Today it’s back to Mandie who is sharing her thoughts on Bedlam, the brand new Dr Alexander Gregory thriller from LJ Ross. We’ve both been loving getting to know Dr Gregory and this latest offering gives us even more insight into a very complicated character. Here’s what it’s all about:
About the Book
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 New York State Homicide Squad. 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.
Mandie’s Thoughts
Bedlam is the third book in the Dr Alexander Gregory series and I must admit I was a bit like a kid a Christmas when it turned up on my kindle to the point I stopped reading the book I was on and had to dive straight in.
This time Alex is in Washington attending an FBI conference in Quantico when he is asked to assist in a case that will see him go to The Buchanan Hospital, not as a doctor but as a patient so that he can check up on a vital witness against a local mob boss. Thinking this will be a quick and easy task (although he also believed he had no choice) he agrees and soon finds himself admitted as “Michael” under the care of Dr Naomi Parker. Drawing on the experiences of his own patients he finds that at times he has to modify his responses to that of a patient not a doctor and he wonders if his task will be as easy as he first thought. The more he digs the less he is sure who he can trust and the more he puts his own life on the line. I have to admit that Alex Gregory is really growing on me and his latest outing is definitely my favourite so far.
In Bedlam we really start to learn more about Alex what makes him tick and why he chose this particular career path. Forced to attend sessions with Dr Parker you are with him whilst he confronts his past demons that have been haunting his sleep and faces up to the one thing that could have a drastic impact on his career. This is not a fast-paced book, but it kept my attention right from the beginning. I think what I love most about these books is that although there is usually a crime in the book it is more in the background and you get to dig more into they why someone does something than the how they do it.
With his career as a psychologist Alex has the ability to move around more and meet more people…it also means he can get into more situations and I can’t wait to see where he ends up next or who he will have to deal with.
About the Author
LJ Ross is an international bestselling author, best known for creating atmospheric mystery and thriller novels, including the DCI Ryan series of Northumbrian murder mysteries which have sold over four million copies worldwide.
Her debut, Holy Island, was released in January 2015 and reached number one in the Amazon UK and Australian charts. Since then, she has released a further sixteen novels, all of which have been top three global bestsellers and fourteen of which have been UK #1 bestsellers. Louise has garnered an army of loyal readers through her storytelling and, thanks to them, several of her books reached the coveted #1 spot whilst only available to pre-order ahead of release. Her eleventh novel, The Infirmary, is a prequel story and is also available as a major Audible Originals audio-drama starring Tom Bateman, Kevin Whately, Bertie Carvel, Hermione Norris and Alun Armstrong.
In addition to her DCI Ryan series, Louise has created a new series of thriller novels based around the central character of ‘Dr Alexander Gregory’, whose work as a psychological profiler takes him around the world. The first two books, Impostor and Hysteria, were both #1 bestsellers and were narrated in audio by the actor Hugh Dancy. She is also writing several standalone romantic suspense novels featuring strong female protagonists which will be available in 2020.
The novels are available to purchase in e-book, paperback and audiobook formats on the Amazon store, as well as in libraries and book shops around the world.
Louise was born in Northumberland, England. She studied undergraduate and postgraduate Law at King’s College, University of London and then abroad in Paris and Florence. She spent much of her working life in London, where she was a lawyer for a number of years until taking the decision to change career and pursue her dream to write. Now, she writes full-time and lives with her husband and son in Northumberland, where she enjoys reading all manner of books, travelling and spending time with family and friends.
Louise is a keen philanthropist, and is pleased to have supported numerous non-profit programmes in addition to founding several of her own, including the Lindisfarne Reading Challenge and the Lindisfarne Prize for Debut Crime Fiction.
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