#Review By Lou of #TheatrePlay -Murder In The Dark @OriginalTheatre @InTheDark #MurderInTheDark

Murder In The Dark
Written by Torben Betts
Directed By Philip Franks

Torben Betts is a writer of many plays for the Original Theatre Company. It was brilliant to see Original Theatre hit Scotland again. This theatre company does seem to have some rather interesting, intriguing shows both online and on-stage, such as A Cold Supper Behind Harrods and The Habit of Art, to name a couple I watched and gave favourable reviews of. I reckon it’s one to watch out for. They sure get great writers and cast into their productions. It’s refreshing to see their productions actually tour to different theatres. I saw this one at The Pavilion in Glasgow.

Cast

Susie Blake plays Mrs Bateman Tom Chambers plays Danny
Rebecca Charles plays Rebecca Johnny Green plays Jake
Owen Oakenshott plays William Laura White plays Sarah

Synopsis

What happens when the lights go out?

It’s New Year’s Eve, when a car crash on a deserted road brings famous but troubled singer Danny Sierra and his dysfunctional family to an isolated holiday cottage in rural England.

From the moment they arrive, a sequence of inexplicable events begin to occur… and then the lights go out… As the tension rises and deeply buried secrets come to light, you’ll find nothing is quite as it seems.

From the mind of acclaimed writer Torben Betts and produced by the award-winning Original Theatre, who brought you the smash hit production of The Mirror Crack’d by Agatha Christie, Murder in The Dark will have you on the edge of your seats until the final chilling twist.

Are you brave enough to uncover the truth?

Starring TV and stage favourite Tom Chambers (Holby City, Casualty, Waterloo Road, Father Brown and Strictly Come Dancing champion) and produced by the award-winning Original Theatre (The Mirror Crack’d by Agatha Christie, Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art).

Cast also includes Rebecca Charles (The Dresser), Jonny Green (It’s a Sin), Owen Oakeshott (Witness for the Prosecution) and Laura White (Doctors).

Review

“Three Blind Mice, Three Blind Mice…” A well-known nursery rhyme that runs through the play as does a song, that ends up sticking in your head – “Murder In The Dark”.
Chilling, thought-provoking with intensity that builds, to a certain extent to an almighty crescendo of a twist at the end. The psychological element that weaves and builds throughout makes this play captivating.
And yet, it is entertaining with unexpected humour for a good deal of the play.
Set, in an old house where the lights don’t always work, but the tv mysteriously turns on at certain points, there are many twists that just keep coming. I won’t say what as this would spoil the play.

Murder In The Dark is a play that plays with your mind long after it’s finished. The minute it ends, it causes much chatter about what’s just been seen, especially how the end plays out.

Tom Chambers plays the tormented Danny absolutely magnificently. Throughout, he gives such a strong and impressively convincing performance, with great stage-presence.
I’d seen him once before on-stage (and lots on TV) in Private Lives and was most impressed, and he absolutely still lives up to and even exceeded expectations in Murder In The Dark.
Susie Blake brings much mysteriousness and a chilling air to the piece and is marvellous. She may well make your spine-tingle and she carries her character off wonderfully.
The rest of the cast also bring strong, powerful performances to what is a rather weird, yet compelling and intriguing play.
They’re all actors who are highly watchable and to watch out to see what else they do too, whether it’s screen or stage.

If you ever get a chance to see it, whilst it is on a proper, full UK tour, then I very much recommend it for your “what to see on-stage” list.

Check out Original Theatre Here: Original Theatre

#Extract from Chapter 4 of Whispers Through Time By Melanie Robertson-King @RobertsoKing #ReadingBetweenTheLines #BlogTour

Extract from Whispers Through Time
By Melanie Robertson-King

Today I am delighted to be able to present the blurb and an extract from chapter 4 of Whispers Through Time, thanks to Lynsey at Reading Between The Lines and the author, Melanie Robertson-King. It sounds mysteriously eerie to me.

Blurb

A historic Canadian property becomes the canvas for a tale that spans generations. In 1914, a tragedy unfolded, leaving scars that linger far beyond the passage of time. In 1947, a visionary purchases the haunted remnants, seeking a new beginning for his family, but his young daughter senses a ghost from the far past. In the present, urban explorers unlock the secrets of the past while running a web design company. Photographs and sketches capture the essence of the property, documenting the whispers of spirits from another era. As the explorers navigate the abandoned corridors and forgotten chambers, the photographs unveil subtle anomalies until supernatural phenomena manifest that defy explanation. Amidst the subtle changes in decor and the flickering candle flames frozen in time, the explorers find themselves entangled in a mystery transcending the boundaries of the living and the dead, forcing the urban explorers to confront the unresolved secrets that echo through the corridors of time. Is a structure just that, or can it house remnants of horror, pain and sin? The urban explorers find they must confront the unresolved secrets that echo through the corridors of time.

From Chapter 4

October 15, 2022 Nicole left the office room hurriedly. That chill. Was she the only one who felt it? The way Connor had spun around and checked the windows said that he did, too. Her sketch showed nothing untoward. The photos wouldn’t show anything either. Something in there was wrong but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
She started up the staircase to the second level of the abandoned mansion. As she ascended the stairs, the air suddenly chilled, and something moved by, jostled her, pushing her against the wall and forcing a startled yelp from her.Nicole dropped onto the step closest and sketched out this bizarre encounter.
It wasn’t Mitch or either one of her brothers. It was a man dressed in a black suit and white shirt, black waistcoat, and black tie. Clothing styled from about one hundred years ago. None of them were dressed in that way. And none of them were transparent. It had to be the guys playing a trick on her. After all, they were pranksters. “Connor, Cooper, Mitch, not funny, guys.”

Nicole stared at the location where the apparition stood. “I mean it guys, this isn’t funny.” “What’s going on, sis?” Connor asked as he poked his head out of the room his sister had just vacated. The ghost or whatever it was faded away.

“Yesterday, upon the stair,” she whispered. “What are you talking about?” Cooper asked as he joined her in the corridor. Nicole’s eyes remained transfixed where the ghost-like being vanished into thin air.
Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn’t there! He wasn’t there again today, I wish, I wish he’d go away! “What gibberish is that you’re spouting?”
“It’s not gibberish. It’s the first stanza of the poem Antigonish by William Hughes Mearns. Don’t you guys know nothin’?”

#Review of The Life Of Riley – Unbreakable By Tom Allen @TomAllenAuthor #MiddleGrade

The Life Of Riley
By Tom Allen

I happened to be lucky and win an copy of book 1 of the Middle-Grade football based nove – The Life Of Riley from Reading Rocks. I will be donating it to the community library for a class of kids who are football fans and love books on it. It’s a book that deals with other issues too, which makes it great for getting sporty kids and non-sporty kids into this series. I highly recommend it and you can find the reasons why in my review below.

Blurb

Riley Adams has three passions in life: family, friends and football. Despite often finding school difficult, Riley finds happiness in friendships with his ‘band of brothers and sisters’, who play for his beloved Highfield Flyers FC.

Riley and the Flyers learn to play together and focus, bringing them great moments and taking them close to glory. Rivalries form and the desire to win grows until…

Riley’s world is turned upside down when his mum receives life-changing news.

Can he really care about football again? What will happen to Mum? How will he cope with life now?

Review

The Life of Riley is excellently pitched for 9-12 year olds. It’s part of the Football Dream Series. Football series of books are growing and kids are enthused by them. This one has all the sporty, football excitement you would expect, whilst also dealing with other life issues. Riley’s mum isn’t well and his concern feels real. He also knows a thing or two about bullies. There’s also the friendships he builds along the way and how this helps him to cope with some very sad news. It shows how caring and pulling together can bring some positivity and build some resilience.
It’s all very relatable for children. It may spark conversation or just some quiet thought.
The ups and downs of the game and life is balanced really well.
The chapters are short with characters you can really care about, with a life-affirming plot, it’s a book I reckon many children will enjoy.

#Review By Lou of This Is Not A Pipe By David Jarvis @David_Jarvis_ #ThisIsNotAPipe – A Mike Kingdom Story #CrimeFiction #Thriller

This Is Not A Pipe
By David Jarvis

Is this a pipe or what? This Is Not A Pipe… so come and discover more in the blurb and then my review of the second Mike Kingdom story. Book 1 is, The Tip Of The Iceberg. Thanks to David Jarvis for the book, in-exchange of a free, honest review.

Blurb

How would you go about finding a relative if they had gone missing abroad?

For Michaela ‘Mike’ Kingdom, this should have been all in a day’s work. After all, she had previously been a search analyst for the CIA in London. Unfortunately, she didn’t know which name her brother-in-law was using, what he was doing or even in which country he was working. His phone had been used in Málaga three weeks previously and then gone dead. Her initial investigations were off to a slow start until the killing of a British government minister in France on his way to Spain gave her that vital first clue. That’s all Mike Kingdom needed – until she befriended a fish gutter’s dog, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

This Is Not a Pipe – like its predecessor, The Tip of the Iceberg – is a thought-provoking and gripping story that follows Mike Kingdom as she ventures into the field for a second time.

Review

Michaela “Mike” Kingdom gets a visit from her former boss, head of the CIA, London branch, not a particularly welcome one, but it turns out to be important. What ensues is deftly plotted and fast-paced to try and discover what has happened to her relative, who is deemed missing.
There’s also a significant murder, that moves the investigation onwards.

It’s a tense and tightly written book of geo-politics, current topics such as G20 summits and gas pipelines, with also a mystery to also be solved.
It also takes on quite the adventure, where there are some rather interesting supporting characters to also meet.
It also, surprisingly, does have some humour that lifts it quite nicely. When there is humour, it feels quite natural and fits well.
The intricate plot, with great settings is gripping enough to make you want to keep reading to the very end to discover what happens, and how it all ends.

I will also add my congratulations in that David Jarvis has now joined many authors who publish with Hobeck Books, a great indy crime book publisher.

#Review of The Collapsing Wave By Doug Johnstone @doug_johnstone @OrendaBooks @RandomTTours #BlogTour #SciFi #CrimeFiction

The Collapsing Wave
By Doug Johnstone

The Collapsing Wave is the sequel to critically acclaimed book – The Space Between Them, which was also featured on BBC2’s bookish programme, Between The Covers. The author, Doug Johnstone also writes the crime series, The Skelfs, also to great acclaim. It laces sci-fi with crime and is a great one to try, even if, like me, this is not your usual genre to read. It has something for everyone.
Find out more in the blurb below and my review as today I am on the
Random T. Tours/Orenda Books Blog Tour.

Blurb

Ava, Lennox and Heather make contact with alien Sandy and head for a profound confrontation … The awe-inspiring, exquisitely moving sequel to The Space Between Us, as seen on BBC Two’s Between the Covers.

_________________

Six months since the earth-shattering events of The Space Between Us, the revelatory hope of the aliens’ visit has turned to dust and the creatures have disappeared into the water off Scotland’s west coast.

Teenager Lennox and grieving mother Heather are being held in New Broom, a makeshift US military base, the subject of experiments, alongside the Enceladons who have been captured by the authorities.

Ava, who has given birth, is awaiting the jury verdict at her trial for the murder of her husband. And MI7 agent Oscar Fellowes, who has been sidelined by the US military, is beginning to think he might be on the wrong side of history.

When alien Sandy makes contact, Lennox and Heather make a plan to escape with Ava. All three of them are heading for a profound confrontation between the worst of humanity and a possible brighter future, as the stakes get higher for the alien Enceladons and the entire human race…

Sequel to the bestselling The Space Between Us, The Collapsing Wave is an exquisite, epic first-contact novel, laced with peril and populated by unforgettable characters, and the awe-inspiring book we all need right now…

Review

Sci-fi isn’t often my cup of tea, but as I sat, sipping my tea, reading the book and pondering the review, The Enceladons Trilogy is turning out pretty well. It turned out to be a good thing to return to Lennox, Ava, Heather and alien, Sandy. The fact that it’s just 6 months later than the first time we meet them is great for finding out what’s going and just enough time has passed by for things to have shifted a bit.

Ava adds a bit of mystery as she is awaiting trial for the murder of her husband.
MI7 is a mysterious government agency and Oscar Fellowes is one very interesting character to read. You think he’s one thing, a government diktat and then you wonder that he may have a conscience after all, or is it just because he’s been side-lined by the ‘powers-at-be?’ It’s interesting watching someone in such a position, swither whether they are on the right-side of history or not and wonder what direction will be chosen.

The Collapsing Wave is gripping and fast-paced as it weaves and infuses the real world with the alien one. It uses a lot of societal issues, which grounds the novel and allows it to breath with relevancy. For example, there’s plenty that reflects society and how some people are welcoming to others, whilst there are those who are not. How some people attempt irreparable harm because power has gone to their head and those who do weird experiments and other are quite the opposite.
It becomes quite a deep, thought-provoking book. One where the sci-fi isn’t the main aspect at all, although is far from lost, it just has a lot more to it than alien worlds.
The Collapsing Wave brings some hope and there are strong friendship bonds throughout, giving a bit of the feel-good factor.

#Review By Lou of Orson The Great By Colm McElwain #ColmMcElwain #MiddleGrade #Kidslit #ChildrensBook #Magicians #OrsonTheGreat @Lovebookstours

Orson The Great
By Colm McElwain

Enter a fascinating magician’s world in this Middle Grade book for 9 to 12 year olds.
Discover the blurb and my review below as today I am on the LoveBooksTours Blog Tour.

Blurb

From the writer of the ‘James Clyde’ book series comes a heart-warming, middle-grade story about a world-famous magician called ‘Orson the Great’

When ten-year-old Orson Whitlock is given a deck of cards by his father on Christmas Eve 1970, he falls in love with magic. This present kickstarts Orson’s meteoric rise to the top of his profession.

By Christmas 1972, Orson is an established magician and performs to audiences in some of the most prestigious theatres around the world.

His blissful life is soon turned upside down, however, when he discovers a family secret going back generations. Orson is dragged deeper into a world of secret societies, deception, strange disappearances and unrest.

Events take a further unexpected turn when a brilliant, but feared, magician known as ‘Daxton the Destroyer’ challenges Orson to a contest for the most sought-after title in magic.

Teaming up with his assistant Agatha Anderson, Orson must put his skills to the test and confront his most formidable opponent yet – or face losing everything that he holds dear.

Review

Life isn’t all what it seems, even though you’ve lived through it. It isn’t what you’re led to believe it is. Orson’s life is based on a lie. He’s “coming of age” and all he thought he knew is turned on its head as he learns his home/family life has secrets to be revealed.

Interestingly, for a middle-grade book, this is set in the 1970’s and I reckon children will find this fascinating, especially with how the plot shapes up, into quite the adventure into the world of magicians and magic.
It all started with a present one Christmas that piqued his interest and he turned it into a career of a lifetime as he becomes a magician. It isn’t an easy ride as there are formidable opponents for the most sought after titles to contend with.

The book has its moments of grip and page-turning qualities as Orson’s eyes are opened up to secret societies and the fact that not all is at peace as something odd is happening.

It’s great for confident readers who like something mysterious and a bit of trepidation with magicians.