review – Bibliophile Book Club

Blog Tour~After The Eclipse by Fran Dorricott

Hi guys,

Today I’m delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for After The Eclipse by Fran Dorricott, and I’ll be sharing my review with you a little further down.

About the author:

Fran Dorricott is a bookseller and author. She studied creative writing at the University of East Anglia, and she received a distinction for her MA in Creative Writing from City University London. Her day job in a bookshop is secretly just a way for her to fuel her ridiculous book-buying addiction. The opportunity to draw inspiration from the many wonderful and wacky customer requests is also a plus.

About the book:

A little girl is abducted during the darkness of a solar eclipse. Her older sister was supposed to be watching her. She is never seen again.

Sixteen years later and in desperate need of a fresh start, journalist Cassie Warren moves back to the small town of Bishop’s Green to live with her ailing grandmother. When a local girl goes missing just before the next big eclipse, Cassie suspects the disappearance is connected to her sister – that whoever took Olive is still out there. But she needs to find a way to prove it, and time is running out.

Click the link below to order your copy:

After The Eclipse by Fran Dorricott

My thoughts:

It’s been a while since I have read a psychological thriller so I was looking forward to reading After The Eclipse as it sounded like an interesting premise. Two girls go missing sixteen years apart, coinciding perfectly with a solar eclipse.

It follows Cassie, sister of the first missing girl, as she returns home to take care of her grandmother. When the second girl goes missing just before the eclipse, it leads Cassie to thinking it’s connected with her sisters disappearance all these years ago.

What follows is a dark and layered story that lovers of books like this will enjoy. It’s got plenty in the way of suspense and tension as the reader goes on the journey with Cassie to find out what happened to her sister, and what happened to the local girl who has disappeared this time.

I read After The Eclipse in a handful of sittings over the course of 24 hours. I was eager to see where the author would take the reader, and to see what was going to happen. The plot moves along nicely, the characters are intriguing and it’s another good addition to the psych thriller genre. I look forward to seeing where Fran Dorricott will go with her next book!

Many thanks to Titan Books for my copy in exchange for a blog tour review.

Check out the blog tour:

A Killer’s Alibi (Philadelphia Legal #4) by William L. Myers Jr.

About the author:

William L. Myers Jr. is a Philadelphia lawyer with thirty years of trial experience in state and federal courts up and down the East Coast. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, he has argued before the United States Supreme Court and still actively practices law.

Myers was born into a proud, working-class family and now lives with his wife, Lisa, in the western suburbs of Philadelphia.

About the book:

For attorney Mick McFarland, the evidence is damning. And so are the family secrets in this twisty legal thriller from the Amazon Charts bestselling author of A Criminal Defense.
When crime lord Jimmy Nunzio is caught, knife in hand, over the body of his daughter’s lover and his own archenemy, he turns to Mick McFarland to take up his defense. Usually the courtroom puppeteer, McFarland quickly finds himself at the end of Nunzio’s strings. Struggling to find grounds for a not-guilty verdict on behalf of a well-known killer, Mick is hamstrung by Nunzio’s refusal to tell him what really happened.
On the other side of the law, Mick’s wife, Piper, is working to free Darlene Dowd, a young woman sentenced to life in prison for her abusive father’s violent death. But the jury that convicted Darlene heard only part of the truth, and Piper will do anything to reveal the rest and prove Darlene’s innocence.
As Mick finds himself in the middle of a mob war, Piper delves deeper into Darlene’s past. Both will discover dark secrets that link these fathers and daughters—some that protect, some that destroy, and some that can’t stay hidden forever. No matter the risk.

A Killer’s Alibi (Philadelphia Legal #4) by William L. Myers Jr.

My thoughts:

Having read and loved the first two books in this series, I was delighted to read A Killer’s Alibi!

First off, I will say it would be helpful to have read the first two books because the characters are interwoven throughout the books. Secondly, just read the books because they are brilliant legal thrillers! 🙂

There are two plots in A Killer’s Alibi, one focusing on Mick McFarland and one focusing on his wife, Piper, as she tries prove the innocence of a woman convicted of killing her father.

Bill Myers is an exceptional plotter. The way he uses misdirection to throw the reader off the scent is brilliant. I always find myself trying to figure out where the story is going, and I am NEVER right. I love that, because it means I am engrossed from start to finish, eager to know how everything pans out in the end.

I liked the thread with Piper trying to prove the innocence of Darlene Dowd. I thought it was really interesting to see how she works, especially considering events in the previous books!

Also, we meet Jimmy Nunzio again, and this time he is found holding the knife over his daughter’s dead lover. Nunzio retains Mick for his defense, and it becomes one of the hardest cases because how can you get a not guilty verdict when the man is a known killer!?

I don’t want to go into any more detail because the joy of reading these books is the figuring out of the various plot points. I always look forward to these because I am always hooked straightaway and I end up devouring them as fast as I can!

A Killer’s Alibi is a thrilling, pacy and thoroughly engaging story, with some excellently shady characters and plenty to keep the reader turning those pages!

Highly recommended!

Previous reviews:

A Criminal Defense by William L. Myers Jr.

An Engineered Injustice by William L. Myers Jr.

Dead Is Beautiful (Charlie & Rose Investigate #4) by Jo Perry

Hi guys,

I’m back with a review for you all again today, this time for Fahrenheit Press legend, Jo Perry and her fourth installment in the Charlie and Rose series.

About the author:

Jo Perry earned a Ph.D. in English, taught college literature and writing, produced and wrote episodic television,
and has published articles, book reviews, and poetry.

She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, novelist Thomas Perry.

They have two adult children. Their three cats and two dogs are rescues.

You can follow her on twitter @JoPerryAuthor

About the book:

DEAD IS BEAUTIFUL, finds Rose leading Charlie from the peace of the afterlife to the place he hates most on earth, “Beverly Fucking Hills,” where a mature, protected tree harboring a protected bird is being illegally cut down.

The tree-assault leads Charlie and Rose to a to murder and to the person Charlie loathes most in life and in death, the sibling he refers to only as “his shit brother,” who is in danger.

Charlie fights-across the borders of life and death–for the man who never fought for him, and with the help of a fearless Scotsman, a beautiful witch, and a pissed-off owl, Charlie must stop a cruel and exploitative scheme and protect his beloved Rose.

Dead Is Beautiful (Charlie & Rose Investigate #4)

My thoughts:

Dead is Beautiful is the fourth book in this series, and its safe to say its another excellent installment. As always, the chapters begin with a quote about death. While some may find this morbid, I think it really suits the tone of the books.

In this one, Rose is the driving force in getting Charlie to one of his most hated places, “Beverly Fucking Hills”. There is a tree being cut down that is housing a protected species of owl, and Rose just can’t keep away. There is usually a motive for Rose hanging around so you just know the story is going somewhere. Charlie wasn’t expecting it to be straight into his brother’s life.

What follows is a dark and weird look at Beverly Fucking Hills and its inhabitants. Meeting some real characters along the way (looking at you, McGurk!!!), Charlie and Rose are drawn much deeper than they could ever have expected. Murder, corruption and cover-ups aplenty in this one.

It seems to me that Dead is Beautiful is almost a social commentary on the whole Beverly Hills “thing”. The affluence, the materialistic and shallow undertones, it is a dark and satirical look at what is usually portrayed in a positive light.

I really enjoyed Dead is Beautiful, and I’m already eagerly awaiting the next book in the series!

Previous Reviews:

Dead Is Better (Charlie & Rose Investigate #1) by Jo Perry

Dead Is Best (Charlie & Rose Investigate #2) by Jo Perry

No Mercy by Joanna Schaffhausen

Hey guys,

I’ve got a review for you all today! I KNOW, an actual review!!! It’s been a while, right! 🙂

About the author:

Joanna Schaffhausen wields a mean scalpel, sharp skills she developed in her years studying neuroscience. She has a doctorate in psychology, which reflects her long-standing interest in the brain―how it develops and the many ways it can go wrong. Previously, she worked as a scientific editor in the field of drug development. Prior to that, she was an editorial producer for ABC News, writing for programs such as World News Tonight, Good Morning America, and 20/20. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and daughter.

About the book:

Police officer Ellery Hathaway is on involuntary leave from her job because she shot a murderer in cold blood and refuses to apologize for it. Forced into group therapy for victims of violent crime, Ellery immediately finds higher priorities than “getting in touch with her feelings.”

For one, she suspects a fellow group member may have helped to convict the wrong man for a deadly arson incident years ago. For another, Ellery finds herself in the desperate clutches of a woman who survived a brutal rape. He is still out there, this man with the spider-like ability to climb through bedroom windows, and his victim beseeches Ellery for help in capturing her attacker.

Ellery seeks advice from her friend, FBI profiler Reed Markham, who liberated her from a killer’s closet when she was a child. Reed remains drawn to this unpredictable woman, the one he rescued but couldn’t quite save. The trouble is, Reed is up for a potential big promotion, and his boss has just one condition for the new job―stay away from Ellery. Ellery ignores all the warnings. Instead, she starts digging around in everyone’s past but her own―a move that, at best, could put her out of work permanently, and at worst, could put her in the city morgue.

Click the link below to grab your copy:

No Mercy by Joanna Schaffhausen

My thoughts:

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed The Vanishing Season (review below), I was delighted to receive a copy of No Mercy from Titan Books to read ad review on the blog.

No Mercy catches up with Ellery in the aftermath of the events in The Vanishing Season (no spoilers, but I’d suggest reading it before you read No Mercy!) where she is off work pending the outcome of her therapy sessions for victims of violent crimes.

However, Ellery being the tenacious character she is, finds more to the therapy than she bargained for. An old arson case, and a brutal rape are just two of the situations her fellow group members are dealing with. And Ellery can’t leave well alone.

What follows is a tense, taught and gripping thriller. Ellery calls on her FBI profiler friend Reed Markham, who also happened to save her from a killer when she was a child, to come in and see if he can help her figure out whats going on with the two cases and its safe to say, things get very dark once they start investigating!

I’m not going to say any more about the plot because there is so much going on that I don’t want to mention anything by accident! No Mercy is a great book, pushed forward by the brilliant Ellery and supported effortlessly by Reed (my fave!). It has everthing I look for in a thriller.

Engaging, fast-paced and cinematic, No Mercy would not be out of place on the big screen if you ask me!

Highly recommended!

Previous reviews:

The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen

Disaster Inc by Caimh McDonnell~Ellen’s Review

Hi guys,

Ellen has a review for you all today of Disaster Inc by Caimh McDonnell and I’ll be sharing it with you a little further down!

About the author:

Caimh McDonnell is an award-winning stand-up comedian, author and writer of televisual treats. Born in Limerick and raised in Dublin, he has taken the hop across the water and now calls Manchester his home.

He is a man who wears many hats. As well as being an author, he is an award-winning writer for TV, a stand-up comedian and ‘the voice’ of London Irish rugby club. His debut novel, A Man with One of Those Faces, which was nominated for a CAP Award in 2017, is the first book of the Dublin Trilogy series. The sequel and prequel, The Day That Never Come and Angels in the Moonlight, were published in 2017. The books are fast-paced crime thrillers set in Caimh’s hometown of Dublin and they are laced with distinctly Irish acerbic wit.

Caimh’s TV writing credits include The Sarah Millican Television Programme,A League of Their Own, Mock the Week and Have I Got News for You. He also works as a children’s TV writer and was BAFTA nominated for the animated series ‘Pet Squad’ which he created.

During his time on the British stand-up circuit, Caimh has firmly established himself as the white-haired Irishman whose name nobody can pronounce. He has brought the funny worldwide, doing stand-up tours of the Far East, the Middle East and Near East (Norwich).

Follow Caimh’s witterings on @Caimh

Facebook: @CaimhMcD

About the book:

He’s a good man having a bad day with the worst hangover.

All Bunny McGarry wants is a spot of breakfast and a decent cup of tea. So imagine how annoyed he gets when two masked men attempt to rob the New York diner he is in? Unfortunately, dealing with that problem just leads to a whole lot more. One of the diner’s other customers isn’t who she appears to be, and the odds aren’t great that she is going to live to see another breakfast.

So just how much trouble is she in?

Well, you know how they’re always telling us to pay attention to our pensions? Some ex-employees of the US government are really taking that advice to heart by using their mayhem-creating abilities to maximise their investments. When one of their fund managers has a momentary crisis of conscience and confesses all to a woman he hardly knows, they will stop at nothing to deal with the problem. Amy Daniels is in big trouble and the only thing keeping her alive is a man who is supposed to already be dead.

Disaster Inc is the first book in a new series featuring Bunny McGarry, beloved by those who enjoyed the critically-acclaimed Dublin Trilogy of books. It melds high-octane action with a distinctly Irish acerbic wit.

Click the link below to order your copy:

https://amzn.to/2SVnCGq

Ellen’s Review:

Now we all know I love Bunny McGarry and he’s back with a bang (and an EPIC hangover) in Disaster Inc! Bunny is in New York, no mean feat as according to official records he’s dead, and looking for the love of his life Simone Delamere. We catch up with Bunny in a diner where all he wants is breakfast and a cup of tea in the hope of recovering from aforesaid hangover, what he ends up with is being in the middle of a robbery gone wrong, the ensuing brawl and a damsel in distress!

Amy is the lady in need of help; a dominatrix just trying to fund her way to a law degree but thanks to the loose lips of a client dealing in some dodgy insider information she is being framed for a crime she didn’t commit. Bunny to the rescue! Of course it’s never going to be straight forward, this is Bunny McGarry we’re dealing with. Crazy comedic capers commence (try saying that after a few pints of Guinness and a few whisky chasers)and it wouldn’t be a Caimh McDonnell book without the bonkers characters and antics we’ve come to know and love.

Disaster Inc is book five featuring Bunny and can be read as a standalone but I highly recommend that you read the four books in The Dublin Trilogy first. I know..one’s a prequel sssshhhhh just roll with it. So go make yourself a lovely cup of tea and settle down with this cracking book! Qll the stars and LOLs for Disaster Inc and bring on book six!

Blog Tour~Changeling (Six Stories #3) by Matt Wesolowski

Hi everyone,

So, today is my stop on the blog tour for Changeling by Matt Wesolowski and I’ll be re-sharing my review with you just a little further down this post!

About the author:

Matt Wesolowski is an author from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the UK. He is
an English tutor for young people in care. Matt started his writing career in
horror, and his short horror fiction has been published in numerous UK- an
US-based anthologies such as Midnight Movie Creature, Selfies from the End
of the World, Cold Iron and many more. His novella, The Black Land, a horror
story set on the Northumberland coast, was published in 2013. Matt was a
winner of the Pitch Perfect competition at Bloody Scotland Crime Writing
Festival in 2015. His debut thriller, Six Stories, was an Amazon bestseller in the
USA, Canada, the UK and Australia, and a WH Smith Fresh Talent pick, and TV
rights were sold to a major Hollywood studio. A prequel, Hydra, was published
in 2018 and became an international bestseller.

About the book:

On Christmas Eve in 1988, seven-year-old Alfie Marsden vanished
in the dark Wentshire Forest Pass, when his father, Sorrel, stopped
the car to investigate a mysterious knocking sound. No trace of
the child, nor his remains, have ever been found. Alfie Marsden
was declared officially dead in 1995.
Elusive online journalist, Scott King, whose ‘Six Stories’ podcasts
have become an internet sensation, investigates the disappearance,
interviewing six witnesses, including Sorrel and his ex-partner, to try to find out what really happened
that fateful night. Journeying through the trees of the Wentshire Forest – a place synonymous with
strange sightings, and tales of hidden folk who dwell there, he talks to a company that tried and failed
to build a development in the forest, and a psychic who claims to know what happened to the little
boy…

Published by Orenda Books, click the link below to order your copy:

Changeling (Six Stories #3) by Matt Wesolowski

Review:

We’re beneath different trees this series, but our feet are sounding against the same darkness and once again we’re facing our fears head-on.

If ever a quote summed up the experience of reading Matt Wesolowski’s books, this chiller from Changeling is perfect.

I had been dying to read Changeling ever since I saw the beautiful cover on Twitter a few months back, and let’s face it, being a superfan means I have literally NO PATIENCE when it comes to waiting for these things. So huge thanks to both Karen and Matt for letting me read an early copy.

Reader, it does not disappoint.

In Changeling, Scott King is back investigating again. This time it is the disappearance of Alfie Marsden from his father’s car in the Wentshire Forest Pass on Christmas Eve 1988. Alfie disappeared without a trace and was officially declared dead seven years and three months after he disappeared. Scott sets out with his usual investigative zeal in search of answers.

I read Changeling over the course of today, making notes as I went, which I never do. And even with these notes, I still feel like I can’t do this book the justice it deserves.

Changeling is by far, my most favourite of the Six Stories books, and I love them all, I mean I REALLY love them. So just know I am not saying that lightly. Changeling got under my skin in a way the others didn’t.

The tension and sense of menace is there from the outset. It builds steadily, rolling like waves in a storm, until it crashes around your consciousness and leaves you almost breathless. Hidden and implied horror help to make Changeling a thoroughly bracing read, leaving the reader more than a little unsettled in its wake.

Much like the Changeling in old folklore, this book itself goes through a metamorphosis. But the author does this slowly, almost imperceptibly, and it creeps up on you gradually that what you are reading is a little different to what you started reading.

What you need to know is this;

Changeling is an intense, dark and utterly absorbing book. The pages crackle with tension, the characters have real depth and the writing is truly stunning.

Matt Wesolowski has to be one of the most imaginiative and talented young writers out there at the moment. His ability to make his writing current in terms of style, while still managing to write the perfect kind of crime/horror/psychological thriller mash-up, astounds me more with every book of his I read.

Highly, highly recommended.

Always.

Previous Matt-related posts:

Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski

*Blog Tour* Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski

~COVER REVEAL~ Hydra by Matt Wesolowski

Hydra by Matt Wesolowski

Check out the blog tour:

One Dark Night by Tom Bale

Hi all,

Today I’ll be reviewing One Dark Night by Tom Bale, which is published by Bookouture, and is available to buy from today!

About the author:

Tom Bale decided that he wanted to be an author from the age of seven but, after another career got in the way, it wasn’t until much later that his dream was fulfilled. After several books with Random House, Bookouture published two stunning ‘everyman’ thrillers by Tom See How They Run and All Fall Down.

About the book:

He sees his wife’s eyes watching him in the rear-view mirror, the kids up on their knees to get a better look. That’s when he hears the scream…

You’re driving home from a family outing one afternoon, when a speeding car cuts you up, nearly causing you to crash. Like anyone would, you pull over to confront the driver.

But a glance into the backseat of the speeding car reveals a woman fighting to escape. She is terrified and she’s screaming for your help: these men have murdered her husband…

What would you do?

Out today, you can order your copy by clicking the link below:

One Dark Night by Tom Bale

My thoughts:

I’ve been waiting for a new Tom Bale book for what seems like ages, but it’s only really since his last one! And it’s safe to say he’s returned on form with One Dark Night.
As with his other books, Bale has a knack for putting ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, and that’s no different in this book.
One Dark Night focuses on Adam, Katy and their two children as they deal with the fallout from a split decision. What follows is an adrenaline-pumping thriller with plenty of action to keep the reader turning the pages.
I always find that I end up wondering if I would have done the same if I was in the situations that Bale puts his characters, but to be honest, I don’t think I’d want to as they always get tangled up in something far bigger than the reader expects.
One Dark Night is a really enjoyable book. It’s got plenty of action, some seriously shady characters and lots of shocking moments. These are really what drive the plot forward, and even in the quieter moments, there is an underlying sense of urgency that is woven through the plot that ramps up the tension.
These quieter moments are where you learn the motivations behind the characters decisions, and though it slows the pace, it really is the only way to explain why things are happening the way they are. Without them, the story would not be as believable. And even though these kinds of plot lines can be a little far-fetched, I think that Tom Bale has pulled it off with One Dark Night. It all lies with that split second decision.
I really felt for the family in this one. They are put through an absolute wringer, and just when you think they’re out the other side, the author pulls the rug out from under them again and the tension is back with a bang.
One Dark Night is a gripping thriller, Tom Bale is on top form with this one!

Previous reviews:

See How They Run by Tom Bale

All Fall Down by Tom Bale

Each Little Lie by Tom Bale