#Review of The Transcendent Tide by Doug Johnstone @doug_johnstone @OrendaBooks @RandomTTours #BlogTour

The Transcendent Tide
By Doug Johnstone

Review by Louise Cannon

For those following the Enceladons Trilogy, this is the grand finale, of what has been a rather urgently relevant, yet entertaining read that’s just got better and better, with this final one being one of the best. Even if you aren’t into sci-fi, which isn’t a huge genre read for me, it has much more than aliens. There’s humanity and eco-awareness too.
Discover the blurb and my review below. thanks to being on the Random T. Tours blog tour and Orenda for supplying the book. Please note, all opinions are my own.

Blurb

It’s been eighteen months since the Enceladons escaped the clutches of an American military determined to exterminate the peaceful alien creatures.

Lennox and Vonnie have been lying low in the Scottish Highlands, Ava has been caring for her young daughter Chloe, and Heather is adjusting to her new life with Sandy and the other Enceladons in the Arctic Ocean, off the coast of Greenland. But fate is about to bring them together again for one last battle.

When Lennox and Vonnie are visited by Karl Jensen, a Norwegian billionaire intent on making contact with the Encedalons again, they are wary of subjecting the aliens to further dangers. But when word arrives that Ava’s daughter has suffered an attack and might die without urgent help, they reluctantly make the trip to Greenland, where they enlist the vital help of local woman Niviaq.

It’s not long before they’re drawn into a complex web of lies, deceit and death. What is Karl’s company really up to? Why are sea creatures attacking boats? Why is Sandy acting so strangely, and why are polar bears getting involved?

Profound, ambitious and immensely moving, The Transcendent Tide is the epic conclusion to the Encedalons Trilogy – a final showdown between the best and worst of humanity, the animal kingdom and the Encedalons. The future of life on earth will be changed forever, but not everyone will survive to see it…

Review

The Transcendent Tide couldn’t be more timely, with a certain US President kicking off, greedily looking at Greenland, one of the most important and vital countries to save planet earth, if left virtually untouched. I’ve always reckoned that nature will always win-out, not humans in the end and this book is a fine example of nature vs humans and makes stark points of why we need to work with, not always against it. Who will win, can there be any winners, will anything turn out alright in the end?

What Doug Johnstone has created is a deeply profound trilogy, which has grown even deeper still come this final book. The way he gets the most important points across, mixed with a bit of entertainment, is done to a highly skilled quality. It’s thought-provoking and intelligently done, so that, if you’re worldly aware, you can join the dots between the events that are happening in the book to what’s happening in the world with the ideas of certain world politicians.

There are twists and turns, secrets and lies which forms some of the entertaining parts of the book, not that this dilutes any of the important points, it does however add to the readability of the plot.

I highly recommend The Transcendent Tide and the previous 2 books in the trilogy.

By Lou – Eeek! One Day To Go Until Bloody Scotland Weekend – Friday 13th-15th Why You Should Dare To Go Out @BloodyScotland #CrimeFiction #Festival #BloodyScotland #Reviews #Article

Friday the 13th – Sunday 15th September –
Dare to go out into Stirling
It would be criminal not to!

Written By Louise Cannon (Lou)

Bloody Scotland is one of the most exciting international crime festivals that just keeps getting bigger and better for readers and authors. Hear the heartbeat of historical (now also millennium city) of Stirling.
I am so excited…. can it be Friday already???
Feel the buzz as Stirling springs into life like no other time of year!
All within a few minutes or in some cases, seconds, of walkable distance, enter the venues of The Golden Lion Hotel, Trinity Church and The Albert Halls for some of most entertaining times of your life!
Seeing an author in-person and meeting them is just amazing! It’s exciting that it isn’t in Edinburgh or Glasgow, but in Stirling.

I am enthused for so many panels to hear what authors have to say about their books. From debut authors to established huge household names, it’s amazingly wonderful that so many come to Stirling to make it the most “happening place” in autumn. I love chatting to whoever I meet, from bloggers to authors to publishers. Bloody Scotland is quite sociable as well as a chance to discover books.

I’ve been lucky to have had the pleasure to read and review some books from authors who are attending and whose panels that get my own crime loving heart beating. The books just steal me away as do the panels their authors will appear on.

Here are links which will open in new tabs to full reviews of some author’s books you can expect to see in Stirling:

See the Programme Here: https://bloodyscotland.com/whats-on/#programme
Also find out how you can join in the fun and buy tickets at the end of this post.
Reviews are in no particular order…

Lin Anderson: The new Rhona MacLeod book – Whispers of the Dead – readers are taken to the heartland of the gangland streets of Glasgow, where there is supposed to be Hollywood glitz and glam as they rock up into the city to film, but an actress goes missing and there’s a murder not far away. Can Rhona MacLeod and the team solve the crimes? Check out my full review here: https://bookmarksandstages.home.blog/2024/09/04/review-by-lou-of-whispers-of-the-dead-by-lin-anderson-lin_anderson-crimefiction-rhonamacleod-whispersofthedead-bloodyscotland/

Doug Johnstone: New Skelf’s series book: Living Is A Problem – The Skelf’s are a family who work in an undertaker’s but its the most unusual of its type as they also solve crimes in Edinburgh. It also becomes under siege from a drone attack and there’s a sinister group in this intriguing book. Check out my full review here: https://bookmarksandstages.home.blog/2024/09/09/review-by-lou-of-living-is-a-problem-by-doug-johnstone-orendabooks-randomttours-theskelfs-skelfsummer-livingisaproblem-crimefiction/

Peter May new Hebrides book – Black Loch sees the return of Fin MacLeod and he’s returned to Lewis for unexpected reasons to do with his son in this atmospheric book. Check out my review here: https://bookmarksandstages.home.blog/2024/09/08/review-by-lou-of-the-black-loch-authorpetermay-poppydelingpole-quercusbooks-riverrunbooks-sophieransompr-blogtour-theblackloch-petermay/

Michael J. Malone has a new Annie Jackson Mysteries – The Torments – Mysterious murmurs and curses abound and Damian has gone missing. It’s up to Annie to solve the mystery in this hauntingly good book. Check out my review here: https://bookmarksandstages.home.blog/2024/09/10/review-by-lou-of-the-torments-by-michael-j-malone-michaeljmalone1-orendabooks-anniejacksonmysteries-gothic-randomttours-blogtour/

Jack Jordan has a new thriller – Redemption – I am yet to get a copy and read and review this, but I just know it’ll be good. I had the absolute pleasure to read and review Do No Harm and Conviction some time ago. Do No Harm takes place in the medical world and Conviction in that of law. I was gripped throughout. Here’s the link for Do No Harm, the first I ever read: https://bookmarksandstages.home.blog/2023/03/30/review-by-lou-of-do-no-harm-by-jack-jordan-happy-paperbackpublicationday-to-jackjordanbooks-simonschusteruk-t4cyf3nt0n-compulsivereaders-donoharm-blogtour-thriller-medicalthriller/

Peter James has a new Grace book you can pre-order – One of Us Is Dead. Sadly, I still have to get my hands all over this book too, but I will. In the meantime, Here’s a review of a previous DS Roy Grace book in the series to whet your appetite and excitement: https://bookmarksandstages.home.blog/2023/05/18/review-by-lou-of-picture-you-dead-by-peter-james-peterjamesuk-panmacmillan-riotcomms-grace-pictureyoudead-crimefiction/

Janice Hallett has a new thriller out – The Examiner. I haven’t read this latest, but I have read and reviewed other twisty books by her. Here’s one of them – The Christmas Appeal:

https://bookmarksandstages.home.blog/2023/12/27/review-by-lou-of-the-christmas-appeal-by-janice-hallett-janicehallett-viperbooks/

I will mention Louise Minchin too. She has read the news and now she’s making news in writing a debut novel. Do I want to read and review it? Absolutely!!! I feel compelled to read about investigative journalist, Lauren to find out about her and what’s dug up.

I am also excited to see there are other big names – Richard Armitage, Mark Billingham and Ann Cleeves, Elly Griffiths and so many more…

You too can see your favourite authors or discover a new one.

Buy Tickets Here: https://bloodyscotland.com/whats-on/#whats-on

#Review By Lou of The Opposite of Lonely By Doug Johnstone @doug_johnstone @OrendaBooks #TheSkelfs @RandomTTours #BlogTour #TheSkelfs #Skelfaholics #TheOppositeOfLonely

The Opposite of Lonely
By Doug Johnstone

By Louise Cannon

The Skelf’s are back with unusual cases in this 5th instalment, which can also be read as a stand-alone. Discover more in the blurb and then my review below.

Blurb

Even death needs company…

The Skelf women are recovering from the cataclysmic events that nearly claimed their lives. Their funeral-director and private-investigation businesses are back on track, and their cases are as perplexing as ever.

Matriarch Dorothy looks into a suspicious fire at an illegal campsite and takes a grieving, homeless man under her wing. Daughter Jenny is searching for her missing sister-in-law, who disappeared in tragic circumstances, while grand-daughter Hannah is asked to investigate increasingly dangerous conspiracy theorists, who are targeting a retired female astronaut … putting her own life at risk.

With a body lost at sea, funerals for those with no one to mourn them, reports of strange happenings in outer space, a funeral crasher with a painful secret, and a violent attack on one of the family, The Skelfs face their most personal – and perilous – cases yet. Doing things their way may cost them everything…

Tense, unnerving and warmly funny, The Opposite of Lonely is the hugely anticipated fifth instalment in the unforgettable Skelfs series, and this time, danger comes from everywhere…

Review

Secrets, arson, assault, death in Edinburgh means the Skelfs are back!
If you’ve not met the Skelfs yet, they are a family who own and work in a funeral parlour and as private investigators.

Dorothy, the matriarch of the family is tasked to do a funeral at an illegal campsite, when she also meets a homeless man. Things are far from straight-forward with crime hot on the tail and getting worse and darker as time goes on.

Jenny is tasked with finding the body of her ex-husband, stolen by her unhinged sister in law.

Hannah is asked to investigate conspiracy theorists targeting a once prominent, now retired female astronaut, whom she is initially starstruck by.

The book brings up thought-provoking topics such as dying alone. which brings emotion with it. The odd thing is, there is a funeral crasher. A person, with issues of his own, just turns up to funerals, those that are not attended by anyone, so, therefore “the opposite of lonely” comes into it.

There is a lot of compassion from the funeral directors/private investigators, which counteracts the grievous crimes, giving it some warmth and heart, also some humour pricks in a bit.

The chapters are short, making for brisk reading and with all the mysterious deaths and the warmth of characters, the strong scenery, this is another great read.

#Review By Lou of Black Hearts By Doug Johnston @doug_johnstone @OrendaBooks #BlackHearts #TheSkelfs #BlogTour #skelfaholics @RandomTTours #TartanNoir

Black Hearts
By Doug Johnstone

A welcome return of The Skelfs, a family who run a funeral parlour and are also Private Investigators in Edinburgh. I am on the blog tour today, thanks to Orenda Books and Random Things Tours for the invite and book. Find out more in the blurb and then onto my review below.

Death is just the beginning…

The Skelf women live in the shadow of death every day, running the family funeral directors and private investigator business in Edinburgh. But now their own grief interwines with that of their clients, as they are left reeling by shocking past events.

A fist-fight by an open grave leads Dorothy to investigate the possibility of a faked death, while a young woman’s obsession with Hannah threatens her relationship with Indy and puts them both in mortal danger. An elderly man claims he’s being abused by the ghost of his late wife, while ghosts of another kind come back to haunt Jenny from the grave … pushing her to breaking point.

As the Skelfs struggle with increasingly unnerving cases and chilling danger lurks close to home, it becomes clear that grief, in all its forms, can be deadly…

Review

Beware of the single magpie on the cover…. “One for Sorrow” and all that. Grief can have consequences and people can behave oddly and “Black Hearts” becomes both literal and figurative. As grief takes hold, guilt also seeps in.
Family is at the heart of this series of books and a love of music also creeps in.

The Skelfs are funeral directors, as a family, turned Private Investigators, so also deal with families in their many states of life on a day to day basis. Readers can follow this latest case as well as the backstory of the Skelfs themselves and delves deeper into their personalities and lives.

The lives of the Skelfs are in danger; Dorothy takes on a missing person’s case and little does she know what would come next…
Hannah has a disturbing problem to contend with – she is being stalked.
With so much at stake and so much to deal with, its a gripping read.

What occurs in Black Hearts is totally chilling, but with the dark humour that has been established in this series of books and always cuts through well in this Edinburgh based haunting mystery, as does the warmth that cosies it up, just a little, to show a little shed of light through the Black Hearts.

#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 of The Collapsing Wave By Doug Johnstone @doug_johnstone @OrendaBooks @RandomTTours #BlogTour #Fantasy #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, In-Between The Covers. The author, Doug Johnston 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, in-exchange of an honest review.

Blurb

_________________

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.