Book Review: Liar Liar by Mel Sherratt
Hello to Mel Sherratt and the blog tour for her latest novel, Liar Liar, released on eBook by Avon on 10th February.
The truth can be a dangerous thing…
When a young boy falls from a balcony in a block of flats, DS Grace Allendale witnesses the shocking aftermath of the tragic event. But strangely, no one will admit to seeing anything – and the parents will only tell the police that it was an accident.
Determined to sort the truth from the lies, Grace is thrown into a case that takes her to the darkest corners of the criminal world – and strikes closer to home than she could have ever imagined…
Liar Liar is the third novel in the DS Grace Allendale series.
Grace witnesses the aftermath of a tragic event. A young boy has fallen from the balcony at a block of flats.
No one will admit they saw anything. The parents are saying it was an accident. The evidence says different.
Can Grace find the truth as she’s one again thrown into the darkest corners of the criminal underworld?
Welcome back Mel!
It was so good to be back with Grace. She has become one of my favourite fictional detectives. There is something real about her. I get the feeling that there is so much about her we still don’t know. She has many layers and I look forward to discovering more (please let there be more, Mel.)
This is the third book in the series but it can be read as a standalone. I do recommend the first two books though (Hush Hush and Tick Tock.) They are excellent.
This book deals with some heavy themes, including a crime against a child but it does it with compassion.
The tension builds incredibly well as breadcrumbs are left all the way through the plot to the unseen conclusion.
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Book Extract: Her Outback Driver by Giulia Skye
A big welcome to Giulia Skye and the blog tour for her novel, Her Outback Driver. Giulia has shared an extract with us but first, here’s a little about the book…
When former Olympic champion, Michael Adams—now Canada’s hottest reality TV star—insults his fake showbiz wife on social media, he jumps on the first flight to Australia to escape the ensuing scandal. Desperate to experience ordinary life again—if only for a few weeks—he becomes “Adam”; just another tourist exploring the dusty Outback trails in a beat up truck. But with a reward out for his safe return and his fame’s nasty habit of catching up with him when he least expects, Adam needs a better disguise… and he’s just found one.
Tired of lies and liars, British Backpacker Evie Blake is taking a year out of her busy London life, looking for adventure to heal her broken heart. So when the hot Canadian she meets at the campground offers to drive her through Western Australia’s wild Kimberley region, she grabs the chance, unaware he has the world out looking for him. He’s just a down-on-his-luck traveler, right?
But when hot days turn into even hotter nights, how long does Adam have before Evie discovers who he really is?
If you want my opinion, it sounds amazing.
OK, so do you have a cup of tea… biscuits… a comfy chair? Excellent. Keep reading and enjoy.
***** beginning of extract*****
Extract intro: Her Outback Driver:
“Adam” is a Canadian celebrity-sportsman on the run from scandal, pretending to be an ordinary tourist on the Australian backpacker trail. Evie is a British backpacker working as a cleaner at the campground she’s been staying at. Adam has just arrived at the campground, very hot and very dirty after a few days on the road…
EXTRACT:
He grabbed his gel and towel, and stepped out of the truck. Man, this heat was intense. The air thick and heavy like soup. He wiped the towel over his sweat-slicked face, desperate for cold water on his skin. But when he reached the shower block, a sign stood in his way.
Closed for cleaning.
No frickin’ way.
“Hello?” he called, but when no reply came back, he stepped inside, thinking what the hell? He stripped and stood under the shower, turning the dial full blast toward the blue arrow. He’d be thirty seconds, sixty tops—just long enough to feel something cold on his skin and wash away the three-day grime. By the time the cleaning guy returned, he’d be cooled off, semi-dressed and out.
Only the water wasn’t cold and the cleaning guy not a guy at all.
Adam wiped soapy water from his eyes and focused on the figure standing before him. The cleaning guy was a young woman with huge brown eyes and sun-streaked hair scraped back into a tight knot on the top of her head, just like his favorite aunt Florence used to wear. Except Aunt Flo’s hair was gray and looked like wire, and she’d never before stood outside his shower gawping at his naked penis—unlike this bug-eyed stranger.
“The showers are closed,” the woman said to his bare butt as he whipped around. Her accent was flat and clipped—British—like royalty, though looking over his shoulder he saw nothing regal about her. She was dressed in dark green shorts and a dirty light-blue vest, damp with patches of sweat or water, or both. White earphones dangled around her neck. He turned off the shower.
“Didn’t you notice the bright yellow sign? The cleaning bucket? The distinct lack of shower curtain?”
Well, he’d ignored the sign and bucket, obviously, and throughout his career, he’d been in plenty of changing rooms at top sporting venues around the world all boasting a distinct lack of shower curtain. Okay, they were all a lot nicer than this dump, but he’d never been in a place like this before so how would he know?
“If you’d be so kind as to pass me my towel, I’ll get out of your way.”
She handed it to him, finally lifting her gaze to his face. Her eyes narrowed. He narrowed his own back, already picturing the headlines.
by Audiobook Review: The Wives by Tarryn Fisher
You’ve never met the other wives. None of you know each other, you see your husband only one day a week. Thursday. But you don’t care, you love him that much. Or at least that’s what you’ve told yourself…
And then, one day it all changes.
You thought you were fine with this, with only having a fraction of a husband. But you can’t help yourself, you start to dig. Begin tracking them down, the other days… Who is Monday and why does she have bruises on her arms? Is she being abused? By who? Her husband? Your husband?
What else is he keeping from you?
And who is he, really?
I was delighted to be invited onto the Audio tour for The Wives, the new thriller by Tarryn Fisher.
Thursday only gets to see her husband one day a week. She’s never met her husband’s other wives but she loves her husband. That’s what she’s told herself.
However, Thursday can’t help it. She starts tracking down the other wives. Who is Monday and where did the bruises on her arm come from?
What is her husband keeping from her? Who is he?
Our main character is Thursday, so named because her husband has two other wives and Thursday is the day she gets to see her husband, Seth.
The wives are allowed no communications with each other. That’s the rule.
Curiosity however gets the better of Thursday and her quest to find out more about the other wives sends her down a dark path.
I was lucky enough to be provided with an audio book copy for review and it added an additional aspect to the tension that builds up really well within the novel. Lauren Fortgang narrates this book so well. On the one occasion where I wasn’t able to use the audiobook copy and switched to my kindle, I found myself not reading very far and going back to the audiobook when I could. Lauren and Tarryn’s writing are a great combination.
The atmosphere in this novel is very chilling. I couldn’t figure out where this book was going to go and when I begin, I really couldn’t predict the twists the story was going to take. The plot is unlike any other books I have read in this genre.
by Novel Kicks Book Club: The Flatshare by Beth O’ Leary
Hello February.
I am a little late with this month’s book club read. I have to admit, February crept up on me a little.
So, without further ado, here’s more details about February’s pick, The Flatshare by Beth O’ Leary.
About The Flatshare:
Tiffy and Leon share a flat
Tiffy and Leon share a bed
Tiffy and Leon have never met…
Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.
But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window…
by Book Review: All The Rage by Cara Hunter
A girl is taken from the streets of Oxford. But it’s unlike any abduction DI Fawley’s seen before . . .
Faith Appleford was attacked, a plastic bag tied over her head, taken to an isolated location . . . and then, by some miracle, she escaped.
What’s more, when DC Erica Somer interviews Faith, she quickly becomes convinced that Faith knows who her abductor is.
Yet Faith refuses to press charges.
Without more evidence, it’s looking like the police may have to drop the case.
But what happens if Faith’s attacker strikes again?
I was very excited to be invited to take part in the blog tour for All The Rage, the latest book from Cara Hunter.
A girl is found in a state, walking along the side of the road. It is obvious she has been attacked.
DI Adam Fawley and his team have little to go on, especially as the victim doesn’t want to press charges.
When a second girl disappears, Adam knows time is short.
This story really played on my fears. I did creep myself out whilst reading, jumping at little noises.
Cara Hunter is becoming one of my favourite authors in this genre.
This story did have a slightly different feel than the others I’ve read but in my opinion, that wasn’t a bad thing.
by Book Club
