#Review by Lou of The Fracture by Morgan Cry @GoJaBrown @RandomTTours #CrimeFiction #Thriller #TheFracture

The Fracture
By Morgan Cry

Review by Louise Cannon

This Fracture is the second book in the Blake Glover series, but the first I have read and reviewed in this series. For a new series, it’s definitely worth spending time with this former police constable, now taxi driver.

Blurb

Ex-police officer Blake Glover’s past threatens to catch up with him and destroy his small town life in this second instalment of the Blake Glover Crime series by Bloody Scotland co-founder Gordon Brown writing as Morgan Cry.

‘The Cost is a decidedly moreish thriller that will leave you hankering for just one more chapter’ Ian Rankin

Ex-police constable and now taxi driver Blake Glover thought retiring to his hometown of Fraserburgh would be calm – until, while attending a local funeral service, he notices something disturbing: did the sturdy expensive coffin split as it was lowered into the grave? How could this be possible? Is there a cruel scheme taking place?

As if this wasn’t enough, one of Blake’s customers from the night before has gone missing and Blake is the last person to have seen him alive.

To make matters even worse, Blake is contacted by his old colleague-turned-nemesis, Mitch Campbell – now imprisoned in Glasgow’s HMP Barlinnie. Mitch is threatening to frame Blake unless he agrees to a dangerous request.

Torn between helping friends, confronting a past enemy and uncovering dark deeds, Blake is dragged into a toxic world of small-town tragedy and big-city drama. As he tries to untangle the truth, he underestimates just how deadly things will become . . .

An intricately plotted, twisty and clever Tartan noir thriller by Scottish crime writer Morgan Cry – perfect for fans of IAN RANKIN, VAL McDERMID, DENISE MINA and WILLIAM McILVANNEY!

Review

Fractures appear in Fraserburgh, Scotland in this fast-paced, on the edge of your seat thriller.

Former or present police often have a moment of their past catching up with them, but the story that surrounds this happening to Blake Glover feels original for how this comes from his life in Glasgow.

Former police constable, Blake Glover took on a rather different job, as a taxi driver at ailing company, Doddy’s Taxis that needs life support injected into it to survive.
He soon discovers some dark things happening with one of his customer’s, but what’s really going on? It’s far from the quiet life Blake was hoping for.

There’s something not right about a funeral coffin and how it is lowered that becomes very mysterious, so much so that it keeps those pages turning.

The Fracture has great characterisations, intriguing relational observations and built tension that leaves you wanting more of this series.

About the Author

Gordon Brown, also writing as Morgan Cry, has twelve crime and thriller books published to date, along with a novella and a number of short stories.

Gordon is a founding director of Bloody Scotland, Scotland’s International Crime Writing Festival and runs a strategic planning consultancy. He lives in Scotland (and when Brexit rules allow, Spain) and is married with two children – who have long since flown the nest.

In a former life Gordon delivered pizzas in Toronto, sold non-alcoholic beer in the Middle East, launched a creativity training business, floated a high tech company on the London Stock Exchange, compered the main stage at a two-day music festival and was once booed by 49,000 people while on the pitch at a major football Cup Final.

#Review By Lou of The Last Train Home by Sherry Hostler A Psychological Thriller of a Train Ride You Would Want To Book. @SherryHostler @adropofshery @RandomTTours #Christmas #Trains #PsychologicalThriller #TheLastTrainHome

The Last Train Home
By Sherry Hostler

review by Louise Cannon

Trains are great to travel on, but what happens on this last train home is not anywhere near what you’d expect or normally experience in this high octane, breath-taking psychological Christmas thriller. It’s a train you wouldn’t want to miss, but goes to places you wouldn’t expect. This is no ordinary train…
Check out my full review for the Random T. Tours blog tour below, after the blurb.

Blurb

Where am I?

How did I get here?

These are the questions that Molly asks when she wakes up in unfamiliar clothes on a dark, empty train docked in the middle of nowhere. She has no memory of how she got there, no means of escape, and worst of all, she isn’t sure if she’s alone.

Molly must confront the ghosts of her past, and find her voice, to make sure she has a future.

Christmas. A time for peace and goodwill. Well, that depends if you’ve been naughty or nice.

Review

The Last Train that should get you home is a clever premise. This isn’t like Murder on The Orient Express or any other train based stories I’ve come across. The protagonist, Molly doesn’t know how she got onto the train when she wakes up, so the panic and tension gives an immediate hit to the psyche. Instantly, there are more questions than answers, until you delve deeper in and fully join the ride.
The train also comes to life, or rather someone does as a message comes across the tannoy…
The train isn’t just the physical vehicle, but also cleverly represents the train of life. There is the present predicament she is in. playing with her mind a bit, but also her past that, a bit like Scrooge, she has to confront, although they are rather different from that Dickens’ character.
There are some rather deep, dark themes within the book that are thought-provoking as well as making this a terrific psychological thriller that twists and turns, with some side stories interweaving throughout. It’s very much about joining the dots, uncovering clues and piecing together the carriages of her life train to find out more about her present and if she has a future. The characters met along the way are fascinating. Some are good, others are definitely not. All are written in a way that you want to know every one of them and how they link to Molly.
The ending is breathtakingly unpredictable!

For not your average last train home after a Christmas party, this psychological thriller is for you.

#Review of The Lines by Matt Brolly @MattBrollyUK #TheLines #CrimeFiction #Thriller #BlogTour

The Lines
By Matt Brolly

A little later than I had planned to publish this review due to a big family health situation, here is my review on the Zooloo blog tour of Matt Brolly’s latest thriller book, The Lines. It’s deep and atmospheric with fascinating character situations. Find out more below…

DS Liam Kilshaw was a former marine who almost died on a mission gone wrong. It’s an interesting and somewhat scary look into when missions do go wrong and the aftermath and how some, like DS Liam Kilshaw try to cope with PTSD. He sits at juxtapositions in personality. He has inner strength and enough within him to keep moving forwards as much as work and trying to solve crimes is concerned, yet there is also a fragility and vulnerability about him. The way he’s portrayed makes him an interesting character to delve into. He’s quite timely when men’s mental health is making waves in conversations.

The more than just highlighting of county lines is powerful and reminds, even though little to nothing is said in the news anymore about what is a very real concern that such activities still go on.

DS Kilshaw has a lot of work on his hands around the brooding Cornish coast. There’s the body of a young man floating in the water, but isn’t merely a tragic drowning, but is murder and the body of a young woman is also found. He reckons there could be a link between them both with county lines drugs gangs.
It soon becomes apparent he doesn’t know who he can trust, not even the water as crime solving and his memories collide.

The book is rather atmospheric, raw in parts and truly hooks you in. It’s a crime fiction book you wouldn’t want to miss out on.

#Review by Lou of The Token by Sharon Bolton @AuthorSJBolton #CompulsiveReaders #BlogTour #PsychologicalThriller

The Token
By Sharon Bolton

Review by Louise Cannon

Today I am on the blog tour for Compulsive Readers about the newest book by Sharon Bolton called The Token. Here is the blurb and then go onto my review.

Seven beneficiaries. Seven people who stood to gain a huge amount of money, for a reason none of them yet understood.

Seven strangers receive a mysterious note informing them of their impending inheritance of billionaire Logan Quick’s fortune. They each receive a token and soon embark on a doomed cruise where they will have to conquer their own demons, and each other, for a chance at the money.

But someone on this boat has something to hide.

Can the survivors work out the truth… or are they destined to drown?

Review

The prologue instantly has a dramatic pull and sets the scene. The Token starts off with a yacht, a storm and a beautiful backdrop of the Scilly Isles. It’s a fascinating look into human nature as readers learn more about the people and their attitudes to money and what their occupations are and their different backgrounds.

There are 7 letters with a token that get sent to people and a murder, which brings a page-turning psychological thriller as dangers and what people do collide.

It’s a fast-paced thriller that is fascinatingly observed how people relate to each other, what their motives are and how they cope or otherwise when up against it in the circumstances they find themselves in.

#Review of The Killing Stones by Ann Cleeves @AnnCleeves @panmacmillan #TheKillingStones #CrimeFiction

The Killing Stones
By Ann Cleeves

Review by Louise Cannon

The Killing Stones has Detective Jimmy Perez in Orkney. He may have swapped Shetland for Orkney, but murders are still occurring giving him plenty of work ahead and mysteries to be solved. Check out the blurb and my review below…

Neolithic stones are often intriguing with engravings, markings and their formations. What makes this one so different is that it forms part of a murder case for Detective Jimmy Perez on the northerly island of Orkney, where he resides with his partner Willow and their young son.

The case becomes personal as he needs to delve into Andrew Stout, his childhood friend’s life as he’s found dead. Along the way, he also needs to untangle various webs of island tales to distinguish between factual truth and myth and legend.

The book is immersive in how it takes you into the lives of those who live on Orkney, whilst also showcasing the isolating, wild landscape, shaped by its challenging stormy weather. It’s a slow-burn to begin with, but sets the scene beautifully and allows it time to breath and readers to take both it and new characters who join the more familiar Detective Perez in. It’s interesting seeing someone move to a new place and how that works out for them, or in this instant, challenges them.

The mystery itself is intriguing with an excellently executed plot twist.

Whether you’ve read books by Ann Cleeves before or not, this is an excellent plotted book.

#Review of Fatal Shot by Brian Price @HobeckBooks #DCMelCottonSeries #CrimeFiction #Thriller

Fatal Shot
By Brian Price

Review written by Louise Cannon

Fatal Shot is book 6 of the DC Mel Cotton Series. If you haven’t yet delved into this Mexton crime series I highly recommend that you do with its interesting threads and thought-provoking, sometimes chilling concepts and main characters you can follow the lives of.
Today, I am on the Hobeck Books blog tour to review.
Please note I am not affiliated to any publisher nor bookshop and all opinions are my own.

Blurb

Pleasure or murder?

Was journalist Jenny Pike seeking extreme pleasure or was she murdered? Mexton police and her partner are suspicious. Things just don’t add up. Who would want Jenny killed and why? If she was murdered, then why was there no trace of the killer?

Deadly weapons

A mystery gunman is injured as his weapon blows up in his face. Someone is making blank weapons lethal. Mexton police are baffled. Meanwhile, a ruthless gangster is after a stolen laptop, and he will stop at nothing to get it back. What is on that laptop?

A dangerous turf war

Soon Mexton is in turmoil with illegal firearms, a vengeful crime boss and an impossible crime to solve. A turf war between drug dealers looms and the police seem powerless to stop it. Can DC Mel Cotton and her colleagues solve the riddles facing them without getting killed? Can a lethal conflict be prevented, before someone gets seriously hurt?

Review

There’s a turf drugs war going on with two rival gangs and with other crimes going on too, the dead bodies soon mount up in their numbers. There’s plenty of crime solving to do as threads cleverly interweave each other creating a rich crime story.

Guns that are supposed to be for blanks have become increasingly lethal, through the use of modern technology and there’s someone who is clever and evil enough to be able to use and manipulate it, in this case, 3D Printers, not for good though, but for nefarious deeds. It serves as a bit of a warning when technology comes onto the mass market, seemingly innocently, there are always people who will use it for deadly intent. The awareness and usage of how people can twist modern technology, including 3D Printers, in a fictional tale is intelligently done and brings it back to what can happen in the real world in the realistic writing.

As the action increases, it comes to a solid, satisfying end with a compelling middle to get you there.