What a week! Super busy at work and it has really had an impact on my reading. And this is why I am very thankful for being so far ahead of promised reads etc. By the time I finished work on Friday afternoon I had managed to read the equivalent of 50% of one book but spread across two. I’m quite amazed by how much I caught that up over the weekend, but then again, the books were good and it was all me being super tired, and not and issue with them, that caused the reading lapse. I’m sure things will settle (eventually) and failing all else we have two long weekends on the bounce after this week so the moment of peace will come.
All of this madness meant I have not be on walks and I have done very little other than exist. In spite of a very poor approach to dieting I haven’t gotten any heavier (no lighter either but hey ho) so I will take that. Back on the plan with gusto this week. I hope …
Not too bad a week on the book front this week – depending on your point of view. One new piece of book post – Picture You Dead by Peter James (11 May) courtesy of Pan Macmillan and Riot Communications. I also received my monthly Orenda Subscription from Bert’s Books. This month it was the fabulous books, The Lazarus Solution by Kjell Ola Dahl (27 April) and The Acapulco by Simone Buchholz. Absolutely thrilled to be quoted on the cover of The Acapulco too!
I had a naughty Netgalley week. Don’t judge me. I’m stressed. Four books (whoops) but all look/sound fab. Gaslight by Femi Kayode (09 November) continues the Philip Taiwo series. Just Another Missing Person by Gillian MacAllister (03 August) is her brand new thriller and we know this author can always be relied upon for entertainment and thrills. Deadly Fate by Angela Marsons (25 May). New Kim Stone. Need I say more? And Fear The Silence, the brand new standalone thriller from Robert Bryndza (06 July).
No new book orders (yet) this week. What’s that all about. Told you I was tired/stressed. To be fair, this is no reflection on all the books out there waiting to be bought, more on my finances after the new glasses/tumble dryer etc. Plus I’m planning on buying many during book festival season so I am pacing myself (yeah right!)
Books I have read
Deadly Fate by Angela Marsons (25 May)
The woman’s bright blonde hair floats in the breeze. She almost looks like she could be resting on the soft green grass. But her brown eyes stare unblinking up at the sky, and the final cut across her mouth is dark with blood. Her words silenced forever…
Late one evening, as the final church bell rings out, Sandra Deakin’s cold and lifeless body is found in the overgrown graveyard with multiple stab wounds. When Detective Kim Stone rushes to the scene, the violence of the attack convinces her that this murder was deeply personal. What could have caused such hate?
As the team dig into Sandra’s life, they discover she believed she could communicate with the dead. Was that why she was targeted? The last people to see her alive were a group of women who had a session with her the night before she was killed, and as Kim and her team pay them a visit, they soon learn each of the women is lying about why they wanted Sandra’s help…
Kim realises she must dig deep and open her mind to every avenue if she’s going to stand a chance at solving this case. And when she learns that Sandra was banned from the church grounds and had been receiving death threats too, she’s ever more certain that Sandra’s gifts are at the heart of everything.
But just when she thinks she’s found a lead, the broken body of a nineteen-year-old boy is found outside a call centre – a single slash across his mouth just like Sandra’s. Kim knows they are now racing against time to understand what triggered these attacks, and to stop a twisted killer.
But they might be too late. Just as Kim sits down at a local psychic show she discovers something that makes her blood run cold. Both Sandra and the call centre were named in an article about frauds. And this show stars the next name on the list. She looks around the audience with a feeling of utter dread, certain the killer is among them…
Totally addictive with a final twist that will leave you shouting out loud, you’ll want to inhale Deadly Fate in one sitting. Fans of Karin Slaughter, Val McDermid and Robert Dugoni will love the new crime thriller from the number one multi-million-copy bestselling author Angela Marsons.
The Trial by Rob Rinder (22 June)
An unputdownable murder mystery by Britain’s best-loved criminal barrister Rob Rinder.
ONE MURDER. ONE IMPOSSIBLE CASE. WHO IS GUILTY?
When hero policeman Grant Cliveden dies from a poisoning in the Old Bailey, it threatens to shake the country to its core.
The evidence points to one man. Jimmy Knight has been convicted of multiple offences before and defending him will be no easy task. Not least because this is trainee barrister Adam Green’s first case.
But it will quickly become clear that Jimmy Knight is not the only person in Cliveden’s past with an axe to grind.
The only thing that’s certain is that this is a trial which will push Adam – and the justice system itself – to the limit . . .
Conviction by Jack Jordan (22 June)
TO STEAL A MAN’S FREEDOM ALL IT TAKES IS . . . CONVICTION
Wade Darling stands accused of killing his wife and teenage children as they slept before burning the family home to the ground.
When the case lands on barrister Neve Harper’s desk, she knows it could be the career making case she’s been waiting for. But only if she can prove Wade’s innocence.
A matter of days before the case, as Neve is travelling home for the night, she is approached by a man. He tells her she must lose this case or the secret about her own husband’s disappearance will be revealed.
Failing that, he will kill everyone she cares about until she follows orders.
Neve must make a choice – betray every principle she has ever had by putting a potentially innocent man in prison, or risk putting those she loves in mortal danger.
For fans of Steve Cavanagh, Linwood Barclay and Gillian McAllister, introducing the latest novel from the master of the moral dilemma, Jack Jordan.
Three books in the end. Not too bad considering I wasn’t sure I’d even finish one. Full enough week on the blog – recap below:
#Review – Looking Glass Sound – Catriona Ward
#Review – The Puppet Show – MW Craven
#Review – My Darkest Prayer – SA Cosby
#Review – Killing Jericho – William Hussey
#Review – All That Lives – James Oswald
The week ahead is full – quite literally. We’re posting seven days this week. Seven! Been a while since that happened. I’ll be joining the blog tour for The Acapulco on Wednesday and running a spotlight on Conviction by Jack Jordan on Saturday as well as a whole host of other reviews. Busy times.
I am going to go and lie down in a darkened room now to recover … Only kidding – by the time you read this I’ll be in the thick of it at work. Plus I now have eight reviews to catch up on again. Whoops.😬 Roll on the weekend.
Have a fabulous week all. Hope it’s full of relaxation and books (or whatever else makes you happy).
Jen x
Jen Med's Book Reviews 