Thriller – Page 13 – nigeladamsbookworm

Safe With Me K.L. Slater

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The story is based around Anna; both today as the slightly strange woman she is, and as a child, and the event that changed her life.

The story of Anna today is given through her eyes and that of her next door neighbour.

The story of Anna the child, is given through the same eyes.

When Anna, the woman, witnesses a road accident the memories of Anna the child come flooding back. As does the wish for revenge.

Following the accident Anna starts to obsess on both the victim Liam, and the person who caused the crash Cara.

Anna is convinced Cara is the woman that is responsible for her disturbed childhood and lonely adult life. Is it the woman she has looked for, for years? The woman she believed has changed her identity.

The only way to find out who she is now is to get to know Liam better.

A psychological thriller which can be an uncomfortable read at times.

None of the characters are the type of people that I could feel empathy with.

Although Anna is obviously a victim, and suffers from some kind of psychological problems, I found it impossible to sympathise with her in any way. In fact I didn’t really like her.

However; it has to be said that although this book might be uncomfortable to read at times, it is a great story and I would recommend it to anybody who likes this genre.

Blood Lines Angela Marsons

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Blood Lines Angela Marsons

In Evil Games Angela Marsons introduced us to the brilliant character Dr Alexandra Throne.

In Blood Lines she brings her back.

In my opinion this character is the best nemesis to any character since Hannibal Lecter tormented Clarice Starling in the Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris.

Incarcerated for her part in previous murders Throne starts to manipulate the people around her. She is a vicious sociopath who has only one target. Kim Stone.

Pulling at strings like a master puppeteer she identifies people’s weaknesses and manipulates them to carry out her will. Each action falling into place like jigsaw puzzle bits until the final picture is revealed.

Angela Marsons writes the sections with Alex Throne very cleverly and although it is obvious from the start who her target is, she keeps the reader on the edge of their seat right up till the last page to see if she succeeds.

Meanwhile Kim Stone and her team are faced with several murders in the Black Country. Are the murders unrelated, or is there something which ties them all together.

The first body turns up in a posh car in a layby in a dodgy area, a lady who obviously has money. The second is a drug addict girl found on an urban nature reserve. Surely these people can’t be connected.

Kim is looking into these murders when Dr Alex Throne manipulates circumstances to make Kim visit her.

Kim knows she shouldn’t visit. The the last time the two became involved with each other Alex nearly destroyed Kim. But can Kim resist. Even if she can, is Alex back inside her head.

With the investigations into the murders moving ahead Kim has to deal with issues in her team, and Alex in her head.

With two storylines this book moves along so fast that, even at nearly 350 pages, you will wonder where the time has gone when its finished.

I make no bones of the fact that Angela Marsons is my favourite author at the moment.

The Detective Inspector Kim Stones books are nothing short of brilliant. The reason they are so good is that the storylines, the characters, and the locations are so well research and written.

In Kim Stone Angela Marsons has found a main character that sits alongside all of the best Police Officers in modern fiction.

In Alexandra Throne she has found the best, and most fitting, criminal foil for any Detective since 1991.

In doing so she had written not just a good Police Crime Thriller, but in my opinion the best Psychological Thriller since Silence of the Lambs

Dancers in the Wind Anne Coates

Dancers in the Wind Anne Cates

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When I requested this book from Urbane Publications I did not realise what a treat I was in for.

I had never heard of Ann Coates before, but I don’t think I’ll forget her. In fact, I think we’re going to be hearing a lot from her. This book is great.

The main protagonist for this story is the single mom, and freelance journalist Hannah Weybridge.

Hannah is struggling to make a living since the birth of her daughter, but is given a job interviewing one of the street walking prostitutes of London, and one of the police officers tasked with sorting out the prostitution problems of the capital city.

The prostitute she interviews is “Princes” the second protagonist of the story. A young girl who has run away from home and ended up on the streets of London.

The Police Officer, and third protagonist, is Detective Inspector Tom Jordan. What Hannah doesn’t know about DCI Jordan is that he is leading an enquiry into the disappearance, and possible murder, of at least three young prostitutes, all from the same area that Princess works in.

Anne Coates has given this story an extra sense of threat and realism by setting it in the mid 1990’s. An era when old school policing was still in the minds of the public, and when there was still a few “old-school coppers” running things how they wanted to, and not necessarily within the bounds of the law.

When Princess turns up at Hannah’s house having suffered a severe assault, she begs Hannah not to get the police involved.

The story the takes a path that finds Hannah getting conflicted by her own moral compass. Does she allow Princess to stay with her and her infant daughter; does she involve DCI Jordan, and it doesn’t help that she is beginning to find him more interesting than she expected but is still unsure of whether he can be trusted.

From her own aspect Princess is not sure how much to trust Hannah. She has to stay off the streets but she also has to make money. What she doesn’t want is to bump into any of her old clients. What she does do is keep journals in notebooks.

The more the story goes on the more intriguing it becomes.

I don’t want to give anything away, so no more about the storyline, but I can say I enjoyed every page from beginning to end. The pace never stops.

Anne Coates has picked a great era to set this story in. It is given more credibility being set in the 90’s than if it was set in the modern day.

Not only that, but when you finish the book you will understand what I mean when I say the storyline is given even more credence by what we now know happened in those times, and who was involved.

An absolute treat of a book. The last few pages are a preview her next book. God it’s going to be a long wait.

The Forgotten Woman Angela Marsons

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The Forgotten Woman Angela Marsons

Where do I start with a book as good as this?

I picked the book because I love Angela Marsons DCI Kim Stone series. I knew this was a stand-alone and I was thinking it would be a similar type of novel.

How wrong was I, and in a really good way.

The book has two protagonists who meet in an Alcoholics therapy group session. Both are women with a problem with alcohol, but that’s where the similarity ends.

Kit Mason has had a rough life. Without giving too much away she is from a loveless family and grew up in a rough working class area of Liverpool. Running from there she became a prostitute on the streets of London becoming hooked on drugs and booze.

Frances Thornton. A Barrister from a well-to-do family. Single, never married, apparently from a loving family, and very troubled.

The two women find each other at a meeting in Birmingham, how they both got there you will have to find out by reading the book, and become friends and confidants.

The story looks back at both of their lives and follows them as they emerge from the depths of their problems, not all of which were self-inflicted.

Kit and Frances could not be two more different people. Each is portrayed beautifully by Angela Marsons, the depth of depravity in Kits story is counter balanced by the comfortable life style of Frances.

Alcoholism is not fussy who it chooses to affect, and usually there is a reason people want to lose sight of reality. Angela identifies this and shows that even people from opposite ends of the spectrum can find a way of hiding away in its fog. But what she does really well here is show how difficult the recovery can be, how there are temptations every minute of every day, on every street, how a minute of letting your guard down can result in a stumble back to drink.

The story shows how these two women fight the temptations whilst trying to regain their lives.

Angela also tackles the problem of how recovering alcoholics struggle to form new relationships; When is it right? How much do you tell people of your past? What assumptions will they make? Both Kit and Frances have things in their past that might put people off, but will it.

The women don’t just struggle with what others will make of them, but have to come to terms with who they are.

I think this book is in the top half a dozen I’ve ever read.

Thinking back on the other books in that list they are all either the first book by an author, or the first of a series.

This is neither. This is a novel the author had been trying to get published for years.It was initially self-published with the title My Name Is. Now, following the success of the Kim Stone books, it is getting the fair outing it deserves under its new name.

I hope people who missed it first time around, like me, find it this time.

This book should be read, it deserves to be read.

It does make you wonder what exactly the publishers who rejected it were thinking of.

Thank you Angela Marsons for persivering.

READ AND ENJOY.

Baby Doll Hollie Overton

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Fast paced from beginning to end, this story starts where most finish and rushes towards the end at a cracking pace.

The story starts with Lily escaping from a basement she has been held captive in for ten years. During that time, she has been physically and mentally abused by the man that took her.

Whilst in captivity Lily has had a child Sky, and when she escapes Sky is released into a world she’s never seen.

Once she has gained her freedom Lily is reunited with her twin sister Abby, and her mother Eve.

Neither of these relatives have survived the years since Lily went missing intact. Once reunited the process of identifying the kidnapper to the police, and ensuring his arrest, takes even greater tolls on the family.

The story is told in chapters which show the unfolding scenario from different protagonists. Obviously Lily is the main one but Hollie Overton manages to get into the heads of each character including not only Lily’s family but the kidnapper, and his wife.

Whilst Lilly and her family work with the investigating team the kidnapper is still trying to manipulate people with truths half-truths and pure malicious misguidance.

The psychology in this book is brilliant, and by using different characters in each chapter takes the reader on a crazy trip of emotions.

This book is like a box set on TV. I kept thinking to myself I’ll just read one more chapter but then read the next because I couldn’t leave the story where it was.

I look forward to reading more of Hollie Overton’s work in the future

Look Closer Rachel Amphlett

Look Closer Rachel Amphlett

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Rachel Amphlett, not a name I was familiar with until a few months ago, now I’ve read two of her books and wonder why it’s took me so long to discover her work.

Look Closer is a great read. It’s one of those books you want to read in one sitting, and it’s just long enough to let you get away with it.

The book follows Will Fletcher, a worker at one of London’s Museums, as he tries to follow a string of clues left by Amy.

Amy lives with Will, she’s a reporter for one of the big UK newspapers and she’s on the trail of Ian Rossiter, a politician that has been catapulted to the head of his party and looks favourite to be the next Prime Minister.

Will and Amy argue just before she goes to interview Rossiter. Whilst he’s at work Will gets informed that Amy has been hurt when somebody tried kill Rossiter.

With Amy in a serious condition in hospital Will finds a message on a phone that leads him to start making his own inquiries. What was Amy really investigating for her latest article.

The story weaves around London and the home counties, is anybody who they seem to be?Can Will trust anybody? What will he discover?

I found this book when I searched political thrillers on Amazon.

It certainly is that, and more. It has been a long time since I read a book like this.

I can compare it to early Robert Ludlum and Nelson DeMille.

The story is strong and intriguing. There is no reliance on violence. Most importantly of all the plot engages the reader.

I challenge anybody to see the end of this book coming before it arrives. That is not because of a curve ball thrown by the author, it’s because the story is so well written.

I enjoyed this book so much I’ve just downloaded 3 more of Rachel Amphletts novels to my Kindle.

Not to read now, but to save for six weeks time when I’m sat around the pool on holiday, and that is about the best compliment I can give.

Maestra L.S. Hilton

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Maestra L.S. Hilton.

The protagonist for this book is Judith Rashleigh.

Judith’s story starts with a glimpse further into the book with the first chapter ending with her asking the question, how did this all begin. The first half of the book is retro that point, but still narrated in the present first person tense. The rest of the book remains in the first person and advances the story.

The story is good. Judith a young woman with a passion for fine art, and qualifications to back it up, is working in one of the big auction houses in London. However, her lot there is not a good one. Working as an intern but treated like a dogs-body Judith watches on as a young pretty air-headed girl arrives at the house and is positioned into her place.

A chance meeting with a woman she used to go to school with leads Judith to a part time job as a Hostess in a London club. There’s a no touch rule but the underlying atmosphere is that of an establishment that sits just on the right side of legal. That’s OK with Judith because she has a secret.

Judith likes stranger-sex, in fact she likes rough stranger sex. L.S Hilton uses this as a tool to allow Judith to get into the situations that allows the story to advance.

Whilst still working at the Auction House she uncovers some elicit dealings but is sacked when she tries to expose the crime.

Judith’s moral is low and she allows herself to manipulate a client at the club into taking her on holiday. From then on her life changes.

As she tries to re-establish herself she manipulates, uses, men to make money. Drifting around the top upper-class resorts of the Mediterranean her moralistic code slips deeper and deeper allowing her to make choices and take actions that the Judith at the start of the story never would have.

Dealing in art, and the underworld leads her commit the most hideous of crimes, all the time seemingly justifying her own actions. Each crime gets worse but Judith’s morals seem to allow her to commit each one without conscience. As her crimes get worse so does the depravity of her actions in her sex life.

The book races through the story but the end is very open. Hilton uses the phrase “To be continued” at the end of the last chapter. I have to say it doesn’t feel so much of a cliff hanger as an anti-climax.

I have some issues with this book.

It is a great story, but, why do we need such graphic descriptions of the sex. I’m no prude and I enjoy a bit of sex in a book, but this is full on hard-core. I understand that the reader needs to understand that Judith’s behaviour is either escalating or spiralling downwards, depending on your point of view, but personally I would have been more comfortable with a little less eyes-on, and a little more insinuation.

For me the sex scenes distract from the story. It felt like they were deliberately there to shock, and that may be Hilton’s intention, but they were out of place with the rest of the writing.

The book is set in some of the nicest places in Europe, amongst people wearing fashionable and expensive clothing, all beautifully described. As is the art, Hilton obviously has a passion for the art world and has found a nice outlet for a good tale. It is almost as if two people wrote this book, or is it just a really good author showing the split personality of her main character. If it is, she has done a very good job of it.

Who would I recommend this book to. Anybody with an open mind, male or female, there’s something in this for everybody.

If you’re easily offended steer clear.

Ghosts of the Past Harry McCillion

Ghosts Of The Pasts Harry McCallion.

I’m going to start this review with a quote from one of the characters in the book.

“A mysterious Russian Countess – a sinister killer – and two dead diplomats – It sounds like something out of a novel”

Well it is something out of a novel. It’s out of this one, and being as this is said within the first couple of chapters it’s not even a spoiler.

This book is great. McCallion has used the mid-nineties era to set a book in a very unstable world.

Different factions of the Irish terrorist organisation of the PIRA are at war, some in favour of peace with England others definitely not.

The Soviet empire has crumbled since the knocking down of the Berlin Wall and the coming of independence of some of the soviet states.

In England the mysterious Countess Natasha Romanov is in a bitter battle with Ukrainian Mafioso in an attempt to capture the lucrative drug trade in Europe.

In Ireland the IRA are fighting amongst themselves and all the time a lone assassin ties the factions together but whose side is he on.

London Met Police officers, aided by DI Nevin Brown of the Royal Ulster Constabulary are investigating murders across the capital. Are they all connected to the feuds being played out between the groups from the ex-soviet nations and the feuds between the warring factions of the Irish Terrorists.

Whose side should the Police take, is there any friendly faces amongst the different factions.

MI5 seem to be standing back and letting things play out, much to the detriment of the investigating officers and their safety.

This book starts of like a sprinter coming out of the blocks and doesn’t slow down all the way to the end.

One of my favourite authors of all time is Robert Ludlum. Well for me Harry McCallion is every bit as good.

I will be looking out for more of his books in the future.

Nations Divided Steve P Vincent

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I came across this book by accident. So imagine my shock when I found out that this is the third in a series. A series I have been looking for, for years. Those of you that have read my reading history will know that I loved Robert Ludlum’s cold war books and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan series.

I have been on the lookout for a new author to bring to life the same style of writing for the world as it is today.

That is exactly what I found in this book.

Jack Emery is a Special Advisor to the President of the United States and the main character of the book. The story starts with a massacre at a Hospital in Gaza and quickly moves into peace talks between Israel and Palestine.

With a peace agreement in place and a Palestinian State agreed all looks well in the world but a secretive group of Zionists plan to wreck the agreement.

The Zionists acquire weapons and plant them strategically around the world threatening to detonate them if the peace agreement is not overturned.

Emery is in a race against time to find the weapons and the people responsible for planting them.

At the same time a unique and disturbing back up plan is put into place by the terrorists in case the initial plan is disrupted.

The book flies along with plots and sub-plots. As in the real world different countries have different agenda’s. Whilst political moves are made at the highest of levels, Emery works with and against an increasingly complex group of advocates at street level.

It is difficult to say more about the storyline without spoiling the plot for the reader, so I won’t. What I will say is the finale is breathtaking.

This book is great. I feel like I have found what I’ve been looking for since the last Jack Ryan book, and who would have guessed it would be a book with another Jack as the protagonist.

Like Ludlum and Clancy at their best Steve P Vincent uses up to date world politics to paint a background of imminent danger. This book is a must read for fans of those writers.

My only regret is I am late to the party and will have to read the first two in the series out of order, but this book stood alone and it would read easily as a stand-alone novel.

Into the Darkest Corner Elizabeth Haynes

Elizabeth Haynes is fast becoming one of my favourite writers. This morning I finished Into The Darkest Corner, which she published in 2011.

My wife is used to me reading books and writing my blogs but she said something this morning that made me realise just how much I enjoyed this book. “It must be good. I’ve never known you rave about one like this before”. I hadn’t stopped talking about it for 10 minutes after I put it down.

Into The Darkest Corner, is both the most compelling, and probably the most harrowing, book I have read.

The book is written in the first person narrative style that allows the reader to understand the fear the main character, Catherine, feels. Split over two time periods, alternating chapter by chapter between events that take place in 2003-4, and events that start in 2007.

In 2003 Catherine is an outgoing party girl with little in the way of morals, until she meets the man of her dreams, Lee. Unfortunately for her the mysterious Lee is not all he appears and Catherine is slowly manipulated into becoming a victim of domestic abuse of the worse kind.

In 2007 Catherine is a very damaged young woman, with severe OCD, who is desperately trying to get her life back on track.

Elizabeth Haynes manages to convey the emotions of the younger Catherine as she transitions from a party girl to one being in love. She builds up the tension in the relationship and it becomes almost understandable how women fall into the life of a victim of abuse whilst clinging onto the fact they have found Mr Right. As the abuse becomes more violent Catherine begins to realise that she is in a harmful relationship, but can she get out of it? How bad will it be before she can get out? And what will be the culmination of it all?

Elizabeth describes the suffering of OCD and the fright of everyday life for the older Catherine in a way makes the reader feel every emotion. It is obvious that she has been affected by something in the earlier period of her life but the way the book alternates between the two time periods the reader can never be sure of what until close to the end.

Catherine finds help in the form of a very patient neighbour, Stuart, but is he also too good to be true, can she trust him.

The end of the book is every bit as tense as the rest. No spoilers so no more about the plot.I have reread this blog and have rewritten it twice. Why? Two reasons.

Firstly I don’t think I’m doing the book justice. It really is brilliant.

Secondly, no matter how I try to describe it I make it sound like a book, or story, for women. It isn’t, it’s far from it. I would recommend this book to everybody.

It’s a hard hitting, fast paced, brutal, erotic, thriller that should be read by everybody.