Bloody January by Alan Parks / Review. @ Cannongate Books. Gritty crime.

Synopsis:

When a teenage boy shoots a young woman dead in the middle of a busy Glasgow street and then commits suicide, Detective Harry McCoy is sure of one thing. It wasn’t a random act of violence.

With his new partner in tow, McCoy uses his underworld network to lead the investigation but soon runs up against a secret society led by Glasgow’s wealthiest family, the Dunlops.

McCoy’s boss doesn’t want him to investigate. The Dunlops seem untouchable. But McCoy has other ideas . . .

In a helter-skelter tale – winding from moneyed elite to hipster music groupies to the brutal gangs of the urban wasteland – Bloody January brings to life the dark underbelly of 1970s Glasgow and establishes Alan Parks as a new and exciting voice in Scottish noir.

MY THOUGHTS:

My first read by this author; but wont be my last. This was a great read where the lines between good and bad are blurred so much to be indistinct. Set in early 70’s Glasgow it is a read of it’s times. Political correctness has still to an appearance and feminism is still a struggling bud on the tree of life. But though there is no technology such as mobile phones, computers and no WWW. The roots of institutional Racism, chauvinism and corruption were prevalent then as now! The characters are well fleshed out and though McCoy is nominally the hero; he is a policeman after all and people like the Dunlops and Cooper are the bad guys, you find out as you read on they could be opposite sides of the same coin. Trigger points: sexual exploitation, violence and coarse language. But don’t let this put you off. A great read!

THE AUTHOR:

 

Alan Parks has worked in the music industry for over twenty years. His debut novel Bloody January was one of the top crime debuts of 2018 and was shortlisted for the prestigious international crime prize the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière. He lives and works in Glasgow.

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES:

Book 2: February’s Son.

Book 3: Bobby March Will Live Forever.

 

Available at all good booksellers.

 

 

Unborn by Rachel McLean# Blog Tour @Rachel’sRandomResources @Dystopian Fiction @ The Future?

SYNOPSIS:

Unborn
She killed her unborn child. The punishment will fit the crime.
America, 2026.
Feminism has been defeated.
Equality is a memory.
And abortion has been criminalized.
Three women find themselves on the wrong side of the law.
Kate, carrying the child of a sexual predator.
Grace, whose baby will be born with a fatal deformity.
And Cindee: abused, abandoned and pregnant.
Can these three very different women come together to fight an oppressive system and win their freedom?
Find out by reading Unborn, a chilling dystopia combined with a gripping legal thriller.

Purchase Links
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08184VDBV/
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08184VDBV/

MY THOUGHTS:

Rachel McLean never disappoints the reader. She has stepped out of her comfort zone and produced a dystopian thriller! It has a bleak premise but leaves the reader wondering could it happen,has is it happened?

Feminism has been defeated. Women are treated as a commodity, not as human beings with feelings, hope and ambitions. Three women find themselves challenging the status quo.

Kate a successful lawyer who is the victim of a sexual predator. Grace who child will be born with a deformity. And Cindee abused, abandoned and pregnant.

This a bleak future, controlled by men where women are suspected at everyturn. If they seek an abortion they are guilty. If it miscarries they are guilty and if naive, young and abused they are guilty.

They are sent to a prison where they await the outcome of their misdemeanours against society.  Even before being found guilty of any crime there is a price to pay.

But enough of the story. If you want to know more then I would urge you to read the book. It is great read, which opens questions in the reader’s mind. Could it happen, will it happen or more importantly is it happening! We can but wonder?

The blurb says inspired by the Handmaid’s Tale. But I would say Rachel brings her own unique perspective and opinion on this possible future. Inspired by it maybe but in no way is it a carbon copy or rip off. It may be similar in many ways but Rachel’s own distinctive voice shines through. This is as quality writer she a can take an idea and put her own spin on it.

You will find yourself investing in Kate, Grace and Cindee and what their futures may be. I may be biased but I love Rachel’s writing and if you give her a chance I’m sure you will too!

THE AUTHOR:

 

Author Bio –
My name’s Rachel McLean and I write thrillers that make you think.

What does that mean?

In short, I want my stories to make your pulse race and your brain tick.

Do you often get through a thriller at breakneck pace but are left with little sense of what the book was really about? Do you sometimes read literary fiction but just wish something would damn well happen?

My books aim to fill that gap.

If you’d like to know more about my books and receive extra bonus content, please join my book club at rachelmclean.com/bookclub. I’ll send you a weekly email with news about my writing research and progress, stories and bonus content for each book. And I’ll let you know when my books are on offer.
Social Media Links –
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rachelmcwrites
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rachelmcleanwrites/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelmcwrites/

Thanks to Rachel McLean for the story

Thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for the tour

 

Dead Ringer by Nicola Martin Blog Tour. @Anne Cater Random Things Tours @ Contraband Books @ Social Media.

 

Synopsis:

Get ready to meet the other you.
Just upload your photo to get started. Using the latest facial recognition software, plus your votes, MeetYourDouble will find your doppelgänger.
She might be an astronaut or a model. He might live half a world away … or a few miles down the road. You share the same face. Who knows what else you might have in common?
Start now…

The idea is simple, vain, exciting. Tap the app, upload a picture of yourself, find your lookalike. Set up a meeting to see whether you have anything else in common.

When Ella and Jem meet, the physical resemblance is uncanny, but their lives couldn’t be more different. One is from a tiny island in a deprived Northern community – pretty much the back of beyond – where she has no job, no boyfriend, limited prospects.

The other is a London socialite, an aspiring actress living in a multimillion-pound mansion. By all appearances, she’s living a charmed life, but she’s got some serious shit to run away from. Both of them have. Can either hide in her double’s skin? And at what cost? Will it solve any of the problems, or merely compound them?

This is an all-too-believable, twisty, compelling story that will leave you reeling.

 

MY THOUGHTS:

First off I must say two things. This book was a brilliant read and also very hard to review without spoilers. But I will try! The story is about social media. About an App. that when you put in your picture then pairs you with your double> That is where the trouble starts.

At first this may seem a far fetched concept, but so was cloning a sheep and it maybe not so far away.  We are told to beware of social media and the fact it can intrude and takeover our lives. This book should be a salutary warning to all. It maybe nearer than we think!

This is a hard book to put into any genre: crime could be………Then could be dystopian…… Psychological Thriller…….Mmmm?  It is a mixture of all three and more. You feel like you are watching a social experiment which has good points but may be doomed to failure.

The writing and the story are of a type that keeps you turning the pages and the book has myriad of characters, but all are essential to the story.

The two main characters are Ella and Jem. Ella is a would be actress and star who is spoilt and not above using people to reach her own ends.

Jem is a likeable girl who is stagnating in Cumbria and working on her parents run down caravan site.

They decide to meet and that is when the story really takes off! You want to know what happens? You will need to read the book! It will be worth your while!

Thanks once again to Nicola Martin for the story.

Contraband Book for the ARC

Anne Cater for the tour

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nicola Martin studied at the University of East Anglia and the University of California, Berkeley. After many years working as a senior copywriter in the low carbon technology sphere, she is now a freelance writer. Dead Ringer is her first novel.

 

 

Death Deserved by Jorn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger @ Anne Cater @Random Things Tours @ Orenda Books NordicNoir

Hi my stop on the tour. Many thanks to Anne Cater for the invite and Orenda Books for the ARC.

BLURB:

Oslo, 2018. Former long-distance runner Sonja Nordstrøm never shows at the launch of her controversial autobiography, Always Number One. When celebrity blogger Emma Ramm visits Nordstrøm’s home later that day, she finds the door unlocked and signs of a struggle inside. A bib with the number ‘one’ has been pinned to the TV.

Police officer Alexander Blix is appointed to head up the missingpersons investigation, but he still bears the emotional scars of a hostage situation nineteen years earlier, when he killed the father of a five-year-old girl. Traces of Nordstrøm soon show up at different locations, but the appearance of the clues appear to be carefully calculated … evidence of a bigger picture that he’s just not seeing…

Blix and Ramm soon join forces, determined to find and stop a merciless killer with a flair for the dramatic, and thirst for attention.

Trouble is, he’s just got his first taste of it…

MY THOUGHTS:

I have read several Scandi-Noir books but nothing by these authors; either singly or as co-authors. I must say I will look out for novels by them, either flying solo or together.

I was drawn in by this book. Two top Norwegian crime writers join forces to write a superb piece of Nordic Noir.

Alexander Blix is an experienced police officer in Norway. He had been involved in a shooting 19 years before that still troubles him daily.

When Emma Ramm, a journalist reports a missing person, the investigation begins.

Sonja Nordstrøm, a celebrity athlete and author of an explosive autobiography has disappeared….

The bodies begin to pile up and Emma and Alexander find themselves drawn deeper into the investigation of a serial killer on the loose.

Emma and Alexander also have a shared history and if you want to know what it is you will need to read the book!

The writing is of a high quality, and unusual for co-authored books in you don’t know who wrote what!

A slow burn of a book that picks up pace the more you read, and believe me you will keep reading! All the characters are well rounded, prose is crisp with not a wasted word.

It is an accolade to these authors that I did not work out who the killer was!

Orenda Books improve with every book they publish and have a stable of writers other publishers must envy. Go on give this book a go!

Rating 5 stars!

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
First in the international bestselling, award-winning Blix & Ramm series with over 100,000 copies sold in Norway alone, two of the biggest names in Nordic Noir have teamed up to create a dark, hard-boiled and emotive serial-killer thriller with echoes of Criminal Minds … and two unforgettable protagonists
Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger are the internationally bestselling Norwegian authors of the William Wisting and Henning Juul series respectively. Jørn Lier Horst first rose to literary fame with his No. 1 internationally bestselling William Wisting series. A former investigator in the Norwegian police, Horst imbues all his works with an unparalleled realism and suspense. Thomas Enger is the journalist-turned-author behind the internationally acclaimed and bestselling Henning Juul series. Enger’s trademark has become a darkly gritty voice paired with key social messages and tight plotting. Besides writing fiction for both adults and young adults, Enger also works as a music composer. Death Deserved is Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger’s first co-written thriller.

‘Resoundingly thrilling – and not solely thanks to the many cliffhangers, but also because the authors know how to scatter (mis)information, making both the protagonists and us seduced readers turn our suspicions to various secondary characters’ Fyens Stiftstidende
‘A successful criminal partnership … stunning momentum and a wonderful level of suspense’ Adresseavisen

The Goblets Immortal by Beth Overmyer Blog Tour@Anne Cater@Random Things Fantasy Book

ABOUT THE BOOK:

In a land where magic’s feared, a magical kind exists: the Blest, products of the Goblets Immortal and Aidan’s one of them and on the run. Whispers of a new fear take shape in Meraude, a mage who hates all magic-kind. When she appears in Aidan’s dreams offering a bargain for the return of his family, he needs to make the most difficult decision.
FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launched recently in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices

MY THOUGHTS:

This is not my usual type of read, but I thought I would give this a go. This book is a great romp of a story. The two main characters are Aidan, a young man possessed of the power to dismiss things into the realm of Nothingness and re-summon them when the need arises. The other main character is a young woman named Slaine. She is endowed with what is known as the Curse.

They find themselves in a land where magic is feared . They find themselves on the run and under the threat of a mage named Meraude who hates all magic. She appears in Aidan’s dreams offering a bargain that he must consider.

I really enjoyed the characters and the magic of this world. I loved the plot twists and the clues about the Blest that the author dropped along the way. I loved this story! I couldn’t put it down

It is a the type of read that keeps you on edge and wanting to find out what happens next. The quality of the writing is good and the world building is a joy.

This book finishes on a cliff hanger and leaves you wondering will there be a sequel?
A good start to what hopefully will be a series.

THE AUTHOR:

 

 

Beth Overmyer has authored several books—In a Pickle, a middle grade novella, and Circus in a Shot Glass, a women’s fiction novel, being among them. She’s in love with the fantasy genre, mysteries—especially when there’s tea and/or a quirky sleuth involved—, and wouldn’t say no to reading and writing in every genre but hardcore horror and erotica. Influencers to her writing include J.R.R. Tolkien and Brandon Sanderson, though Douglas Adams may be lurking in there somewhere.
Love of writing and reading has led to her leading a creative writing group at her local public library, where she once was a pupil. But she doesn’t see herself as a teacher: she’s more of a facilitator and encourager when needed. Every other week during the school year, they meet and perform various writing exercises, which each individual’s encouraged to then share.
When she’s not writing, reading, editing, drinking tea, or facilitating creative writing meetings, Beth enjoys hanging out with her writing pals for fellowship, brainstorming, and great company. You can visit Beth’s website at http://bethovermyer.com.

Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Vampire Menace by Olga Wajtas@Saraband Books @Love Books Tours@ Kelley Lacey

Blurb
The intrepid librarian Shona McMonagle, erstwhile Marcia Blaine Academy prefect and an accomplished linguist and martial artist, finds herself in an isolated French mountain village, Sans-Soleil, which has no sunlight because of its topography. It’s reeling from a spate of unexplained deaths, and Shona has once again travelled back in time to help out.
Forging an uneasy alliance with newly widowed Madeleine, Shona is soon drawn into a full-blown vampire hunt, involving several notable villagers, the world-renowned soprano Mary Garden – and even Count Dracula himself. Will Shona solve the mystery, secure justice for the murder victims and make it through a deathly denouement in the hall of mirrors to return to present-day Morningside Library?

 

MY THOUGHTS :

I have known Olga for a couple of years. Or maybe I should qualify that; we have crossed paths at various book events, notably in Edinburgh and we are friends on Facebook. When I heard her reading from this book at NATB. Edinburgh I just knew I had to get a copy! When I was invited on the blog-tour I jumped at the chance.

As far as I’m aware this is Olga’s second book in this series but I read it as a stand alone. In no way did this distract from my enjoyment of the book.

This book was a delicious romp. Shona McMonagle is a former pupil and prefect at Marcia Blaine Academy She now works at Morningside Public Library. But that is her day job. Her other job is as a secret agent; not just an agent but a time traveling one.

She finds herself in the village of Sans-Soleil, which has no sunlight because of its topography. She finds herself embroiled in scenes reminiscent of Hammer Horror movie. Mad villagers brandishing torches and pitchforks!

The least of Shona’s problems is being mistaken as English. This book is a mish mash of Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Hammer Horror the genteel neighbourhood of Morningside. A lot of laugh out loud moments and the whole book is written with tongue in the cheek humour. Even sly digs at the city of Glasgow and Weegies in general. All done with a sense of humour that no-one can take offence at. I didn’t and I’m a Weegie!

As I said earlier; a delicious romp, a mish mash of the present and the past and infectious humour.  For example who knew a plaster was the best thing for vampire bites? Me neither. The writing is of top quality and the reader is drawn through a book that is a pleasure to read. Thank Olga.

Buy Link
https://amzn.to/37FoOVP

 

Author
Olga Wojtas is an unconventional – and very witty – writer of postmodern crime fiction whose surrealist humour has been compared to the likes of PG Wodehouse, Jasper Fforde and the Marx Brothers. Her debut novel, Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Golden Samovar, has been published in the UK and US to great critical acclaim – being longlisted for the inaugural Comedy Women in Print Prize 2019, shortlisted for a CrimeFest Award, and named as one of the best mysteries and thrillers of the year by Kirkus.
A journalist for more than 30 years, Olga was Scottish editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement before she began adding creative writing to her portfolio. She won a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award in 2015 and has had numerous short stories and several novellas published. Olga lives in Edinburgh, where she once attended James Gillespie’s High School – the model for Marcia Blaine School for Girls, which appears in Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the novel that inspired the Miss Blaine’s Prefect series.

@OlgaWojtas
@SarabandBooks
@LoveBooksGroup

Blood On His Hands by Ian McFadyen Blog Tour@Random Resources @Rachel Gilbey# Crime Novel

 

BLURB:

Blood On His Hands
When a stranger enters DI Carmichael’s local church, with blood on his hands claiming to have committed a murder, Carmichael and his team are quickly summoned.
And when the man disappears, as mysteriously as he arrived, with few clues to his identity, where he came from and where he went, Carmichael quickly realises that all may not be as it seems.
The conundrum becomes even more puzzling when, in less than 24 hours, a corpse is discovered in the boot of a Bentley car down a quiet country lane.
As the body count rises Carmichael and his team remain confounded as to who is behind the murders and what motive they have for taking so many lives. In this, the eighth gripping murder mystery from the pen of Ian McFadyen, the author once again captivates the reader with an array of beguiling characters tightly woven within an intriguing, skilfully scripted plot.
It will keep you guessing right until the end…
Purchase Links
Book Guild: https://www.bookguild.co.uk/bookshop-collection/fiction/detective/blood-on-his-hands/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-his-Hands-Dci-Carmichael/dp/1912881942
Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/blood-on-his-hands/ian-mcfadyen/9781912881949
Foyles: https://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/fiction-poetry/blood-on-his-hands,ian-mcfadyen-9781912881949?term=9781912881949
Blackwell’s: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Blood-on-His-Hands-by-Ian-McFadyen-author/9781912881949
WHSmith: https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/blood-on-his-hands/ian-mcfadyen/paperback/9781912881949.html
The Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Blood-on-his-Hands-Ian-McFadyen/9781912881949

MY THOUGHTS:

Firstly I would like to thank Rachel Gibley for inviting me on the tour for Blood on his Hands by Ian McFadyen. Book eight in the DI. Carmichael series. Though this was book eight I read this as a stand alone and this in no way spoiled my enjoyment of the book.  The back story was explained enough to let the reader carry on reading.

This was a slow burn of a book but the quality and the storyline made me eager to keep reading and I will be eager to read more in this series! As I said slow to start but once it gets moving and the body count starts to rise the reader is gripped.

The quality of the writing is of an excellent standard and the characters are all well rounded and essential to the plot. What is unusual in this type of book is that DI. Carmichael works with a small team, but they seem to get the work done. Carmichael himself comes across as a superior and all knowing boss. A throw back to an earlier time.

An excellent read that has me eager to read more of this series. Give it a go!

Author Bio –
Ian McFadyen lives in Bishops Stortford, Herts and has published seven books in the Carmichael series so far. McFadyen has built up a strong following and is particularly well supported by library borrowers – being positioned in the top 10% of most loaned authors in the last few years. Favourably mentioned alongside Wilkie Collins and Colin Dexter, McFadyen’s titles are all available in paperback and on kindle.
Social Media Links – Facebook.com/ianmcfadyenauthor & Twitter @ianMcFadyen1

THE GIVEAWAY:

Giveaway to Win 5 x Paperback copies of Blood on His Hands (UK Only)
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