Rewind, recap: Weekly update w/e 07/06/20

One week of June over and what do we have to show for it? Well, I have a new kindle and a whole host more books than I had at the end of May but that’s an entirely different story. Today is the first day of me (nearly a) week off. I say nearly as urgent work means I am now in on Wednesday but as my grand plans involved getting out of bed and sitting on the sofa, reading books, and I do get the following Friday off, I’ll survive.

So how are we all? Still surviving? I hope so. I’ve been a bit under the weather this past week and so this time off is much needed. Nothing serious, just a touch of a cold (definitely a cold – no CV-19 symptoms at all) and I’m just generally worn out so the thought of not having to do a fat lot is quite appealing. I’ve a few trips out to walk around the local National Trust gardens while I’m off, and I’m determined to keep getting out of the house where I can, but aside from that I will be catching up on reading and reviewing. Possibly maybe some writing, but that depends on if I can hold the headaches at bay. To be honest, although there is every chance I will continue to just get up for an early morning walk every day (I missed two days last week due to just feeling so rough), it’s nice to know that it is through choice and not becuase I have to be back at the desk by seven-thirty. It does mean there will only be one colleague of the day this week. I will have to choose wisely.

I bought a new Kindle this week as my old one has taken to throwing up errors in the middle of books and regularly resetting. Obviously it hasn’t done this since the new one arrived … To make it feel welcome, and so it didn’t feel like it was just being given the old kindle’s cast offs, I treated it to some new books. I know. Very kind of me, but we’re going to be spending a lot of time together. I want it to feel valued. 😉 What did I buy? Well … here goes.

The seven book Tracy Crosswhite series by Robert Dugoni: My Sister’s Grave; Her Final Breath; In The Clearing; The Trapped Girl; Close To Home; A Steep Price; A Cold Trail. The Sleeping and the Dead by Ann Cleeves; I Made a Mistake by Jane Corry; The Cutting Place by Jane casey; First Shot by John Ryder; The Dilemma by BA Paris; His and Hers by Alice Feeney and The Allie Shenton series by Mel Sherratt: Taunting the Dead; Follow the Leader and Only the Brave.

I bought a few audio books too. Hell Bay by Kate Rhodes; Fallen Angel by Chris Brookmyre and Stone Cold Heart by Caz Frear. And I received two books from Netgalley – One Eye Open by Paul Finch and Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan.

I might have stuck an order in for a book bundle from Penguin over the weekend too. Don’t judge me. I’ve been ill. I needede cheering up. It was a five book Kate Atkinson/Jackson Brodie bundle: Case Histories; One Good Turn; When Will There Be Good News; Started Early, Took My Dog and Big Sky.

And I received two very lovely bits of book post this past week: The Big Chill, the second book in Doug Johnstone’s The Skelfs series and signed copies of Holy Island and Sycamore Gap from the lovely LJ Ross which also came complete with a Holy Island candle.

All of that going on, is it any wonder I’m tired …

Books I have read

Don’t Wake Up by Liz Lawler

Alex Taylor wakes up tied to an operating table. The man who stands over her isn’t a doctor.

The choice he forces her to make is utterly unspeakable.

But when Alex re-awakens, she’s unharmed – and no one believes her horrifying story. Ostracised by her colleagues, her family and her partner, she begins to wonder if she really is losing her mind.

And then she meets the next victim.

So compulsive you can’t stop reading.

So chilling you won’t stop talking about it.

Don’t Wake Up is a dark, gripping psychological thriller with a horrifying premise and a stinging twist . . .

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Blood Red City by Rod Reynolds

When crusading journalist Lydia Wright is sent a video of an apparent murder on a London train, she thinks she’s found the story to revive her career. But she can’t find a victim, much less the killers, and the only witness has disappeared. Wary she’s fallen for fake news, she begins to doubt her instincts – until a sinister call suggests that she’s not the only one interested in the crime.

Michael Stringer deals in information – and doesn’t care which side of the law he finds himself on. But the murder on the train has left him exposed, and now he’ll stop at nothing to discover what Lydia knows.

When their paths collide, Lydia finds the story leads through a nightmare world, where money, power and politics intersect … and information is the only thing more dangerous than a bullet.

A nerve-shattering and brutally realistic thriller, Blood Red City bursts with energy and grit from the opening page, twisting and feinting to a superb, unexpected ending that will leave you breathless.

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Bedlam by LJ Ross

In a world gone mad, who can you trust?

Fresh from a high-profile case in the Paris fashion world, elite forensic psychologist and criminal profiler Dr Alexander Gregory receives a call from the FBI. The wife of a notorious criminal has been admitted to a private psychiatric hospital and can no longer testify in his upcoming trial. Without her, their case will collapse but, amidst reports that the staff are as unpredictable as their patients, who can the police trust?

In desperation, they turn to an outsider and now Gregory must find the courage to step inside the fortified walls of Buchanan Hospital to uncover the truth. The question is, will he ever be the same again?

Murder and mystery are peppered with dark humour in this fast-paced thriller set amidst the spectacular Catskill Forest.

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Hell Bay by Kate Rhodes

DI Ben Kitto needs a second chance. After ten years working for the murder squad in London, a traumatic event has left him grief-stricken. He’s tried to resign from his job, but his boss has persuaded him to take three months to reconsider.

Ben plans to work in his uncle’s boatyard on the tiny Scilly island of Bryher where he was born, hoping to mend his shattered nerves. His plans go awry when the body of a sixteen-year-old girl is found on the beach at Hell Bay. Her attacker must still be on the island because no ferries have sailed during the two-day storm. 

Everyone on the island is under suspicion. Dark secrets are about to resurface. And the murderer could strike again at any time . . .

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The Man Who Loved Islands by David F. Ross

The Disco Boys and The Band are back… In the early 80s, Bobby Cassidy and Joey Miller were inseparable; childhood friends and fledgling business associates. Now, both are depressed and lonely, and they haven’t spoken to each other in more than ten years. A bizarre opportunity to honour the memory of someone close to both of them presents itself, if only they can forgive…and forget. With the help of the deluded Max Mojo and the faithful Hamish May, can they pull off the impossible, and reunite the legendary Ayrshire band, The Miraculous Vespas, for a one-off Music Festival The Big Bang on a remote, uninhabited Scottish island?

Absurdly funny, deeply moving and utterly human, The Man Who Loves Islands is an unforgettable finale to the Disco Days trilogy a modern classic pumped full of music and middle-aged madness, written from the heart and pen of one of Scotland’s finest new voices.

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Before you go thinking I’ve had an incredible week for some who claimed to be ill, two of them were audio and I was about seventy percent through Don’t Wake Up by last weekend so … Busy enough week on the blog – recap below.

#Cover Reveal – The Seven Doors – Agnes Ravatn
#Review – Breakers – Doug Johnstone
#Review – The Last One To See Her – Mark Tilbury
#Review – Bones in the River – Zoë Sharp
#Review – The Staycation – Michele Gorman
#Review – The Curator – MW Craven

I have a pretty full week on the blog this week too starting with a books on tour review of No Escape by Casey Kelleher today and a second blog tour review for All Fall Down the latest Helen Grace thriller from MJ Arlidge. The rest of the week is made up with reviews. Do hope you stop by for a quick look.

Hope you all have a brilliantly bookish week. I’m hoping to get some serious reading don in my downtime, as well as fnding time to relax. If I sit still long enough I end up with a Rory on my chest anyway, so she’ll make sure I take it easy.

Happy reading.

Jen x