"Little Deaths" Emma Flint

It's 1965 in a tight-knit working-class neighborhood in Queens, New York, and Ruth Malone--a single mother who works long hours as a cocktail waitress--wakes to discover her two small children, Frankie Jr. and Cindy, have gone missing. Later that day, Cindy's body is found in a derelict lot a half mile from her home, strangled. Ten days later, Frankie Jr.'s decomposing body is found. Immediately, all fingers point to Ruth.

Did Ruth Malone violently kill her own children, is she a victim of circumstance--or is there something more sinister at play? 

This novel is inspired by a true crime case from the 1960s in New York when Alice Crimmins was suspected of strangling her two children. Flint says that she has always had an avid interest in true crime and read about the case in "Murder Casebook" series; the story stuck with her. It is intriguing to read about a murder case that is actually inspired by true events - perhaps it makes the characters more unnerving and unsettling. As they say, truth is stranger than fiction.

The protagonist of "Little Deaths" is Ruth Malone (based on Alice) and what is really fascinating about her character is that throughout the novel she never behaves in the way society expects;  she is continually judged in the way she parents - both before and after the deaths of her children. I thought this was a really interesting angle for Flint to explore and felt there were some really fascinating ideas, prejudices and attitudes raised within the novel which are as pertinent to us today as the society of the 60s when the story is set.

Although this book is about murder and includes plenty of mystery, doubt, secrets and flawed characters, it feels very different from the other titles in the best seller crime lists at the moment. The social and historical context of the 60s automatically gives it a different vibe and the setting of New York equally creates a very different atmosphere. Flint's presentation of the role of women, the investigation procedures and the court case from fifty years ago make this an intriguing and emotive read. There are twists and turns, there are moments of pain, raw grief, confusion and revelation but it all unfolds at a different pace than is generally expected from a psychological thriller. Yet still it works. It's effective and gripping.

This strange atmosphere of calmness despite the chaos and devastation surrounding everyone seems to grow from the portrayal of Ruth. I found the opening powerful as Ruth's external image of a young, beautiful woman who takes great care of her appearance contrasts with the screaming and shouting the neighbours all claim to hear from behind the closed door and through the walls. In fact this is the first clue that Ruth is a complicated, multilayered character for whom we cannot quite untangle our feelings and sympathies. Her need to perfect her appearance and dress before anything else give the scenes a slightly surreal feeling of detachment. However, there is a reason for this detailed ritual.

Each morning she smeared on foundation with fingers that trembled depending on how much the view in the mirror had upset her, or on what kind of night she'd had. There were days when her hands were shaking and sweating so that her makeup was patchy, or when her skin was so marked that two layers of foundation seemed to make little difference. ....She was Ruth then.

But Ruth is a complex character. She drinks. She has a series of shady relationships. She seeks solace at bars and with the company of men. She is not a traditional role model mother. She is a single parent. She loves her children. She would not harm them and is devastated by their disappearance. The reader spends the entire novel wondering whether to believe her, support her, sympathise with her, judge her or blame her. Flint has created a fantastic unreliable narrator and ensures the reader is continually changing their minds about whether she is involved or not - a continuous sense of she must have done it / she can't have done it - which is sustained until the final pages and then possibly beyond. People are not black and white. We can't judge a person- circumstances, relationships and evidence are never black and white.

I think it is easy to feel sympathetic towards Ruth, there is enough revelation about her life and her relationship with Frank - the children's father, to show that life has been disappointing for her.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Everything about Frank that had once made her heart race- his way of saying her name, the way he'd looked at her - after nine years and two kids together, all of that had become like the throb of a familiar headache.

Flint's use of the third person narrative is a good choice. Flint manages to create a contrast between the different passages that show Ruth in different situations and from different points of view. The narrative feels close enough to Ruth that we relate to her and build a relationship with her, but we are also privy to what else is going on around her too.  I liked the fact that Flint's prose is stripped back, abrupt and although missing adjectives, creates a brilliant sense of location, emotion and tension very effortlessly.

She remembers a windowless room. Wooden chairs. Then a click. The hiss of static. A man clearing his throat, giving time and date.

Step on a crack and break your back
Step on a crack, kids ain't coming back

Ruth is a contradiction. I liked the way the narrative switched between scenes when Ruth appeared unfazed by what was happening and then the scenes when she is emotionally raw and we realise that she is deeply distraught. We are not to judge how she handles her predicament. It does not make her guilty. As I said earlier, this constant contrast also perpetuates the reader's question as to what her role in the children's disappearance really was.

She went to the bedroom and changed her clothes. Put on a clean blouse that flattered her figure. She knew that there would be men, strangers, looking at her, asking questions. Their eyes all over her like hands. She had to be ready for them. She had to look right.

She tried to speak but was afraid that when she opened her mouth, the tears in her throat would spill out. Something inside her, something instinctive and ancient, kept her from letting go. Instead she hunched over, holding the rabbit against her, holding in the sickness and the fear, bent double with the effort.

The other intriguing character in the novel is Pete Wonicke, tabloid reporter. His sections give us insight into the press coverage, the need to find a story, how they want to portray Ruth, the influence the press can have on the case. Pete is confused by Ruth's appearance when he first sees her:

[He had expected] someone wild, he thought. Tangled hair, disordered clothes. Hysterics. Instead, she was easily recognisable as the glossy woman in the photograph.

The paper's interest in the story wanes but Pete is obsessed. He can't leave the case alone. He begins to follow Ruth, to find out as much as he can about the police and the investigation. He begins to feel distaste towards his boss who is very clear about how to make the case a headline story - continuously asking him to look for more "colour". Pete finds it difficult that Ruth is giving the press and the public what they want.

Ruth had enough colour for neon and stained glass and Christmas. Pete didn't need to make her up, all he had to do was follow her and take a picture with his pen and pad and his memory, and there she was: Kodak-bright on the page.

But his persistence - although at times a little creepy and suspicious, actually results in uncovering the darker workings of the police and the press. He realises that in fact, he now doubts everything he though he knew. And this is what adds a layer of palpable tension and excitement to the story as it reaches its dramatic denouement.

I liked Flint's style a lot. It's unfussy, it's stripped back, it creates ambiguity and confusion. It's extremely readable. And at times, it is delicate and the tiniest observations create an image of huge impact and poignancy.

she felt a hand on her arm and a squeeze, a rough friendliness that interrupted the polite press of the others. She stared at the hand, with its bitten cuticles and cheap rings, and she couldn't look up because she knew that the understanding in Gina's face would break her.

she looked like a pale shimmering moth fluttering behind the glass. She looked trapped

This, then, was grief. It came to her as heaviness. It came as a stone in her throat, preventing her from swallowing....

I enjoyed this book. It will be a success. Flint has produced something that follows the forms and conventions of a successful crime thriller but with an edge and an individuality which makes it feel different. Despite being based on a true crime event and set in the past, it feels fresh and new. Ruth Malone is captivating and compelling. Flint's interest, passion and obsession for this character is obvious and has ensured that readers will also come to share a fascination, interest and obsession in her and the fate of her children.

"Little Deaths" is published on 12th January by Pan MacMillan

For more recommendations from me you can follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)

"Relativity" Antonia Hayes

Twelve year old Ethan is an exceptionally gifted young boy, obsessed with physics and astronomy. His single mother Claire is fiercely protective of her brilliant, vulnerable son. But she can't shield him forever from learning the truth about what happened to him when he was a baby; why Mark, Ethan's father, had to leave them all those years ago. Ethan is now becoming increasingly more curious about his past, especially his father's absence in his life and when he intercepts a letter to Claire from Mark, he opens a lifetime of feelings that, like gravity, will pull the three together again.

Told from the alternating points of view of Ethan and each of his parents, Relativity is a poetic and soul-searching exploration of unbreakable bonds, irreversible acts, the limits of science, and the magnitude of love. 

I first read about this book on social media but as Hayes is Australian I didn't think I'd be able to get hold of a copy so I was absolutely over the moon when I received one from Clara Diaz at Little, Brown. It must have been all that wishing upon a star and the forces of the cosmos working in my favour!

Who knew I would fall in love with a book about astrophysics and physics? Certainly not my forte ever, or something I've ever really been able to get to grips with but oh my, in this book Hayes makes science full of colour, shape, vitality and creativity. Her ability to write so lyrically and poetically about forces, meteorology, mathematics and the brain is impressive and makes this book unputdownable. In the way that Mark Haddon also achieved with his character with autism, Hayes has portrayed the mind of a young child -whose genius is also sometimes his disability -with authenticity and created a character that we immediately care about, engage with and become very fond of. This sensitive balance between Ethan's narrative, his issues, the story lines of Claire and Mark as they navigate their way through relationships, parenthood and their own emotional journeys and the delicate writing style has resulted in a book which I felt was fresh, original and very readable.

From the beginning we can see that Ethan is different. He sees things in a different way to everyone else. His obsession with stars and astronomy affects the way he perceives the world around him.

"The constellation of Ethan. Made up of his symptoms, his ancient stars: subdural haematoma, haemorrhages, cerebal oedema. They made a picture, told a story. His story." 

"He saw radar pulses and radio waves, spirals and loops unfurling into time and space......He saw the hydrogen and helium that make up incandescent stars, whirling distant pinwheel galaxies.....all the ripples of a universe, spinning in a galactic soup around him." 

Hayes imagery is thoughtful and highly imaginative. It continues to be throughout the entire novel. The use of colour also helps Hayes to convey Ethan's sense of the world and I thought his understanding of his diagnosis was simple, naive and innocent:

"sitting on the spectrum made Ethan think of a row of chairs running along a rainbow." 

And a good contrast to the rather dampening Doctor's definition that sometimes an extraordinary skill is "compensation for an extraordinary deficiency."

Ethan's love for his mother is clear and their relationship is captured from the way he first describes her:

"When Ethan looked at his mum, he saw another universe, a world intact, of soothing shapes and soft textures, of beautiful angles and the warmest light. His universe."

They have a very close bond and Claire is fiercely loyal about protecting Ethan. She understands the dangerous implications of being "gifted" and she too is carrying several deep secrets not only about Ethan's past and the estrangement with his father, but also complex issues about her own childhood and relationship with her parents. There were numerous lines that I highlighted while reading and Claire's more blunt and pragmatic observations strike a contrast against Ethan's happy oblivion. They also ensure a balance within the pace, structure and tone of the novel, but a subtle reference or inference to astrology is never far away.....

"Motherhood could easily annihilate whatever came before it........Parenting a shining star meant being overshadowed.....[she had] eclipsed her mother but her mother couldn't live without the light."

There are plenty of moments when you just want to hover over a line or sentence for a while and absorb the weight of the words and the gravity of the idea that Hayes is probing. This is a ponderous book but at the same time, moves on at a reasonable pace, propelled by the domestic drama and human interest provided by Claire and Mark.

Some of the themes and ideas I would love to spend more time reflecting on were the idea of dreams, memory, second chances, mistakes, the past and gravity. There are some beautiful conversations between the characters and Claire and Mark's understanding that although their relationship is troubled, they remain each other's constant. Hayes implies that there is a gravitational pull between people, a traumatic past can not be revisited or undone as time travel is a physical impossibility, but the past can become a stronger foundation for a more successful future.

"The most difficult steps in the choreography were always the most memorable of the dance."

Hayes did something for me which no teacher or scientist has managed before and that was to show physics as something beautiful and intriguing. As one of the characters points out, It isn't the certainty of physics that makes it interesting but the "discovery.....the beauty of the unknown." This novel is all about possibility, making the impossible happen, realignment, rediscovery, forgiveness and new beginnings. All things which happen in fiction and in science. Ethan uses science to help him look for a better future and to give him hope.

"Physics was full of paradoxes and duality."
"Theories were disproven all the time. There were no universal truths, just views of the world yet to be proven wrong."

It's too long to quote but there was some lovely passages about Gravity towards the end of the book. There were some great phrases about all it does, from making tears run down our faces to keeping our feet on the ground, from attraction to a bond that binds us together. 

The final thing to mention are the chapter headings. They are all key words from physics - time, space, momentum, acceleration, inertia, magnetism ....... This yet again reinforces the key metaphors and themes that Hayes explores within science, within fiction and within a family. I really enjoyed this story and really enjoyed the writing style. It is Hayes first novel and I am seriously excited about looking out for this writer in the future! 

If you enjoyed "A Boy Made of Blocks" then you will enjoy this book. I thought there were similarities between the father / son relationship in this novel. 

"Relativity" is published on 17th January by Little,Brown. 

For more recommendations and reviews you can find me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)

"Swimming Lessons" Claire Fuller

Gil's wife, Ingrid has been missing, presumed drowned, for twelve years. Believing to have spotted her from afar, Gil chases after her but unfortunately this results in him injuring himself which brings his daughters Nan and Flora back home to his side. As they care for him, they begin to confront the mystery surrounding their mother and her disappearance. And the answers lie in all the books around them that clutter up the shelves, hallway and practically any available space in the house.

This book overwhelmed me. I thought "Our Endless Numbered Days" was a treat but with "Swimming Lessons" Fuller has truly revealed her talent as a writer whose use of language is eloquent, exquisite, enchanting and endearing. This is an absolutely beautiful book, completely deserving of its golden cover that will, like the story inside it, shimmer like a star in any book shop display and on any book shelf at home.

Prepare yourself. This review contains excessive gushing and extreme bibliomania.

After Gil's apparent sighting of his wife that went missing over a decade ago, we meet his daughter Flora who has never really accepted that her mother may be dead and continually hopes for her return. Water is an intrinsic metaphor, theme, image and character throughout the entire novel and this starts immediately with Flora's return home on the ferry. I loved the whole paragraph about Flora travelling to "the Pinch" - "the curl of land shaped like a beckoning finger" and her imagining of the ferry sinking subconsciously prepares the reader for Fuller's exploration of death, drowning, swimming, survival and being overwhelmed or suffocated by life. I was completely captivated by the description and lyrical power of Fuller's words.

Flora's story, set in the present, is interspersed with letters from Ingrid from 1992 - just before she went missing. The letters are written from the Swimming Pavilion at night, and she has hidden them in amongst Gil's extensive and eclectic collection of books. Gil has collected books for the "forgotten ephemera used as bookmarks," for the photographs, letters, receipts, drawings, tickets and any bit of paper from which "he could piece together other people's lives, other people who had read the same books as he held and who had marked their place."

"Fiction is about readers. Without readers there is no point in books and therefore they are as important as the author, perhaps more important. But often the only way to see what a reader thought, how they lived when they were reading, is to examine what they left behind."

It's a fascinating concept and I loved the fact that the title of the book in which Ingrid's letters had been hidden was also included- and that the books chosen were as diverse, eclectic and as pertinent as the contents of the letters.

Ingrid's letters begin with the voice of a young woman on the cusp of adulthood in the late 1970s; a voice of romance, hope, excitement and potential. With her best friend Louise they talk about how they want to be different from their mothers who were "parochial and pointless," tied down by families and houses. As Ingrid says, they were so critical and uncompromising then, in a way only young minds can be - and should be. But for the more astute reader amongst us there is a sense of wary inevitability. The story of Gil and Ingrid's initial courtship really is the stuff of dreams, a enchanting exchange of sharp, witty, clever interaction where both are equal and both are able to shine as individuals. However, very quickly the tone of the letters changes and Ingrid's thoughts become more desperate, more unhappy, more trapped and more hopeless. This with Gil's repeated comments that he should have told her more often how he loved her, chart the changing relationships, dynamics and sadness that starts to threaten the marriage and the whole family.

Ingrid's letters explore motherhood, marriage, being a wife and being a writer. Flora's sections reveal further insight into the family, her relationship with her mother, her father and her sister. Flora is more chaotic, deluded, emotional and Nan for the most part is pragmatic, short tempered, rational and frustrated. She acts as Flora's mother more than her sister and having been older and more aware of what was happening within her family, has suffered differently from the disappearance of Ingrid. The sisters' relationship needs rebuilding. I felt a lot of sympathy for Nan and thought Flora's observation that in a certain light Nan "could be beautiful for a moment like sunlight on the peak of a wave" was an extremely effective way of capturing the effect events had had on the her. The contrast between Flora and Nan - rational v romantic, practical v artistic, realist v dreamer, were well drawn and well employed not just to create good characters but also to add further layers to the plot and themes.

Ingrid's story was totally absorbing. Her voice was so strong and so compelling. Her story is hard, heartbreaking, harrowing and told with such honesty it will haunt me and stay with me for a long long time. I loved the sentence from Flora that "her mother's story trailed along behind her like a second shadow."

I found my feelings towards Gil more complex and more indecipherable. Despite making more notes of quotes he said and underling more statements from him that I found more affecting, despite his apparent emotional intelligence and intellect, he was not a man easy to like. At times he is selfish, self absorbed, thoughtless and short sighted. There is a sense of remorse at the end and a sense that he failed Ingrid and Fuller definitely asks some questions about this family, which although seemingly earns its living from communication, cannot actually communicate with each other. There is too much unsaid, hidden or disguised.

There is a sense of deceit throughout the whole novel. There is a really interesting conversation about the need to find Ingrid's body when a similar story about a disappearance hits the news. Gil argues that finding a body is "more terrible" as "with a body there is no possibility of hope." But the counter argument is that actually, what kind of life is a life when you are left hoping forever: "You can't exist like that, with not knowing." This idea of duality is repeated throughout the novel -again as Gil states several times, "it is hard to live with both hope and grief."

There were parts of Ingrid's story that nearly moved me to tears. Yet there were also parts of Flora's story that were equally upsetting. Flora's recollection of her childhood friend's mother and how much she wanted to pretend she was part of her family were so poignant and revealing. And the misinterpretation of the word "lost" immensely powerful.

I was reminded of Hemmingway and his wife Hadley - or the depiction of their marriage in "The Paris Wife". Hemmingway was a enigmatic character whose artistic devotion had a detrimental affect on Hadley in the long run. I could see similarities between the women and their stories.

I was also reminded of books by Claire King and Carys Bray and the novels "The Finding of Martha Lost" and "The Red Notebook." If you enjoy these, then you will enjoy Claire Fuller -and vice versa!

"Swimming Lessons" is a stunning book. I have written pages of notes, underlined hundreds of quotes, wished that the writing would never end and already thumbed through the pages again and again to indulge myself in the beautiful writing and character studies once more. I don't expect to have done justice to the book with this review and I don't expect to really have managed to articulate my passion for this novel, but I do hope you read Fuller's book and I do hope you enjoy it as much as I did. This is a novel which will be enjoyed by people wanting to read a story about women, marriage, motherhood and coming of age. This is a novel that will be enjoyed by those are interested in the social and historical setting. This is a book that will engage many a book group and hopefully even many a academic discussion. Its appeal will be as wide ranging and multi faceted as the layers hidden within the plot, imagery and characters.

In case you weren't sure, it's 5 star read from me.

"Swimming Lessons" by Claire Fuller will be published on 26th January by Penguin.

Oh, and I found a faded envelop in amongst the pages when I was reading - an envelope with a Christmas card in it from 1951. Wow. Clever. Excellent marketing Penguin Books!

For more recommendations and reviews please follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)

Last Minute Christmas Shopping Tips from Bibliomaniac

Need some last minute inspiration for presents? Check out these book suggestions and see if they help you pick the perfect gift this Christmas!

For Him


For Her



For Them



For Friends



For Relatives



For You



Keep an eye out on my twitter feed for more reviews of the books I've loved in 2016 - there are 240 for me to choose from...... I just need to try and get my top 100 down to a more manageable top 10!!
You can find me @katherinesunde3 (bibliomanaicuk)

**BLOG TOUR** Saving Sophie by Sam Carrington

A taut psychological thriller, perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train and I Let You Go

I really enjoyed "Saving Sophie" and it has to be one of my top psychological thriller reads of 2016 so I almost needed to get myself a paper bag to stop the hyperventilating when I was asked to be part of the Blog Tour for the paperback which is out on 15th December 2016!

Check out my review, then go get yourself a copy of the book -but be prepared to literally have your breath stolen from you with Carrington's exciting and heart-racing thriller! 



My Review:

Her eyes are wide and swollen, wet with fresh tears- her face stained with old ones. She opens her mouth, just a little, daring to utter the words screaming inside her head: Please don't kill me. He notices the slight movement of her lips and immediately presses his fingers against them, suppressing the words before they can be formed. Only her breath manages to leak through the gaps of his soft fingers; a stifled exhalation. Her last. 

A teenage girl is missing. Is your daughter involved, or is she next?

Your daughter is in danger. But can you trust her?

Every parent's worst nightmare. Your 17 year old daughter is brought home one night by the police. Drunk and without any memory of what happened that evening. The next morning her friend Amy is missing. Then a body is found. 

What happened? Can Sophie really not remember anything or is she actually hiding something? 

There is a lot about breathing in this book. Not doing it, doing it too quickly, having it taken from you...... The main perpetrator of this crime against regular breath is the author Carrington herself. In fact, if you have remembered to breathe even by the end of the short prologue then you will stand a better chance than I did of surviving this novel! 

Carrington's prose is relentlessly gripping. It is an absolute page turner of a thriller with all the perfect ingredients of a gripping and psychologically chilling book. Carrington is a great story teller and I really enjoyed this -her debut novel. It had everything I could ask for from a contemporary, mainstream, one-sitting-read and I'm sure it will fly off the shelves when it is published in paperback in December. 

It opens typically with a prologue -an anonymous voice, a captured girl. A gag which falls to the floor with "an innocent sound, incongruent with the function it has just served." We then plunge headlong into the main body of the story, the short chapters barely leaving you enough time to release that lungful of held air before you prepare yourself for the next twist. 

The chapters are told alternately from the point of view of Sophie and her mother, Karen. I liked this as the book is as much about Karen, her past, her secrets and her huge psychological issues as it is of Sophie. By having two main protagonists, not only does Carrington have two sets of secrets and buried pasts to uncover but she also has more relationships to explore and develop; friendship - both between Sophie's peer group and Karen's friendship with Rachel, relationships between mothers and daughters, teenager's relationships and marriage. This generates more tension and more subplots. At first I was a little confused by the amount of focus on Karen and her response to the missing girl rather than Sophie, who is seemingly more embroiled with danger and crime, but Carrington has meticulously planned for all this and nothing has been written without a purpose which will gradually become clear to the reader. 

Even when we're not hyperventilating at the scenes about Sophie, Amy, the anonymous voice and the police investigation, we are still not allowed to let our breathing relax or feel any sense of calm as we share with Karen as she fights her own illness; her own debilitating demons, her own psychological nightmare as she tries to survive with advanced agoraphobia.

"Karen clawed at the top buttons of her cotton shirt, popping a few as she attempted to reduce the restriction around her neck. Her breathing was out of control already.....she was going to choke. Her lips tingled as the carbon dioxide in her blood reduced. She had to act now or she'd faint."

Initially I was a little frustrated by Karen as she does feel a bit of a victim. Her relationships with both her husband and daughter are fragile or even dysfunctional. Her husband is exacerbated by her condition and sometimes too blunt with her. However, as the novel progressed, I developed more sympathy for her and the extra attention to her suffering and anxiety is a key part of the plot and the character's journey. Her constant thoughts about breathing, chocking, suffocation, panicking, tightness are all used to exaggerate the tension and whip the reader up into an equal state of panic. Karen's sense of hopelessness is palpable and I had sympathy for her as she tried to manage the conflict inside her - she knows her family is in a deeply precarious place but she really can't seem to overcome her inner demons and free herself from them. But if she doesn't.....

Social media and the internet are also key in this book. I love the way the web has affected crime writing - not only in making criminals more powerful or menacing, the work of the police more complex, but also in the amount of research that individuals can carry out independent from the police. Karen may be confined to the four walls of her house but she is able to use the computer to help explore her intuition. Whether this is for the best or not.....And it's amazing how deeply unnerving an email can sound in amongst a narrative and how much of someone's character it can betray. 

This is also novel about secrets. Expect to be blown away with the revelations, surprises, twists and turns that rival any whirlwind or tropical storm. I loved this passage:

"The clock on the wall beside them ticked loudly, like a steady heartbeat: tick...tick...tick.
Once spoken aloud, the words were out there. A secret no longer. Tick.....tick....tick." 

But, honestly, I don't think I can take much more from Carrington! The ending was brilliant and the epilogue...... well...... my breathing is yet to return to something more "regular"! 

Carrington's writing is straightforward, accessible, full of pace, full of fluent dialogue and full of drama. It's a perfect one sitting read for Friday nights or a weekend. 

And as the brilliant and witty Kaisha Holloway from thewritinggarnet wrote in her review - "perhaps Avon should package every copy of "Saving Sophie" with a paper bag because you need it. Every time Karen went to use hers to regulate her own breathing, I wanted to shout share it!"

"Saving Sophie" is available from 15th Decemeber 2016 in paperback and on Kindle from Avon Publishers. 

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Publishers for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review

Author Bio.

Sam Carrington lives in Devon with her husband and three children. She worked for the NHS for fifteen years, during which time she qualified as a nurse. Following the completion of a Psychology degree she worked for the prison service as an Offending Behaviour Programme Facilitator. Her experiences within this field inspired her writing. She left the service to spend time with her family and to follow her dream of being a novelist. Before beginning her first novel, Sam wrote a number of short stories, several of which were published in popular women’s magazines. Other short stories were included in two charity anthologies.
Sam moved quickly on to novel writing and completed her first project within six months. Although this novel attracted attention from agents, it was her next that opened up opportunities. She entered this novel, with the working title Portrayal, into the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award in 2015 and was delighted when it was longlisted.
Being placed in such a prestigious competition was instrumental in her success securing a literary agent. When completed, this novel became SAVING SOPHIE, a psychological thriller which was published by Maze, HaprerCollins as an ebook in August. The paperback and audio editions are publishing on 15th December.

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2a7FO8m.
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Sophie-gripping-psychological-brilliant-ebook/dp/B01DT37C1O
Sam's Twitter: https://twitter.com/sam_carrington1
Sam's FB author page: https://www.facebook.com/samcarringtonauthor/

For more recommendations and reviews from me, you can follow me @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk) on Twitter

"Dying for Christmas" Tammy Cohen

I am missing. Held captive by a blue-eyed stranger. To mark the twelve days of Christmas, he gives me a gift every day, each more horrible than the last. The twelfth day is getting closer. After that, there'll be no more Christmas cheer for me. No mince pies, no carols. No way out.

But I have a secret. No-one has guessed it. Will you?

Since hearing Tammy Cohen speak about "How to Write a Psychological Thriller" at the Killer Women Crime Festival this autumn, I had been wanting to read one of her books - there are three on my TBR pile............ Then this title came up again in another high profile list of recommendations and I felt that I just had to read it, especially with it being the festive season!

I'm so glad I haven't left it any longer to discover a writer who creates characters who are so eerie and chilling! This is such a great 'alternative' Christmas read!

The first chapter starts with a killer opening line and I was totally intrigued:

Chances are by the time you finish reading this, I'll already be dead.

In fact the whole of the chapter is just a succession of killer lines which present us with the very three dimensional, vibrant character of Jessica, who we immediately learn a lot about from her blunt tone, down to earth comments and open revelations about her unhappy childhood, lack lustre relationship and her odd character traits that imply some sort of mental health issues. The voice of Jessica is very direct and informal and I felt like I was being spoken to directly. It's a clever technique of Cohen's to ensure the reader quickly engages.

Oh well, you live and learn. Except in my case you don't.

Jessica invites a sense of confidence between the reader and herself. The way in which she addresses the reader means that from the outset you are very quickly aligned with her and caught up in her story. Chapter one leaves us with so many hints about Jessica's background and so many questions about what might happen next that it is impossible not to read on - Cohen has opened her thriller perfectly with all the right ingredients, in the right quantity, with a perfectly pitched voice that leaves the reader desperate to for more.

The story opens with Jessica shopping on Christmas Eve and meeting a random stranger while sharing a table in a cramped coffee shop. Dominic is handsome, charming and alluring. As Jessica acknowledges:

Men who look like that don't exist in my life. Not in 3D form anyway.

I knew men like him didn't fall in love with women like me. 

Through Jessica's first person narrative, Cohen has implied that she is vulnerable, unhappy and perhaps someone who is reckless, irrational and prone to taking risks. The reference to therapy, voices in her head and a dysfunctional family history create tension. The sense of danger and imminent threat is obvious but Jessica's slightly quirky narrative makes it believable and tangible. The references to life and death could seem too clunky and leading but actually they add a kind of sarcasm and wry humour that makes Jessica even more interesting.

What I was after was an experience, a memory I could store in tissue paper and take out every now and then in years to come when no one was around.

I wanted a break. I wanted to be someone else for a bit, with someone else's life. You're a long time dead, I told myself.

Jessica knows that the reader is not going to be totally convinced by how easily she ends up in such a precarious predicament -even with the knowledge of her homelife it still feels rather unlikely that a grown woman in a stable relationship would go home with a complete stranger, but Jessica knows this and very openly admits she was foolish and completely out of her depth. I liked the originality in Cohen's plot that our protagonist is not duped, abducted or drugged by the villain, but actually willingly agrees to go along with him knowing its the wrong thing to do - and takes responsibility for this.

What on earth was I thinking? What would possess an educated young woman, well versed in the perils of stranger danger - a young woman with a long term boyfriend- to get in a car with a man she'd only just met? And if you have to ask you're probably too clear headed, too normal, not lonely enough to understand.

And there it was. The thing that lurked beneath the perfect glass surface of our encounter. The thing that I'd been trying not to face. .....And it was all my fault.

The chapters are short and all end with a short sentence that forms a cliffhanger, revelation or confession. Cohen's writing style is candid and tight. This is mirrored by the short chapters and suggestion that events are going to take place quickly and over a short period of time. All these factors work brilliantly in encouraging the reader to keep reading as it feels like this is going to be a clear, straightforward story that will be over in a relatively short time frame. Its accessible, informal style convinces us that we have it all the characters worked out and all the motivations sown up.

Well, any lover of psychological thrillers will know how foolish it is to ever think that!

Once Jessica finds herself trapped in the flat with Dominic, sentences like "All in good time", "Time to find out" and the suggestion that Dominic is totally in control, fully prepared and has meticulously planned the whole thing create a sense of inevitability and finality. Dominic's intention to keep her in the flat for the 12 days of Christmas, every day presenting her with a gift which reveals something more creepy, unpleasant or shocking about him, give the novel real shape and builds tension and gives it a clear timeframe. This is a story that will unfold over 12 days and then....... well, isn't that why we are all reading on?!

Dominic is frightening because he is so ordinary. These are always the most scary kinds of psychopaths - the ones that appear like you or me, charming, normal, intelligent, articulate, professional. As we spend more time with him trapped in the flat, his revelations about his childhood, his relationship with his mother and his sister are deeply deeply disturbing. He is both a compelling and repulsive character.

Jessica's narrative is broken up with sections from the character of Kim, a workaholic detective with her own issues, unhappiness and internal conflict. At first I wondered if the plot actually needed another character and sub plot that was also very emotionally tense as I was always keen to get back to the story of Jessica and Dominic - which held enough psychological intrigue for me - but actually as the novel progresses, Kim's role becomes more important, significant and then completely intrinsic to the whole success of the book. She's a clever lady this Tammy Cohen!

During her entrapment we learn much more about Jessica. She makes some really intriguing comments about her family history - I loved the fact that her parents bought her 6 sessions with a therapist for a Christmas present! It's clear she's never quite fitted in anywhere, that she could be prone to mental illness or potentially suffering from an undiagnosed one; she struggles to make friends and frequently "disappears into the recesses of her head" - she hears voices and self harms.......I began to wonder whether it was sympathy or suspicion that I was feeling for this complicated character. There are clues, hints and tiny suggestions that all is not as it seems. Is Jessica a reliable narrator?

Part Two. I love a "Part Two" as I know that this is the midway twist, the moment when the rug is pulled out from under my feet and the moment when I have to totally rethink everything I thought I knew. And boy, Cohen does not disappoint.

Kim comes into her own with her reluctance to accept that all is what is seems. She begins to plant more questions in the reader's mind and is persistent in her belief that people are rarely as they seem. As the investigation gathers more information and delves deeper, there are more inconsistencies and unexplained aspects of Jessica's story that start to flag up more questions and suspicions. There is a new voice, there are more twists.

To be honest, this is a real psychological drama as much as a thriller. It is really clever - I underestimated quite how so until I had finished it and then felt I had to start again from page one. All the pieces kept slotting into place as I raced through the last pages and even long after I've finished, more ideas or realisations kept crossing my mind. The book is billed as a cross between "Misery" and "Gone Girl" and this probably captures it as well as any comparison I could make. I liked it a lot. I will be recommending it and I will even be buying it for a few friends this Christmas! I really enjoy a book filled with double meaning where nothing is ever what you think and Cohen totally delivers on this front. Her clever and thoroughly planned exposition is really satisfying and impressive.

I can't say any more without spoiling it for you all but honestly, this story is not just about one twisted mind, it is about several! And who knew, that Tammy Cohen, that lovely, smiling, attractive lady who was so warm and approachable during her talks at Killer Women Festival could be capable of something so deeply disturbing and twisted!!!

Happy Christmas!

For more recommendations, reviews and bookish chat, please find me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)

"Willow Walk" SJI Holliday

She bangs the door shut. Hard. Starts walking. Fast. Something pings at her. Get away from here. You need to get away. Behind her in the house, no one flinches. No one stirs. No one breathes. 

And so begins SJI Holliday's second book in her Banktoun series. As if the cover isn't eerie enough. Fairgrounds - like clowns - are atmospheric and foreboding places and it immediately sets the mood of the book. With "Willow Walk" Holliday has written a great crime detective story with prose that is at times deeply unsettling and unnerving.

"Willow Walk" has three threads with three central protagonists and a few more important characters circling around. It is set in Banktoun, a small fictional town in Scotland and centres on Marie, DS Davie Gray and 16 year old Laura. At first the link between Laura and Marie's stories seems unrelated but as the novel continues, Holliday cleverly intertwines the plots to a climatic finale.

DS Gray is investigating an increase in local drug crime amongst the teenagers - particularly a new drug that has catastrophic effects which has caused several deaths. Then a woman is brutally attacked by an escaped inmate from a psychiatric hospital and suddenly DC Gray finds himself swept up the hunt to track down this dangerous man. As the novel develops, Holliday uses the drug crime storyline  and the psychiatric hospital to explore themes of addiction, dependency, vulnerability, obsession and madness in various different guises and through various different characters. I found this really effective and it added another depth to the story.

Laura is 16 and in love with Mark. They get together at the fairground which is a fantastic backdrop to capture the hazy, aphrodisiac kind of illusion of true love which almost hypnotises Laura and certainly drags her under some kind of spell.

"The tingle hits her hard, shoots down her spine and there's a moment: dance music blaring out all around them, shrieks and laughter, the pop of rifles, the ringing of bells, the mingling scents of hot dogs and candy floss, the thick smell of engine oil from the ancient rides, the thumps of the engine dodgems bumping each other...it all swirls around them both.......lost in a daze."

Laura is a likeable character. An impressionable age; falling in love for the first time, taking new risks and in the transition to adulthood. Led by desire, her perception of events is unreliable and her vulnerability is clear to the reader as we try to figure out just how good to be true this Mark really is. There's a great passage when Laura visits a fortune teller at the fair and during her reading the fortune teller starts to stammer and fall over her words, trying "to rub them all together, removing the pattern and the story they've told...." Holliday creates a really palpable sense of impending doom but we are as quick to dismiss it as Laura. She has found love. She is safe.

But soon we see things are not as they seem and Laura is propelled into a much more threatening and dangerous situation that arises from a series of coincidences, revelations and intertwining relationships as the characters story lines begin to impact on one another.

The passages about the fairground are highly memorable. Holliday conveys the 'epileptic' flashing lights, the smells, the confusion, euphoria, shrill screams, tinny music, colour and artificial vibrancy of a fairground effortlessly in a way that not only transports you to that place but also haunts you. These glimmers of dreamlike prose sprinkle a kind of supernatural feel over some of the pages which I liked. Holliday effectively controls the balance in her voice between a gritty realism, violent, graphic crime scenes and mesmerising prose.

I was most fascinated by Marie though. We soon realise that she too is perhaps not as reliable as we thought. As Davie begins to delve deeper into his investigation, he also becomes anxious of her strange behaviour. There is clearly a terrible back story to discover here - and my goodness, aren't we desperate to have it revealed to us! She is introverted, a victim, unhappy, stressed. As her past is referred to more fully, Holliday restrains from falling into a gratuitous detail but still the revelations are deeply harrowing.

But then at times, Marie is unable to help herself and her behaviour to us as the rational bystanders is perhaps harder to understand. However her relationships with her brother is tremendously complicated. Holliday really exploits this idea of secrets, shame, obsession, love and sibling relationships and makes it a compelling aspect of the book.

By the end of the book I was full of questions about her and as chilled by her behaviour as her brother Graeme's. Graeme is also a very well developed character. He is as unnerving and terrifying as some of the greatest psychopaths in thriller fiction. His letters, which are inserted between chapters, are so menacing that they really put the reader on edge or even high alert as we can barely watch to see his role in the story unfold.

My absolutely favourite part was Chapter 35. This was some of the most beautiful description I have read in a crime thriller. It was so absorbing. I could feel the weight of silence, see the camera's panoramic sweep of the room, felt completely mesmerised by the words painting such a visually intriguing scene and was totally wrapped up in the moment. The sense of unnatural calm, stillness and silence was hugely evocative. There are some scenes in the book which literally linger in the air and make the reader feel like they have pressed the pause button on a film so they have a chance to really look around and take in every detail of the devastation around them.

There's a lot to think about in "Willow Walk". There are themes of siblings, relationships, violation, innocence, bonds, addiction, drugs and madness. Some of the themes and ideas crept up on me and left me pondering for a few days after. Some of the scenes came back to me like mini flashbacks of a bad dream in the time after I'd out the book away. It's like a film that will stays in your head long after you've finished watching the rolling credits. Particularly as Holliday plants a few clues in the epilogue hinting at the next instalment in the Banktoun series.

I really enjoyed "Willow Walk". I liked the writing style a lot and I liked the various different characters and how they interacted together. I read "Black Wood" a long time ago and although "Willow Walk" is the next instalment, it equally works as a stand alone and doesn't need to be read in sequence.

"Willow Walk' was published in 2016 and The Damselfly - the 3rd Banktoun book -is out in Februrary. I can't wait!

For more recommendations, reviews and bookish chat please follow me on Twitter @katherinesunde3 (bibliomaniacuk)