Tag: goodreads

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Books Review

Untouchable by Sibel Hodge

*My thanks to Sibel Hodge for providing me with a copy of Untouchable to read and review*

About the book:

A Conspiracy. A cover-up. And a whistle-blower… You think you know who to trust? You’re wrong. Untouchable is a chillingly dark psychological thriller from the No 1 Bestselling Author of Look Behind You.

It’s Maya and Jamie’s anniversary, and she waits with excitement for him to return home for a celebratory dinner. There’s a knock at the door. It’s the police. Jamie has been found hanging in a local wood.

His death is ruled a suicide, but Maya doesn’t believe Jamie would take his own life. Something isn’t right. Someone has broken into her house. Someone is watching her. And someone has gone to great lengths to cover up what Jamie was doing before he died.

Maya’s grief turns to suspicion, and as she begins to investigate the weeks leading up to Jamie’s death, her trail leads her to a place known as “The Big House” and the horrific secrets within. Secrets people will stop at nothing to keep hidden. People linked to the heart of the Establishment who think they’re untouchable.

Now Maya has a dangerous decision to make. How far is she prepared to go to reveal the truth?

My thoughts:

Untouchable was a completely unexpected read for me if I’m honest. I picked it up late at night and before I knew it I was a quarter of the way through! It is riveting, unsettling and full of tension so it was right up my street!!! 😉

In the aftermath of her boyfriend Jamie’s death, Maya is left to pick up the pieces but when she starts paying attention to small details she realises all is not what it seems in relation to Jamie’s suicide.

What follows is a very tense and absorbing read. The early part of the book is told in alternating chapters between Maya and Jamie and some of those chapters are the most harrowing I have read in a long time. So much so, I was afraid to turn the page because I was so uncomfortable reading it.

I’m not going to go in to detail, i.e, tell you all the reveals because Sibel Hodge has done an excellent job of teasing out little details and nuggets of information throughout the book and I won’t undo her hard work!

Sufficed to say, Untouchable is a book that will stay with you after reading it. I finished it a couple of days ago, and I am still thinking about it. It will run the gamut of your emotions, and I defy you not to feel it because it is truly harrowing at times.

My first book by Sibel Hodge, but most definitely not my last! I would highly recommend Untouchable. It’s out now in ebook and you can get a copy HERE.

Happy reading!

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Books Weekly Wrap Up

Weekly Wrap Up July 12th

Hi everyone,

I’m a bit late with this as I didn’t get near my iPad until now! This week was another busy week on here! I managed to blog 6 times, with a mix of reviews, guest posts and a blog tour. I also managed to read 4 books, which brings my goodreads tally up to 104 books read so far this year 😊

I had two great guest posts from Judy Clemens (JC Lane) and Wendy Walker this week. I had read both of their books earlier this year and thoroughly enjoyed them. You can catch those posts by clicking on the relevant links below:

JC Lane Guest Post

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Wendy Walker Guest Post and Review

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I read and reviewed 3 books, the 4th I’ll explain about at the end. These books were vastly different, so the variety was a nice change to the norm. These are what I reviewed:

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

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Heavenfield by LJ Ross

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You Were Never Really Here by Jonathan Ames

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Lastly, I had the honour of closing out the blog tour for Michael Wood. This was a fun post because I got to bombard him with random questions as well a post my review 😊

Outside Looking In by Michael Wood Blog Tour

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I was lucky enough to be approved on Netgalley for The Deviants by CJ Skuse, and I finished it today. I have no review as of yet because it’s not out for months. I will say it was brilliant, and it left me super emotional, which rarely happens!

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Yesterday, I had the pleasure of going to Dublin and meeting some fellow bloggers and some authors too. I was more than a little starstruck sitting beside Liz Nugent, author of Unravelling Oliver and Lying In Wait. It was a lovely afternoon of bookish chat, and we also had a Blind Date With A Book which was fun! I also managed to visit two bookshops so I didn’t come home empty handed 😂

So, that was my week! How was yours? 😊📚

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Books Review

As Black As Ebony by Salla Simukka 


*Thanks again to Emily at Bonnier Zaffre for sending me this to review, much appreciated as always!*

About the book:

Lumikki Andersson must uncover a dark personal secret to outwit her bloodthirsty stalker.

Lumikki Andersson has a new boyfriend – easygoing, gorgeous Sampsa who adores her. But when her ex Blaze reappears, declaring his devotion, she doesn’t know what to feel. She can’t deny the chemistry between them, but does he deserve another chance?

Then the threatening letters start arriving, from someone who seems to know her intimately. Suddenly Lumikki is more alone than ever, and it’s not only her life on the line. To stop the killer, she must uncover a dark secret that has haunted her family for years . . .
My thoughts:

As Black As Ebony was an interesting closer to the Snow White series. Without giving too much away, a few things from earlier books are addressed and put to rest.

In this book, Lumikki is back home after the events in Prague and back to school. She also has a new boyfriend and seems to be settling back into things. But as we all know, life never runs smoothly in real like or fiction!🙈

As Black As Ebony gets into things pretty quickly. The reader is also given the POV of the stalker which adds an extra narrative to the story. I found that the pace in this novel didn’t work as well for me as the previous two. Absolutely nothing wrong with the writing, but it was super speedy.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, I totally did. It was easy to read, relatively short and tied things up nicely. My only issue was how fast the plot picked up as it seemed that little bit rushed towards the end.

That is literally the only thing that didn’t work for me though! I would highly recommend these books! They are different, fun and captivating reads! 😊

In case you’ve missed them, here’s the links for the previous two books in the series! 😉

 

As Red As Blood by Salla Simukka

As White As Snow by Salla Simukka

 

Categories
Books Review

Tag, You’re Dead by J. C. Lane

About the book: 

Six young people play a dangerous Game of Tag in public, chasing through the crowds, streets, and buildings of Chicago. This secret, one-of-a-kind, wildly expensive Game offers a macabre twist to the childhood version if you get Tagged, you get Dead. Three “Its” have their reasons for buying a place in the Game. Surgically enhanced Brandy is obsessed with destroying a naturally beautiful girl. Untalented Robert covets his target’s position as superstar of the basketball team. Brainiac Charles craves a battle against an intellectual equal. Given their elite social status, they reject any possible downside to the contest. Each expects the satisfaction of killing their prey, then walking away. Hand-picked innocents play as Runners, under threat to their loved ones should they refuse to participate: lovely, small-town Laura; celebrated athlete Tyrese; and Amanda, gamer extraordinaire. Alone, hunted by their adversary, each feels a single hope to survive. Technological wizardry controls the Game. As soon as Runners receive the Go signal on smartwatches locked to their wrists, the Game rockets them through the city, from the El to Michigan Avenue to the Lincoln Park Zoo. There is no time to rest. Every thirty minutes the Runner s location is transmitted to the It, which steadily diminishes the Runner s chance of ever reaching Home Base alive. The Game will not end until someone is Tagged, so the Runners must choose how to play. Will they accept death? Murder their Its? Or find a way to use individual strengths to stop the Game before anyone dies?

 

My thoughts:

Firstly, I want to thank the author for contacting me to review this book, it is a hidden gem that I would otherwise have missed!!!

Tag, You’re Dead has a very interesting premise, reminiscent of The Hunger Games but using modern technology, it’s a rip-roaring read. I was so surprised, and drawn in so completely that I started and finished it in one day!

This book was brilliantly written, with some extremely interesting characters. What struck me about Tag, You’re Dead is that while it may NEVER actually happen, it is something that could happen, in that it is delivered in a plausible way.

The characters that are thrown into this macabre game of tag are all very different to one another. There is nothing that makes them stand out as above average, so it’s very easy to root for the runners (those being chased) and get invested in the outcome. The concept of runners and Its is very unusul, but it makes for a super fast-paced read!

The blurb above tells you all you need to know about the plot so I won’t go any further into detail. What I will says is that Tag, You’re Dead is a highly unusual and inventive tale and I’m so glad I got to read it as it was (pardon the forthcoming pun) a fantastic change of pace for me compared to some of my usual reads.

J. C. Lane has done an exceptional job of creating a novel with wide appeal, as I’m pretty sure this book could be YA as well as a thriller, and it works equally well as both! I gave Tag, You’re Dead 4 stars on goodreads. It’s published on July 5th and you can pre-order your copy by clicking on the link below:

Tag, You’re Dead by JC Lane

I also have a fab guest post from J. C. Lane coming up on Bibliophile Book Club closer to publication day so make sure to keep an eye out for that! 🙂

 

Categories
ARC Books

Montecristo by Martin Suter

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My sincerest thanks to the lovely people at No Exit Press for my review copy!

About the book:

Video journalist Jonas Brand is on a rail journey from Zurich to Basel when stock trader Paolo Contini appears to throw himself from the train to his death.

Brand sets his footage of the aftermath of the incident aside to investigate a strange coincidence: two 100-Swiss-franc banknotes bearing the same serial number have come into his possession. Sensing an opportunity to graduate from celebrity journalism to serious investigation, he has the banknotes analysed, with bizarrely contradictory… and fatal results.

Set in the tangled world of finance, politics and the media, Montecristo is a pacy conspiracy thriller full of betrayal and underhand tactics – a sharp and entertaining demonstration of the topical maxim that some banks are simply ‘too big to fail’.

 

My thoughts:

Montecristo is a novel based in Switzerland, which means I’m automatically intrigued as I really enjoy books based in colder climates. It has won accolades aplenty, and after reading it, I can see why! It is a brilliantly written, twisty and intriguing novel.

It follows Jonas Brand, a freelance video journo, who finds himself on a train where a man supposedly jumped to his death. What follows is a brilliant financial and political thriller that I could not put down!!

The supporting characters to Jonas are really well fleshed out, and Martin Suter has done an excellent job. I really liked Jonas especially though. I couldn’t help but root for him the entire way through Montecristo. (Speaking of, Montecristo is actually the name of a film project Jonas had been trying to get off the ground in the novel.)

When Jonas comes into the possession of two bank notes with the same serial number, the pace of the story really picks up and the level of intrigue shoots up a notch. Conspiracy rears its head and Jonas is led into an investigation that could have devastating consequences.

I thoroughly enjoyed Montecristo, and I would happily and highly recommend it! It is so twisty, and unexpected that it grabs you early on and leaves you reeling in its wake by the end of it all!

Montecristo is out on TODAY and published by No Exit Press.

Happy reading! 🙂

 

 

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Books Weekly Wrap Up

Weekly Wrap Up June 19th

Hi everyone! 😊

So it’s been quite a busy week here at Bibliophile Book Club,  between reviews and blog tours etc I’ve blogged an unheard of TWELVE times this week!!! 😱 That never happens!!!

I’ve managed to read 5 books this week, bringing my total up to 92 books read so far this year, and unlike lately, I actually have ALL FIVE reviewed on time 😂

The books I’ve read and reviewed this week are as follows, and just click the title to go to the review;

My Sister’s Grave by Robert Dugoni 

Missing Presumed by Susie Steiner

River Road by Carol Goodman 

Dear Amy by Helen Callaghan

New Dusk by Liberty Gilmore

As Red As Blood by Salla Simukka

Also this week, I managed to post some reviews for books that were published this week and they were:

Streets of Darkness by A. A. Dhand

False Hearts by Laura Lam

I also had some Blogival posts, my Sucker For A Series post and a blog tour so click on the relevant links below to have a look! 😊

Devil’s Demise by Lee Cockburn *Extract* Blogival

Hunt For The Enemy by Rob Sinclair *Extract* Blogival

Sucker For A Series #2 Tracey Sinclair

Where Roses Never Die by Gunnar Staalesen *Blog Tour*

 

See, told you it’s been busy! 😊 Next week will be a bit quieter though! I have a guest post from the lovely Rebecca Bradley coming up tomorrow, and there will be some reviews too but definitely not as hectic as this week!

What have you all been up to? Read anything good?? 📚

 

Categories
Books Review

As Red As Blood by Salla Simukka


*My thanks to the lovely Emily Burns at Bonnier Zaffre for my review copy*
About the book:

Seventeen-year-old Lumikki Andersson is hardly your average teenager. She lives by herself in the city of Tampere, Finland, and has a firm rule to mind nobody’s business but her own. But that rule is put to the test when she happens upon five hundred washed euro notes hanging up to dry in her school’s darkroom, and it is shattered once Lumikki realises who owns them.

Caught in an increasingly tangled web of deception, corruption and danger, Lumikki finds herself navigating the Tampere’s dark underbelly in the search to expose its shocking connection to the international drugs trade. Lumikki is smart, but is she smarter than a master criminal? Can she bring down the infamous ‘Polar Bear’ – or will she become another one of his victims?


My thoughts:

I’m not gonna lie, I hadn’t heard of this series before I got the email from Emily, but once I read the description I was completely intrigued. Anyone who reads my blog knows that the colder the location of a book, the higher the likelihood that I will want to read it! That’s no different here because as soon as I saw Finland I was sold! 😂

I don’t usually read YA, in fact I can probably count on one hand how many YA books I’ve read in recent years so that was the only thing making me wonder whether or not I’d enjoy this book as its a little different to my usual reads.

Lumikki is a fun character. She reminds me of Lisbeth Salander, a comparison drawn between the pages too, and it’s pretty damn accurate. The only difference being their age, but both are strong characters and Lumikki is more than capable of looking after herself as the reader finds out on more than one occasion.

The story for As Red As Blood is also really engaging. There’s a Nancy Drew-esque mystery to solve, and along with some schoolmates Lumikki is drawn into a rather unsavoury situation involving murder, corruption and drugs. Heavy themes for a YA novel, but they work really well here.

As Red As Blood is the first in the Snow White trilogy, and upon finishing it last night, I was more than tempted to dive straight into the next one, As White As Snow, because the way it finishes certainly leaves the reader wanting more.

I throughly enjoyed reading As Red As Blood (4⭐️ on Goodreads), and if you enjoy YA books then I would highly recommend it! It’s a very promising start to the series. I will definitely be starting the next one ASAP. It’s out now, and you can purchase a copy by clicking on the link below:

As Red As Blood by Salla Simukka

What do you think? Would you read it? Let me know in the comments! 😊📖

Categories
Blog Tour Books

Where Roses Never Die by Gunnar Staalesen *Blog Tour*

Where Roses Never Die cover Vis copy 2

About the book:

September 1977. Mette Misvær, a three-year-old girl, disappears without trace from the sandpit outside her home. Her tiny, close, middle-class community in the tranquil suburb of Nordas is devastated, but their enquiries and the police produce nothing. Curtains twitch, suspicions are raised, but Mette is never found. Almost 25 years later, as the expiry date for the statute of limitations draws near, Mette’s mother approaches PI Varg Veum, in a last, desperate attempt to find out what happened to her daughter. As Veum starts to dig, he uncovers an intricate web of secrets, lies and shocking events that have been methodically concealed. When another brutal incident takes place, a pattern begins to emerge … Chilling, shocking and full of extraordinary twists and turns, Where Roses Never Die reaffirms Gunnar Staalesen as one of the world’s foremost crime writers.

 

About the author:

Gunnar Staalesen was born in Bergen, Norway in 1947. He made his debut at the age of 22 with Seasons of Innocence and in 1977 he published the first book in the Varg Veum series. He is the author of over 20 titles, which have been published in 24 countries and sold over five million copies. Twelve film adaptations of his Varg Veum crime novels have appeared since 2007, starring the popular Norwegian actor Trond Epsen Seim, and a further seies is being filmed now. Staalesen, who has won three Golden Pistols (including the Prize of Honour), lives in Bergen with his wife. There is a life-sized statue of Varg Veum in the centre of Bergen.

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My thoughts:

Having heard of Gunnar’s first book, We Shall Inherit The Wind, but not having gotten around to read it I jumped at the chance to read Where Roses Never Die as it sounded brilliant, and I was not disappointed!!!

The book begins with Veum meeting Mette’s mother 25 years after her daughter’s disappearance. She implores him to take a look into the case before the statute of limitations is up on the investigation. What ensues is a spellbinding narrative that pulls you in and doesn’t let you go.

There was nothing about this book I didn’t like. The location, the characters and the plot are so effortless that you just cannot stop reading once you start! I had no idea how I missed Gunnar Staalesen as an author before now as he writes my favourite genre, in my favourite climate, so it’s safe to say I am definitely a fan after reading Where Roses Never Die.

The subject matter of this book is a bit tough to read as a parent, as it’s genuinely one of your worst fears. The author has done a brilliant job of weaving together 25 years of history within the plot and its main players though. Varg Veum is a superb main character too! With echoes of Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole, he is likeable but he is also a flawed and troubled investigator who is not without his own shortcomings.

Where Roses Never Die is an exceptionally plotted, well written and hauntingly evocative lesson in Norwegian crime writing. I experienced a wide range of emotions while reading it, and in the interest of full disclosure, this Ice Queen shed some tears reading it! I cannot recommend this book highly enough, and I am definitely going to be following Gunnar Staalesen’s writing after this!

You can purchase the book by clicking the link below:

Where Roses Never Die by Gunnar Staalesen

FOLLOW THE BLOG TOUR:

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ARC Books

New Dusk by Liberty Gilmore


My thanks to the author for sending me a copy of New Dusk to read and review! 😊

About the book:

Alf is roaring. Most people would mistake this for anger, but they don’t spend as much time around Demons as I do…

Cadence Hart has just six months on the job left. But six months might as well be a lifetime in the dangerous field of Deportations. Armed with a flaming sword and backed by Alf, her Demon partner, she’s the thin blue line between the Souls escaped from Hell and the living residents of the city.

Missing persons cases aren’t her usual line of work, but a young woman has disappeared in strange circumstances and Cadence is pulled off her regular duties to investigate. The girl’s parents think she’s possessed. Which is impossible. Only, from what evidence there is – it looks an awful lot like she’s possessed.

To solve the case, she’ll need the help of Matthew, a Soul expert. Matthew gained his expertise first hand – he’s been dead since before Cadence was born. But when their investigation unearths links to the devil-worshipping cult, New Dusk, they begin to realise that the case might be more than even they can handle.

 

My thoughts:

In the interest of full disclosure I’m going to be honest and say that books that have the paranormal theme are not usually something I would pick up, so when I agreed to read and review New Dusk I was a little apprehensive. What if I didn’t like it? What will I say to the author? Well I needn’t have worried, New Dusk was a great little book!!!

We meet Cadence Hart (a Deporter) smack bang in the middle of a fight with a Shade, a soul escaped from Hell. Helping her, is her Demon partner, Alf. I think the fact that the book opens with a scene like this grabs the reader immediately! I know I was suitable intrigued from the outset.

Cadence gets called to investigate a missing persons case involving a young woman who was caught on camera acting very strangely before she disappeared. This is not her usual type of work, but there’s evidence to suggest possession and Demon involvement so she gets the case.

Helping her, is Matthew, a Soul expert. He himself is a Sin (did something bad but not intentionally) so he will be of use during the course of the investigation. Matthew and Cadence worked really well together as characters, I really liked them both.

New Dusk was exactly what I needed to read at the right time. I’ve been incessantly reading psychological thrillers so this break from routine was perfectly timed, and New Dusk was an excellent read.

Well written, with a very interesting plot (which I won’t divulge as I can’t do so without probably spoiling something 😂) Liberty Gilmore has the beginnings of a brilliant series in the Hart & Soul books. I would happily read these one after another, not least because New Dusk’s ending is left quite open!

Ask I’ve said, paranormal wouldn’t be my go-to genre, but I am so glad I got to read New Dusk as it was so interesting and engaging. My thanks again to Liberty Gilmore for my review copy! I gave New Dusk 4⭐️ on Goodreads, it’s out now and you can purchase a copy by clicking on the link below:

New Dusk by Liberty Gilmore
Happy reading 😊📖

Categories
Books Review

River Road by Carol Goodman 


About the book:

Nan Lewis—a creative writing professor at a state university in upstate New York—is driving home from a faculty holiday party after finding out she’s been denied tenure. On her way, she hits a deer, but when she gets out of her car to look for it, the deer is nowhere to be found. Eager to get home and out of the oncoming snowstorm, Nan is forced to leave her car at the bottom of her snowy driveway to wait out the longest night of the year—and the lowest point of her life…

The next morning, Nan is woken up by a police officer at her door with terrible news—one of her students, Leia Dawson, was killed in a hit-and-run on River Road the night before. And because of the damage to her car, Nan is a suspect. In the days following the accident, Nan finds herself shunned by the same community that rallied around her when her own daughter was killed in an eerily similar accident six years prior. When Nan begins finding disturbing tokens that recall the death of Nan’s own daughter, Nan suspects that the two accidents are connected.

As she begins to dig further, she discovers that everyone around her, including Leia, is hiding secrets. But can she uncover them, clear her name, and figure out who really killed Leia before her reputation is destroyed for good? 

My thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed River Road. It was pacy, with questionable characters and a very good story.

We meet Nan Lewis, a teacher, who on her way home from a party hits a deer with her car. When she wakes in the morning to the news that one of her students was killed in a hit and run on the same road she instantly becomes the main suspect in the investigation.

What follows is a taut thriller, full of interesting and well written characters that pulls you in and keeps you reading. I was hooked fairly early on, and I was eager to know what was happening. 

I felt sorry for Nan as she is essentially ostracised by her small community, and the hit and run of her own daughter many years ago comes back to haunt her in other ways. Struggling to keep her head above water, she vows to find out what happened and how she is involved.

River Road was an unexpectedly gripping read, full of twists and turns, with plenty of red herrings thrown in for good measure too! In the interest of full disclosure I figured out some of these early on, but it in no way hindered my enjoyment of this book. I just wanted the characters to catch up! 😂

Carol Goodman is a new author for me, so I will definitely be checking her previous books. I really liked River Road, 4⭐️ on Goodreads, and I would highly recommend it! 😊
*Thanks to Titan Books for my review copy*

Have you read it?! Would you read it?? Let me know in the comments! 😉📚