#Review By Lou of The Sun Over The Mountains By Suzie Fletcher #TheSunOverTheMountains #SuzieFletcher @Octopus_Books @RandomTTours #TheRepairShop #Autobiography #Nonfiction #Memoir

The Sun Over The Mountains
By Suzie Fletcher

Suzie Fletcher is someone you may have heard of. She is one of the crafters in The Repair Shop who works with various materials, including leather, velum etc. For her, life wasn’t always like that. Here, she tells her story in The Summer over the Mountains. There’s much to discover. Check out the blurb and my review below.

Blurb

A memoir of hope, healing and restoration, from star of TV’s The Repair Shop, Suzie Fletcher.

Suzie Fletcher is the warm and friendly face on TV’s The Repair Shop that viewers look forward to watching every week as the resident leather expert – a craft she has honed over four decades and was born out of her love of horses. But while she tends to be the one repairing and offering a gentle kindness to others, Suzie has also been in a process of change, reflection, and healing.

In her first book Suzie looks back over her life – which moves from England to Colorado and back again – and the places, people and experiences that have shaped the person she is today. We’ll hear for the first time, how Suzie has overcome some of life’s most difficult challenges, from complicated relationships to grief.

A self-confessed free spirit with a deep connection to nature, Suzie’s exceptional warmth and zest for life shine through on every page, making The Sun Over the Mountains a truly inspiring read that will resonate with anyone who has faced uncertainty but has the courage and power within them to overcome it.

Review

Suzie Fletcher’s autobiography is fascinating. She has led a fascinating life, living in both Colorado and England. Whilst watching her on The Repair Shop, something of both shows through as she talks and works away on repairing people’s “treasures”, I find anyway. It’s now interesting to find out more about her life as there’s often something that intrigues on that tv programme that there’s more than repairing objects that’s a bit telling that she’s perhaps lived quiet some life. I wasn’t wrong, when reading about her life and quiet reflections on it all.

Readers discover her love of horses and where that comes from. Compellingly she also lets readers know about more challenging times in her life and how complex it has been for her. In many ways the writing is emotional and feels raw and real, especially when it comes to sharing how her relationship with this guy really was and it isn’t pretty. It’s as far removed from some rom-com as it gets.

The book, perhaps gives people hope as she is testament to some people who go through the toughest of times can be strong, resilient and come out the other-side being successful in career choices and still have a positive zest for life and an advocate, in a way in how connecting with nature can be restorative and healing.

#Review By Lou of Miss Harris in the New World by Peter Maughan @PeterMaughan5 @FarragoBooks #CompanyOfFools #MissHarrisInANewWorld #Theatre #Books #Humour

Miss Harris in the New World
By Peter Maughan

Theatre, humour and great for those who like old Ealing Comedies and P.G. Wodehouse. Check out the blurb and review below.

Blurb

The Red Lion production of Love and Miss Harris is booked to tour America, opening in Manhattan.

On arrival the group finds that it’s not the Manhattan with the Great White Way of Broadway at its glittering heart, but the part between the Bowery and the East River, on the Lower East Side, in a vaudeville venue owned by a local mobster. And when members of a rival gang decide to disrupt the play, the action shifts from the theatre’s state to its auditorium…

Determined to fulfil the rest of their tour dates, the company heads west from New York. Try as they might to shake it off, trouble seems to follow them wherever they go.

Review

This is the second of the Comedy of Fools series of books, which can be read a standalone too, the first being Love and Miss Harris is a fun duo of books. They are reminiscent of the likes of P.G. Wodehouse and old comedy capers. It follows the touring actors as they try and put on a show. It shouldn’t be so challenging, but they have dates still unfilled and things don’t get off to a good start, even on opening night, when a rival gang to the mobster who owns the theatre makes their presence felt. It reminds potential audiences not all is plain sailing all of the time to put on a show. The books themselves could be quite good fun if they were actually staged as they are a bit like a play within a play, as well as giving a look at behind the scenes.

This is just good old British humour written very well for a 2024 audience.

#Review By Lou of The Shadow Network By Tony Kent @TonyKent_Writes @EAndTBooks @RandomTTours

The Shadow Network
By Tony Kent

I hadn’t read books by Tony Kent before, even though I’d definitely heard of him and what he’d written. When the opportunity arose to review came my way on the blog tour, I figured I would give one a try. I was not disappointed and may even look out for his other books. Discover more in the blurb and my review below.

Blurb

How do you take down an enemy when no one believes they exist?

When the lawyers of alleged war criminal Hannibal Strauss are caught up in a terror attack in The Hague, barrister Michael Devlin immediately suspects all is not what it seems. Teaming up once more with Agent Joe Dempsey, they must find who’s behind it all before any more innocent lives are lost.

With their key witness on the run and assassins on their tail, their only lead is a the Monk, a legendary and mysterious foreign agent with a fearsome reputation. But what is his stake in this dangerous game? And just who is part of his shadowy network of spies? Caught in a complicated web of lies, secrets and double agents, there’s no one Dempsey and Devlin can trust but themselves.

Review

Short, sharp, cleverly constructed chapters gives The Shadow Network pace and a sense of reading in real-time as the events unfold. It quickly turns into a page-turner. so don’t expect to follow through with any plans to fall asleep after just a couple of pages. It’s easy to get caught up in the book and want to read more.

Joe Dempsey reckons he deserves some ‘down-time.’ He’s off to London as he’s accepted his invite to be Godfather to the twin sons of his best friend, Barrister, Michael Devlin, and his partner, journalist Sarah Truman. The Christening should be a beautiful occasion with some time to also relax. It doesn’t quite happen like that. News reaches Michael about one of his friends in severe danger at The Hague as there’s been an attack and its suspected to be terror related. With corruption and conspiracies flying, Dempsey and Devlin have their work cut out. For readers, there’s great, involving action scenes, the dark web, and twists that mean no one knows who can be trusted. There’s also The Monk, a mysterious character who could be mythical and legendary or real. You’ll have to read the book to find out which it is and what the connection is to this case.

If like me, you hadn’t picked up a book by Tony Kent before, or have been waiting in anticipation for the next Dempsey and Devlin book to be published, then The Shadow Network, with its excellent plotting, is for you.

#Review By Lou of Traitor By Chris Ryan @ChrisRyanMM @ZaffreBooks @RandomTTours #BlogTour #Thriller #Traitor #MillitaryThriller #SASThriller

Traitor
By Chris Ryan

Traitor is a stand-alone SAS thriller, so perfect for whether, like me, you are new to Chris Ryan’s books or have read any of his books before. : Chris Ryan is dubbed the original SAS fiction hero, selling over 5 million copies of his military thrillers. He has lots of first hand experience of being in the real SAS. You can find more about this in the bio after my review.
I am thrilled to present my review of Traitor as part of the Random T. Tours/Zaffre Books blog tour.

Blurb

A year after his older brother made the ultimate sacrifice, Sergeant Major
Luke Carter, decorated hero of 22 SAS, is sent to Perth on a recruiting job.
His orders: select two candidates from the SASR for a highly sensitive
mission on foreign soil.
But when a sudden crisis threatens to derail the plan, Carter and his new
colleagues find themselves forced into action on a high-stakes operation.
One that has the potential to change the course of the war in Ukraine.
So begins a deadly game of predator and prey, moving from the streets of
Minsk to the cliffs above the Black Sea. And a final showdown with the
biggest target of all…

Review

Sergeant Major Luke Carter is the main character who has to pull together the best team possible, but for what reason? He doesn’t really know. Armed with very little information, apart from he has to travel to Australia to choose two candidates from the SASR for a mission. There’s the question of the sizzle, what’s the sizzle? You’ll have to read to find out. Even Sergeant Major Luke Carter has to work it out.

The air of mystery and trepidation is intense. The stakes are high and it can be felt as the writing builds atmosphere.
As the mission begins, the book become more involving and gripping. It is increasingly insightful and thought-provoking as it makes you think about the conflicts happening across the world today.

It’s a cracking military thriller!

About the Author

In 1984 he joined 22 SAS. After completing the year-long Alpine Guides
Course, he was the troop guide for B Squadron Mountain Troop. He completed three tours with the anti-terrorist team, serving as an assaulter, sniper and finally Sniper Team Commander.

Chris was part of the SAS eight-man team chosen for the famous Bravo Two Zero mission during the 1991 Gulf War. He was the only member of the unit to escape from Iraq, where three of his colleagues were killed and four captured, for which he was awarded the Military Medal.
Chris wrote about
his experiences in his book The One That Got Away, which became an
immediate bestseller. Since then he has written over fifty books and
presented a number of very successful TV programmes.

#Review By Lou of The Burning By Robert Derry @RGD48649604 @RandomTTours #TheBurning

The Burning
By Robert Derry

The Burning isn’t my usual type of read, but I am glad to have received this mysterious horror that mixes the modern with the historical for the blog tour. Here’s the blurb and then my review below that:

Blurb

To the Mountford family, it was their very own chocolate-box cottage, set deep in the folds of the English countryside. Their sumptuous second home, a nest egg for retirement, a secluded bolthole for times of trouble.
In March 2020, as London fell silent under the threat of Covid19, Tony Mountford made the snap decision to see out lockdown in the close confines of their charming country retreat, unconcerned that one mischievous ghost would be waiting for them. But something had changed as fear gripped the nation, and the very bones of their much-loved timber-framed holiday home now creaked to the footfall of more sinister steps. A new tenant has taken up residence within its thick stone walls, drawn from a time when the innocent had paid the price for ignorance as a Royal edict fanned the flames of fear across the shires of England.

Take care as you travel with them, for a chill wind is turning northward, and the embers are still burning.

Review

The Burning weaves readers between the times of witchcraft and times when Covid first hit the world. How they are connected is certainly imaginative as the two times collide in a serene area of England where the Mountford family have a second home. It’s easy to picture it all within the skilful writing.

Fact and fiction merge together to tell a compelling story. It becomes increasingly chilling as it goes on, but it starts with a Ouija board, found in a toybox.

After research, a history of witchcraft, witch trials, witch-hunters is uncovered.
Paranormal activity is also discovered and all is far from being benign as horrors happen.

Throughout the book, there are many twists and turns in what seems like a well-researched mysterious horror book.

#Review By Lou of All You Need Is Love By Peter Brown and Steven Gaines @Octopus_Books @RandomTTours #AllYouNeedIsLove #TheEndOfTheBeatles #PeterBrown #StevenGaines #TheBeatles #Biography #Music #NonFiction

All You Need Is Love
By Peter Brown and Steven Gaines

A Must of All Beatles Fans! All You Need Is Love is a fascinating look into The Beatles as told by their inner circle and The Beatles that uncovers lots of previously unpublished interviews. It’s quite astonishing and an incredibly interesting read as it is interviews and not an oral history. Find out more in the blurb and my thoughts below. Then discover more about the authors of All You Need Is Love. Their own bios have a tale or two to tell about how intimate they were with The Beatles.

Blurb

All You Need is Love is a ground-breaking oral history of the Beatles and how it all came to an end.
Based on never-before-published or heard interviews with Paul McCartney,
Yoko Ono, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and their families, friends, and business
associates, this is a landmark book, containing stunning new revelations, about the
biggest band the world has ever seen.
In 1980-1981 former COO of Apple Corp, Peter Brown and author Steven Gaines
interviewed everyone in the Beatles’ inner circle and included a small portion of the
transcripts in their international bestselling book The Love You Make, which spent four months on the New York Times bestseller list. But left in their archives was a treasure trove of unique and candid interviews that they chose not to publish, until now.
A powerful work assembled through honest, intimate, sometimes contradictory and always fascinating testimony, All You Need is Love is a one-of-a-kind insight into the final days, weeks, months and years of the Beatles phenomenon.

Review

I wasn’t born when The Beatles were at the height of their fame, nor was I when they split, but everyone knows who The Beatles are/were, even at primary school a major song to learn was Yellow Submarine and everyone knows the Christmas songs too, even today in the decade of the mid-2020’s. Two are dead and yet their long lasting reach into public consciousness goes on with popstars coming after them still influenced by their music and even into film culture where All You Need Is Love features in a major scene in that great film, Love Actually.

As for the book, All You Need Is Love has sparkling never published before interviews that are bound to set tongues wagging as conversations start.
I know, there’s been a few of these dotted around, but these interviews are highly significant. There are revelations about the band and in a midst of ever speculation about how it all ended, this feels like it gets to the roots of everything. It’s particularly special because it isn’t second hand information.
Some of the book is, however, bittersweet as there are interviews by John Lennon not long before he was murdered.

Once started, it becomes intensely fascinating in a way I hadn’t quite expected. The presentation of the interviews feel so free-flow and so candid, in a way that you feel like you’re in rooms with everyone being interviewed, much like youre sitting in an audience.

The book feels so natural, like nothing is stilted nor concealed, even contradictory statements. A picture emerges of the building of tensions and you get a feel of what that time of The Beatles coming to an end may have been like for all concerned.

It’s great that the interviews see the light of day from previously being hidden in the depths of archives. It got me thinking that in a way, what with both fans who perhaps saw The Beatles and the remaining Beatles and Yoko Ono getting naturally older, it feels fitting that this book is published. It got me wondering if this would be the last one with previously hidden facts. I guess we will have to wait and see. For now, this is quite some emergence of interviews with The Beatles and people who they were associated with like family, colleagues alike, some who are now dead, but their names also live on in the music industry and beyond. This makes it special and quite unique.

Whether a Beatles fan or a music fan in general, this is a totally fascinating read and one that may well get you thinking of the band all over again and in a new light.

About the Authors

STEVEN GAINES is the New York Times bestselling author of Philistines at the Hedgerow: Passion and Property in the Hamptons and The Love You Make: An Insiders Story of the Beatles (with Peter Brown).
His journalism has appeared in Vanity Fair, the New York Times, and New York magazine, where he was a contributing editor for 12 years.
Mr. Gaines is the co-founder and a past vice-chairman of the Hamptons International Film Festival. He has lived in Wainscott, a small hamlet on the East End of Long Island, for 40 years.

PETER BROWN is the former COO of Apple Corp, the Beatles’ financial empire. He’s been a Beatles intimate since their earliest days in Liverpool.
Their passports were locked in his desk drawer. He was best man at John and Yoko’s wedding, he introduced Paul to Linda Eastman, and perhaps the most charming of his credentials is that he’s the only real person ever mentioned in a Beatles song, “Peter Brown called to say, you can make it okay, you can marry in Gibraltar near Spain,” from the “Ballad of John and Yoko.”
Mr. Brown is now chairman of the international public relations firm of Brown Lloyd James LTD.