Tonight sees a second chance for anyone who missed us the first time round to see CrimeSquad.com editor Chris and I on TV competing in the final of the Specsavers Crime Thriller Club 2014 end of show quiz.
The show airs on ITV3 at 9pm BST.
Hope you enjoy…
M is For
Missing You by Harlan Coben, master of fast paced novels where the hidden pasts of ordinary people come back to haunt them with a killer twist at the end. Guaranteed thrillers.
N is For
Natural Causes by James Oswald. First of the so far four strong Inspector McLean series, fabulous reads that keep getting better and better. Carefully pictured here with what James calls a Heilan Coo cushion, because when he’s not writing he breeds these handsome cows.
O is For
On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle, if you like a good coffee and your crime a little cosier, head over to this coffee shop mystery series.
P is For
Payback by Kimberley Chambers. Welcome to the East End of London, where even your family doesn’t always have your back…
Q is For
Quentin Bates. Author of the Icelandic based novels featuring Officer Gunnhilder. Frozen Out is the first in this series atmospheric, dark and intricately plotted masterpieces.
R is For
Reykjavik Nights by Arnaldur Indridason. Another Icelandic based series, the 10th of Indridasons books to be translated into English sees us going back to the roots of my favourite damaged detective, Erlendur.
S is For
Sorrow Bound by David Mark. The third dark outing for DS Aector McAvoy.
Almost a month later than reaching the same target in 2013 I’ve just finished reading Crooked Herring by L C Tyler.
Which means I’ve finally reached the end of my 100th book of the year. It’s going to be tight if I’m going to beat last year’s target of 130 books read. … ;(
F is For
Flesh House by Stuart MacBride. Flesh House is the fourth book in the Logan McRae series and is the pivotal point where a good character becomes a great character. It’s dark, gruesome and you’ll never look at bacon the same way again.
G is For
The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly. Mickey Haller Book 5. The latest installment of just one of Michael Connelly’s fabulous series. If you love legal thrillers with a great twist, get into these.
H is For
Hostage by Kristina Ohlsson, I haven’t read this one yet but with its plot of a plane in flight being taken by force and being held for ransom it’s one I’m keen to read.
I is For
In The Dark by Mark Billingham. In The Dark was the first standalone novel that Billngham wrote after taking a break in his Tom Thorne series of novels. Since then however, main character Helen Weeks has appeared more often, crossing over and enhancing the Thorne books.
J is For
Joyland by Stephen King. I’ve only ever read one Stephen King novel, which was Mr Mercedes. I’m now moving on to try a few more recently adding this one to my TBR pile.
K is For
Kind of Cruel by Sophie Hannah. Always dark, detailed, and extremely well plotted, Sophie Hannah’s books are a guaranteed riveting read.
L is For
Long Way Home by Eva Dolan. Way too many good friends have told me this is brilliant. One day soon, I hope, I’ll get to find out…
Nigel never meant for it to happen. At first, he just wanted to be Matt’s friend. But when he discovers he can hear what is going on in the flat below him, his fascination with his new neighbour drifts into obsession.
Rearranging his furniture to recreate the layout of the rooms downstairs. Buying the same clothes, going through his post, his things. Becoming Matt without him ever knowing.
And it would have been all right, if Matt hadn’t brought the girl home.
When things spiral out of control, Detective Inspector Harland has to unravel the disturbing truth. But there’s far more to the case than meets the eye . . .
Creepy, disturbing and all too frighteningly plausible.
It’s been a while since I found myself completely unsettled by a novel but Cut Out certainly did that to me. This was probably not helped by the fact I stayed up until the wee small hours of the morning so I could finish the book in one sitting.
Cut Out leaves you in no doubt about the dark themes contained within from the very beginning, by opening with the highly gruesome and sadistic murder of a small time drug dealer, before moving on to the main story of Nigel, an isolated man, with little in the way of social skills who prefers to work from home than amongst his colleagues at the agency he photoshops pictures for.
When a new neighbour moves in downstairs, Nigel’s life is changed completely. Matt is everything Nigel wants to be, good looking, confident, a hit with the girls and after a friendly night in front of the TV as neighbours, Matt soon moves from Nigel’s role model, to the object of his obsession.
As his justification for his deeds becomes more irrational, and his actions more and more intrusive, it is soon clear not just how shocking his behaviour has become, but also how plausible it is for someone with access and a little technical knowledge to do the same to you.
Cut Out is the third of the DI Graham Harland books from Fergus McNeill and the first I’ve read. It works well as a stand alone not revealing much from the previous novels giving those like me a chance to not only enjoy this great read without feeling I was missing something and also giving me the chance to go back and explore an intriguing character. There are certainly questions I have from this book which have been answered already, making me keen to now seek them out.
In the meantime, I’m off to check just who has the keys to my flat……
A is for….
A Song For The Dying by Stuart MacBride. The second in the Ash Henderson series, this is a gritty, gripping tale that you won’t want to put down.
B is for….
Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes. High up in my To Be Read pile, I’m really keen to get to this one as it looks fabulous.
C is for….
Cut Out by Fergus McNeill. Book 3 in his series featuring DI Graham Harland, Cut Out had me up until the early hours of the morning determined to get it finished.
D is for….
Dead Men’s Dust by Matt Hilton. If you are a fan of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher or Robert Crais’ Elvis Cole & Joe Pike then you will love Matt Hilton. Dead Men’s Dust introduces us to Joe Hunter, a fabulous character who’s still going from strength to strength a fabulous 9 books later.
E is for….
Entry Island by Peter May. Shortlisted for the Specsavers Crime Thriller Book Club Award 2014, this is another book that has recently moved higher up my To Be Read pile.
‘Beautiful skin.’
It begins with a father calling his daughter, but whoever answers is not Pia but his daughter’s killer. He must listen, horrified, to the sounds of his only child being murdered, powerless to intervene as the killer utters two chilling words.
Most men’s thoughts would turn to vengeance but Pia’s father is far more resourceful than most. And he is not the reserved businessman his daughter always believed him to be, but Franco, a notorious London drug lord who will call in all his debts to find his daughter’s killer. Including the one owed to him by DI Tom Bevans.
Only Tom is a man haunted by grief; every unsolved case weighs heavily against his soul. And Tom has heard the killer’s words before.
The ghost of a case left unsolved.
The ghost of a marriage lost to a search.
The ghost of a woman whose only goal is vengeance
The ghost of a man trying to save his daughter
And the man trying to help them all when the ghost from his past calls in a favour.
DI Tom Bevans is The Sad Man, a man weighed down by his own actions and inactions of the past. Now he has a chance to catch a killer he was forced to stop investigating years before, a killer who left who left three girls dead and one seriously injured, a killer he is determined to bring to justice.
Franco has nothing but violence in his past. Having escaped his life once before, he would like to do so again for the sake of his teenage daughter, but someone has other plans, and now his daughter is missing.
The Summer of Ghosts is the second novel in the Dani Lancing series (there are also two accompanying short stories available), and one of those rare occasions where I believe it is best to have read the previous novel, The Last Winter of Dani Lancing, before embarking on reading this. It’s not a must, as what you need to know from the first novel in order to enjoy this one is covered in Summer of Ghosts, but if you want to read the first book later it does prove to be a bit of a spoiler, that said, I also believe that by reading them in order it is far more fulfilling series with greatly enriched characters.
Exploring the devastating effects of grief, the power of vengeance and the impact on the morality of those consumed by such feelings Summer of Ghosts is an interesting read.
Dani Lancing short stories The Ugly Man and The Sad Man, are also available and both are currently free on Kindle.
When I’m not reading, reviewing, attending festivals or generally indulging myself in all things to do with the crime genre, one of my favourite ways to relax is photography. I’ve often completed the odd monthly challenge on instagram set by Chantelle Ellem, otherwise known as FatMumSlim.
I haven’t done one for a while but the October challenge prompts were recently posted and I found that it was perfectly set up to enable me to combine that challenge with this blog.
Here’s the challenge board…. My plan is to find one book each day that fits the prompt, some I will have read, some I’m looking forward to, but all books in my possession that I hope some of you will enjoy.
You can follow my day to day progress on either my instagram account or my Blipfoto account and so you don’t get bombarded with posts on here I’ll do weekly wrap ups.
Wish me luck.
I got this delightful bunch of freebies courtesy of Cactus TV’s ITV3 show The Crime Thriller Club. These are the titles that are up for the Specsavers Crime Thriller Book Club Award 2014
For those that haven’t seen the show before look up Episode 2 of the 2014 season which aired on the 23rd September for a chance to see myself and my Crimesquad.com partner Chris in action in the end of show quiz.
And if you missed that show, don’t worry. There’s another chance to catch Chris and I in action being shown on Monday 20th October, ITV3 9PM BST
“To everyone else in this carriage I must look normal; I’m doing exactly what they do: commuting to work, making appointments, ticking things off lists.
Just goes to show.”
Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’ she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.
Then she sees something shocking. It’s only for a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough.
Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives show only watched from afar. Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train.
First things first, I’m simply going to say this….
Go Away and order this book now…
I guarantee when this book hits the shelves in January it is one that will be talked about just about everywhere. It’s simply that awesome. I can’t remember the last time I read a debut novel as original, gripping, and well written. I already know that I’m not going to shut up about this book for some time, and even with the wait for its release, it is one I am going to be recommending to anyone who asks me what I think they should be reading.
Published on the 15th January 2015, The Girl On The Train is epically timed for a cold, snow filled Saturday in front of the fire with some hot chocolate. It’s dark, disturbing and totally addictive so put your feet up, get yourself comfortable and settle in for a good few hours because you will not be able to put this book down until you have finished.
I really don’t want to say too much about the plot of the book as much of its greatness is down to the magnificent way all the twists and turns unravel before your eyes as the pages pass by.
The Girl On The Train is written in one of my favourite ‘journal type’ styles, in the main from the perspectives of Rachel and Megan, although there is another point of view to be discovered, and covers the months leading up to Megan’s disappearance and those of Rachel’s search for the truth. As the narrative switches between the two timelines, what is revealed is a fabulous tale full of all of the mixed up emotions of many suburban household couples, those that often come with second marriages, divorces, affairs, unrequited loves, job loss, boredom, and motherhood. It also has some of the most believable characters I’ve read in some time, and I felt it easy to identify with all the women involved at some point during the book.
Life of Cri.me 