#BlogTour Fragile by Sarah Hilary

 It's my turn on the BlogTour Fragile by Sarah Hilary.

About the Author

Sarah Hilary’s debut Someone Else’s Skin won the Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year, was a Richard & Judy Book Club pick and The Observer’s Book of the Month. In the US, it was a Silver Falchion and Macavity Award finalist. No Other Darkness, the second in the series, was shortlisted for a Barry Award. The sixth in her DI Marnie Rome series Never Be Broken is out now. Her short stories have won the Cheshire Prize for Literature, the Fish Criminally Short Histories Prize, and the SENSE prize.

Fragile is her first standalone novel. Sarah is one of the Killer Women, a crime writing collective supporting diversity, innovation and inclusion in their industry. 

Follow @sarah_hilary on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit sarahhilary.com 

About the book

A modern Gothic thriller from an award-winning and critically acclaimed author - a REBECCA for our times.

Nell Ballard is a runaway. A former foster child with a dark secret she is desperate to keep, all Nell wants is to find a place she can belong. So when a job comes up at Starling Villas, home to the enigmatic Robin Wilder, she seizes the opportunity with both hands. But her new lodgings may not be the safe haven that she was hoping for…

Review

It's a compelling psychological thriller that revolves around the inadequacies of a care system and forgotten children that fall through the loopholes. The damaged individuals that venture into society and often leave a mark behind, and sometimes not a good one.

Throughout the story the reader wonders whether Nell is damaged and fragile or is she damaged beyond repair and capable of manipulating the fragility of others. Victim? Or a victim who is beyond redemption? Or is she just someone who really wants to be loved and needed - then again she could be all of the aforementioned.

I love it when an established author reinvents their own wheel. If this was my first excursion with Hilary I would be noting her down as one to watch, however having read and experienced her writing previously I have to say she has been curtailing herself. This not only shows a real depth, darkness and ability to create multi-layered characters - it is also taking it up a notch from a writing perspective.

I have to say kudos for the last chapter. It does two things in a way, it reveals the two-faced doll and simultaneously gives credence to the plot and character that goes before it. I hope this isn't the last time Hilary delves into the dark side, she certainly seems comfortable there. 

Buy Fragile at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Pan MacMillan; pub date 10th June 2021 –  £14.99 HB. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour Never Be Broken by Sarah Hilary

Today it's my turn on the BlogTour Never Be Broken by Sarah Hilary. It's crime fiction with nuances of literary fiction.

About the Author
Sarah Hilary’s debut, Someone Else’s Skin, won Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year 2015 and was a World Book Night selection for 2016. The Observer’s Book of the Month (‘superbly disturbing’) and a Richard & Judy Book Club bestseller, it has been published worldwide. No Other Darkness, the second in the series was shortlisted for a Barry Award in the US. Her DI Marnie Rome series continued with Tastes Like Fear, Quieter Than Killing and Come And Find Me.

Follow @sarah_hilary on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit sarahhilary.com Buy Never Be Broken

About the book
Children are dying on London's streets. Frankie Reece, stabbed through the heart, outside a corner shop. Others recruited from care homes, picked up and exploited; passed like gifts between gangs. They are London's lost. Then Raphaela Belsham is killed. She's thirteen years old, her father is a man of influence, from a smart part of town. And she's white. Suddenly, the establishment is taking notice.

DS Noah Jake is determined to handle Raphaela's case and Frankie's too. But he's facing his own turmoil, and it's becoming an obsession. DI Marnie Rome is worried, and she needs Noah on side. Because more children are disappearing, more are being killed by the day and the swelling tide of violence needs to be stemmed before it's too late.

Review
I have to hand it to Hilary, it's no small feat to write crime fiction which has the written beauty of literary fiction. Whilst the reader enjoys the criminal aspect of the plot they can simultaneously float in the pleasure of the beautiful prose. I had to stop at times and just go over certain sentences or paragraphs again, and I would love to give an example of said moments, to just take in the words once more and let them sink in.

The violent crime takes place, as the main characters circle the events like distracted birds of prey. The prose initiates moments where the reader is taken out of the story then brought back to earth with a thrust of brusque reality. In doing so Hilary gives the reader a taste of her talents if released from the confines of the genre and also changes the experience of the read in regards to the crime element. I felt there was more of visceral connection to the characters because of it, especially to Noah.

The premise is very much in keeping with the Wild West scenario in London at the moment. The killing and murders of young people on a regular basis. The author describes the grooming that takes place, of young children and teens in areas of deprivation. Scouted from the very beginning and not given much choice in the matter. It's a join or be a target kind of gang culture.

At the centre of this story is DS Noah Jake, who is grieving the loss of his brother. His inner torment has manifested itself in visual and oral hallucinations, which Noah is reluctant to let go of. Letting the process of grief take place may mean saying goodbye to his brother forever.

It's crime fiction with nuances of literary fiction. Hilary is an excellent storyteller and writer, and is getting better with every book.

Buy Never Be Broken at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Headline; pub date 16 May 2019. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Headline.

#BlogTour Come and Find Me by Sarah Hilary

I missed my spot on this fantastic BlogTour Come and Find Me by Sara Hilary, due to personal circumstances. here is my blog post. Better late than never, eh? Thank you to Sarah Hilary and Headline Books for being so understanding.

About the Author
Sarah Hilary’s debut, Someone Else’s Skin, won Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year 2015 and was a World Book Night selection for 2016. The Observer’s Book of the Month (‘superbly disturbing’) and a Richard & Judy Book Club bestseller, it has been published worldwide. No Other Darkness, the second in the series was shortlisted for a Barry Award in the US. Her DI Marnie Rome series continued with Tastes Like Fear, and Quieter Than Killing.

Follow @sarah_hilary @headlinepg on Twitter
Visit sarahhilary.com
Buy Come and Find Me

About the book
On the surface, Lara Chorley and Ruth Hull have nothing in common, other than their infatuation with Michael Vokey. Each is writing to a sadistic inmate, sharing her secrets, whispering her worst fears, craving his attention.

DI Marnie Rome understands obsession. She’s finding it hard to give up her own addiction to a dangerous man: her foster brother, Stephen Keele. She wasn’t able to save her parents from Stephen. She lives with that guilt every day.

As the hunt for Vokey gathers pace, Marnie fears one of the women may have found him - and is about to pay the ultimate price...

Review
When the dangerous criminal Michael Vokey escapes, the suspicion quickly falls on the women he has been communicating with via written correspondence. Although guilty of a serious assault and abusive behaviour, he has managed to convince them of his innocence.

These women are like Charlie Manson groupies. It isn't just about saving Michael and getting justice for him, well in their minds it is, there is also some level of Hybristophilia involved. When being aroused is contingent on the object of arousal having committed some kind of atrocity. These women share something with DI Marnie Rome, they are all equally obsessed. Marnie just happens to be obsessed with the man who killed her parents and the reasons why he killed them.

Stephen is smack-bang in the middle of this story again, because he is an inmate at the prison where Michael was incarcerated. Now Michael Vokey is on the run and the police not only want to find him before he hurts someone or attacks his victim again, they also want to know how he managed to escape.

I really enjoyed the creepy occasional narrator - the voice of knowledge who sheds a light on everything and has a completely different perspective on all of the events. The other element of the story I found incredibly interesting was the focus on the criminal culpability when it comes to verbal coercion. This topic has been bandied around more in the last decade or so and legislation in the UK has taken a step forward when it comes to coercion and verbal abuse. If you tell someone suicidal to kill themselves shouldn't you be held accountable for your actions? Sometimes words are weapons and should be seen as such.

It's fair to say that Hilary has written a crime within a crime, which is hidden in the midst of a secret agenda and an unhealthy obsession. The obvious guilty party is guilty and yet innocent at the same time. There is no black or white scenario in this story, just many different shades of grey...dirty grey.

Buy Come and Find Me (DI Marnie Rome Book 5) at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published in paperback by Headline on 4th October 2018.