#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.

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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.

#Review By Lou of The Holiday Bookshop #LucyDickens @PenguinRandom #SummerRead #BeachRead #TheHolidayBookshop

The Holiday Bookshop
By Lucy Dickens

A quick look at the blurb that reads like an ad for a job as a bookseller in a beautiful location and I am hooked. I also would like the job….

The Holiday Bookshop

Blurb

Are you looking to start a new chapter?
Role: Bookseller wanted! (3-month fixed-term contract) Location: A luxury resort on the island of Bounty Cove Cay.
Skills required: The ideal candidate will have experience in a retail environment, preferably within the book industry.
Desired qualities: This role will appeal to a book lover with an adventurous streak who is looking for an escape from their everyday life.
What to expect: Sun, sea, and a bookshop that is far from thriving. No one said it would be smooth sailing.
Please note: You may fall in love with more than just our island along the way…
Looking for your next beach read? Look no further! Escape with The Holiday Bookshop, perfect for fans of Jo Thomas, Phillipa Ashley and Jenny Colgan.

Review

Okay, so I would love the job and maybe I could be somehow spared for 3 months from normal life. I am just about all those things and I could easily get around not working in a bookshop before due to retail and other book experience.

Okay, I’m obviously not the candidate. Jen is the successful candidate and is off for a new life in the Maldives to run the bookshop.

Jen and Marianne were once best friends, but something happened that caused cracks, that becomes a bit of a rift. They ran and co-owned a bookshop called:
The Book Nook, so you really feel for them that things aren’t working out quite as well as they might and both end up leaving Marianne’s brother to run it. Jen, as said, goes off to the Maldives and Mari, along with her boyfriend, plan a trip of a lifetime.

The book is part adventure as it takes you from your cosy reading nook to various places by page. It’s adventure by location and life as, especially Jen, when she meets different people, discovers something quite special, but just needed a nudge to see it.

It’s a lovely read, just when it’s that time of year of planning holidays or lazing around on a beach for a day or even in the garden on a warm day. Even on a rainy day, this brings guaranteed sunshine and joy.

#Review By Lou of The Unfinished Business of Eadie Browne By Freya North @freya_north @welbeckpublish #TheUnfinishedBusinessOfEadieBrown

The Unfinished Business of Eadie Browne
By Freya North

The Unfinished Business of Freya North is a book I first heard about at a bookish showcase of new books. It instantly grabbed my attention. Being transported to the 1980’s was more than worth it. Discover the blurb and my review below, thanks to Welbeck for the book, in-exchange of an honest review.

Blurb

When your present meets your past, what do you take with you – and what do you leave behind?

Eadie Browne is an odd child with unusual parents, living in a strange house neighbouring the local cemetery. Bullied at school – but protected by her two best friends, Celeste and Josh, and her many imaginary friends lying six feet under next door – Eadie muddles her way through.

Arriving in Manchester as a student in the late 1980s, Eadie confronts a busy, gritty Victorian metropolis a far cry from the small Garden City she’s left behind. Soon enough she experiences a novel freedom she never imagined and it’s seductive. She can be who she wants to be, do as she pleases, and no one back home needs to know. As Manchester embraces the dizzying, colourful euphoria of Rave counterculture, Eadie is swept along, blithely ignoring danger and reality. Until, one night, her past comes hurtling at her with ramifications which will continue into her adult life.

Now, as the new millennium beckons, Eadie is turning thirty with a marriage in tatters. She must travel back to where she once lived for a funeral she can’t quite comprehend. As she journeys from the North to the South, from the present to the past, Eadie contemplates all that was then – and all that is now – in this moving love letter to youth.

Review

Be transported back to the 1980’s and feel nostalgic for how things were, especially if you were young and full of energy and zest for life. Eadie Browne is such a character. She arrives in Manchester, a far cry from what she was used to, but ready to embrace all that the city has to offer. It’s also a signalling of being able to leave her childhood behind her, when she was bullied and hung out at a cemetery by her house and talked to the dead.

In Manchester, she embraces her freedom and the rave scenes. I was too young to go to any, but was very aware and decided it wasn’t my scene, but it was Eadie’s. She’s swept along in a world of counterculture and drugs, E (ecstasy) was rather prevalent. She also has another problem, her past, unwittingly catches up with her and follows her, with quite a gripping twist.

The Unfinished Business of Eadie Browne is moving in how it shows her present and past. It’s an emotional an engaging read. In some ways, it is also a love letter to youth that holds some wisdom.

#Review By Lou of The Spy Across The Water By James Naughtie @naughtiej @AriesFiction @rararesources #Espionage #Spies #BlogTour

The Spy Across the Water
By James Naughtie

If you like Spy, Espionage or even just a fan of James Naughtie’s career on the news, you’ll be easily pulled into The Spy Across The Water. I’ve also, on this occasion, decided to attach a link after my review, of the talk he gave at Bloody Scotland. Discover more about the author too.

Blurb

From one of our most treasured BBC broadcasters, The Spy Across the Water is the third instalment in James Naughtie’s brilliant spy series, woven around three brothers bound together through espionage.

We live with our history, but it can kill us.

Faces from the past appear from nowhere at a family funeral, and Will Flemyng, spy-turned-ambassador, is drawn into twin mysteries that threaten everything he holds dear.

From Washington, he’s pitched back into the Troubles in Northern Ireland and an explosive secret hidden deep in the most dangerous but fulfilling friendship he has known.

And while he confronts shadowy adversaries in American streets, and looks for solace at home in the Scottish Highlands, he discovers that his government’s most precious Cold War agent is in mortal danger and needs his help to survive.

In an electric story of courage and betrayal, Flemyng learns the truth that his life has left him a man with many friends, but still alone.

Review

Will Flemyng, the British Ambassador in Washington is who’s story you follow.
The political backdrop on what is happening with Northern Ireland creates this fast-paced, well detailed thriller with facts throughout the fiction.
There’s much tension to be felt within the espionage and the secrets.

Naughtie allows readers to take a look into the inner-workings of the embassy, which is quite fascinating.

A Scottish retreat in Perthshire, provides a bit of glamour. It is lavish and creates intrigue through the character interactions and events.

Essentially, it is quite a powerful and suspenseful book with intricate plotting, but not complicated to follow as the pace carries you through in a way that makes you want to know what happens next.

Link to Talk: Bloody Scotland Write-Up

About the Author

James Naughtie is a special correspondent for BBC News, for which he has reported from around the world. He presented Today on BBC Radio 4 for 21 years. This his third novel, and his most recent book is an account of five decades of travel and work in the United States – On the Road: American Adventures from Nixon to Trump. He lives in Edinburgh and London.

#Review By Lou of The Trial By Rob Rinder @robbierinder @PenguinRandom #TheTrial #CrimeFiction #LegalThriller #CourtroomDrama

The Trial
By Rob Rinder

I bought The Trial ahead of Rob Rinder’s appearance at Bloody Scotland. It’s a terrific debut. Author Tony Parsons says: “I have not enjoyed a legal thriller this much since Grisham’s The Firm”. Fair enough, but for me, I reckon The Trial, even as a debut book, is even better than The Firm. Discover the blurb and my full review below. I have also attached a write up on a talk I saw at crime book festival, Bloody Scotland as Rob Rinder was on a panel, interviewed about his debut novel and more… He gives fascinating insights… find it after my review of The Trial.

Blurb

**NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**

ONE MURDER. ONE IMPOSSIBLE CASE. WHO IS GUILTY?

When hero policeman Grant Cliveden dies from a poisoning in the Old Bailey, it threatens to shake the country to its core.

The evidence points to one man. Jimmy Knight has been convicted of multiple offences before and defending him will be no easy task. Not least because this is trainee barrister Adam Green’s first case.

But it will quickly become clear that Jimmy Knight is not the only person in Cliveden’s past with an axe to grind.

The only thing that’s certain is that this is a trial which will push Adam – and the justice system itself – to the limit.

Review

Opening lines, they’re important and the one in The Trial is fantastic! Right there, in one short sentence, there’s emotion and intrigue, centering Detective Inspector Grant Cliveden, formerly of Royal Security to now presenting a strategy on crime on morning tv in an interview.

The book is insightful into what it can be like being a pupil barrister as readers follow Adam Green with his hopes for tenancy in a Chambers and also get to know other people at the Bar. Rinder clearly uses all his experience and weaves this into the story very well, allowing the reader to be getting a good look into what happens behind the scenes, as it were, of Chambers with the cut and thrust of life there. Not all cases are an immediate desire to take on, however much a colleague thinks it perhaps should be.

There’s also the personal life of Adam Green and a glimpse into the family. This, combined with the cases he sees, the main one being the death of D.I. Cliveden.

It’s an intriguing and pacy plot with twists and turns and overall, a good read that you can lose yourself in, with a great ending.