#BookReview By Lou – Good Cop, Bad Cop By Simon Kernick Happy Publication Day @simonkernick @headlinepg @RandomTTours #GoodCopBadCop #Thriller #BlogTour

Good Cop, Bad Cop
By Simon Kernick

Firstly – I wish Simon Kernick a Happy Publication Day! Today I am pleased to review Good Cop, Bad Cop by Simon Kernick on the Random Things Blog Tour.

Don’t forget to breath whilst reading this high octane book!

Check out the blurb and my full review below. Thanks to Headline for gifting me Good Cop, Bad Cop and for Random Thing Tours for inviting me to review.

Blurb

COURAGEOUS HERO OR COLD-BLOODED CRIMINAL? TONIGHT WE FIND OUT.

It’s 14 years after the worst terrorist atrocity in UK history and, with the perpetrators either dead or missing, the motive remains a mystery. But Dr Ralph Teller, a wealthy industrialist who lost his wife in the attack, never gave up hope of justice. He thinks he knows the real identity of the mastermind responsible.

Only one person can help him put together the final pieces of the puzzle – retired police officer Chris Sketty, who infiltrated the terrorist group and was wounded trying to prevent the attack. But Cleverly thinks Sketty is a liar…and possibly far worse He has a dossier on all the former cop’s dark secrets and will make them public unless Sketty tells the truth.

So, over one night, Sketty will share his brutal tale of betrayal, ruthlessness and corruption, finishing with a revelation so terrifying and unexpected that it will change everything. Is Sketty a brave hero, crippled in the line of duty, or the most ruthless mass murderer the country has ever seen?

Review

Mr Chris Sketty is an interesting character you will want to know. He has a deeply shocking story to tell. It’s about a shocking time of terror that he recalls from 15 years ago. You’re absorbed into Counter Terrorism and the events that happen round about. The book however starts in present day with a heart in your mouth, seriously emotional moment, before whisking readers back. It feels like Chris Sketty, now seriously injured in the line of duty, is sitting beside you giving his account of what happened. It’s clever, involving writing. Simon Kernick revs up the pace very quickly for a a high occtaine, adrenaline driven book.

Chris, with the horrors he sees in his work to contend with, also has major relationship issues. Then there’s the fact he is also lauded a hero, and perhaps on the face of it he may be, but this is twisty book that keeps you guessing and questioning if he really is a hero or not and whether all is as black and white as it first seems. One moment it’s easy to see why he is praised for being all heroic, but the next moment, raises questions as all starts to spill out, like a statement that you’re witnessing as to what really happened, but you never know for sure until the very end what is the real truth and whether he is hero or criminal.
There is so much that Sketty gets embroiled in as well as the manipulative people he has to deal with. It’s the darkest of places where terrorists lurk and carry out their evil acts. Each page that turns is edge of your seat writing; the pages can’t turn fast enough!

There are so many revelations, even in part 2, which was only 6 weeks ago from part 1. There are so many deaths and you can’t tell instantly who to trust and who are totally untrustworthy. The writing is masterful and so skilled. The thriller is never lost and increasingly builds until you’ve reached the end and closed the book.

#Review by Lou – Noah’s Gold by Frank Cottrell-Boyce #MiddleGrade #ChildrensBook – Happy Publication Day! @frankcottrell_b @MacmillanKidsUK

Noah’s Gold
By Frank Cottrell-Boyce

I was excited to see that I had been accepted to review Noah’s Gold. I’ve seen Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s work before in books and on screen and been impressed. Noah’s Gold did not disappoint and middle-grade readers of 9 years plus will have a great adventure in their hands with this book. It is perfect for the home, classrooms, libraries, bookshops. This is the book children who enjoy humour and trepidation, will find hard to put down. I am feel so excited for the children who may pick this book up, as my fingers fly enthusiastically across my laptop as I write the review.
Find out more in my review and the blurb and then check out what other top, very popular children’s authors have to say about it. Then find out more about this exciting author and illustrator and some social media and purchasing links. I thank the publisher – MacMillan Children’s Books for gifting me a book.

Packed with mystery, adventure and laughs, Noah’s Gold is the exciting novel from the bestselling, multi-award-winning author of Millions and Cosmic, Frank Cottrell-Boyce. Fully illustrated in black and white throughout by Steven Lenton, this is perfect for readers of 9+.

Being the smallest doesn’t stop you having the biggest ideas.

Eleven-year old Noah sneaks along on his big sister’s geography field trip. Everything goes wrong! Six kids are marooned on an uninhabited island. Their teacher has vanished. They’re hungry. Their phones don’t work and Noah has broken the internet. There’s no way of contacting home . . . Disaster!

Until Noah discovers a treasure map and the gang goes in search of gold.

Review

Noah’s Gold is story-telling at its best! Frank Cottrell-Boyce has produced an absolutely terrific book for middle-grade readers of aged 9 plus, that’s entertaining, attention grabbing from the start, humorous and one fabulous adventure and mystery!

I love that the chapters become letters, this is ingenious! This book will feed right into children’s imaginations as they join a rip-roaring adventure, that starts as a normal school trip, but there’s so many issues with the sat-nav and all starts to go wrong.
Meet Noah, Ryland, Lola, Dario and Ada as they unexpectedly end up on an uninhabited island. Mr Merriman, the teacher, then mysteriously disappears!
The characters wild imaginations take hold of them and their theories are most entertaining. There’s also the issue of there being no phone signal, which would be the stuff of nightmares for children.
There’s some neat references to faeries and Katie Morag and Paddington 2 that come into play, as they work out what to do next, to resolve their mysterious predicament. There’s also commaraderie amongst the class and some team work as they pull together to create and light a fire and more… as they try to survive together. The book may be thought-provoking to children, who may turn their attentions to what they may do if they found themselves in a similar situation. For all that, it’s a sparky tale, full of energy and wit.

There’s also the fun discovery of a treasure map, with clues that are found in the most curious of places as they magically appear as they go on this further adventure to try and find the gold and then to find out where Mr Merriman can be.

The book is the opposite to Lord of the Flies, which has its merits, which are still important for today, Noah’s Gold has humour and also shows children coming together and pulling all their knowledge and resources together in a positive way. It also puts me in mind of a modern Famous Five or Secret Seven in some ways, and has a bit of a nod to Roald Dahl too, which is so wonderful in this riveting adventure.

The book is fully illustrated in black and white pictures that make it all accessible for children who are still into pictures in their books. I was impressed by the artistic nature of the writing too, as tunnels are found, the colours of the text changed. There’s even a recipe for children who like to bake. The book has absolutely everything!

Children can read this themselves and it would also work well in a class situation, being read out loud.

Praise for Noah’s Gold

Brilliantly entertaining & thought provoking . . . I am in total awe.’ David Walliams

‘Proper, sparkly, witty, enticing storytelling . . . It’s perfect.’ Hilary McKay

About The Author

Frank Cottrell-Boyce is an award-winning author and screenwriter. Millions, his debut children’s novel, won the CILIP Carnegie Medal. He is also the author of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, Cosmic, Framed, The Astounding Broccoli Boy and Runaway Robot. His books have been shortlisted for a multitude of prizes, including the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Whitbread Children’s Fiction Award (now the Costa Book Award) and the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth was shortlisted for the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal and selected for the inaugural WHSmith Tom Fletcher Book Club.

Frank is a judge for the 500 Words competition and the BBC’s One Show As You Write It competition. Along with Danny Boyle, he devised the Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics. He has written for the hit TV series Dr Who and was the screenwriter for the hit film Goodbye Christopher Robin. @frankcottrell_b

Steven Lenton is a multi-award-winning illustrator, originally from Cheshire, now working from his studios in Brighton and London with his dog, Big Eared Bob. He has illustrated many children’s books including Head Kid and The Taylor Turbochaser by David Baddiel, The Hundred And One Dalmatians adapted by Peter Bently, the Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam series by Tracey Corderoy and the Sainsbury’s Prize-winning The Nothing To See Here Hotel series written by Steven Butler. He has illustrated two World Book Day titles and regularly appears at literary festivals and live events across the UK. Steven has his own Draw-along YouTube channel, showing how to draw a range of his characters. He has also written his own picture book Princess Daisy and the Dragon and the Nincompoop Knights’ and his new young fiction series Genie and Teeny. For more info visit stevenlenton.com

Purchase Links

Amazon Waterstones Bookshop.org

#BookReview by Lou- Happy Publication Day for At First Sight by Hannah Sunderland @hjsunderland143 @ElliePilcher95 @AvonBooks #RomanticFiction #Fiction

At First Sight
By Hannah Sunderland

Beautifully written and heartwarming – At First Sight is a romance with great drama, to really sink into and lose yourself in an uplifting, yet emotional rollercoaster of a read. It is entrancing and hard to put down. So it’s very worth getting a lovely cup of tea/coffee/glass of wine etc and getting comfortable for this wonderful book.
Thanks to publisher Avon Books for inviting me to the cover reveal months ago and then to invite me to review.

Blurb

Two strangers. Two chance meetings. One extraordinary love story…

Nell and Charlie feel a spark when they meet by chance in a cafe. But they don’t trade numbers, or surnames, so there’s no way they’ll meet again.

But the next day, Nell’s phone rings at work. Somehow, impossibly, Charlie is on the other end. And he needs her help.

Nell is about to save a life, fall in love … and risk everything for a perfect stranger.

Tender, thought-provoking and joyful, Charlie and Nell’s unique love story will capture your heart and give you hope. Perfect for fans of The Man Who Didn’t Call by Rosie Walsh and The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver.

Review

Charlie and Nell catch that first sight of each other. The connection oozes off the page!
Life however, hadn’t been easy for Nell when she was with Joel as events swept through their lives, tearing them apart, but love isn’t that simple as he complicates matters and the water had been muddied, when she was trying to move on. Charlie is also quite the mysterious man to unravel. He is, in contrast, very lovely, but has a secret surrounding him. It adds to the intrigue as the “will they, won’t they?” question mounts. It’s written all very compellingly and more than I expected as romance simmers and boils over, but with emotional times in Charlie’s life, it just gets deeper and complicated goes up another notch with his reactions to anything about his family start to show. All this and Charlie’s sudden disappearances make for an tension to build, that hooks and reels you in further and further to the end as curiosity builds and an absolute need to know how it all ends as it twists and turns and keeps you guessing. These are lives that are easy to get caught up in.

With powerful romance, some mentions of loss, grief and suicide, fabulous characters this is an absolutely terrific read to settle into and be whisked away for awhile in a wonderfully written romantic story that has so much hope attached to it.

Social Media and Buy Links

Twitter – @hjsunderland143 Buy Links: Waterstones Amazon

#BookReview by Lou- Happy Publication Day for At First Sight by Hannah Sunderland @hjsunderland143 @ElliePilcher95 @AvonBooks #RomanticFiction #Fiction

At First Sight
By Hannah Sunderland

Blurb

Two strangers. Two chance meetings. One extraordinary love story…

Nell and Charlie feel a spark when they meet by chance in a cafe. But they don’t trade numbers, or surnames, so there’s no way they’ll meet again.

But the next day, Nell’s phone rings at work. Somehow, impossibly, Charlie is on the other end. And he needs her help.

Nell is about to save a life, fall in love … and risk everything for a perfect stranger.

Review

Social Media and Buy Links

Twitter – @hjsunderland143 Buy Links: Waterstones Amazon

By Louise – Happy Publication Day to James Oswald for Bury Them Deep @SirBenfro @Wildfirebks @headlinepg #CrimeFiction #Thriller #Bookreview

Bury Them Deep
By James Oswald
Rated: 5 Stars *****

It is now publication day for Bury Them Deep. It was some time ago, since I reviewed, so I thought I would share it again, now people can actually buy it. I must say that James Oswald has outdone himself with Bury Them Deep. Absolute congratulations to him for reaching his 10th Inspector McLean novel. There is a lot of high quality writing here. There is plenty to hook people into this book and once hooked, that’s it, so leave plenty of time to read because there is so much readers will want to try to discover.

About the Author

JAMES OSWALD is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Inspector McLean series of detective mysteries, as well as the new DC Constance Fairchild series. James’s first two
books, NATURAL CAUSES and THE BOOK OF SOULS, were both short-listed for the prestigious CWA Debut Dagger Award. BURY THEM DEEP is the tenth book in the Inspector Mclean Series.
James farms Highland cows and Romney sheep by day, writes disturbing fiction by night.

Blurb

The tenth book in the Sunday Times-bestselling Inspector McLean series, from one of Scotland’s most celebrated crime writers.

When a member of the Police Scotland team fails to clock-in for work, concern for her
whereabouts is immediate… and the discovery of her burnt-out car in remote woodland
to the south of Edinburgh sets off a desperate search for the missing woman.
Meanwhile, DCI Tony McLean and the team are preparing for a major anti-corruption
operation – one which may raise the ire of more than a few powerful people in the city. Is
Anya Reynolds’ disappearance a co-incidence or related to the case?
McLean’s investigations suggest that perhaps that Anya isn’t the first woman to have
mysteriously vanished in these ancient hills. Once again, McLean can’t shake the feeling
that there is a far greater evil at work here…
The truth far more chilling than a simple cold case…

Review

Bury Them Deep gets off to an excellent start that instantly adds intrigue as to who hates herself and why?

Enter readers, into the streets of Edinburgh and to Operation Caterwaul, something that those on the force with clearance are working on, but there’s an issue. Anya Renfrew, who was working on the operation has mysteriously not turned up for work and so little actually seems to be known about her, as her life is pieced together. It leaves MacLean trying to pour over notes and question suspects and trying to find out as much information as possible, no matter how uncomfortable it becomes, from the doctor treating Norman Bale and even wondering what people on the force know. There is also the question of where she actually spent most of her time residing and what, if anything, a gardener knew.

I think it is ingenious that the more that is attempted to be found out about Anya, the less information there seems to be and the more questions there are. She is quite the enigma! This keeps me utterly intrigued to know who this woman is, what’s happened to her and why has she gone missing with no real trace. It keeps me turning the pages, desperately and hungrily wanting to know more as I find myself buried deep within the 450 pages, totally engrossed and involved with a need to discover what exactly is going to happen next and more about Anya.

There is also money laundering and subsequent fact-finding accountancy raids in Ayr and Aberdeen, jittery Americans, public service cuts and McLean wasn’t on the top clearance list for the operation.

I like the characterisation and the different voices and the build up of suspicion amongst everyone.

Forensics are soon on the case as there are human remains found in the investigative work, but from more than one person and it is questionable whether any belong to Anya Renfrew or not.

The atmosphere of the sometimes slight eeriness and uneasiness is a terrific combination with the intrigue and tension that builds as the story takes some twists and turns that are deftly written. From beginning to end, this book is gripping.

This is James Oswald’s 10th Inspector McLean novel and here’s to another 10.

*With thanks to James Oswald for a thoughtful signed copy of the book.

*My review is unbiased.

#BookReview by Louise – Happy Publication Day for One Step Behind by Lauren North @Lauren_C_North @Transworldbooks @penguinrandom #PsychologicalThriller #OneStepBehind #Review #BlogTour

One Step Behind
By Lauren North
Rated: 5 stars *****

Catch your breath before reading this fantastic, outstanding psychological thriller. It is on the edge of your seat, breath-taking writing from Lauren North.
Thanks to Transworld Books/Penguin Random House for the e-copy.
Find more about the author, the blurb and my review below.

About the Author

Lauren North writes psychological suspense novels that delve into the darker side of
relationships and families. She has a lifelong passion for writing, reading, and all things
books. Lauren’s love of psychological suspense has grown since childhood and from her
dark imagination of always wondering what’s the worst thing that could happen in every situation.
Lauren studied psychology before moving to London where she lived and
worked for many years. She now lives with her family in the Suffolk countryside.
Readers can follow Lauren on Twitter @Lauren_C_North and Facebook @LaurenNorthAuthor

Blurb

Jenna is a wife, a mother, a doctor. She’s also the victim of a stalker.
Every time she leaves her house, she sees him. Disturbing gifts are left at her door. Cruel emails are sent to her colleagues. She has no idea who this man is but she feels powerless against him.
Until the day he is brought into her hospital after a serious accident, and Jenna is given he chance to find out once and for all why his man is tormenting her. Now, the power is all hers.
But how many lines is she willing to cross to take back control of her life?

Review

It begins on Wednesday 12th June with Dr. Jenna Lawson trying to cope with the whirlwind of life. That’s what it feels like from the first page, with her school-aged children, Beth and Archie.
The fear in Jenna is intense!
It’s a book that won’t leave as pages turn and words are read and the intensity is sustained.
Jenna is being stalked and the writing is of great calibre. It’s edgy, powerful and haunting.
Every single page is gripping. It’s edge of your seat inducing. Just remember to breath!

What makes this story quite unique is that it shows how stalking affects the rest of the family in parts too and does it well. It’s powerfully emotive and descriptive.

Readers meet Sophie. Throughout we see Sophie growing up, more or less as you’d expect and doing the things at each age, you would find an 8, 11, 13, 15 year old doing as she grows up, such as baking, playing board games, discovering music and discos, watching the latest trendy tv shows and social media. Matthew, we discover is far, far from following in his sister’s footsteps and has a darker and there is nothing ‘normal’ or ‘typical about him as his actions and behaviours have far reaching consequences as he spirals out of control.
Sophie however is also an intriguing character.

The scenes in the hospital where Jenna works are insightful, professional in manner and have a twist to them as she fights and holds her own to not let her stalker destroy her career as a doctor. It all shows strength of character.

All the while, Jenna’s stalker is watching and sending creepy emails; enough to make anyone shudder.

The book just grows in intensity right to the climatic finishing chapters.
From beginning to the end, this is a terrific psychological thriller.

The cover cannot go without a mention. It is as emotive and as powerful and leading as the story within.

Other Praise for the author:

A gripping psychological thriller that pulls the reader through the story at a terrific pace, not giving them a moment to draw
breath’ – Nikki Smith, author of All in Her Head
‘A really gripping rollercoaster of a read – I absolutely loved it, and read it in one sitting’ – Lisa Hall, author of Between You and Me
‘I absolutely adored this disturbingly twisty tale of stalking, obsession and control’ – Emma Curtis, author of The Night You Left
‘Twisty and addictive – I loved One Step Behind’ – Louise Beech, author of I Am Dust