a long-standing friend of Rob's, is called in to consult on the case. Together, they must unravel the killings that have left the local community reeling and bring an increasingly depraved serial killer to justice.

***********

When a quiet, respectable, middle aged man is found brutally raped and murdered in Soho Square, DCI Rob Miller and his team are presented with a tricky case to solve. Bizarrely, the victim was bound, gagged and dressed in a leather bondage outfit, with his body posed to look like he had died from autoerotic asphyxiation, but his husband claims he had no interest in the BDSM scene. 

The investigation seems almost too easy as the clues present themselves, but just as Miller and his team seem to have cracked the case, they are pulled up short. Another body is found, killed in the same way, and they are suddenly forced to rethink their theory. When a third body, with the same MO is also discovered, it seems clear that the have the search for a serial killer on their hands, and he is trying to send a very twisted message. It is time to call in Miller's friend, expert Criminal profiler Tony Sanderson to help them track down the killer before more bodies start piling up.

The Soho Killer is my first DCI Rob Miller book from Biba Pearce, but even though it is book six in the series it can easily be read as a standalone story - and what a gripping story it is! The intrigue begins with a menacing prologue and does not let up for a second, as DCI Miller and his team undertake an investigation that is infused with deliciously dark themes around secrets, lies, revenge, and cold hearted ambition.

These murders are gruesome, and apparently random at first glance, so it takes a while for Miller and his team to put all the pieces together to track down the true culprit. Things are not helped by the fact that the killer seems highly knowledgeable about making sure all traces of their identity are wiped clean from the scenes of their crimes. I really enjoyed how Miller and his team worked through the case together, and Pearce does a great job keeping you involved at every stage of the investigation, dropping her reveals at precisely the right moments throughout. The pacing is perfect, and the suspense builds almost unbearably until the pristine police work of his team allow Miller to reach a startling conclusion that tips you headlong into a cracking climax. There is a lovely relationship between Miller and his partner Jo too, that has them frequently sparking off each other, which keeps her part of plot in far more ways than as Miller's romantic interest.

Slick, clever and beautifully contrived., this is one of the best police procedurals I have read in ages. Pearce's style is so engaging, the plot just twisty enough to keep you guessing without becoming overly complicated, and I did not see where this was heading at all which is always a delight. She also asks some really interesting questions about personal and organisational reputations, which are interesting to ponder upon. 

There is a thread of a past investigation that runs through the book, which has piqued my interest about what has come before this book for DCI Miller, and deftly works as an compelling lure into the next book too. I am really looking forward to delving into Miller's previous adventures in the first five books, and I will definitely be reading the next one. Biba Pearce you have a new fan! 

The Soho Killer is available to preorder soon.

Thank you to Biba Pearce for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Random Things Tours for organising this blog tour.

About the author:

Biba Pearce is a British crime writer and author of the DCI Rob Miller series.

Biba grew up in post-apartheid Southern Africa. As a child, she lived on the wild eastern coast and explored the sub-tropical forests and surfed in shark-infested waters.

Now a full-time writer with more than twenty-five novels under her belt, Biba lives in leafy Surrey and when she isn't writing, can be found walking through the countryside or kayaking on the river Thames.

Find out more about Biba Pearce:

Author's Website     Twitter     Instagram

Lucifer's Game (Audiobook) by Cristina Loggia

 

Lucifer's Game by Cristina Loggia.

Audiobook narrated by Rachel Capel.

Released 19th August 2022.

From the cover:

Spies, military secrets, and a personal crusade for freedom....

Rome, 1942.

Cordelia Olivieri is a determined young hotel owner desperate to escape Mussolini’s racial persecution. But as Fascist leaders gather in Rome, Cordelia is suddenly surrounded by the world’s most ruthless and powerful commanders.

In an effort to keep her Jewish heritage a secret and secure safe passage out of Italy, Cordelia forms a dangerous alliance with the British army who want to push the Axis out of North Africa once and for all.

Going undercover, Cordelia begins obtaining and leaking military intelligence to a British agent, hoping the intel will secure her freedom. But the more Cordelia uncovers, the greater the risks—especially for one handsome German Afrika Korps officer.

How far must Cordelia go to protect her identity and secure passage out of Rome?

***********

Rome, 1942: For young hotel owner Cordelia Olivieri trying to keep body, soul, and business together during wartime is becoming increasingly difficult. It does not help that she lives in constant fear that her half-Jewish lineage may be discovered at any time with Mussolini's Black Shirts becoming ever more diligent in enforcing the race laws brought in to curry favour with Hitler.

Cordelia hopes to escape from Rome with the help of her friend Father Colombo, who has secretly been working in league with the British from behind the safety of the walls of the Vatican, but just when she thinks the time has arrived for her to flee, fate intervenes.

British spy Lucifer has successfully been working undercover at Black Shirt Command and passing information to the Allies about vital shipping convoys between Italy and North Africa, but he is no longer able to get his hands on the documents he needs. Field Marshall Rommel, frustrated by how the British seem to know so much about Nazi operations, has sent his trusted second in command Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Shaeffer to take charge of supply matters. Shaeffer has established his base of operations in Cordelia's hotel for undisclosed reasons, well away from the headquarters of the Black Shirts and Lucifer's prying eyes.

Cordelia must now get the details of the supply routes Rommel is relying on to achieve his military goals, if she is to obtain the papers she needs to leave Italy, but the risks are high - and the longer she stays in Rome, the more she finds herself attracted to Friedrich Shaeffer. Cordelia must use every ounce of her ingenuity to complete her mission and save herself, but can she also protect her heart too?

Lucifer's Game is an immersive wartime adventure that takes you from the baking desert of North Africa, where the battle for military success hangs in the balance, right into the heart of a Rome pulled in different directions by political tension and ambition. Cristina Loggia weaves multiple strands to this story, starting with Rommel's need for supplies that sends Shaeffer to the hotel of a woman he has longed to meet. In telling her tale, based in part of the stories of her own grandfathers, Loggia encompasses so much, bringing in far reaching threads about the reality of war, and the more human factors that dictate how history unfolds. 

The story is told through the eyes of multiple characters, mainly Cordelia herself, but also Lucifer, Shaeffer, Father Colombo and a few other intriguing characters we meet along the way - including the deeply unpleasant monk Father Blasius, who would like to see Shaeffer disgraced for very personal reasons of his own. The characters come at you thick and fast at the beginning of the book, and there is a lot of flipping back and forth in time as Loggia guides you through the relationships between the them, and helps you understand what motivates them to act as they do. Although this is a bit confusing at first, you soon get into the rhythm of it, and the background this gives forms a solid base for what follows.

Loggia writes well, weaving threads of intrigue and adventure that serve to up the tension, and I got really caught up in the story after a while, especially when it came Cordelia's destiny. The theme about espionage was very enjoyable, and the way she uses the darker human desires of greed, ambition and revenge to advance the plot was cleverly done. I was less convinced about the love story, but it does add passion to the mix, and it makes for a good story device in showing that decent people were caught up in the conflict on both sides. 

The narration by Rachel Capel is rather slow in pace, even at my habitual playback speed of x 1.5, but I was very impressed with the way she handles all the voices of the multiple characters. It is a job well done when there are so many different sorts of characters to turn your voice talents to, and you can manage this without resorting to caricature, which Capel does with aplomb.

My absolute favourite thing about this book is the way Loggia fits her story into the grand scheme of things historically speaking. I really enjoyed how she uses what happens in this book to blend fact and fiction to explore how and why Rommel failed in his bid to win the war in North Africa, as this worked beautifully.

This is an intriguing debut, displaying a real ability in Loggia to craft a gripping story, and shed light on a less examined theatre of World War II, which I found fascinating. I look forward to Cristina Loggia's next book with interest.

Lucifer's Game is available to but now in paperback, ebook (from Lume Books), and audio formats.

Thank you to Cristina Loggia for sending me an audio copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Cristina started her career as a newspaper reporter for L'Eco di Biella and La Provincia di Biella, in Piedmont, Italy. After a spell running the press office of an MP, she moved to London, where she worked for several years as a public affairs and media relations professional, advising major multinational corporations on communications campaigns. Cristina read English Literature and Foreign Languages at the Catholic University of Milan, Italy. Writing and reading have always been her greatest passion. Lucifer's Game is her first fiction novel. She currently lives with her husband in Berkshire.

On The First Day Of Christmas by Faith Hogan

 

On the First Day of Christmas by Faith Hogan.

Published in ebook 13th October 2022 by Aria, Head of Zeus.

From the cover of the book:

This Christmas, everything will change...

When Liv Latimer says goodbye to her fellow nurses and finishes work for the holidays, she's looking forward to a Christmas to remember with her boyfriend Eddie.

But as she leaves the hospital, tragedy strikes and Liv is faced with a choice. Will she ignore her instincts and go home as planned? Or will she stay, and potentially change the course of her life as she knows it?

Whatever choice she makes, Liv is about to discover that fate finds a way...

***********

It is Christmas Eve and nurse Liv Latimer is looking forward to heading home to Ballycove, on the beautiful west coast of Ireland, to spend some time with her family for the holiday. She is sure that this will be a very special one too, as she is convinced that her boyfriend Eddie will finally be asking her to marry him.

But as Liv leaves the hospital, she is involved in an incident that leaves her with a choice. Should she head home as planned, or stay behind in Dublin and follow the pull of destiny that is tugging at her?

What could be nicer that a story that takes you back to glorious Ballycove, where it is always like being among old friends? Well, how about a story that takes place in Ballycove at Christmas? Now you are talking! But this is also an unusual Ballycove story, because in On the First Day of Christmas Faith Hogan works the cleverest of Christmas magic, making it a Dublin tale in equal measure by following the Sliding Doors principle, with two parallel story lines that diverge at a fateful moment in time. 

When nurse Liv Latimer leaves work on Christmas Eve, with her head full thoughts of a comforting break with her family, and the flutter of excitement at the prospect of a hoped-for marriage proposal, something happens that splits the potential course of her life into two paths. In one she continues on to Ballycove and the family reunion she has been looking forward to, and in the other she follows her instincts and stays in Dublin. It is really difficult to talk about either of the timelines without giving the game away, which I really do not want to do, but suffice to say that both offer Liv a chance to reflect on where life has brought her, but in different ways. In true Sliding Doors style, things are not always as they appear at first sight, and it is hard to tell which timeline will ultimately prove to be the one that offers Liv the happiness she has been looking for since the tragic death of her twin sister Rachel - although in both the prospect of marriage to her hopeless boyfriend Eddie, and the resulting horror of a mother-in-law, is not something to be wished for.

It is surprisingly easy to keep track of the parallel stories in the text as they are helpfully printed in different fonts, and they swap back and forth to build up a picture of what fate holds for Liv in each one. Many of the same characters crop up in both - notably Eddie and his awful mother Barbara, Liv's parents and younger sister Maya, and Liv's best friend Pete with his deceitful girlfriend Anya in tow, with name drops for some familiar faces you might know if you have spent any time in Ballycove too. As each separate storyline unfurls, they flip back and forth more frequently, which builds pace, and this ratchets up the suspense until they come crashing together in the most unexpected manner.

There are so many things I love about this book, including the delicious way Hogan keeps where her real intentions lie hidden until the climax of the story. As in all her books, this one revolves around the trials and tribulations, the hopes and dreams, that we can all relate to about family, friendship, loss, and the pivotal decisions that we make. She has such a talent for working these themes through to heart-warming, bittersweet conclusions, so it is not a surprise that the same is true of this story. But there is also an extra dimension here that makes the absolute best of the magic that comes with a tale set at Christmas, by weaving in the enchanting whisper of a supernatural guiding hand from Liv's late sister Rachel to ensure everything works out the way it should.

I adored this book. The way Hogan uses the idea of 'the road not taken' is so moving, and I was really struck with her use of green and gold to tie Liv and Rachel together. This story made me laugh, it made me cry, and it even made me angry at times (Eddie, Barbara and Anya I am looking pointedly at you here!). I ran the gauntlet of emotions very much as I expected from one of Hogan's books, finishing with a heart that was full, and many tears shed - and I would not have changed a thing. What an excellent book to get the festive reading season underway!

On the First Day of Christmas is available to buy now in ebook (in paperback from October 2023) from your favourite book retailer, or via the links here:

Waterstones     Amazon

Thank you to Aria for sending me a Netgalley copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Faith lives in the west of Ireland with her husband, four children and two very fussy cats. 

She has an Hons Degree in English Literature and Psychology, has worked as a fashion model and in the intellectual disability and mental health sector.

Stolen Summers by Anne Goodwin

 

Stolen Summers by Anne Goodwin.

Published 1st October 2022 by Annecdotal Press.

From the cover of the book:

Stolen Summers: A heartbreaking tale of betrayal, confinement and dreams of escape.

All she has left is her sanity. Will the asylum take that from her too?

In 1939, Matilda is admitted to Ghyllside hospital, cut off from family and friends. Not quite twenty, and forced to give up her baby for adoption, she feels battered by the cruel regime. Yet she finds a surprising ally in rough-edged Doris, who risks harsh punishments to help her reach out to the brother she left behind.

Twenty-five years later, the rules have relaxed, and the women are free to leave. How will they cope in a world transformed in their absence? Do greater dangers await them outside?

The poignant prequel to Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home is a tragic yet tender story of a woman robbed of her future who summons the strength to survive.

***********

To mark publication of Anne Goodwin's latest book, Stolen Summers, it is my absolute pleasure to bring you an extract from this captivating prequel to Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home.

Stolen Summers opening: March, 1939

Not all the nuns were cruel. Some of the younger ones would address the girls kindly if Mother Superior were out of earshot. So Matilda counted her blessings when Sister Bernadette slipped onto the seat beside her in the taxicab, while a sombre man with a box-shaped head took the passenger seat at the front. He resembled a tradesman in his white cotton coat worn over an ordinary jacket and trousers; Matilda assumed the nuns had offered him a lift out of charity. He wasn’t introduced. 

Although still sore down below, she held herself erect with her hands folded in her lap. She had dressed for hopefulness that morning in the polka-dot frock her brother favoured; her wool coat with the missing button lay with her suitcase in the boot. Guided by the mirror of her compact, she had dusted her cheeks with rouge. Her hair was a fright but, once the salon had worked its magic, it would be as if the horrors of the past few months were another girl’s history.

No one spoke on the journey; the sole sounds the purr of the engine and the

intermittent striking of matches for the men’s cigarettes. Matilda had almost nodded off when she opened her eyes to find they were on the road that passed Stainburn School. Her bodice tugged against her bosom as she leant forward, then sideways, then back, searching in vain for a peep of mustard and maroon. She had thought she had seen enough changes for one lifetime when she first donned that uniform. She could not have imagined the turmoil to come.

The driver seemed unfamiliar with the area: instead of veering left towards Briarwood, he continued downhill towards the centre of town. As the tradesman turned his boxy head to speak to the cabbie, Matilda surmised he wanted dropping off at the shops. She tried to be tolerant, but she resented the delay. Her brother would be waiting, and minutes felt like hours to a six-year-old child.

The diversion afforded some consolation: a chance to reacquaint herself with the town where she was born. She had left it for an overnight stay on three occasions in her almost twenty years. If she fulfilled her ambition to train as a nanny, she would have to leave again, and for longer. But not until Henry was old enough for boarding school.

Nearer the town centre, daffodils bowed to the headstones in St Mark’s churchyard. Weeds would have colonised her mother’s grave in her absence; Matilda resolved to take Henry to tidy the plot tomorrow if the weather held.

They skirted the brewery. Even with the windows closed Matilda smelled the hops. She could not ask, but wondered if Sister Bernadette secretly relished this exposure to masculine vices. Neither alcohol nor nicotine crossed the threshold of the convent. As the cab proceeded out of town, something nagged at Matilda’s mind like an aching tooth on biting into a toffee apple. Shuffling her hands in her lap, she pushed her apprehension away. Sister Bernadette fingered her rosary. The tradesman lit another cigarette.

Surely the driver could have taken him to the bus station if he had business elsewhere? Matilda’s irritation vanished as she glimpsed the big top on the common ground known as The Cloffocks on the other side of the river. Henry loved the circus, but it would not linger long and Matilda would hate for him to miss it. Would it be wrong to take him to see trapeze artists, clowns and performing seals before they checked their mother’s grave? The weeds would not have grown too much over the winter.

As they continued north along the coast road, Matilda shivered in her thin frock. As the cab turned onto progressively narrower country lanes, her mouth dried. When they pulled up at a pair of ornate wrought-iron gates and, in response to a blast of the horn, a man in a peaked cap emerged from a cottage on the other side to open them, Matilda realised she had underestimated the tradesman. He must be important to supply the grand estates.

The cab trundled up a tree-lined driveway and stopped outside a red-brick building with an imposing clock tower. When the men got out, and the driver opened her door and gestured for her to exit the taxi too, Matilda had a sense of being cast into one of Mrs Christie’s murder mysteries. But none of the roles – victim, sleuth or socialite – seemed to fit.

When the tradesman offered Matilda his arm, Sister Bernadette remained in her seat. Whispering her prayers, her gaze inward, the nun looked as remote as a statue of the Virgin Mary. Matilda could not interrupt her devotions to ask her to intercede. It was all too clear that she would not be seeing her brother today. She would not be going home.

Stolen Summers is available to buy now using the link HERE.

About the author:

Anne Goodwin’s drive to understand what makes people tick led to a career in clinical psychology. 
That same curiosity now powers her fiction. Anne writes about the darkness that haunts her and is wary of artificial light. She makes stuff up to tell the truth about adversity, creating characters to care about and stories to make you think. She explores identity, mental health and social justice with compassion, humour and hope.

An award-winning short-story writer, she has published three novels and a short story collection 
with small independent press, Inspired Quill. Her debut novel, Sugar and Snails, was shortlisted for 
the 2016 Polari First Book Prize.

Away from her desk, Anne guides book-loving walkers through the Derbyshire landscape that 
inspired Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.

Can I Stray by Jenna Adams

 

Can I Stray by Jenna Adams.

Published 11th October 2022 by Neem Tree Press.

From the cover of the book:

Fourteen-year-old Brooke Tyler has spent her whole life waiting for a boy to choose her. Matt is about to go to university, scared to leave behind everything he knows. When both are cast as romantic leads in Romeo and Juliet, they fulfil the roles of forbidden lovers both on and off the stage. Brooke is sure that her fairy tale is coming true - and best of all, Matt is older.

Brooke considers secrets and lies a small price to pay for her first boyfriend, but the relationship is set to cost her after one night alone in an empty auditorium. When Brooke learns that Matt’s actions that night were illegal, her world shatters.

Years later, Brooke and Matt reunite as adults. Matt wants to undo all the damage he caused, but Brooke makes a choice which forces them both to question their relationship.

Told in three acts this captivating debut reveals a young woman’s journey for independence as she strays away from everything she has ever known to navigate her traumatic past.

***********

When fourteen-year-old Brooke is cast as Juliet in a school production of Shakespeare's famous play about star-crossed lovers, she has no idea that it will lead to events that will change both her life and that of her Romeo, seventeen-year-old-Matt.

Brooke has spent her whole life waiting to be the one that is chosen, especially since the break-up of her parents' marriage, and the closeness forced upon her and Matt as they rehearse their roles convinces her that romance is also blossoming between them off-stage. At first, Matt only looks upon Brooke as a much younger friend, but he finds himself becoming attracted to her too, and they enter into a forbidden relationship - one which he insists must remain secret, much like the on-stage couple they are playing. 

Brooke believes herself in love, and is happy to follow the rules laid down by Matt, until one night before he heads off to university, something happens between them that breaks the romantic spell. In the aftermath, Brooke's mental health unravels in a way that shapes the pattern of her future relationships.

Four years later, Brooke and Matt meet again. Matt now wants to atone for the mistakes he made in the past, but their meeting sparks something in Brooke that causes her to make a decision that sets her on a different path, and causes him to reconsider what he thought had happened between them.

Cleverly echoing the theatrical circumstances under which Brooke and Matt meet, this is a story told in three acts. The first covers the relationship that develops between them during the run of Romeo and Juliet, which causes Brooke to fall headlong in the depression that has always been dogging her heels. The second is all about the time Brooke and Matt meet again after his return from university. And the third brings the story full circle as Brooke tries to come to terms with the trauma of her past. Within each act, the scenes switch back and forth between the points of view of Brooke and Matt, which allows you to see inside the heads of both of the main characters, so you are aware of heir states of mind in each part of the 'play'. 

The overall novel forms something of a coming-of-age story, particularly for Brooke, but also in many ways for Matt too. It delves into so many themes that it is hard to cover them all in a brief review, but Jenna Adams does a splendid job of forcing you to look long and hard at some very knotty issues around consent, unhealthy relationships, and mental health. Intriguingly, she also has some sharp observations to make about the failings of sex education in schools that certainly set your mind working.

As the story unfurls, both Brook and Matt come to realise that what happened between them was wrong, but it is Brooke that bears the brunt of the way in which Matt blindly takes advantage of her despite her obvious vulnerabilities. The story device of swapping back and forth between them is employed well to cover all the shades of grey, and shows sharp insight into the mire of confused feelings of teenage-hood, when hormone driven physical desires hold sway, and emotional maturity lags way behind. Brooke becomes stuck in a pattern that dictates how her life plays out, until the time that she is able to begin to get to grips with her traumatic past through therapy. It is easy to see Matt as the bad-guy here, but although Adams is clearly behind Brooke's journey to independence, there are moments when you can understand how and why he behaves as he does which muddies the waters.

At times, I did feel that the process Brooke goes through in terms of her therapy was actually more destructive than constructive, despite Adams intent to convince the reader that this is necessary for her long-term mental well-being. However, you can see where she is going with this from the prologue onwards, and it certainly offers a lot of food for thought.

This is the kind of book that is absolutely perfect for book groups, because there is so much to unpick from the stories of both Brooke and Matt. Many of the scenes described are extremely painful to read, and this does contain material that may be distressing to some readers, but this makes it all the more thought-provoking. There are some intelligent bookclub questions at the end of the book that direct discussion around the topics raised, which is helpful given the sensitive content. An appendix of contacts is also provided giving details of organisations to contact if you have been affected by any of the issues touched upon, which I think is very thoughtful. This is the perfect conversation starter.

Can I Stray is available to buy now in paperback and ebook formats. 

Thank you for Neem Tree Press for ending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Jenna Adams lives in London and writes from her third-floor flat which is covered in plants. She always has a book in her handbag, and runs a Twitter and Instagram where she posts about her favourite novels. Jenna‘s debut novel Can I Stray is a new adult book about co-dependency, mental health and issues of consent.

When The Children Fight Back (Children Of The Eye Book Three) by Barry Kirwan

 

When the Children Fight Back (Children of the Eye Book Three) by Barry Kirwan.

Published 1st October 2022.

From the cover of the book:

In the near future, Artificial Intelligences will be smarter than us. Is that a good thing?

A mega-AI known as the Eye is intent on purifying the galaxy, by annihilating all 'organics'. Humanity, itself already decimated after an attack by the Eye, must join eleven other species in the final battle at Orion's Gate to stop their nemesis. 

Led by Sally, humans have a secret weapon: Ares, the last AI from a dead alien race. But can they really trust Ares? And as the battle rages in the heart of a star nursery nebula, Sally realises that one of the other species is about to betray them all...


The thrilling climax to the Children of the Eye series...

***********

Many years have passed since the mission to rescue Earth from the Axleth. In the aftermath of the battle, tenuous alliances have been forged and Sally, accompanied by the survivors from the human fighting force that trained on the Athena, finds herself headed to a final reckoning with The Eye as part of the Axel/Axleth armada.

No one knows what lies ahead, but they aim to find allies in the form of eleven other species recruited by the Axleth to rendezvous at Orion's Gate, before taking the fight to The Eye on its mysterious home world at the heart of a star nursery nebulla - but Sally hopes that their secret weapon of the alien AI being Ares, who she has come to consider part of her family, will bring them the edge they need.

Will the old adage of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' hold true? Can they trust this diverse force of aliens thrown together in a common cause... and when it comes to it, can they really trust Ares either?

When the Children Fight Back is the concluding part of the Children of The Eye trilogy, and what a finale it is! The scope of the first two books has been incredible, morphing from an unsettling apocalyptic blockbuster into a gripping battle for the survival of humankind, but this final book blows them both out of the water with the sheer scale of what Kirwan accomplishes with the delicious space opera twists, turns and conundrums he creates.

It is hard to talk about this one quite as much as I would like, as to do so would give away far too many spoilers, but Kirwan clearly draws on his deep love of the great sci-fi writers of the past to develop his ideas about what might lie out there in space. In many ways he gives the most gracious of nods to some of those eminent writers, but he also goes beyond the groundwork they have laid to weave a really exciting story full of creativity and imagination that carries you along on a thrilling, page-turner of a (galactic) ride. 

There are many familiar faces here for readers of the series, which links the books together nicely and ensures you are fully invested during the tricky trials and tribulations that Kirwan puts them through - I promise you many moments of sitting on the edge of your seat with your heart in your mouth. You also get to know the Axel much better in this book, as many of them become true friends to the human contingent during their quest to rid the galaxy of The Eye. The new characters are intriguing too, especially of the alien ally variety, which Kirwan has a lot of fun with when imagining what they might look like, as well as in terms of what their motivations and sense of fair play might involve. 

There are layers upon layers to peel back before the chilling truth about what has been going on all along in the hearts and minds of some of the players in this epic production becomes horribly clear, but this is balanced beautifully by warmer feelings evoked by comradeship. love and heroic acts of sacrifice that fill your heart - and tearful eyes - to the brim. For a series so packed with hard-edged sci-fi material, it has a solid core of emotional depth, which really raises it above the crowd. I enjoyed how Kirwan takes you on a philosophical journey too, and in many ways explores what it means to be human.

This is some of the most exciting, intelligent and far-sighted science fiction writing I have read in a long while, and I am intrigued about what comes next from Barry Kirwan. There is scope here for more thrilling books to follow on from this series - and I really want to read them!

When the Children Fight Back is available to buy now in paperback and ebook formats via the links below:

Amazon UK          Amazon US

About the author:

Ever since staring up at the stars through his first telescope, Barry Kirwan has wondered what might be out there, and who might come visiting one day. Like most of his favorite science fiction authors, he does not assume they'll look like us, or think like us. 

Both the Eden Paradox series and the new series explore alien motivations and our reactions to them, the new series going one step further to consider how super-AIs might consider humanity.

Find out more about Barry:

Facebook     Website     Twitter