#Blogtour The Wish by Heather Morris

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Wish by Heather Morris. Published by Zaffre Books on 11th of September 2025. Tour run courtesy of Random Things Tours.

About the Author

Heather Morris is an international no.1 bestseller and has sold over 19 million copies worldwide. This brand-new novel is a fresh direction for Heather but speaks to all the themes that readers know and love her for: hope in the darkest of places, family, love and courage.

Born in New Zealand, Heather Morris is passionate about stories of survival, resilience and hope. In 2003, while working in a large public hospital in Melbourne, Heather was introduced to an elderly gentleman who 'might just have a story worth telling'. The day she met Lale Sokolov changed both their lives. Lale's story formed the basis for The Tattooist of Auschwitz and the follow-up novel, Cilka's Journey. 

In 2021 she published the phenomenal conclusion to the Tattooist trilogy, Three Sisters, after being asked to tell the story of three Holocaust survivors who knew Lale from their time in Auschwitz Birkenau. Together, her novels have sold more than 18 million copies worldwide. Sisters Under the Rising Sun, a heart-wrenching novel based upon the experiences of women in Japanese POW camps, was published in 2023 to great acclaim. Heather's first contemporary novel, The Wish, will be published in September 2025. 

About the book

From the international No. 1 bestselling author Heather Morris comes a heartbreaking contemporary novel of a dying teenager's final wish, a lonely young man's journey towards connection, and the unexpected friendship they find together. Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Jodi Picoult, and John Green. 

Jesse is 15. She loves her friends, her little brother and her parents - even when they're arguing, which feels like constantly these days. But most of all, she loves playing video games. Even from her hospital bed. 

Alex is 29. He doesn't love a lot of things. To be honest, he's not really sure he knows how to. His desk at work, as VR games designer, is empty, much like his life feels sometimes. 

Then Jesse makes a wish. A simple one: a video experience made of her life, something to be there, just in case she isn't. One loving teenager. One lonely adult. Which one will get the happy ending?

Review

In a way the grief of a sudden death differs from one after a prolonged illness. The illness in itself becomes part of a strange grieving process with the possibility of saying goodbye. This story encapsulates the many ripples a tragic death can cause, especially when the dying person is a child or young person. It's perhaps the biggest tragedy, when a short life comes to an end. No time to experience life, to encounter different versions of themselves and the constant reminder of a ticking clock.

The moments experiencing life without the medical constraints and limitations of physical illness are perhaps the most tragic. Conversations with the universe, the sea, the world around her. The sea and waves that speak to Jesse all elements of a freedom and a future she craves.

The essence of the story is more about the way human connections can bring forth a strength, resilience and power that is undeniably an element specific to our race. Sometimes we are powerless in the face of tragedy, how we continue and how we face life afterwards is an individual journey that becomes easier when the path travelled is a shared one.

Morris is quite adept at pulling heartstrings and creating a story that remains with us in more ways than one.

Buy The Wish at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published by Zaffre in Hardback, eBook, and Audio pub date 11th September 2025. Buy at Amazon com. Buy via Bookshop org.

#Blogtour The Disappearance by Remigiusz Mróz

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Disappearance by Remigiusz Mróz. 'The no.1 bestselling crime thriller - now a hit TV series.'

About the Author

Remigiusz Mróz is the author of over 50 novels across 9 series and various standalones and is recognised as the most popular author in Poland according to the National Survey and the Nielsen Bookscan. He has sold eleven million books in Poland alone, with each book becoming a bestselling and remaining in the charts for several months post publication. Remigiusz's work has been sold in multiple territories including Germany, Italy, Japan, Czech Republic, Hungary, UK and more. Follow @remigiuszmroz on X

About the book

A three-year-old girl disappears without a trace from her wealthy parents' summer house. The alarm was on all night long and the windows and doors were locked. Investigators do not find any evidence of an abduction and fear the worst.

Experienced lawyer, Joanna Chylka, and her novice protégé, Kordian Orynski, are tasked with defending a married couple charged with murder by the prosecutor's office. The trial is circumstantial in nature, but everything seems to point to the parents' guilt - after all, when you eliminate what is impossible, whatever remains must be the truth.

Review

I think Joanna Chylka doesn't really fit into the norm when it comes to being a lawyer or a sleuth. She adheres to the rule of laugh - sometimes. She isn't frightened to stand up to and stare down those who are in her way. She excels at the game of law and enjoys the sparring in equal measures.

This new case she has been drawn into is a bit of a conundrum. A missing child, a locked room/hose scenario and two parents who appear to have secrets to hide. Suspicion soon falls on the parents, which means Joanna has to try and defend them, and as she says quite eloquently - she doesn't need to know whether they are guilty or innocent. Not sure her colleague Kordian feels the same way though.

With that in mind - the apparent misbalance in attitude and approach towards the legal and criminal aspects of the case - makes the end of the story even more interesting. In fact it is enough to make you wonder how much of the professional persona is an act, because it is thrown out of the window when a choice between life or death has to be made.

I really enjoyed the more fractured, often stoic approach and the overall voice and style of this author. I would definitely recommend and read more.

Buy The Disappearance at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏:  Zaffre, pub date 5 Dec. 2024.

#Blogtour I Will Find The Key by Alex Ahndoril

A brilliant murder mystery from Alex Ahndoril, the new pseudonym for the No.1 international bestselling author, Lars Kepler.

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour I Will Find The Key by Alex Ahndoril.

About the Author

Alex Ahndoril is pseudonym of the best-selling Swedish crime author Lars Kepler

About the book

A man walks into a private investigator's office, holds up a photograph and says: 'I want you to find out if I killed this man.'

Private investigator Julia Stark receives an unannounced visit at the office. The man at the door is one of the owners of a successful family business. The day before, he was present at a board meeting and dinner at his estate in the northwestern part of Sweden. The following morning, he finds a photograph in his phone of a bloody man, tied up with a bag over his head.

Due to alcohol-related amnesia, the man has no idea where the picture comes from and wants to hire Stark Detective Agency to clear his name before the police get involved. Julia asks her ex-husband Sidney Mendelson to take time off from the City Police and assist her in the investigation. There is still a glimmer of hope left in Julia that this might be her chance to win him back.

Welcomed as guests at the opulent estate, Julia and Sidney begin to search for the truth while dining and socializing with each of the family members that could theoretically be involved in the murder. She's solved every mystery. But none like this . . .

Review

With pseudonyms I think it is best to put any prior knowledge of the author behind the pseudonym and their work to the far back of your mind. The whole point is being able to approach writing and/or genres without being bogged down with the expectation of previous successes or failures. Seeing and experiencing them and their work like a tabula rasa. Saying that I'd completely forgotten this is Lars Kepler.

I enjoyed the way the setting stepped away from the easy grasp and availability of modern sleuthing and instead took the reader back to old school basics, a tinge of Christie and Doyle I think. An old mansion and playing the part with cocktails and the proper etiquette for dinner.

I must admit there isn't much clarity on how Julia arrives at a lot of her insights and often appears to be taking part in her own version of Tommy and Tuppence - the post-divorce era of course. I can imagine this being highly entertaining in a screen version.

Does the author step away from preconceived notions - absolutely. In fact let's see more from Ahndoril. Is this the first of many crime encounters and mysteries for the Stark Detective Agency? Will we find out more about what makes Julia and Sid tick, especially as an ex-couple and as a newly formed work team. I'm looking forward to finding out.

Buy I Will Find The Key at Amazon Uk  or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Zaffre; pub date 7 Nov. 2024. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Traitor by Chris Ryan

It's my turn on the Blogtour Traitor by Chris Ryan. 'It's an epic, bullet-fast thriller from no.1 bestselling SAS hero, Chris Ryan.'

About the Author

Chris Ryan was born in Newcastle. In 1984 he joined 22 SAS. After completing the year-long Alpine Guides Course, he was the troop guide for B Squadron Mountain Troop. He completed three tours with the anti-terrorist team, serving as an assaulter, sniper and finally Sniper Team Commander.

Chris was part of the SAS eight-man team chosen for the famous Bravo Two Zero mission during the 1991 Gulf War. He was the only member of the unit to escape from Iraq, where three of his colleagues were killed and four captured, for which he was awarded the Military Medal. Chris wrote about his experiences in his book The One That Got Away, which became an immediate bestseller. Since then he has written over fifty books and presented a number of very successful TV programmes. Follow @ChrisRyanMM on X

About the book

A year after his older brother made the ultimate sacrifice, Sergeant Major Luke Carter, decorated hero of 22 SAS, is sent to Perth on a recruiting job. His orders: select two candidates from the SASR for a highly sensitive mission on foreign soil.

But when a sudden crisis threatens to derail the plan, Carter and his new colleagues find themselves forced into action on a high-stakes operation. One that has the potential to change the course of the war in Ukraine. So begins a deadly game of predator and prey, moving from the streets of Minsk to the cliffs above the Black Sea. And a final showdown with the biggest target of all...

Review

Carter has been tasked with recruiting members for a very small team for an as yet unknown secret assignment that has the potential to change the outcome of the war in Ukraine. Not everyone is a willing pick, and some of them have a dodgy past. 

I liked the fact the author set this in our most recent war skirmish of 2024 scenario. It gives the subject matter a validity that can't be denied or hidden under the veil of historical fiction. Ongoing as we speak, possible scenarios being executed.

One of the things I take away from this read is the feeling that in the end the person on the frontline is always expendable to those pulling the strings and calling the shots. There is a distinct lack of humanity in decision making, and it's important there is a recognition of a core fact - the correlation between war, losses and betrayal of soldier or operative on the ground - is always the upper echelon and the often inexperienced sat in positions of power.

It's a fast-paced brutally honest military story, it hits the core of feet on the ground, the impact of combat and the importance of trust in groups relying on each other to watch their backs. I note that special ops with a militia type task are often somewhere in between enemy and ally, and that fragile position can put an immeasurable strain on even the strongest of warriors.

The author delivers action, frank dialogue, a window into the impact of soldiering on the front, and an excellent read.

Buy Traitor at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Zaffre; pub date 23 May 2024. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Sisters Under the Rising Sun by Heather Morris

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Sisters Under the Rising Sun by Heather Morris.

About the Author

Born in New Zealand, Heather Morris is an international number one bestselling author, who is passionate about stories of survival, resilience and hope. In 2003, while working in a large public hospital in Melbourne, Heather was introduced to an elderly gentleman who 'might just have a story worth telling'. The day she met Lale Sokolov changed both their lives. Lale's story formed the basis for The Tattooist of Auschwitz and the follow-up novel, Cilka's Journey. 

In 2021 she published the phenomenal conclusion to the Tattooist trilogy, Three Sisters, after being asked to tell the story of three Holocaust survivors who knew Lale from their time in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Together, her novels have sold more than 16 million copies worldwide. In 2020 she published Stories of Hope, her account of her journey to writing the story of Lale Sokolov's life.

About the book

Sisters under the Rising Sun tells the story of a group of women from Australia, England, the Netherlands and beyond, who were captured by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1942 and held in brutal conditions in a camp in the Indonesian jungle. 

Mainly based upon the real-life experiences of Australian nurse Sister Nesta James and English musician Norah Chambers, who, after surviving a brutal 24 hours in the sea, reached the beaches of a remote island, only to be captured by the Japanese and held in one of their notorious POW camps – places of starvation and brutality, where disease runs rampant. Sisters in arms, Norah and Nesta fight side by side every day, discovering in themselves and each other extraordinary reserves of courage, resourcefulness and determination.

Sisters under the Rising Sun is a story of women in war, exploring the powerful bonds of sisterhood of over 500 hundred women who struggled and survived together for nearly four years in the darkest of circumstances.

Review

I think it's always important to shed a light on moments in history that tend to be given less attention and are thereby sort of forgotten somewhere along the way. The actions of the Japanese military during WW2, especially in regard to their treatment of their enemies, prisoners and the many innocent who crossed their paths, are grossly minimised in comparison to other atrocities. 

Whilst I was aware of treatment in internment camps, and the massacres they were guilty of, for instance the Bangka Island massacre mentioned in this story, I wasn't aware of the pressure and limitations placed upon the female survivor/s to keep certain elements of the massacre under wraps. It's unforgivable, a tragic scandal at the cost of survivors that their own government made them lie about the brutal assaults the women were subjected to before being massacred.

Much like their attitude towards the girls (many still children) and women forced to become Comfort Women - the Japanese have a long history of lack of accountability.

Kudos to the author for giving a voice to these forgotten victims, the brave women who endured and helped others to survive, cope and then went about their lives as if they weren't an incredibly important part of history. That sentiment of a voice counts in equal measure for those who didn't survive.

It's a story of courage, perseverance, the extraordinary strength they showed and the bonds the women in this story created in the most dire situation.

Buy Sisters of the Rising Sun at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published by Zaffre | 28th September 2023 - Hardback, £20 | Also available in eBook and Audio. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour This Wild, Wild Country by Inga Vesper

It's my turn on the BlogTour This Wild, Wild Country by Inga Vesper - the captivating new mystery from the author of The Long, Long Afternoon.

About the Author

Inga Vesper is a journalist and editor. She moved to the UK from Germany to work as a carer, before the urge to write and explore brought her to journalism. As a reporter, she covered the coroner's court and was able to observe how family, neighbours and police react to a suspicious death. Inga has worked in Syria and Tanzania, but now lives in Glasgow, because there's no better way to find a good story than eavesdropping on the chatter in a Scottish cafe on a rainy day. Follow @wekesperos on Twitter,

About the book

Three women. An isolated town. A decades-old mystery. - They hate me down there, in Boldville. I can read it in their eyes, smell it on their noxious breaths. That dreaded little town hates everything about me: not just my personality and form, the clothes I wear, but the way I think. The things that I know.

1933. Cornelia Stover is headstrong and business-minded - not the kind of woman the men of Boldville, New Mexico, expect her to be. Then she stumbles upon a secret hidden out in the hills . . .

1970. Decades later, Joanna Riley, a former cop, packs up her car in the middle of the night and drives west, fleeing an abusive marriage and a life she can no longer bear. Eventually, she runs out of gas and finds herself in Boldville, a sleepy desert town in the foothills of the Gila Mountains.

Joanna was looking for somewhere to retreat, to hide, but something is off about this place. In a commune on the outskirts a young man has been found dead and Joanna knows a cover up when she sees it. Soon, she and Glitter, a young, disaffected hippie, find themselves caught up in a dark mystery that goes to the very heart of Boldville, where for too long people have kept their eyes shut and turned their heads away. A mystery that leads them all the way back to the unexplained disappearance of Glitter's grandmother Cornelia forty years before . . .

Review

For me the veins of gold in this story - pun totally intended - are the moments in history that have been retold through the lens of those who write history. Predominantly white men, who speak of free love, rebellion, lack of boundaries and peace. What would those historical movements look like if told through the lens of women, but stripped down to the bare facts without the flowy, flowery, drug-fuelled unicorn fluff of that era.

How many people have shoved their own MeToo moments into a box and labelled it all part of the hippie culture and free love movement. Then swallowed those moments and the trauma eventually surfaces when the confines of those times no longer have any validity. Often things are merely in vogue or the way the voice of the people rises above the norms of society with loud murmurs of discontent.

It's interesting how those murmurs and attempts at changing the status quo are recalled. A certain element of irresponsibility and lack of clarity, a minor blip of youth experimentation. The reality hidden behind the exterior of talk of peace and harmony.

In a way all of the main characters share their own moments in history where they are stereotyped, abused and oppressed, which is where their paths meet. It's an interesting second book from this author, and has its place when you consider the first book. A mystery hidden in a forest full of issues, emotional baggage, and a story of women. I wonder where the story and the author will lead us next.

Buy This Wild, Wild Country at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Bonnier Zaffre - Manilla Press pub date 4 Aug. 2022. Buy at Amazon com.

29 Seconds by T.M. Logan

What I enjoyed most about 29 Seconds is the way the author changed the playbook. As a reader you think you know exactly what kind of read you're in for after the introduction to Sarah and the predator at her heels, then suddenly the focus changes entirely.

The topic of sexual harassment is on the tip of everyone's tongue at the moment, due to the revelations about Weinstein and quite a few other Hollywood bigwigs. The #MeToo movement has resulted in a landslide of women and men coming forward to talk about their experiences at the hands of abusers.

Sarah finds herself, like many other women, in a daily struggle to avoid the advances of the man in charge of all of her possible career advancements. Technically it doesn't mean she can't get a promotion or be acknowledged for her academic achievements if she is willing to do what he wants and when he wants it. Imagine being blackmailed for sexual favours every single day and trying to fight the systemic abuse our society ignores on a major scale.

How many times are the victims demeaned, destroyed and ridiculed when they try to expose the abusers. To Invalidate and blame the victim is the name of the game. Not really surprising that victims don't speak out against their abusers.

For me the most intriguing part of the premise was the question. I'll admit I pondered what my response would be, would have been fifteen years ago and which person I would pick. So the answer for me is a yes, and I wouldn't worry about it like Sarah or suffer from a guilty conscience either. By the way don't tell the police I said that.

Logan writes a captivating story, which is driven by the protagonists desperation and fear. It's a premise, which will make readers think and definitely talk about the book. Both the sexual harassment and the possibility of a crime without repercussions are excellent standalone topics for a story, but together they make an exceptional read.

Logan knows how to capture the heartbeat of public opinion and describe exactly what we wish for in the dark recesses of our minds. The only thing I want to know is, where is my Russian?

Buy 29 Seconds at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Follow @TMLoganAuthor @BonnierZaffre

Genuine Fraud by E.Lockhart

There are definitely comparisons to be drawn to The Talented Mr Ripley, just with main characters of the opposite gender.

I think at one point I lost the plot and wasn't sure who was pretending to be whom. It was a wee bit confusing at times, which is probably what made this a less enjoyable read. Too disjointed, and not enough clarification.

We begin at the end and return to the beginning to understand how Jules and Imogen get to know each other, and how the two of them end up the way they do. The longing for a connection and a friendship leaves one of them dead and the other hiding.

It's a story of lies, delusions and about the social status of each girl. How the desire to belong and be friends becomes an obsession, which culminates in an uncontrollable internal anger.

Personally I think the story was flighty and underdeveloped. It lacked clarity, and the characters were weak versions of what they should have been. It could have been so much more, despite the similarities to the aforementioned book.

Buy Genuine Fraud at Amazon UK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Follow @elockhart  @BonnierZaffre