#TheBindingSong #ElodieHarper #Review

Way back in January, SJI Holliday highly recommended this book and I have been eagerly anticipating it ever since. I have been desperate to read it and then, when it eventually did fall into my lap, I was almost too scared to turn the page and start reading it.......although not as scared as I was once I actually had turned the page and started reading it!

Oh my goodness, what a book. I loved it. This is totally my favourite kind of novel and totally worth the wait. SJI Holliday was not wrong. It is going to be one of my highlights of 2017.

So why did I like it so much? It's set in Norfolk for a start. That's not only my favourite place in the world but also a perfect location for a novel that has a bleak, gothic atmosphere about it. And it's about a new female psychologist working in a prison. A prison in a very remote area full of incredibly unpleasant inmates and staff that are equally hostile. Oh, and there has been a string of suicides amongst the inmates recently as well......

Fabulous.

Dr Janet Palmer wants to find out what secrets are hiding in the prison walls and what darkness is haunting the corridors to make the men take their own lives. But the deeper she digs, the more uncertain she becomes about what she is dealing with, what she is awakening and whether there is something much more sinister and evil at play.

Harper has created a compelling premise, location and cast of characters. Even from the blurb, it is clear this is a novel bursting with tension, suspense, threat and something very very dark.

By the end of the second paragraph of the first page, I was already fully transported to the woods in which the opening scene is set. I had completely fallen alongside the stride of the character as he stumbled through the trees in the wet weather and I could feel the tension prickling at my skin before I had even got to the bottom of the page. Immediately I was reminded of the opening of Great Expectations and filled with the same sense of trepidation that I felt watching the black and white film. I was already in love with Harper's writing.

I make notes when I'm reading - not just to help with my reviews but just because I love language, words and good writing. At the end of the prologue, I have simply annotated it with OMG.

Some of my favourite novels are The Woman in Black, Little Stranger and anything eerie, suggestive, and unnerving that will haunt me and make me too scared to get up in the night without flicking every single light in the house on. The Binding Song is like a perfect amalgamation of all of this. It's got echoes of some of the books I love and employs some great techniques with impressive effect. It's a blend of atmospheric description, allusions to the supernatural, ghostly hauntings and characters who are either master manipulators or preying on the vulnerable, using a mixture of confusion, mind games, reality and delusion to keep the reader on the edge of their seat. I already know I will reread it and pause a little longer over some of the sentences that literally punch the breath out of you.

As well as incredibly gripping prose, this novel is also thought provoking. It raises lots of questions about mental health, psychosis and drugs. It also explores issues such as the possibility or belief in rehabilitation, the relationship between religion and evil, grief, reality, perception and delusion. The characters are very well crafted and the main protagonists, Janet is a really intriguing character. She appears strong, she appears driven in her professional life yet actually, she is fragile and deeply traumatised. Her reliability, objectivity and point of view is often flawed or ambiguous so the reader develops an interesting relationship with her as more and more about her character is revealed as the novel progresses.

The men in the prison are deeply unpleasant. They are manipulative, unnerving yet balanced and calm all at the same time. It's an ambitious novel but for me, one that captured my imagination, attention and still haunts me now.

I enjoyed the way the author used mirrors and reflections in a metaphorical way as well as a very straightforward way to create tension and add another layer to the plot. There is a satisfying play on the concept of twins, seeing true self and the question of perception and reality.

I don't know anything about working in prisons or with prisoners but I thought that placing Janet in this setting worked well because she puts herself in a situation that is only going to compound and complicate her fears, anxieties and search for closure and resolution. It also makes the novel quite intense and claustrophobic - despite the bleak, isolated countryside that surrounds the building.

I found this an exciting, dramatic, scary and compelling read. I loved the ending.

Thanks so much to Susi Holliday for recommending it and also to Janet Emson. And, Ms Holliday, not only will I now be looking out for any more of your recommendations, I will also be following your advice ....... I will not be looking in any mirrors any time soon.

The Binding Song is published by Mulholland Books on 29th June 2017.

I think this book would make a good book group read so here's a few questions to help get you started if you decide to pick it one month!

Bibliomaniac's Book Club: Questions on The Binding Song

How important is the setting in this novel?

"It's just remembering some men want to reform and need support but others are extremely dangerous and would like nothing more than the opportunity to mess with your head." (Janet) How did you respond or relate to the male prisoners in the book?

"It's not good for you," says Janet's boyfriend about her job in the prison service. Do you agree with him? Is Janet too damaged herself to be helping the prisoners or is she still effective in a professional capacity? 

What is Janet's attitude towards the prisoners she works with? How did you feel about her thoughts and comments about the prisoners? 

The author uses flashbacks written in italics throughout the novel. Did you think this was effective? How did these sections enhance your understanding of the characters?

How did you respond to Steven? Why do you think the author decided to make his a chaplin? 

"Revenge leaves a sense of emptiness." What does the book say about revenge and retribution? 

"What is it that you want Janet Palmer?" Michael asks Janet. What does she want? Does this change at any point in the novel? Does she get what she wants? 

Did you feel this was an authentic, realistic, believable representation of prisoners, prison workers and the prison service? 

What did you think about the ending? 

For more recommendations, reviews and bookish chat, you can follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 or via my website bibliomaniacuk.co.uk

#Guestpost #VivConroy #CornishCastle

Vivian Conroy's new series of cosy crime books, Cornish Castle Mystery Series, launch on 7th July and 30th August respectively but here is a little taster to keep you satisfied until you can read the books for yourself!

The books are currently on preorder for 99p and £1.99 so don't forget to use the links below to order your copies so you can start reading as soon as they are published!

Character Inspiration 

A Guest post by Cornish Castle series author Vivian Conroy

Yesterday via Rae Reads I shared how the Tour de France of 2016 started the Cornish Castle series idea for me and today I want to take a closer look at the characters. 

Because her beloved London theatre need renovations, my leading lady Guinevere leaves the bustle of the big city to spend her summer in Cornwall, cataloguing books for Lord Bolingbrooke. Lord Bolingbrooke is the owner of Cornisea Castle, a centuries old keep on top of Cornisea Island, a tidal island which is only reachable on foot at low tide, across a causeway. 

Guinevere is excited to find the castle will be background for a medieval trial reenactment where her theatre skills might come in handy. They do - only in a different way. When the reenactment ends in real-life murder, Guinevere uses her knowledge of scenarios and stage deceptions to crack the case. 

As I put Guinevere in a different position than my other heroines (Lady Alkmene in the Lady Alkmene Callender 1920s' mysteries and Vicky Simmons in the Country Gift Shop Mysteries) in that she is completely new to her environment so not able to draw on existing knowledge or local contacts, I had to give her other skills to be able to solve a crime. Her threatre studies, plus recent experience with a play in the London theatre, proved to be perfect for that. 

Every mystery has something of a play about it as characters try to hide what they know and you have to search beyond first impressions. Agatha Christie often played with the concept of a magician doing a trick and letting the audience watch his moving hand while the other is actually doing whatever the audience is not supposed to see. As a huge Agatha Christie fan I couldn't resist making Guinevere's surname a playful reference to one of her books and once you've read Death Plays a Part, please let me know to what book it refers! Guinevere works with her trusted dog Dolly by her side. The two have been inseparable ever since Dolly first appeared at the theatre and ran onto the stage - during a performance! Dolly is adventurous,perky and not afraid to challenge much bigger dogs, like the Great Dane and mastiff living at the castle. Dolly also befriends a puppy looking for a home on the island ... Apart from being massively cute, Dolly also has an active part in the investigation as she accompanies Guinevere everywhere, digs into things (literally) and gives her idea of the situation in her very own way. I'm over the moon that the design team gave her centre stage in the covers because she deserves it! Guinevere's other partner in crime, ahem, in crime solving of course, is Oliver Bolingbrooke, son of the lord of the castle. Or the prodigal son in many ways, as he left Cornisea to roam the world and make wildlife documentaries. As Oliver puts it: 'When I first left,I wasn't going anywhere, I was just getting away from here.' Still Guinevere senses there is more than that to Oliver's relationship with the island, his heritage and his father. And what their first meet has to do with a gleaming motorcycle you must find out for yourself! While developing characters for my books I enjoy the minor characters as much as the main cast. In the Lady Alkmene mysteries I have the Russian princess who gave up everything to marry the love of her life, while a titled friend of Alkmene hides on the dig from his mother's matchmaking schemes. In my Country Gift Shop series I have the disgruntled beautician who has to watch while her modern beauty parlour is changed into an authentic British shop; the handyman who is a favourite with all the elderly ladies around town and the
charming, ambitious reporter who is not all he seems to be. For Cornisea I especially loved writing Jago Trevelyan, the fisherman who lived on the island for all of his life and as Oliver puts it 'has the island in his bloodstream'. But there is also Meraud, who runs the Cowled Sleuth bookshop and has a troubled relationship with the Bolingbrookes, and Emma at the eatery, who is determined to pull more tourists to the island with new initiatives like donkey rides. Even when a character has but one scene - a customer at the fishmonger's gossiping about the murder - I try to give them mannerisms that will clearly draw their picture for the reader. Every scene is like a tableau vivant in my mind peopled with characters that all deserve their (sometimes brief) moment in the spotlight, adding to the whole picture. Tomorrow, at Books of All Kinds, I will talk about my choice for a locked room mystery for the first instalment in the Cornish Castle series and I hope you will follow along to celebrate this pre pub party with me. 

As a huge dog fan I love all breeds and if you have a dog and want to tweet me a pic of your dog, maybe on pub day with Death Plays a Part on your ereader, I'd be thrilled to get acquainted with your canine best friends (cute goats, miniature pigs and tropical fish also welcome - I heart animals in general!).
If you would like to purchase these books via Amazon then click on the link below:
Death Plays A Part
Rubies in the Roses
Vivian Conroy writes the Cornish Castle Mysteries for HarperCollins, with Death Plays a Part releasing in July and Rubies in the Roses following in late August. Her Lady Alkmene Mysteries, of which the first instalment A Proposal To Die For became an Amazon USA and Canada best seller in five categories, will continue with a new instalment in October, Fatal Masquerade, set at a Venetian style masked ball where every guest has a secret and some of these secrets prove lethal. 

For all the latest bookish news, with plenty of dogs and desserts, follow Vivian on Twitter via @VivWrites. 

You can also find her books on Goodreads, Library Thing, Book Bub and Fantastic Fiction.

#TheChild #FionaBarton #Review

Ok, I confess, I requested this book at the last minute because I was saw it reviewed by so many brilliant bloggers I just could not resist anymore! So once again the NetGalley book ban was breached and once again I found myself reading late into the night just to squeeze in one more chapter of just one more book this month! But it was not difficult to squeeze in that extra chapter or even that extra 360 pages of The Child because, as I knew it would be, Barton's novel is gripping and full of twists and turns that mean you really don't want to put it down.

I have read The Widow and enjoyed the fact that although it is definitely a crime novel and a psychological thriller, it felt like Barton had chosen a slightly different angle from which to tell the story. I felt the same again with this book.

"Baby's Body Found." 

Barton reintroduces us to Kate Waters, a journalist who is always looking to uncover the truth behind a story, often taking a passing news story that may be in danger of slipping under the radar and then brings it to the forefront of the news - or more importantly, to the forefront of the lives of the people it affects. Kate is interested in 'human life' stories. Well, she's sure found one here.

"Baby's Body Found."

Only two sentences follow the headline but two sentences from which Kate is going to unearth deeply buried complicated secrets involving several women. I love that Kate tears out the story for later.

"The bottom of her bag was lined with crumpled scraps of newspaper....... shreds of paper waiting for life to be breathed into them. .......Who is the baby? How did it die? Who would bury a baby?"

We learn that a baby's skeleton has been discovered on a building site and the police are investigating. When Emma Simmonds sees this headline in the Evening Standard, it chills her. She continues to tell us, as we watch her loving, supportive, understanding husband make her dinner and show that he understands the anxieties from which she suffers daily, that there is something else, something more, that he is totally unaware of, playing on her mind.

"What's yours is mine. But my sins...... well, they're my own." 

So by the end of the first two chapters the reader is hooked. A baby's skeleton is discovered and a character is chilled by the headline. Another character is intrigued by what might have happened and already set on course to find out the truth. And the reader is intrigued, already wondering what is the connection between the bones and the woman, and what how successful with the journalist be in finding out anything from only two vague sentences.

There are plenty more dots to join though and more women to hear from. Barton uses four narrative voices in this novel and at first this worried me a little, but it's very easy to keep track of. All four voices are clearly signposted and all are well developed into characters that reflect different attitudes to love, parenting, marriage. Each of the women is connected with the baby's skeleton but Barton is going to make the reader work a little before she is willing to reveal exactly how the story lines will converge in the dramatic denouement.

The writing is very good. Emma particularly is a very complicated, emotional character who has a lot to confront, a lot to hide, a lot to figure out.

"People say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger........But it doesn't. It breaks your bones, leaving everything splintered and held together with grubby bandages and yellowing sticky tape." 

Emma has held on to her secret for so long she is set to lose too much by confiding in her husband or going forward to the police. Barton has taken a line from a newspaper report and shown how deep the  story behind that one line might run. This novel is as much an exploration of characters coming to terms with the past and what it means to carry a secret for so long as it is a mystery about who the baby's bones belong to.

Kate's chapters don't always provide us with the break we might seek from some of the more traumatic passages that come from Emma and Angela - the mother whose baby was stolen from her in hospital when it hours old. But Kate's interaction with her colleagues remind us of police procedures, the methodical and less emotional way she has to process the information she has access to and also perhaps creates a wider context in which to consider the events in the story. I think 'forgotten cases' and historical crime is always a great way to add layers to a crime thriller and always raises the tension and the stakes further so the suspense and need to read on is doubled. And besides that, I enjoyed Kate's trip to the Reference Library which dwells in the "bowels of the newspaper, troglodyte survivors of the Google revolution"!

Kate is a strong character and the reader feels in safe hands with her as she takes more control of the investigation and the novel. She has no intention of exploiting Angela's pain or trauma. She has no interest in sensationalising events in order to get that bestselling, eye-catching headline. She wants to get close to the story but she never loses sight of the fact that there are real people involved who have real pain.

"[College lecturers] bang on about objectivity and balance but she'd like them to sit down with a rape victim or the mother of an abused child and remain unaffected. Without empathy, without feeling someone's pain, how could you tell a story like that and capture the truth of a situation?"

Barton worked as a journalist for many years and this has not only ensured that the details about journalism and researching news stories are correct and accurate but also that Kate is a convincing, authentic and highly believable character. I like that Kate is so emotionally respectful and that the relationships with the women she approaches for information become more than that to her as the truth begins to reveal itself.

The Child is a good novel. I didn't work out the twists, I hadn't worked out how the stories were all interlinked and I didn't really want to as I was enjoying the character development and plot structure. I enjoyed how well Barton wove everything together and how satisfying it was at the end - if not slightly traumatic and slightly tear jerking.

This novel is as successful and well written as The Widow and is sure to propel Barton back on to the bestsellers list!

The Child is published by Bantam Press on 29th June 2017.

For more recommendations, reviews and bookish chat, you can follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 or via my website bibliomaniacuk.co.uk

#OneLittleMistake #EmmaCurtis #Review

One little lie. One little secret. One little mistake could destroy her world. 

Vicky Seagrave is blessed: three beautiful children, a successful, doting husband, great friends and a job she loves. She should be perfectly happy.

When she risks everything she holds dear on a whim, there's only person she trusts enough to turn to.

But Vicky is about to learn that one mistake is all it takes; that if you're careless with those you love, you don't deserve to keep them . . . 

This was a very gripping read. Just as the title says, this novel is about one little mistake; one moment, one decision, one risk, one lie and from that, Vicky's life spirals out of control. One mistake turns in to another, a bigger lie, a web of deceit and cover ups, an uncovering of tensions that lurk beneath - hidden before and now rising to the surface.

It's debatable just how little Vicky's one mistake is. Popping out of the house for a few moments on a whim -to chase a dream, or possibly feed a minor obsession which has sprung from the need to 'fix' her home life or 'have it all' - Vicky leaves her baby Josh alone in the house so she can quickly view a new property that's just come on the market. She's only going around the corner. She's literally going to be ten minutes. It's the middle of the day. He's asleep in his cot. He'll sleep for at least an hour. He'll never know. No one will ever know. It'll be easier than taking him around to view the house later - later when a stream of other couples have viewed it and maybe put in an offer..... I'm sure there's not a mother out there who hasn't fleetingly had this same thought or been momentarily tormented by this choice. But it's only ever stayed a thought, an idea that's quickly dismissed. A choice that isn't actually a choice. 

But what happens if you do actually act on this idea? 

One little mistake. The worst mistake of Vicky's life. When she returns home she disturbs a man in the middle of a burglary. He has Josh. After a fight and a desperate attempt to save Josh, the man pushes his way past Vicky and leaves - Vicky has saved Josh but she also knows her 'little mistake' has cost her the happiness, safety and security of her family. Her first thoughts when she sees Amber, her best friend, appearing at the house to catch enough of the scene to realise exactly what has happened, reveal that Vicky knows just what this mistake has cost her:

"My relief at seeing her is tempered by shame. I hold her gaze and plead silently with her. Please don't judge me." 

But surely Amber, her best friend, is the best person to have seen what she has seen? Surely her best friend will help protect her from the police, her husband, any damaging repercussions? If any one is going to be part of the secret and make sure it becomes a mistake quickly buried in the past and forgotten about, if anyone has to know what she did, surely it should be her best friend who she can trust, rely on, depend on and lean on? Surely.......

Even though Josh is safe, I felt very conflicted. And judgmental. Perhaps this conflict develops further because of the way the girls then concoct a story to protect Vicky and hide the truth. Vicky made an 'impulsive decision' and she can't deny the ramifications. Even when she acknowledges her 'compulsive behaviour' and explains the pressure she's been under as a mother with a young, demanding family, I found that even though I can relate to these feelings, I couldn't really sympathise with her.  And this intrigued me. Curtis has given me a protagonist with whom I can't really claim to 'like' but I wanted to read on to see how the situation might unfold. This is a situation I could relate to, could see how it happened and Curtis has tapped into that great question of "what if?" 

Curtis then brings in the point of view of Amber. At the beginning I found the switching between Amber's third person narrative and Vicky's first person narrative a little confusing as the switches are not separated by chapters or markings, but introducing her voice early on helps to really raise the tension and the stakes once the incident of the opening chapters has taken place. Amber's voice offers not only a way of challenging Vicky but also sheds a different light on her character and gives Curtis a chance to show us more about what is going on. 

Amber's situation is very different from Vicky's. She has no children and therefore her reaction to Vicky's decisions is different. She would "never leave a child on its own". From the outset the reader realises that Amber presents one side of herself to Vicky  - generally as a supportive, kind, caring friend - yet internally she feels very differently towards her. This is incredibly intriguing as it makes the whole situation more vulnerable and introduces an exciting sense of threat. 

"Vicky is so careless of other people's feelings. If she places so little value on her husband, then she doesn't deserve him. Amber has always fancied him but she's never taken it seriously. They have an undeniable connection, but she wouldn't go there. She's not like that." 

As well as a second point of view, Curtis also brings in a second timeline and chapters from 1992 start to interject themselves in between the main present day story. Like Amber's narrative thread, for quite a while I was unsure how this second storyline was connected to the main plot but rest assured, we are in very capable hands. Curtis weaves a complex narrative that takes several characters, scenarios and complications in order to really explore this one idea of this 'one little mistake'. The joy of this novel is its length. At nearly 450 pages, Curtis is able to really develop both her key characters, introduce a multilayered plot and create emotional responses, excitement, drama, tension and suspense which will keep you reading until the very last page. 

To heighten the tension, Curtis brings in newspaper reports and radio shows which are commenting on a case of another mother who left her child alone. This continually haunts Vicky with the fact that she has lied to her whole family but also forces her to confront the enormity of what she did and the seriousness of that moment of compulsiveness. As the radio presenter says, "What parent hasn't left a child asleep in their car while they've dashed into the shops?" 

But "One Little Mistake" is about more than that. Yes, a huge part of the novel is a thought provoking presentation of what happens when you 'cross the line' and the ramifications of lying and keeping secrets. But Vicky is not the only one keeping secrets. Amber's behaviour becomes more and more threatening and disturbing with each chapter until Curtis cleverly uses Vicky's mistake to reveal how previous mistakes, conflicts, unequal relationships and incidents that we face in our past can have such an effect on our future. This novel becomes more than just a debate on parenting but much more about jealousy, revenge, friendship, loyalty and needs. It becomes a novel that becomes more psychological, dark, compelling and unnerving. 

I made lots of notes when I was reading this novel. There were lots of passages I liked because they raised questions about not only the obvious themes of motherhood, friendship and love but also a deeper layer of questions about what we need and what we want, perception and really, competition, jealousy and whether friendships are ever equal. I liked that this novel challenged me in that I wasn't really sure how to feel about the characters and these feelings changed throughout the novel. I liked that there was a lot going on and that there was nothing judgemental in Curtis's writing. There is no moral high ground, no underlying message, it is just a great story about two women, two mothers and one little mistake. 

I would recommend this book. It would make a great book club read. It is a novel that has stayed with me and even a week later I am still thinking about the characters who still feel very vivid in my mind. I still feel a shudder at the dramatic climax of the novel. It was one of those books when you're desperate to get to the end and find out what's happened but equally desperate not to get to the end and have to leave the story behind! 

One Little Mistake is published by Black Swan on 15th June 2017. 

BIBLIOMANIAC'S BOOK CLUB: QUESTIONS 

There are some Book Club questions in the back of the paperback already but here are a few I would add or use if I was fortunate enough to be reading this as part of my book club. 

- Is there ever justification for leaving a child? How do you think the author wants us to react towards Vicky at the beginning of the novel?

- Who do you have more sympathy for during the novel - Vicky or Amber? Whose motivations are easier to understand?

- Is it the actual mistake or is it who knows about the mistake that generates the disaster and drama in the novel? How would things have been different if Amber had not arrived at the house moments after Vicky?

- Is Katya a reliable narrator?

 - Amber says "Vicky needs to know that actions produce consequences." Does she need to be shown this? Is Amber right?

 - Vicky and Amber are best friends. What do you think this novel says about friendship? Is friendship ever equal and transparent?

 - What is your perception of social services and child protection from this novel?

- Tom says to Vicky that they've "both made mistakes." What do you think of this statement?

 - Could Vicky have healed Amber?

For more recommendations and reviews follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 or via my website bibliomaniacuk.co.uk

#BibliomaniacsTopReads #June

BIBLIOMANIAC'S TOP READS

Here's a quick glance at the best books I've read over the last few weeks or so - these are my MUST READS so if you only have time for one books this month, make it one of these!! 

TRUST ME by ANGELA CLARKE

Why?

You don't really need to ask why do you? It's Angela Clarke! It' a crime thriller about social media! It's got the most unlikely partnership between it's two main protagonists and is full of action, dilemmas, complications tension and suspense. 

This is a book about very contemporary issues but also a great read. Trust me, you'll love it! 

Link for full review: Trust Me by Angela Clarke

THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER by KAREN DIONNE 

Why?

This is an intriguing novel about a woman who was born while her mother was being held captive in an isolated shack in the middle of the marshes. What makes this book interesting is it's more original look at the relationship between captor and prisoner; the conflict that exists, particularly for a child who has known nothing else and can't forget that this man was her father for 14 years. 

This novel is graphic, shocking, brutal but not at all sensationalised which I found more powerful and more intriguing. It's a challenging subject and the author has written a novel that raises lots of interesting and throughout provoking questions - particularly as the woman who was imprisoned is now a mother herself and finds her own family are facing great danger. 

Link for full review:The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne

EXQUISITE by SARAH STOVELL 

Why?

A great story of a friendship between two women that quickly becomes something more sinister, more obsessive and more threatening. The book is narrated by the two main characters and each one is as unreliable as the other so you are never certain which you can trust and who you can believe. 

A good page turner and good thriller. 

Link for full review: Exquisite by Sarah Stovell  

Book Club Book Choice 

Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips 

Why?

Yes, I am mentioning this book again! I think it is one of the best books I have read this year so far. 

Set in the zoo, Joan finds herself trapped at the end of the day with her four year old son when she hears gunshots. The book is then set in real time as she does all she can to protect herself and her son, but it also looks at more universal questions and themes such as motherhood, our responsibility for other children, motivations, choices and consequences. 

You will not be able to put it down. You will want to talk about it.

Links: 

Bibliomaniac's Book Club Questions for Fierce Kingdom

Bibliomaniac's Review of Fierce Kingdom

Bibliomaniac's live interview with Gin Phillips

If you want to hear more recommendations and more suggestions for Book Club reads (with accompanying questions) then please do visit me / follow on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 or via my website bibliomaniacuk.co.uk

#BlogTour @theangelaclarke #TrustMe #Extract

TRUST ME by ANGELA CLARKE is the 3rd instalment of Clarke's Social Media Murders Series. It was published on June 15th 2017 by Avon. 

Synopsis: 

When Kate sees a horrific attack streamed live on her laptop, she calls the police in a state of shock. But when they arrive, the video has disappeared – and she can’t prove anything. Desperate to be believed, Kate tries to find out who the girl in the video could be – and who attacked her. Freddie and Nas are working on a missing persons case, but the trail has gone cold. When Kate contacts them, they are the only ones to listen and they start to wonder – are the two cases connected? 

Dark, gripping, and flawlessly paced, Trust Me is the brilliant third novel in the hugely popular social media murderer series.

Trust Me is an excellent read. It is gripping, immensely well paced and so well constructed it is compelling, exciting and unputdownable. 

I felt that the structure, suspense and tension was so tightly managed and so well executed in Trust Me that this is nothing but an exceptionally strong, confident and competent example of the crime thriller novel. Clarke once more picks a contemporary issue related to Social Media - this time Periscope and the use of live streaming on the Internet. Once again, she raises questions and explores our fears about the abuse of social media but not in a way that feels far fetched or sensationalised. Once again, she explores issues, themes, motives and the effects of using social media in a way that is shocking, gripping, unsettling and also hugely captivating.

You can read my full review here: 

Bibliomaniac's review of Trust Me

Today I am thrilled to be able to share with you an extract from Trust Me so that you can see for yourself how fabulous it is! So get yourself a drink, find a comfy spot and read on!!! 

AN EXTRACT FROM TRUST ME by ANGELA CLARKE 

Kate hadn’t been able to sit still since she’d seen the video. Her laptop, black in power-save mode, was still at its aban­doned angle on her dining table. Fifty-six years old, and she couldn’t bring herself to get any closer to the screen. Instead she’d focused on clearing up the mess on the kitchen floor. As she’d wiped up the sick and bile, she tried not to think of the girl’s pleading eyes. She forced herself to take another gulp of sugared tea. She’d changed, and put her soiled clothes in the washing machine.

She could still smell the acid of vomit, and leant over the sink to open the kitchen window. But the familiar square of garden, in which she grew sweet peas and strawberries, twisted and turned away from her. The electric streetlight played nasty tricks with the rows of houses that stretched away over Hackney. Somewhere out there was the girl. Terrified. Hurt.

What if the boys knew she’d been watching? What if they’d made a note of her account? Could they find her? A shadow licked at the edge of her garden and she jumped. London, with its exotic blends, its languages, its music and food and dance, that dynamic that made it special, that had made it her home all her life, felt hostile. She was overlooked. An easy target. She let go of the window handle as if it had burned her. Instead she pulled the slim chain to unfurl the kitchen blind, small flecks of dust floating down onto her as she obliterated the city skyline she’d always loved.

She ran up the white-painted stairs to her bedroom, pulled the curtains up there too and fetched her perfume from the bathroom. She sprayed the scent in the kitchen, the tangerine and blackcurrant smell settling uneasily over the sour stench of sick. She would feel better when she knew they’d found the girl. Got her to hospital.

The doorbell buzzed and she jumped. It would be the police. It was a Friday night, presumably they were busy, it’d been just over an hour since she’d called 999. She slid the spyhole aside; the sight of a man made her heart rate spike.

......You know you want to read on! Here's the link to Amazon so you can buy yourself a copy and enjoy the whole of the book. Don't forget to check out the first two books in this series, Follow Me and Watch Me, while you're adding books to your basket! 



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Angela Clarke is an author, playwright, columnist, screenwriter and broadcaster. She is the author of the critically acclaimed crime thrillers Follow Me and Watch Me.

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#TwoSisters #KerryWilkinson #Review

Megan was ten years old when her older brother, Zac, went missing among the cliffs, caves and beaches that surround the small seaside town of Whitecliff. 

A decade later and a car crash has claimed the lives of her parents.

Megan and her younger sister Chloe return to Whitecliff one summer for the first time since their brother’s disappearance. Megan says it’s to get her parents’ affairs in order. There are boxes to pack, junk to clear, a rundown cottage to sell. But that’s not the real reason. 

Megan has come to confront her family’s past after receiving a postcard on the day of her parents’ funeral. It had a photograph of Whitecliff on the front and a single letter on the back.

‘Z’ is all it read. Z for Zac.

I think the most striking thing about this novel is the protagonist, Megan. She is a complicated character with huge emotional issues which are revealed in the very opening pages. The novel starts with the shocking news that her parents are dead.

"I've screwed up because instinct is hard to fake. I should be breaking down, throwing my hands in to the air. I should have questions. The who, what, where, why and how. That's what normal people ask."

From the outset it is clearly established that Megan is not going to react to her tragic situation in the same way many others would and that immediately creates intrigue. It immediately raises questions about what has happened to her in the past, about her relationship with her parents and about why she appears so calm, unemotional and detached. It's a good hook for a first chapter and prepares us for a story with a character who is heavily flawed; not always easy to like and is not always easy to understand. However over the next couple of hundred pages she will reveal to us why she thinks, feels, acts and behaves in this way and illicit sympathy - or empathy - from the reader.

Wilkinson has created a character who suffers from a very complicated mental illness. Throughout the novel this issue is handled sensitively, carefully and thoughtfully. It is interwoven into the plot so it gradually reveals the depth of the characters unhappiness and why she has such need for control.  At first I was a little unsure if it was really needed at times, but it is done well so I think my reservations were unfounded. This aspect of the story doesn't distract, dominate or add unnecessary melodrama to the main plot.

Megan needs control to her life. She needs to make her own decisions and feel as if she is making them  - even when the reader is dubious about the risk or consequence, Megan is buried deep inside herself . She is so focused on finding Zac that nothing else seems to matter. Her search is almost obsessive and the new relationships she tries to form or rekindle when back at Whitecliff are dominated by her need to uncover the truth. Megan is direct, focussed and often unaware of her words and their effect.

"Last time I was here," I say, "my brother went missing."

With the use of flashbacks and remembered conversations, Megan's relationship with her mother is revealed which also shows why perhaps Megan's need for control is so strong. She confesses that "I don't usually let me guard down this much," and so the reader is once more intrigued when this starts to change. I think this novel is as much about Megan and her emotional journey as it is the twist and turns we look out for in a thriller.

This is a novel with a dramatic premise - sisters Megan and Chloe are suddenly orphaned and retuning to a family retreat to find out the truth behind their brother's disappearance. But it is also a novel that explores some very interesting themes like nurture, absent parents, siblings, control and the life of small communities. It is a bit of a slow burner and Wilkinson strikes a good balance between solving a mystery as well as following the emotional journey of Megan.

It is a story about two sisters but it is also about bad parenting, the influence of a mother, the effects of parenting and parental decisions. It is about lies, deception and buried secrets. There are also some interesting observations about small communities and the merging of superstitions and traditions that they believe or uphold.

I also enjoyed the setting of the novel. The beaches, caves and landscape are described clearly and add another layer of tension and suspense to the novel.

This is a psychological thrilling novel but it is more of a slow burner and tackles a lot of issues. I think this book could generate an interesting discussion in book groups about the role of the parent and the memories of her parent. There's a lot to get to grips with and the author is in not massive rush to get us to the end, which is a good thing because you will want to stay in the setting of this novel and stay with Megan.

Two Sisters is published on 23rd June 2017 with Bookouture.

For more recommendations and reviews follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 or via my website bibliomaniacuk.co.uk