Valley of Secrets by Morgan Knight

Well now, this was a pleasant surprise. A tapestry of genres: paranormal, fantasy, romance, erotica, thriller, crime, suspense. The first four are my least favourite…not on my never-read list, just not my go-tos. But I'm weak and succumbed to the temptation of the latter three. My submission was well rewarded. 

When very young, Emilia was adopted by her parents' good friends when they were tragically killed in a car accident. Years later, as a college student, an attorney traces her to tell her that there is a family estate in a small village in Europe and that she needs to travel there promptly. A holiday in Europe with her much loved adopted sister, Amanda, is too good an opportunity to miss. And it might help distract her from some rather sensual dreams she's having, which feature an irresistibly attractive man, Massimino. Emilia and Amanda's jaunt turns out to be quite something. Little did they expect that Emilia would uncover some unsettling truths about her family, the village and that Massimino is a ruthless sorcerer. 

Good quality writing and a well-formulated plot made this very compelling, along with a striking contrast of well-portrayed good and bad (some evil, in fact) characters and an unguessable ending. Despite having to suspend my disbelief, I was transfixed till the end, which, although complete with no loose ends, left a door ajar for a sequel. I'll certainly be all over that.

The Liar's Room by Simon Lelic

Oh, and another present-tense narrative. Sigh. And my opinion hasn't changed. It still does not work. One star knocked off. 

This is one of those thrillers where the two main protagonists know what's going on, but the reader doesn't. Which is tedious and tries your patience. That said, it is compelling. 

Susanna Fenton is a counsellor and single parent to teenager Emily. She has spent fourteen years with a new identity, but when Adam goes to see her for an 'appointment', it's a consultation like no other. He seems to know an awful lot about her, her past and worse…Emily. 

It's quite addictive at first because what does Adam want from Susanna, how does he know her, of her and what is his interest in Emily? But then it gets very overplayed. The reasons for Susanna's dramatic change of life and the reasons for Adam's taunting are underwhelming, if I'm honest. Neither is guilty of anything very much other than being victims of tragedy. I suppose it's a testament to the quality of writing that you are nonetheless enthralled by the unfurling of the past, what Adam wants from Susanna and if Emily is in any danger. 

The strangulating present-tense narrative means the past, in order for the present-day events to make any sense, has to be revealed via Susanna's memories and Emily's diary, which is all a bit contrived and clumsy.

Notwithstanding the clunkiness, ghastly present tense, few characters that are actually likeable and the painfully slow reveal, you do find yourself unwittingly caught up in the tension and suspense.

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

The Dead Ex by Jane Corry

Ach! This was written in the stifling, suffocating, claustrophobic present tense, which I hate. My heart sank when I started it. Actually, that's not quite true: the story is written from two POVs, Vicki's and Scarlet's, and it is the latter's whose narrative is in the past tense. However, seventy percent is present tense and it just doesn't work. 

In spite of that, this is a gripping thriller…thank goodness, as it helped to mollify my present-tense disappointment. 

Vicki Goudman is an aromatherapist whose ex-husband goes missing. His current wife sends the police to her home studio, but Vicki doesn't manage to convince them she has nothing to do with his disappearance. As time goes on, the odds are stacking up against her. Trouble is, she's finding it hard to convince herself she's innocent because of her memory lapses. 

Scarlet is only eight years old, daughter of single parent, Zelda, who thoughtlessly uses her as her drug mule. Inevitably, Zelda ends up in prison, and Scarlet is swallowed up into the foster-care system, long-term because Zelda keeps tripping up in prison. 

Vicki's mission is to get to the bottom of her ex's disappearance. Tanya, Scarlet, Zelda and she are all connected. The 'how' is well handled, and the 'who' keeps you guessing right to the very end. It's absorbing, twisty, the characters lives skilfully interwoven, but neatly wrapped up: present tense is forgiven, this time.

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

Two Steps Forward by Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist

My rule of thumb with books is 'I've started, so I'll finish'. It's been a struggle sometimes. Here, I very nearly didn't get past the second sentence, which started 'It was laying on its back….'. Gah! How can an editor/proofreader not notice this? I did wonder if I could pretend I never started this; one howling grammatical error only a few lines in wasn't exactly promising. 

Well, I did carry on. And there were a few more howlers. Unfortunately, I can't say that the novel was so good it didn't matter. It was mediocre, at best. 

Recently widowed Zoe…and I mean recently, as in three weeks (how on earth can you organise a funeral then a trip abroad all in three weeks?) decides to take herself and her grief to the Camino de Santiago, a network of pilgrims' ways, between France and Spain, deciding at the same time to become a vegan (probably not the best decision when she needed a lot of walking energy). Martin, an engineer, recently divorced (and embittered by his wife's infidelity), also decides it's a good idea, at the same time prototyping a wheeled backpack, which he hopes will stand up to 2000 kilometres of pushing and pulling. Inevitably, the two are destined to pair up at some point, as in, intimately. But…oh, so, slowly. This dragged on rather and the absence of any interesting details of the Camino meant the whole thing never really warmed up. 

The authors tried to provide interest with colourful/annoying/philosophical/young/old/multinational/transgender characters, but they didn't elevate this book beyond mildly pleasant. 

Having stuck with Zoe and Martin for over 2000 km, I do feel there's possibly a sequel in them, as the ending wasn't neat and tidy and all wrapped up, but without the Camino backdrop and its walkers, these two rather ordinary, rather boring characters would find it hard to provide a decent backbone to a second book.

AMAZON UK
AMAZON US

A Dark So Deadly by Stuart MacBride

I admit I did gulp when I started this book and discovered there were 608 pages. I don't often read books that long, and I wondered how a murder mystery could possibly span that number of pages without being too slow or laboured. It wasn't, not at all. This was 608 pages of sheer enjoyment. MacBride isn't an author I'm familiar with. And I really like him. He can tell a tale with (dark and Scottish) humour (I did laugh out loud many times), articulately and skilfully. There wasn't one single point where I started to think, 'oh hurry up, already!'

It features some rather gruesome murders by a serial killer…all to be solved by the Misfit Mob: members of the police force who end up in this team as a result of an (alleged) misdemeanour or two. But, what a wonderful cast: an array of strong characters, all intriguing, believable, imaginable and entertaining for one reason or another. If I'm honest, the tying up of a couple of threads was a teensy, weensy (but really teensy) bit beyond the bounds of credibility, but my enjoyment of the writing, the plot, character banter shadowed it. 

I was slightly more irked by some poor editing: not just little oversights but some bad grammatical errors and an editor (or two) who missed the class on colons. But again, I can almost forgive that because this is a cracking, riveting thriller.

I've read books, not quite a long as this one, where I've thought, 'I don't want this to end!' But here, despite my, 'gosh, this is long' at the start, I ended up happy I was in it for the long haul.

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

Justice Gone by N Lombardi

This is a sophisticated legal thriller which tantalises you to the end. My first encounter with this author and his style and craft have ensured he is on my 'read more of' list!

Justice Gone is about a homeless war veteran, Jay, who is beaten to death by police for committing no crime at all. When three policemen are shot dead, outraging the community, the police are convinced another war veteran is their man: Donald, a close friend of Jay, so obviously, someone seeking revenge. His counsellor, Dr Tessa Thorpe, knows he's innocent, so she has to place her trust and confidence in lawyer, Nathanial Bodine to prove it: a lawyer who is minutes away from retirement and...blind. 

It's a well-structured look into the prejudices against and tolerance of both veterans and police. Lombardi tackles it with skill and the result is a compelling thriller. 

This is the first in the Dr Tessa Thorpe thrillers. I'm not actually quite sure why it was a Tessa Thorpe thriller as such. She didn't actually feature that prominently. There were a number of unanswered questions about her past. For instance, why she found herself on the wrong side of the law some years earlier. The lawyer, however, was much, much more interesting as was her co-worker, Casey, in whom I was way, way more interested: a dark and enigmatic character there, without doubt. Though again, where was his background? 

I shall look forward to another 'Tessa Thorpe' mystery, but I'd really rather like the blind lawyer and Casey to be in the cast.

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

The Winner's Circle by P J Colando

A huge lotto win isn't an original storyline, but a half-billion lotto win is a shedload of money. A little obscene, some would say. So, I was intrigued by how this would pan out. 

Regrettably, I was never going to like Bonnie, one of the main characters: "Bonnie regarded a fur as entry level for a millionaire."..."Who needed lipstick and fresh makeup when a mink coat caressed?" It's true, you know: it takes fifty dumb animals to make a coat and only one to wear it. In this case, the dumb, brainless air head is middle-aged Bonnie, who co-wins the Boffo Lotto, news she shares instantly with her two best friends (Fran and Jackie), who consider they're entitled to decide how the money should be spent, inflation to the church funds and overseas travel high on the list. 

I was promised hilarity, but the sides of my mouth didn't twitch once. Sadly, I found it all boring and slightly irritating. Too much repetition caused me to sigh rather a lot. After nearly twenty occurrences, I won't be sorry if I never hear the word 'copacetic' again. (No, I didn't know what it meant, either). 'Crapola', 'hell's bells', and 'holy crap', were also over-used by the same amount. There is a plethora of very expressive swear words to use (I can suggest many), there really isn't a need to exhaust a small selection. 

It was hard to engage with any of the characters…at the end of the day I discovered nothing about them. How come Fran was newly married late in life? How did dim Bonnie find once-married Carl? Why was Jackie's son such a wimp? There are back stories here that needed to be told. 

The author is without doubt very articulate, but the style is a bit 'dense', which meant some unnatural, heavy dialogue. Sometimes less is more and simpler language makes for more relaxed reading. 

With sincerest apologies to P Colando, this isn't my book of the year.

AMAZON UK
AMAZON US