#Review of The Yacht by Kayte Nunn #KayteNunn @RandomTTours #BlogTour #Thriller #HolidayRead #TheYacht #SummerRead

The Yacht
By Kayte Nunn

Summer is here, even if the weather doesn’t always show that it is. Sun, sea and holidays are all over The Yacht, but with something more sinister. Luxury doesn’t always bring something good as this thriller suggests…
Kayte Nunn is a best-selling author known for The Botanist’s Daughter, winnter of the 2020 Winston Graham Historical Fiction Prize and was selected as the National English Honour Society Common Reader for 2023/4. , The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant, The Silk House, The Last Reunion and many other books.
I am on the Random T. Tours with the cover, blurb and review. Hop aboard a luxury yacht and join the immersive, bumpy ride…

Blurb

A man on the edge.

A woman hell-bent on revenge.

A cheating husband.

A desperate wife.

A property empire on the brink of collapse.

A family at loggerheads.

A predator hiding in plain sight.

Who will sink and who will swim?

Three generations of a billionaire family are taking their new superyacht on its maiden voyage. But when the yacht sinks, each of them has a different part to play, in this addictive, twist-filled thriller.

Review

Luxury yachts heading to sea carries aspirations for those on the harbour side and a showy lifestyle for those on-board. Sailing around the Med sounds idyllic, a piece of pure escapism from the rest of the world and away from all your troubles. Or so you would think!

Told in multiple perspectives by those on-board you discover its inhabitants, especially the wealthy Thyssen family who own the super yacht. What happens inside isn’t all plain-sailing as a disaster happens with this colossal vessel. That’s the moment where everything truly changes and the full extent of people’s dysfunctions emerge. All the secrets and desires for revenge that people have been harboring secrets and strong desires for revenge come to the surface. The super-rich lives aren’t all they seem when you dig deep into them. They are far from the perfect surface look they project into the world. It’s quite the lens into the world that they make people want, but, really the people’s lives on the yacht are falling apart in many directions. There is also a lot of danger ahead.

The Yacht is more twisty and has more turbulence than your average cruise. It’s a rocky ride that is gripping from the first page with a fast-pace, also driven by the short chapters that make you want to read more than you perhaps planned in a night.

For a summer read, The Yacht is gripping and compelling for the beach, on your cruise as you sip your cooling holiday drinks.

You can check out more here:

Author Website | Insta | Facebook | Amazon UK

#Review of The Boy in the Photo by Hilly Barmby #HillyBarmby @HobeckBooks #psychologicalthriller

The Boy in the Photo
By Hilly Barmby

The Boy in the Photo is an incredible psychological thriller. If you like Gillian Flynn and/or Freida McFadden this is one I highly recommend you pick up.

When is a car accident perhaps not so clear cut? When events happen that bring about other suspicions.

Kaz Emmerson, her brother Mark and sister Livy are devastated when their parents both die in a car crash. You can’t help but feel the emotion and the hardship of trying to re-discover and rebuild life after the funeral. Livy is married and has a child, so that’s where her energies go, as well as escaping for a holiday with her best friend to Spain, where it’s all sun and sangria. It can be a small world at times as they discover when they meet Ryan, who happens to live close-by in the UK. Both start to build a connection and find him handsome.
Mark buries himself in work, but also re-emerging at certain points to try and rebuild and maintain his social life. So far, so normal.

When the 3 siblings meet in a lawyers office, everything changes. The pace and suspense increases and the twists start to appear as things don’t all add up. A mysterious photo emerges and someone is oddly taking photos around the property. What feels normal to begin with becomes darker as the unexpected of events occur.
The intrigue runs deep as does a sense of uneasiness when it becomes apparent that you don’t know who can be trusted and who cannot. That feeling can be deeply felt within the various big emotions that weave themselves into this story as everything that was once hidden away or glued together unravels and there could be someone out to cause destruction.

The Boy in the Photo is revealing about how precarious some aspects of life can be. What it can be to have everything feel certain and then discover strange things later on.

Hilly Barmby has written a page-turner of a psychological thriller that hooks and grabs in an immersive sense throughout.

Blurb

This unbelievably twisty read will have you glued to the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves Freida McFadden and Gillian Flynn won’t be able to put down The Boy in the Photo!

Kaz Emmerson, brother Mark and sister Livy are devastated after the death of their parents in a car crash. Surely it was just a terrible accident, wasn’t it?

After the funeral, the three try to rebuild their lives as best they can. Livy turns her focus on her husband and young son. Mark immerses himself in work and rebuilding his social life. Kaz escapes the pain with bestie Elise, taking off to Spain for a couple of weeks for sun, sand and sangria.

While on holiday, Kaz and Elise chance upon the mysterious and handsome Ryan. They both like him. As it turns out, he lives rather close to home and when they return to the UK they meet up. But who will he pick?

The three siblings gather with their family lawyer who leaves them with a deep sense of unease. What is he not telling them? Curious, Kaz ploughs into the family paperwork stored in the attic of their parents’ grand country home. After a shocking discovery, she is embroiled in a family mystery that threatens to unravel everything. Who exactly is the boy in the photo with their father? Why is there a man sneaking around their garden taking photos? When more horrifying things happen, who can they trust? Is there someone who will stop at nothing to destroy them?

#Review of Octagon by C.J. Merritt – A Gripping Espionage Thriller Published Today! #Octagon #ChrisMerritt @MichaelJBooks #Thriller #SpyThriller #politicalthriller #crimethriller

Octagon
By C.J. Merritt

review written by Louise Cannon

Octagon is rather different for C.J. Merritt in that it isn’t psychological, it’s a fast-paced politcal/espionage thriller that’s also very much worth picking up and reading. The quality of writing and story-telling is just as high as any other book he has written previously. Today, I have a review and blurb on publication day for Octagon, thanks to Michael J. Books.

There are secrets, confessions and murders galore. A Russian Scientist, practically on his deathbed has a deep, dark confession to make. There is also a murdered spy, a ritual killing and a former MI6 Agent Runner and former SAS Operator to get to know. There are a mix of backdrops of calm, including English countryside and Swedish forest to be lured into, but hang on tight, there is a lot of action in this tightly written plot. Readers are taken on a big high octane, big stakes journey as Octagon, the name of a plot against the West, which if pulled off in its entirety, will have devastating consequences.

Stella McCrae left MI6 on not exactly the best of terms and set up an investigation company, which unfortunately struggles. Fortunately she finds herself deep in a rather dark mystery to solve and that’s where Tommy Kane, internally, a complex man, comes in with just the expertise and experience she needs to really get going on the case. There is also Hoss who Stella set up the company with. Each of them have differing, but complimentary skill sets. It’s interesting to watch how they relate to each other within their professional capacity and work.
They are up against time to stop plot Octagon from becoming a horrific reality and someone instrumental to it is already on a key train.

Octagon is so fast-paced with unexpected twists and turns and depth that it’s easy to find yourself racing along to discover where it takes you next and which direction it ends in.

For a thriller that takes you on an unexpected journey of high danger, intriguing characters and a compelling plot, I highly recommend Octagon.

Blurb

A DYING RUSSIAN SCIENTIST
confesses to his children what he did as a young man.

A MURDERED SPY
shares vital intelligence before he’s ruthlessly assassinated in the English countryside.

A RITUAL KILLING
hidden in a forest clearing in Sweden hints at something much worse.

FORMER MI6 AGENT RUNNER
Stella McRae is the only person who can be trusted to investigate now her former employer has been compromised.

EX-SAS OPERATOR
Tommy Kane has always had Stella’s back, but as the threats against them escalate, will his formidable skills be enough this time?

OCTAGON
A devastating plot against the West is already in train. Only Stella and Tommy stand in its way. And time is running out…

#Review of The Night Lagoon by Jo Morey @JoMoreyWriter @HarperCollinsUK @RandomTTours #Thriller #bookreview by Lou

The Night Lagoon
By Jo Morey

Wittering Lodge, Stann Creek is a place that’s a piece of paradise, but isn’t all it seems with its current occupancy of Laelia and her partner, Aid. There is quite a rum-filled passion that gets darker in atmosphere and actions as many secrets become uncovered in a nook in the lodge.

Tension builds in such a gripping, creative way that makes it quite the cinematic page-turner as it becomes rather immersive with interesting, lush descriptive writing of the jungle playing off the characterisations of the people you meet.

There’s quite a uniqueness in the characterisation of Laelia as she has tinnitus and wears hearing aids. Something I know a bit about via a parent dealing with this. The way she is written is authentic and she doesn’t catch every word.

The psychological element of this thriller is palpable in the dynamics between people in the way they behave and manipulate. The web of lies plays with you, keeping its hold until unraveled in both character and reader.

Jo Morey is a new to me author and she is one to watch!

The Night Lagoon is a different summer read that grips from beginning to end as everything comes out and presents itself bit by bit.

Blurb

It’s a liar’s paradise
Wittering Lodge, Stann Creek, Belize

In the dead of night, lying in her father’s jungle lodge, Laelia watches her partner Aid sleeping – her mind racing with everything that’s brought her to this moment.

The heady Caribbean holiday when they first met.

The rum-fueled passion that, day by day, creeps into something darker.

The secrets she discovered in a hidden nook of the lodge, revealing a devastating past.

Above all, she thinks about the impossible decision she must make before dawn.

Does she stay silent and protect their newfound paradise? Or does she confront the lies which run as deep and dark as the lagoon – surfacing a dangerous truth from which there’s no return…

A transporting book club novel with the pulse of a thriller, The Night Lagoon is about the secrets and lies that simmer just beneath the surface of paradise.

#Review of Old Bones in Puglia – A Daniel Leicester Thriller by Tom Benjamin @tombenjaminsays @RandomTTours #Thriller

Old Bones in Puglia is the seventh Daniel Leicester thriller and the first I have ever read. It works well as reading it as a stand-alone and probably in the book order too. So, it’s time to get acquainted with a side of Italy that brings a lot of intrigue and unexpected corners. Thanks to Random T. Tours, who’s blog tour I have joined with a copy of the book, I have a review of Old Bones in Puglia. Check out my review, the blurb and a bit about Tom Benjamin. He’s achieved something pretty positive and great, so do take a look at his short bio.
This is a little late for the blog tour due to a family situation, now sorted.

Daniel Leicester is a British detective from England, now residing in Bologna, Italy. He is on this travels to Puglia because a relative has died. It couldn’t be further from some divine, idyllic holiday destination. It turns out Puglia has quite a dark history and isn’t all as innocent as the revered saints. This is mixed with mafia clans, hidden catacombs and sinister ceremonies. There’s a bit of spookiness and uneasiness in feel to part of this that builds the sinister atmosphere. What also becomes clear is just how powerful the mafia is and how strong superstition and that belief in mysticism can be, even when it comes to murder. It becomes scarier still as Daniel’s daughter is snatched during a Holy Week procession. It shows the mafia is prepared to do anything to get what they want.

Tom Benjamin weaves creates palpable atmosphere with historic artefacts and intriguing characters in a way that becomes quite the immersive page-turner. The characters are written in an interesting way in the narrative which works rather well for the style deployed.

The plot keeps you guessing to the end and captures the imagination with rich descriptions through submersive scenery and characterisation within the plotlines.

Whether you’ve read the Daniel Leicester Thrillers in-order or not, since it stands alone pretty well, I recommend you check out Old Bones In Puglia. It does not disappoint and makes you see Italy in a different light.
Would I read more? Yes, I would go back and check others out as time allows.

Blurb

Discover Italy’s bewitching region of Puglia with the seventh Daniel Leicester mystery, the most propulsive yet . . .

English detective and Bologna resident Daniel Leicester has been summoned by a dying relative to the wildest corner of Puglia, home to revered saints, fearsome mafia clans, hidden catacombs and sinister ceremonies.

As Daniel discovers that his Italian family’s history runs deep in the veins of the region, old grudges resurface and life is breathed into ancient superstitions. He is enchanted by the mysteries of the region and joins a search for stolen antiquities, but when a contact is gruesomely murdered by mobsters, it’s clear that mafia rule is more powerful than local mysticism.

Lured by magic but trapped by the mob, Daniel finds himself unable to return to his beloved Bologna. His family is bound to Puglia more tightly than he ever imagined, and powerful people want answers he can’t give.

And when Daniel’s daughter is snatched during a Holy Week procession, he sees first-hand just how far they’re prepared to go . . .

About the Author

Tom Benjamin grew up in the suburbs of north London and began his working life as a journalist before becoming a spokesman for Scotland Yard. He later moved into public health, where he developed Britain’s first national campaign against alcohol abuse, Know Your Limits, and led drugs awareness programme FRANK. He now lives in Bologna.

A Quiet Death in Italy is the first novel in his Daniel Leicester crime series.

Find Tom on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook at tombenjaminsays.

#Review of Festival Days by Julie Anderson @julieandersonwriter @HobeckBooks #HistoricalCrimeFiction #bookreview by Lou

Festival Days
By Julie Anderson

Festivals are fun, full of joyous atmosphere and there’s often a lightness in the air. Festival Days celebrates that in 1951 and adds a twist of murder in what is book 3 of The Clapham Trilogy. I read it as a stand-alone and it holds up pretty well.
Thanks to Hobeck books, check out the lively jazz-filled cover. my review and the blurb as you scroll down…

May, 1951 and everyone who knew the dark days of war and rationing, is in the mood for a lively, uplifting festival that will change the tide to that of one of hope.
The atmosphere of anticipation for the present and future of something huge brewing is captured well. The something big turns out to be more that just the jovial atmosphere of festival days…

Detective Constable, Faye Smith is who readers meet because things turn rather sinister when a double murder that looks is more than a straight-forward killing when two bodies are discovered in old wartime shelters, and turn out to be more in gangland territory. She has her work cut out in not only solving the crime, but in a male dominated world, to prove herself as does her work colleague, Ellie Peveril.

Ellie Peveril, meanwhile also has her own domestic problems with her ex-fiance hanging around between the background and foreground of her life.

Julie Anderson mixes the light with the dark, the criminal underworld and domesticity in an intriguing way. It’s one that readers can be caught up in the characters lives and progresses the story at a great, fast pace. She changes the tempo, cranking it up, tightening events. the more you read, so what it becomes is a tense and gripping plot, at a time when everyone’s lives are changing one way or another.

This summer as all types of festivals loom large, this is the book to check out for your tbr pile and read to whet your appetite for them. It’s captivating for festival-goers and crime fiction fans alike.

Blurb

May 1951

Celebration is in the air with the Festival of Britain and for the first time in years the mood is one of hope rather than hurt.

For Detective Constable Faye Smith, London is not as safe as it seems. The criminal underworld is gaining strength, enjoying a lively existence below the surface. Then two bodies are found in the war-time shelters, a man and a woman. Who are they? What’s their story? Why were they murdered and how did they end up in the shelters?

Meanwhile, Ellie Peveril is busy with a celebration of a different kind. Ellie does all she can to support her friend but has her own worries, with ex-fiancé Patrick Haverstock looming in the shadows. Faye, keen to unravel the mystery of the double murder, finds herself tangled up in crimes that stretch far beyond a simple killing.

Faye and Ellie must face their toughest case yet as their lives change, irrevocably, for the future.