Liz Loves Books.Com.

I LOVED this book.

All because of Flora. Sometimes a character just speaks to you and Flora has an amazingly strong and indelible voice – the whole of this story is told from her point of view, although often necessarily repetitive each reboot she gives to herself has added nuance and emotion – Emily Barr moving the story forward with gentle yet incredibly addictive pace. This is one of those books I label beautiful – beautiful writing, beautiful characters and in the end a whole truck load of beautifully emotional shots through the heart.

Utterly compelling throughout as we follow Flora, learning about herself, those around her, then doing it all over again readjusting her senses, one of the strongest components of this particular story is within the relationships she forms with others.  Her best friend, her parents, those she meets along the way, all seen by the reader through the filter of Flora’s memory. Her notes to herself form her next decision process, she is alive on the page and absolutely captured my heart.

The scene setting is also gorgeous – from Penzance to Svalbard the author paints a picture, again filtered through this girl, Flora, who is seeing it all for the first time all the time – it made me want to follow the journey she takes, to the land of the midnight sun. One day perhaps I will.

There is a mystery element layered into the story, the feeling that there is more to Flora’s situation than meets the eye, that perhaps not everyone is being honest with her – the whole novel is a journey of discovery not only for Flora but for the other characters we learn about along the way and for the reader. It made me cry. Proper real cathartic tears.Flora’s life rules may be ones to live by.

For me a truly wonderful novel. If this is how Emily Barr is going to write YA then I’m going to read every single one. But there will never be another Flora..

Highly Recommended. Be brave and watch out for Polar Bears…

Out of all the crime series I read avidly I think perhaps the Robert Hunter novels from Chris Carter are somewhere near, if not the top of my favourites list. It is the combination of twisted plotting, riveting and heart stopping death scenes and a main protagonist to die for in the unequivocably intriguing Mr Hunter.

So with The Caller we go to a whole new level of gritty and intense storytelling - I was gripped, utterly gripped from the very first page, Chris Carter gives us an almost cinematic reading experience with his descriptive and realistic settings and events. I defy you not to gasp at the end of the first chapter, then continue to do so throughout whilst your heart goes hoppity skip. Love books like that. You can't get out of them easily you are dragged along in their wake, a willing participant in a game of many levels.

It is clever writing because yes of course serial killer vibe - entirely fascinating, we are all drawn to the dark side - but there are many more layers of story to be had here including in the personal lives of our series mainstays - and a particular character tied to this case who I REALLY hope we hear from again. It felt like we might. I say no more - no spoilers here but if that IS the case I'm really really intrigued by what might happen.

Really this is an insanely good crime series. Extraordinarily well written, high quality and high drama all the way, please lets have many many more tales from the world of Robert Hunter. Damn fine reading! Erm and I'm kind of freaked out. Even better.

Highly Recommended.

Painkiller was one of those addictive bang through novels that you just cannot put down and for the most part I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not without its problems for me though, however the premise from which we start is highly intriguing and somewhat emotional.

Monica lives with chronic pain. The HUGE strength of this book is how that is put across, through her words, through her actions and changing attitudes, she is not particularly likeable but extraordinarily sympathetic. I like the way the author starts with "I wake up" and then takes us through a plethora of different emotions, pain levels and acceptance v denial. Extremely well done.

The mystery element is well plotted through the majority- Monica has memory issues due to the immense amounts of medication she has to take and its possible her husband is not as loving as she thinks, her friends may not be entirely trustworthy and those she interacts with may not always have her best interests at heart. Therein lies the hook, that addictive sense as you race through the pages to find out the truth.

Clever misdirection, an off kilter reality, mostly seen through the filter of Monica and her pain, the twists and turns in Painkiller are beautifully placed and unpredictable which of course makes it fascinating and engaging. However...

My problem came with the ultimate resolution. I found it a little over convoluted, the last little bit was a maelstrom of rather ragged sprints to the finish line that were slightly overwhelming and not always as believable as the rest of the novel had been up until that point. That is not to say the finale was unlikely to the extreme, more that I felt it was rather banged together. But you know, sometimes these things can runaway with you.

Overall though Painkiller was a thought provoking, nicely done psychological thriller with a different starting premise that gave it an edge over others that I have seen lately. I would recommend it. You'll be slightly breathless by the end...

A truly addictive read from the pen of Lisa Gardner here, an author I'm a huge fan of especially the Raine/Quincy novels (of which there is a new one coming YAY) Up until this point I had not been QUITE as enamoured of the DD Warren novels but for me Find Her brought this series into its own.

Tense, claustrophobic, a really serious page turner, Find Her has all the elements of a classic crime novel with added pizazz and some truly atmospheric and heart stopping writing. Flora Dane is a remarkable character, the descriptive sense of her was pitch perfect and her ordeal and life changing experience extraordinarily compelling.
I also felt a lot more connected to DD throughout this instalment, all of a sudden she clicked for me and I engaged fully with her and her life and background. Her frustrations with Flora here were my frustrations and the fact that she is not entirely up to par fitness wise only added to the overall sense of urgency that Lisa Gardner brings to this story.

In fact if you have not read this series before I would say this would be an excellent starting point - it may make you want to go backwards (and you'll enjoy the previous books too) but it will (almost) certainly make you want to move forwards, especially if you are a huge crime fan looking for your next fix.

I like a multi layered tale, a more than just the facts narrative and the exploration of victimology and the aftermath of trauma are done so well here, you can feel the emotional highs and lows, the author bringing a huge amount of authenticity to the tale. The victim advocate angle was great, Samuel Keynes being one of my favourite characters in this and I hope we get to meet him again.

Plenty of twists and turns, a thoughtful and considered underlying tone, taut plotting and a brilliantly focused finale means Find Her comes highly recommended from me.

Fast paced twisty psychological thriller of the type so popular right now and this is a good example of why they are popular. Read it quickly, wanting to know what the outcome was so it held attention. Nothing particularly new but still a good read. Difficult to review because it just does exactly what it says on the tin!

Truth really can be stranger and more twisted than fiction! Fascinating case, excellent book covering all aspects. Really enjoyed.

I’ve loved the Dark Cycle series. Because I love a bit of magical mayhem with a demonic mix of wit and witchery. Phew.

So Darkness Savage is part 3 – the ending maybe, I don’t know but certainly it ties up an awful lot of stuff regarding Aiden and his sister, Rebecca and her struggle and all the highly addictive and intriguing plot elements Rachel Marks has brought to us in books one and two. Again it is fast moving, exciting, sometimes contemplative and the character arcs are as compelling as ever.

I like the world that has been built here, it is YA Urban Fantasy with a top notch descriptive sense that puts you right into the moment and some bang on characters to love and hate. Add to that an excellent nuanced plot that is written beautifully to be highly engaging and you have a winner.

Multiple viewpoints which work well, the mythology is solid and fascinating and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every moment. I’m sure there are more stories to tell within this universe. I hope they come along soon.

Recommended

Now I came to Fickle almost accidentally – the cover caught my eye during a random flyby on Netgalley and then the premise seemed intriguing. Still I nearly carried on past it but in the end impulse got me. Boy was that a stroke of luck because I LOVED this one. Cool, quirky, different and utterly compelling I engaged with every moment of it.

Clever novel. Clever. See Fickle is told via a blog. Well 2 blogs if you want to be exact but thats for you to discover. Basically you are reading a sequence of blog posts and the ensuing discussions. The main blog in question is a blog all about the wonder of Noir. One night our blogger tells the tale of her brush with death, the unfortunate unlucky coincidence of being present at a suicide. She reaches out to her small band of regulars and they all weigh in, showing concern and offering support. There it begins…

Things start to happen. Coincidences pile up. Every post that follows adds more layers to the tale but is our blogger an innocent bystander who has now been caught up in the vortex of things beyond her control or is she making the whole thing up to create her own style of noir  or is she lying or WHAT THE HECK. And blimey as things unfold you will get more and more into it, you’ll wish to heck you could comment yourself, you’ll think you’ve got it then you won’t have it and its the twistiest tale I’ve read in ages. Also if you like Noir this whole thing is Noir tastic in both style and substance.

The writing is incredibly smart, it does read like a blog but also like episodic tv and each instalment leads you further down the rabbit hole. It won’t be for everyone I get that, but for me it was brilliantly executed, the nuances are nuanced to a high degree, in a lot of ways it is interpretative reading, you’ll take your own idea’s from it especially in relation to the ending.

Really really excellent in my opinion. Doing something a little different, pushing the boundaries somewhat within the crime and suspense genre, this is what I love about reading. Those little gems you discover randomly and fall for absolutely. This one I’m just going to say BOOM. Give me more from this author.

Highly Recommended.

I read Field of Girls really fast. Its one of those that you just bang through, I kind of read it last night. So it has a compelling nature about it.

It is a cool murder mystery/psychological thriller with a main character, Alex, who was extremely engaging, his backstory is intriguing and a bit different to the norm for these things so that was a major plus. The plot twists were clever and it had its dark side and the dark side always appeals to me.

However it was not without its problems. The narrative was a little disjointed, the lines were not clear, especially in the early portion before the flow got going. A character jumble that took a while to come together in my head, not sure whether that was because something was lost in translation. I kept with it though because even with that I wanted to know where it was going.

I’d say for a book in this genre it was solid storytelling with a good premise and a decent execution with some small hiccups. Would I read more from Martin Krist? Yes absolutely. I have a sense of his voice now so I doubt the same problems would arise and he spins a good yarn. And I do love a good yarn.

Loved Frostblood.

Okay so there is a reason why YA novels of this type work so well for me - its the mix of fantasy and romance and a bang on story that just engulfs you. Frostblood is an adventure for the soul, engaging, fun characters, enough angst to shake a stick at and plenty of action and fiery frosty mayhem.

Come on you HAVE to love a bit of fiery frosty mayhem...

ANYWAY this is one of those novels I love to read when the weather is cold and real life is somewhat bleak, pure escapism with a lot of charm and a whole heap of that addictive quality that as readers we look for. Is it a brand new concept? Well no but that matters not - because its FUN and not only that you get right into it with the characters because you can tell that Elly Blake got right into it with the characters - an imaginative streak that came out in a brilliant way. The world building is classic, laying the foundations, drawing you in, loved the descriptive sense of it.

I was fond of Ruby whilst often wanting to slap her. Hey. Its just me. The romance is low key enough not to intrude on the more action and plot building aspects and thank heavens not endlessly saccharine which would have driven me nuts. All in all the set up is pretty perfect, count me in for the rest of this series, I'm hooked.

If Red Queen and Frozen had a lovechild it would look very much like Frostblood but Frostblood is also very much its own thing. Erm person? Ok I'm mixing up analogies and comparisons and whatever here but this is why I read them and don't write them. Basically Frostblood is all the fun. Roll on book 2!

Recommended.

Late to the party with Alex Barclay novels and Ive started here with book 6 in the series but don't let that stop you if you are in the same boat, easy enough to get into. Too easy if anything, I found it to be a bit of a page turner that often made me late for things.

Loved the vibe here. I like a good small town story, and in this instalment that is exactly where Ren has ended up - investigating a disappearance and discovering that in this town secrets lie buried deep.

Ren as a character is all kinds of messed up, events from previous books (which I will absolutely have to go back and read now dammit, like I need to add to the teetering pile) are defining her thinking a lot of the time but still she has a job to do and do it she will. I like a controversial character especially when embroiled in a twisty plot that is eminently unpredictable so for me The Drowning Child was an excellent read.

It is not perfect, Rens inner monologue sometimes distracted me, but it is part and parcel of her I assume (we'll find out when I go back) but for the most part the plot fairly rocks along. Some interesting and divisive characters, a strong mystery element and an endlessly fascinating story unfolding the writing is sharp and engaging and so here is yet another series Im adding to my must read list.

Recommended for Crime fiction fans.

So here is the thing. Catherine McKenzie wrote a book called Fractured. In Fractured the main protagonist Julie is in trouble because of a book she has written. That book is The Murder Game. So this book is a book from another book.

You've got to love that.

And also its a great story. Take a group of law students, friends, randomly tangled in relationships, learning criminal law and eventually moving on to various careers within that. Fast forward to a few years later, the friendships now somewhat fractured (yes yes I did that) and one of the group, Meredith, is assigned to a particularly sticky case. Not only sticky because of the defence being used but because this particular murder scene is all too familiar to Meredith...

I am a fan of the past/present vibe especially when it harks back to student days then catches up with those same characters years later, still being defined by what happened back then. And Julie Apple (AKA Catherine McKenzie) uses this with hugely satisfying results. Both timelines are intriguing, both are addictive, there is a great depth to the characters and an unpredictable quality about the whole thing that just makes you rocket through the read to find out what happens.

There are plenty of little twisty delights to be had here, also some great relationship entanglements that will have you shaking your head and the mystery element is beautifully drawn to make it more about the people than the actions. I really really enjoyed it. If you like a good psychological mystery you'll enjoy this for sure.

Now of course I want to read Fractured. It kind of has to be done. I shall track down a copy forthwith and see what happens to the author of The Murder Game. I'm hoping she survives. She needs to write more books.

Great stuff. Recommended.

Blimey Dear Charlie was a heck of an emotional read. Seriously. Chocolate required – I give you fair warning.

The utter horror that encompasses a school shooting has been fictionalised a fair bit, Dear Charlie though I found gave it a particular resonance.  Focusing as it did not on the shooters, or the mother of, or the victims families but on the sibling left behind who is supposed to what? Hate his brother now? Call him a monster? Sam is facing that having lost so much and through his writings to Charlie we feel every moment.

Sam faces himself as much as he does Charlie within the narrative, a new school, a new attempt to make friends in an atmosphere that finds him vilified and lashed out at for the most part. A bunch of misfit students might be his starting point but the press hover, his parents are falling apart and there is no easy road back from this tragedy.

It is utterly gripping considering this is not a thriller, I was completely involved immediately with Sams struggle to understand, to come to some acceptance. The writing is beautifully done and the layers of grief that you find are heartbreaking. A media storm is one thing but an internal storm is quite another, Sam has both and then some.

Completely believable, occasionally beautiful, always compelling, Dear Charlie will stay with you for a long time after reading it. Batten down the hatches and read this – it will touch your soul.

Highly Recommended.

Now I’m a huge fan of Kathy Reichs, not just of her writing either, so a collection of novella’s featuring the ever durable Tempe Brennan was a dream read for me.

And they were GREAT too especially First Bones which takes us back to the start of it all – these were all new to me although I believe they are not all newly published here. Each one was a mini thriller, with the usual forensic fascination (I love how compelling all the detail is in the cases Tempe takes on I always go google mad after reading anything from this author) and twisty turns in the plot that keep you on your toes.

I never like to put this series down so it was great to be able to start and finish a story in one sitting, although to be fair I did  want to read the next immediately but then you know. Thats how it goes. The writing is immersive as ever, the authenticity shines for obvious reasons and each one was as gripping as any of the full length novels.

Talking of which I can’t wait for more. This series for me has only grown stronger, I can’t imagine that I will ever get bored of it. Hope we get a good few more yet.

Highly Recommended.