Must Reads 29th January 2018
Happy Monday Y'all! (I've been watching a Netflix series set in Texas, kind of makes me want to up sticks and become a Southern Belle!)
(General Fiction, Mystery/Thriller)
Kelly’s gut turned over as she realised the danger she was in. She heard no sirens. She knew that she was simply collateral. To these men who made a lot of money from the suffering of others, they’d have no problem snuffing her out.
After a scandal forces DI Kelly Porter out of the Met, she returns to her home turf in the Lake District. Crimes in the Cumbrian constabulary tend to be of the minor sort, but Kelly begins work on a cold case that shocked the local community – the abduction and brutal murder of ten-year-old Lottie Davies.
Meanwhile, Kelly is also investigating two seemingly straightforward crimes: a case involving an illegal immigrant, and a robbery following the death of local businessman Colin Day. But evidence comes to light that reveals a web of criminal activity beyond anything Kelly imagined. Behind the veneer of sleepy, touristy towns lies a dark and dangerous underworld. As Kelly threatens to expose those with much to lose, she risks paying the ultimate price to get to the truth…
Don’t miss this taut and gripping debut from a crime writer to watch. Perfect for fans for Carol Dwyer, Patricia Gibney and Angela Marsons.
(New Adult, Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
In an abandoned warehouse in
Manhattan, two enemies battle to the death, while outside, a malevolent
entity watches and waits and plots, eager for blood. On an island in the
heart of Seattle, an immortal princess struggles to lead a normal life
just as a flood of terrifying creatures starts to pour in through a
portal that should not be there. A young man meets a classmate while
walking home from the college library, and embarks on the most dangerous
adventure he’s ever known – will he survive? A deranged madman hunts
the girl he’s lusted after for a century, in a relentless pursuit for
vengeance. A prehistoric, mythical beast jealously guards a primeval
land, which is leaking into present-day Seattle. A sweet, forbidden
passion blossoms between two lovers who steal moments whenever they can,
while unbeknownst to them, they’re hunted by a deadly creature.
A royal family threatened at its weakest – yet lethal in its own
right – is stalked by an ancient evil that will not rest until they are
utterly destroyed: a nightmare incarnate that has waited millions of
years for revenge threatens the very existence of the young lovers and
their family.
Will they prevail?
(Teen/YA)
'I promised myself this time would be different. I would stand up for myself.'
Fifteen-year-old Muzna Saleem is used to being invisible. So no one is more surprised than her when Arif Malik, the hottest boy in school, takes a sudden interest.
But Arif is hiding a terrible secret and, as they begin to follow a dark path, Muzna faces an impossible choice: keep quiet and betray her beliefs, or speak out and betray her heart.
I Am Thunder is the debut novel from stunning YA voice, Muhammad Khan, which questions how far you'll go to stand up for what you believe.
(General/Woman's Fiction)
A hugely funny, searingly honest comedy about to expect when you're not expecting.
Olivia and Felix are trying for a baby. They even moved to the suburbs in anticipation of their future family. But despite approaching her cycle and their sex life with military precision, there's still no sign of what felt like the sure next step, whilst friends' broods seem to be growing by the week. Meanwhile, vying for a promotion at work under the (very attentive) watch of a new boss sends Olivia down a dangerous road of risking it all. Does a happy ever after, she starts to question, even have to include a baby?
This is standout, intelligently written commercial fiction for fans of Sharon Horgan's Catastrophe, Dawn O'Porter's The Cows and Mhairi McFarlane's It's Not Me, It's You.
(General/Literary Fiction)
In this stunningly assured, immersive and vividly atmospheric first novel, a young woman comes face-to-face with the volatile, haunted wilderness of the Scottish Highlands.
Polly Vaughan is trying to escape the ravaging guilt of a disturbing incident in London by heading north to the Scottish Highlands. As soon as she arrives, this spirited, funny, alert young woman goes looking for drink, drugs and sex – finding them all quickly, and unsatisfactorily, with the barman in the only pub. She also finds a fresh kind of fear, alone in this eerie, myth-drenched landscape. Increasingly prone to visions or visitations – floating white shapes in the waters of the loch or in the woods – she is terrified and fascinated by a man she came across in the forest on her first evening, apparently tearing apart a bird. Who is this strange loner? And what is his sinister secret?
Kerry Andrew is a fresh new voice in British fiction; one that comes from a deep understanding of the folk songs, mythologies and oral traditions of these islands. Her powerful metaphoric language gives Swansong a charged, hallucinatory quality that is unique, uncanny and deeply disquieting.
(New Adult, Teen/YA)
The delightful story of Martin, a teenager on the autism
spectrum, who falls for Gilberte-Alice, a ‘normal’ French girl. While
spending summer in the French countryside with his mother, Martin
mistakes Gilberte for a character in a novel he is obsessed with—Marcel
Proust’s masterpiece In Search of Lost Time. He gradually
realises she is not Gilberte, the fantasy girl, but a real person named
Alice. Falling in love, in all its unpredictability, teaches Martin that
he can in fact connect, can get out of his bubble.
Offering a window into the mind of a high-functioning autistic kid, Kids Like Us
is the ultimate book about acceptance. Perhaps we are all in our
own bubble; perhaps the line between reality and imagination does not
have to be fixed.
We meet Martin’s adorable older sister, Elisabeth, his
friend Layla and her very useful ‘moth’ theory. And there’s lots of
great cooking. The prose is sharp, original and brimming with empathy
and humour.
(Romance)
In Hannah Fielding’s latest novel a young archaeologist who travels to the remote island of Helios to investigate
an ancient shipwreck, becomes caught in a web of dark obsession, mystery and
seduction.
In ancient Greece, one of the twelve labours of Hercules was
to bring back a golden apple from the Garden of Hesperides. To archaeologist
Oriel Anderson, joining a team of Greek divers on the island of Helios seems
like the golden apple of her dreams.
Yet the
dream becomes a nightmare when she meets the devilish owner of the island,
Damian Theodorakis. In shocked recognition, she is flooded with the memory
of a romantic night in a stranger’s arms, six summers ago. A very different man
stands before her now, and Oriel senses that the sardonic Greek autocrat is
hell-bent on playing a cat and mouse game with her.
As they
cross swords and passions mount, Oriel is aware that malevolent eyes watch her
from the shadows. Dark rumours are whispered about the Theodorakis family. What
dangers lie in Helios: a bewitching land where ancient rituals are still
enacted to appease the gods, young men risk their lives in the treacherous
depths of the Ionian Sea, and the volatile earth can erupt at any moment?
Will
Oriel find the hidden treasures she seeks? Or will Damian’s tragic past catch
up with them, threatening to engulf them both?
(Historical/Women's Fiction)
Three women, once enemies. Their secrets will unite them.
The First World War is over. The war-torn area of Flanders near Ypres is no longer home to troops, but groups of tourists. Controversial battlefield tourism now brings hundreds of people to the area, all desperate to witness first-hand where their loved ones fell.
At the Hotel de la Paix in the small village of Hoppestadt, three women arrive, searching for traces of the men they have loved and lost.
Ruby is just twenty-one, a shy Englishwoman looking for the grave of her husband. Alice is only a little older but brimming with confidence; she has travelled all the way from America, convinced her brother is in fact still alive. Then there’s Martha, and her son Otto, who are not all they seem to be . . .
The three women in Liz Trenow’s In Love and War may have very different backgrounds, but they are united in their search for reconciliation: to resolve themselves to what the war took from them, but also to what life might still promise for the future . . .
Gravesend by William Boyle
(Mystery/Thriller)
(Mystery/Thriller)
Ray Boy Calabrese is back in Gravesend: some people worship him, some want him dead . . . but none more so than the ex-con himself.Ray Boy Calabrese is released from prison 16 years after his actions led to the death of a young man. The victim's brother, Conway D'Innocenzio, is a 29-year-old Brooklynite wasting away at a local Rite Aid, stuck in the past and still howling for Ray Boy's blood. When the chips are down and the gun is drawn, Conway finds that he doesn't have murder in him. Thus begins a spiral of self-loathing and soul-searching into which he is joined by Alessandra, a failed actress caring for her widowed father, and Eugene, Ray Boy's hellbound nephew.
From the award winning blogger Just A Normal Mummy
(Women's Fiction)
No one said the journey to motherhood was easy . . .
Increased face-girth, back acne and gagging every time she's in the presence of vegetables isn't quite the beautiful start Emily had planned for her unborn baby . . .
Molly's unexpected pregnancy somehow turns her boyfriend into the poncy-vegan-nut-milk-enforcer, but she breezes it, as she breezes everything. (Including still being able to eat avocados much to Emily's annoyance.)
Liz quickly realises if she's to move her life on, she needs to get rid of the married man she's in love with - especially now she's realised he's been hiding more than his wedding ring . . .
It's a story about becoming parents, but most of all it's a story about love, laughter and chatting to your best friends about your unmentionables on WhatsApp.
I can't wait to read and review these lovelies, so watch this space. In the mean time if you liked this list have a look at all my reading lists.
Happy Reading!
Happy Reading!
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