#Blogtour The Unravelling of Julia by Lisa Scottoline

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Unravelling of Julia by Lisa Scottoline. Published by No Exit Press, pub date 14th August 2025. Blogtour courtesy of Random Things Tours.

About the Author

Lisa Scottoline is a #1 bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author of 33 novels. Lisa has been President of Mystery Writers of America and she reviews fiction and non-fiction for the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. She has over 30 million copies of her books in print and is published in over 35 countries. She lives with an array of disobedient pets, and wouldn't have it any other way. Follow @lisascottoline on X

About the book

When Julia’s husband is brutally murdered in a random attack, her life unravels in ways she never could have foreseen. Haunted by his death and spiralling into despair, Julia seeks refuge in a secluded Italian villa she has mysteriously inherited from a stranger. But her sanctuary becomes a prison as she uncovers disturbing connections to her own past – and faces chilling threats that may not be imaginary.

Caught between a heritage she doesn’t understand and a darkness she can’t escape, Julia must confront secrets that could cost her what little she has left. The Unravelling of Julia is a gripping, atmospheric tale of grief, memory, and a descent into psychological terror that will keep readers turning pages deep into the night.

Review

If you take the astrology aspect and the way Julia becomes almost obsessive in her interpretation of horoscopes and messages, it's quite easy to follow how such open and leading statements could be perceived as personal by the reader. In this case Julia makes connections and creates patterns that are a self-fulfilling prophecy. Her natural instincts on the night her husband was murdered become predictive in nature, because the astrology supports her bias and messaging.

It's not a leap to say that someone in the throws of guilt and grief could find themselves in a vulnerable position, perhaps also equally unable to see clearly through a forest of sudden new acquisitions and acquaintances. Wealth, property in Italy and a mysterious benefactor to boot.

At first Julia is drawn in by the mystery, but soon things take a more sinister turn when the property overseas appears to come with built in ghosts and night terrors, and the nearby townspeople have a dislike for anyone associated with Julia's strange benefactor.

It's mystery built on top of a house of grief and a lifetime of questions about identity. The lengths people will go to eradicate any risk to their own agenda.

Buy The Unravelling of Julia at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Bedford Square Publisher - No Exit Press, pub date 14 August 2025. Buy at Amazon com. 

#Blogtour Death in Nonna's Kitchen by Alex Coombs

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Death in Nonna's Kitchen by Alex Coombs. It's the second book in the An Old Forge Café Mystery series.

About the Author

Alex Coombs was born in Lambeth in South London and studied Arabic at Oxford and Edinburgh Universities. Murder on the Menu was his first book in the new series: the Old Forge Café Mysteries. Alex lives in the Chilterns. Follow @AlexCoombsCrime on X

About the book

When famous TV chef Matteo McLeish turns up at the Old Forge Café and offers chef Charlie Hunter a place in his kitchen for the duration of Hampden Green’s local opera festival, she thinks it’s because he rates her cooking skills. In fact it’s because he’s heard she’s good in a crisis. The wholesome star of Nonna’s Kitchen is being blackmailed by one of his team.

Tempted by an improbably large pay cheque and the boost to to her CV, Charlie accepts his offer. Does the threat lie close to home, or back in Italy with Matteo’s culinary roots? And can Charlie find the blackmailer before she’s swept up in an avalanche of death and scandal?

Review

At first Charlie thinks Matteo the celebrity TV chef wants her for her kitchen talents, but it turns out her sleuthing skills are a much higher priority for him. Oh well, as long as everyone thinks Matteo has picked her to be part of his skilled staff, because she is an excellent chef, that's all that matters, right? Charlie doesn't take appearances that seriously, she does however put her restaurant first - always.

Matteo expects Charlie to find a blackmailer, a snake hidden among his own team. Someone intent on destroying his reputation and that of his loved one. At least it seems as if that is all that is at stake, until death comes knocking and that changes everything.

Although the cast of characters from the first book come into play, they do stand in the shadow of Matteo and his team of kitchen experts a wee bit. I'd love to see a little more of some of the characters who had quite comical moments before, although Charlie is definitely the one at the centre of everything. 

I can envision this as screen series, with plenty of food and dessert shots for the foodies of course, but it definitely has a quaint cosy mystery element to it, despite the fact it does wander into more subjects at times. This is the second book in the series, but it can absolutely be read as a standalone book. 

Buy Death in Nonna's Kitchen at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: No Exit Press; pub date 11 April 2024 - £9.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Honour Among Spies by Merle Nygate

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Honour Among Spies by Merle Nygate.

About the Author

Merle Nygate is a screenwriter, script editor, screenwriting lecturer and novelist; she's worked on BAFTA winning TV, New York Festival audio drama and written original sitcoms; previously she worked for BBC Comedy Commissioning as well as writing and script editing across multiple genres. Most recently, Merle completed her first espionage novel which won the Little Brown/UEA Crime Fiction Award. It was described by the judge as 'outstanding'. Follow @MerleNygate on X

About the book

Eli Amiram – Mossad's star spy runner – returns in this fast-moving and international spy thriller which sees two complex plots collide with a potentially apocalyptic outcome.

At the heart of London's spy operations, Mossad head of station Eli carries the scars of a past disaster while grappling with the turbulent political landscape back home. His resolve to uphold his duty and keep his job is tested like never before.

Desperate to tip the scales in the espionage game, Eli concocts a risky plan involving tampered drones destined for Russian hands. But to execute this plan, he has to exploit those closest to him. Eli's moral compass clashes with the mission, leading him down a treacherous path of betrayal.

As the stakes escalate, Eli finds himself embroiled in a deadly web, racing to foil an apocalyptic agenda. With the clock ticking, alliances are tested, sacrifices are made, and Eli must confront the consequence of his actions head-on.

Eli and his team must navigate a shadowy underworld to prevent a terrorist plot from unleashing chaos on a global scale. Will they emerge victorious, or will the darkness consume them all?

A must-read for fans of Homeland and NCIS, it will also appeal to readers of Charles Cumming and John le Carré.

Review

I enjoyed the way the two plots or threads came together, and also that one of them has a very distinct question of loyalty and truth attached to it. Ironically not necessarily the one you might expect. The story, which is a non-stop fast-paced story about the murky world of spydom. Not the raincoat meet on a foggy bridge and exchange prisoners kind of cold war world of spies, but the new cold war - an underbelly of politics and profit that really does not have much time for honour.

Although I am sure perpetrators would shout their grievance at that perception, they are of course in their own eyes driven by a code of honour, regardless of whether the core is religion, misogyny, racism or political affiliation. Can there be a honour or code as such between the people tasked with fighting this underbelly of threats, can it exist in this new version of cold war? The keeping countries, who are on the possible brink of starting the unforgiveable from breaking fragile peace - or what is called peace nowadays.

I have to admit I was fascinated by the title, perhaps more so because my brain automatically allocated a No to the title, which then made me wonder why I had that inner instinct. In this often brutally honest story, which is carried by the tactical ruthless characters, there is a glimpse of the humane and compassionate side of them they have to pack into a wee locked box, because the truth has to stay hidden at all times.

This brings me to the ethical compass Eli, and others, have to balance when it comes to their personal relationships. Can you ever live in a relationship of any kind when everything is based on lies and more lies? If you lie about who you are and what you do 24/7, then how can anything you say or do ever be trusted?

Of course that doesn't make Eli any less of a great asset in the world of espionage, but perhaps that world will always take centre stage, whilst everything and everyone else falls to the wayside.

It's a story that never stops moving, gaining impetus as grey areas become more frequent in this riveting spy thriller - in a story where good, bad, right or wrong are merely words and no longer have any meaning.

Buy Honour Among Spies at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : ‎No Exit Press; pub date 11 April 2024. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour An Honest Living by Dwyer Murphy

 It's my turn on the Blogtour An Honest Living by Dwyer Murphy.

About the Author

Dwyer Murphy is the editor-in-chief of Crime Reads, Literary Hub’s crime fiction vertical and the world’s most popular destination for thriller readers. He practised law at Debevoise and Plimpton in New York City, where he was alitigator, and served as editor of the Colombia Law Review. He was previously an Emerging Writer Fellow at the Centre for Fiction. Follow @DwyerMurphy on X.

About the book

Brooklyn, mid-2000s. After leaving behind the comforts of a prestigious law firm, a restless attorney attempts to make ends meet by picking up odd jobs from a colourful assortment of clients. When the mysterious Anna Reddick turns up at his apartment with ten thousand dollars in cash and asks him to track down her missing husband, he trusts it will be an easy case. 

That is until the real Anna Reddick shows up - a magnetic but unpredictable literary prodigy- and he finds himself out of his depth and drawn into a series of deceptions involving Joseph Conrad novels, unscrupulous booksellers and seedy real estate developers. Set against the tail end of the analogue era, An Honest Living is a gripping story of artistic ambition, obsession, and the small crimes we commit against one another every every day.

Review

It's gentle knock at the door, a reminder of a New York only some may recognise - it awakens a kind of familiarity, perhaps a certain element of nostalgia. Memories of faded experiences, less restricted coming together and an inclination to engage without thought.

The noirish vibe wanders hand in hand with a sharp tang of literary fiction, but is sometimes hampered by the instinctual need to outwit the viewer, dazzle the reader with facts, knowledge and shiny intellect. The result is that here and there some readers will leave the train early or find themselves stuck at a specific station stuck on a minor detail or the lack of one that is important to them.

In between jobs, the main character - a man of law - picks up what appears to be an easy task and a way to make a lot of money, but it actually turns out to be the foot in the door for trouble coming straight in his direction. He finds himself drawn into a world he can barely swim in, let alone survive successfully.

It's an interesting venture, possibly because it evokes a feeling of nostalgia for smoke filled rooms and crystal tumblers filled with booze that burns a hole in your throat. I enjoyed the oddly obsessive bookish element of the story - it's simultaneously obsessive, creepy and smacks equally of greed and possessiveness. It also captures the strange nature of the species called collector, although I have the greatest understanding when it comes to the elusive works of the literary world. 

Buy An Honest Living at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: No Exit Press; pub date 01. January, 2024. Buy via Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Weatherman by Royston Reeves

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Weatherman by Royston Reeves.

About the Author

Royston Reeves is a psychological thriller writer from Essex, England. After spending years in advertising writing TV scripts, newspaper ads and billboards, Royston’s first novel, The Weatherman, will be published in November 2023.

Reeves is the Head of Strategy for JOE Media and he currently lives in the Kent countryside with his wife, Carly, and daughter, Hunter-Rose. (Author pic - credit to Carly Cussen). Follow @royston_reeves on X

About the book

‘I’m going to tell you about the worst thing that ever happened to me.’

Will’s a nice guy. So when he takes a shortcut to the tube station after a few beers with his mates from work, he steps out of the way of the fellow who’s staggering towards him. But he – deliberately – moves back into his path. They knock each other as they pass.

Moments later one man is dead and another’s life is changed forever. Or is it? There are no CCTV cameras. There was no one else in the out-of-the-way alley. Maybe the world doesn’t have to end for Will after all. But there’s always someone watching . . . and Will’s life is about to implode.

Review

It's s great example of how quickly life can change - one minute all your ducks are in a row and the next you might or might not have committed a crime. The kind of crime that has the potential to destroy your life. Knowing that, would you put yourself at risk by doing the right thing?

Will likes to tell himself and us that he is a nice guy. Do nice guys commit crimes and then try to hide the fact - just walk away as if nothing ever happened at all. And what if someone else was aware of your secret and decided to profit from your fear and desperation? This element of feeling watched, judged and waiting to be exposed makes Will retreat into a former lived version of himself.

It's a riveting psychological thriller that plays with the grey areas between right and wrong, what is morally right when it comes to self preservation, and isn't it I wondered whether the introduction of Solly was more than just the nemesis. Was Solly the physical representation of Will's other more surprising character traits? The dark side that is obviously there inside just waiting to pop out.

Imagine Solly as the physical representation of a conscience and simultaneously also of the depths someone will go to to hide their true nature, especially when it gets them into trouble.

Buy The Weatherman at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher; No Exit Press,23 November 2023. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Eternals by Lisa Scottoline

It's my turn on the Blogtour Eternal by Lisa Scottoline.

About the Author

Lisa Scottoline is a #1 bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author of 33 novels. Lisa's books are book-club favorites, and she and her daughter Francesca Serritella have hosted an annual Big Book Club Party for over a thousand readers at her Pennsylvania farm, for the past twelve years. Lisa has been President of Mystery Writers of America and she reviews fiction and non-fiction for the New York Times, Washington Post, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

She also writes a weekly column with her daughter for The Philadelphia Inquirer entitled Chick Wit, a witty take on life from a woman's perspective, which have been collected in a bestselling series of humorous memoirs. Lisa graduated magna cum laude in three years from the University of Pennsylvania, with a B.A. degree in English, and cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she taught Justice & Fiction. She has over 30 million copies of her books in print and is published in over 35 countries. She lives with an array of disobedient pets, and wouldn't have it any other way. Follow @LisaScottoline on Twitter

About the book

What war destroys, only love can heal. - Elisabetta, Marco, and Sandro grow up as the best of friends despite their differences. Elisabetta is a feisty beauty who dreams of becoming a novelist; Marco the brash and athletic son in a family of professional cyclists; and Sandro a Jewish mathematics prodigy, kind-hearted and thoughtful, the son of a lawyer and a doctor. Their friendship blossoms to love, with both Sandro and Marco hoping to win Elisabetta's heart. But in the autumn of 1937, all of that begins to change as Mussolini asserts his power, aligning Italy's Fascists with Hitler's Nazis and altering the very laws that govern Rome. In time, everything that the three hold dear--their families, their homes, and their connection to one another--is tested in ways they never could have imagined.

As anti-Semitism takes legal root and World War II erupts, the threesome realizes that Mussolini was only the beginning. Against this backdrop, the intertwined fates of Elisabetta, Marco, Sandro, and their families will be decided, in a heartbreaking story of both the best and the worst that the world has to offer.

Unfolding over decades, Eternal is a tale of loyalty and loss, family and food, love and war--all set in one of the world's most beautiful cities at its darkest moment. This moving novel will be forever etched in the hearts and minds of readers.

Review

The author not only gives an excellent view of the slowly encroaching changes, as the future horror of the Nazi era is foreshadowed in small moments and reflected in different ways for the three main characters. Each one of them has their own burdens to carry, but some of them find their lives systematically eradicated for merely being the wrong kind of person.

What is really well described is the way the Jewish people especially, were in a state of disbelief to the point of not really wanting to believe the society, friends, neighbours and colleagues suddenly viewed them as enemies of the state. More than that, they were portrayed as evil incarnate and the root of things wrong. The good citizens who fought for their country, won accolades, were scientific pillars of their countries. Why would they suddenly fear the people who had previously sang their praises.

Why would men-in-arms, veterans be completely oblivious to the fact their brothers in combat now view them as the enemy. Mussolini's homegrown fascism is seen as a completely different entity to the fuelled hatred of the Nazi regime. You know what they say  - first they came for...and then...

As the division grows and the hatred spreads the lives and relationships of Marco, Sandro and Elisabetta are changed forever.

It's a coming-of-age story embedded in one of the most disruptive periods of history with richly drawn friendships, and the emotional minefields of young people laid bare. The norm becomes a new reality, a state of fear and constant betrayal is the new friend on their shoulders. This author knows how to tug on the heartstrings and keep readers captivated.               

Buy Eternal at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎No Exit Press; pub date 9 Mar. 2023. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour After You Were Gone by Vikki Wakefield

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour After You Were Gone by Vikki Wakefield.

About the Author

Vikki Wakefield writes fiction for young adults and adults. Her books explore family, class and relationships in a contemporary setting. Her novels All I Ever Wanted, Friday Brown, Inbetween Days and Ballad for a Mad Girl have been shortlisted for numerous awards. This Is How We Change The Ending won Book of the Year: Older Readers, Children’s Book Council Awards, 2020. After You Were Gone, a psychological thriller, is her first novel for adults. She is working on her second one. Follow @VikkiWakefield on Twitter

About the book

What happens to a family when a child goes missing? - In a busy street market, Abbie lets go of six-year-old Sarah’s hand. She isn’t a bad mother, just exhausted. When she turns around, her daughter isn’t there.

Six years later, Abbie is in love and getting married. But her fragile peace is constantly threatened: not knowing what happened to Sarah is like living with a curse. Then she receives a phone call from an unknown number. A man claims to know what happened to Sarah, but if Abbie tells anyone or fails to follow his instructions, she’ll never find out the truth.

After You Were Gone is an edge-of-your-seat thriller that poses the question: How far would you go to find your child?

Review

Abbie is exhausted when Sarah disappears, but she also doesn't expect a very short moment of not paying attention will lead to the permanent loss of her precious child. Without a trace and without an explanation, just gone. No wonder she jumps at the chance when a mysterious phone call could mean the end of her misery.

There are right fighters and there are people who will do anything to hurt you, even if it means taking the one thing that means the most to you. To destroy, to sever, even to kill. What kind of cruel intention must live on the shoulder of the kind of person who thinks nothing of committing the most nefarious crime against another human being.

It's a driven piece of work, where emotions live constantly on the cusp of causing an implosion or the complete shutdown. What strength and determination must it take to swim through the devastation of a loss for which you will always blame yourself. The kind of loss that will forever leave a gaping hole.

I found the last few chapters especially poignant, perhaps because it pulls on the invisible threads that bind, especially across the generations. The acknowledgement of past mistakes and the willingness to ensure the generational trauma doesn't carry on - well at least to try.

Buy After You Were Gone at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎No Exit Press; pub date 6 July 2023. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Our American Friend by Anna Pitoniak

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Our American Friend by Anna Pitoniak.

About the Author

Anna Pitoniak (Location: New York, USA) is the author of The Futures, Necessary People, and Our American Friend. She graduated from Yale, where she majored in English and was an editor at the Yale Daily News. She worked for many years in book publishing, most recently as a Senior Editor at Random House. Anna grew up in Whistler, British Columbia, and now lives in New York City. Follow @annapitoniak on Twitter

About the book

A mysterious First Lady. The intrepid journalist writing her biography. And the secret that could destroy them both.

Tired of covering the grating dysfunction of Washington and the increasingly outrageous antics of President Henry Caine, White House correspondent Sofie Morse quits her job and plans to leave politics behind. But when she gets a call from the office of First Lady Lara Caine, inviting her to come in for a private meeting with Lara, Sofie's curiosity is piqued. Sofie, like the rest of the world, knows little about Lara - only that she was born in Soviet Russia, raised in Paris, and worked as a model before moving to America and marrying the notoriously brash future president.

When Lara asks Sofie to write her official biography, and to finally fill in the gaps of her history, Sofie's curiosity gets the better of her. She begins to spend more and more time in the White House, slowly developing a bond with Lara.

As Lara's story unfolds, Sofie can't help but wonder why Lara is rehashing such sensitive information. Why tell Sofie? And why now? Suddenly Sofie is in the middle of a game of cat and mouse that could have explosive ramifications.

Review

If indeed the New York Times thought the soundbite - Emily in Paris meets Scandal - was an accurate description of this book, then methinks they didn't really read it properly. There is no comparison at all and it certainly doesn't do the story justice at all.

I actually think, if you take a small step back and allow for the current culture of misinformation, paranoia and lack of factual reporting in media - gossip and opinion is the new news - then I am sure this could probably become the framework for anyone living down a rabbit hole of conspiracies. Imagine for a moment if one were to take current well known figures in politics and this became their story.

Seen from that perspective it becomes more of a Falcon and the Snowman meets the new Cold War era of insidious intrigue, betrayal and a very instable relationship with loyalty or loyalty to country, because I am reluctant to throw out a word such as patriotism with its now often negative connotations. 

It's always interesting to draw comparisons to the post-war Cold War era and this new one, any hint of collaboration would have and indeed was often dealt with quite strictly. Now it seems as if enemies of old live in each others pockets and insert their influence on the wider world of politics and flaunt those collaborations without any fear of accountability.

It's an interesting piece, especially if you like your stories to take place like a subtle chess game with the a hint of old spy thriller woven into the chaotic politics and absurdity of the 21st century.

Buy Our American Friend at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: No Exit Press, pub date 29th June 2023 - Paperback Original. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour To Become an Outlaw by Peter Murphy

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour To Become an Outlaw by Peter Murphy.

'When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw' - Nelson Mandela

About the Author

Peter Murphy graduated from Cambridge University and spent a career in the law, as an advocate, teacher, and judge. He has worked both in England and the United States, and served for several years as counsel at the Yugoslavian War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. As well as Verbal, the seventh book in the Ben Schroeder series, he has written two political thrillers about the US presidency, Removal and Test of Resolve. His latest series, featuring Judge Walden, returned in 2019 with a fresh series of cases. He lives in Cambridgeshire.

About the book

1964, Apartheid South Africa. Danie du Plessis, the son of a conservative Afrikaner family, is poised to start a glittering legal academic career at one of South Africa's leading universities, when he falls in love with a student, Amy Coetzee. But there's a problem: he's white, she's not. Facing arrest, imprisonment and ruin, the couple flee South Africa, and settle in Cambridge, where friends find them positions at the University. They marry and have two children, and have seemingly put the past, and South Africa, behind them. But in 1968 Art Pienaar enters their lives, and, insisting that they have a duty to fight back, enlists their help in increasingly dangerous schemes to undermine the South African regime.

When Pienaar and a notorious drug dealer, Vince Cummings, are found murdered together, Danie's activities come to light, and he and his family find themselves in mortal danger. Danie is also threatened with criminal prosecution on behalf of a government desperate to maintain good relations with the apartheid regime. Danie knows he's sailed close to the wind. But has he become an outlaw? Can Ben Schroeder persuade a jury that the answer is no?

Review

I think this is an interesting one, and slightly different for this particular author. It wades into a complex political and human rights issue, that has faded into the chests of history a little. I can remember the global pressure and outcry to demand an end to apartheid. Of course that is what people tend to remember and not the many years of oppression, the victims of the segregation laws, and certainly not the nameless people fighting against the oppressive system.

In this eighth book in the Ben Schroeder series a question arise of what exactly constitutes an outlaw, a criminal - an enemy of the state. Aside from the minutiae details of the actual legal case, there is a bigger discussion about whether the people who fight against the rule of law of a country or state are indeed outlaws if the rule of law or the government/dictator in charge are guilty of the crime of oppression, human rights offences or any crime considered an atrocity to the greater world. 

The word domestic terrorist, activist, rebel and outlaw take on a completely different meaning when the opponent is cruel hatemonger. It's neither a lack or white answer - it all depends on each variable. It's an interesting legal crime read, which is fleshed out by the story that is very much the bigger picture in this premise.

Buy To Become an Outlaw at Amazon Uk . Publisher: No Exit Press; Published 21 April 2022 - Paperback - £9.99. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at No Exit Press.

#BlogTour Nick by Michael Farris Smith

 It's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Nick by Michael Farris Smith. - 'September marks the 125th Anniversary of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Birth - Nick Carraway steps out of the shadows and into the spotlight in this exhilarating prequel to The Great Gatsby, leading up to Carraway’s meeting with the enigmatic Jay Gatsby.'

About the Author

No Exit Press also publish Michael Farris Smith’s novels The Fighter, Desperation Road and most recently Blackwood. Farris Smith has been a finalist for the Gold Dagger Award in the UK, and the Grand Prix des Lectrices in France, and his essays have appeared in publications including The New York Times. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi, with his wife and daughters. Follow @michael_f_smith on Twitter, Visit michaelfarrissmith.com

About the book

This rich and imaginative novel from critically acclaimed author Michael Farris Smith breathes new life into a character that many know only from the periphery. Before Nick Carraway moved to West Egg and into Gatsby’s world, he was at the centre of a very different story – one taking place along the trenches and deep within the tunnels of World War I. Floundering in the wake of the destruction he witnessed first-hand, Nick embarks on a redemptive journey that takes him from a whirlwind Paris romance – doomed from the very beginning – to the dizzying frenzy of New Orleans, rife with its own flavour of debauchery and violence.

NICK is an inspired concept realised with delicate, rhythmic prose, profound characterisation and deep emotion. Charged with enough alcohol, heartbreak, and profound yearning to transfix even the heartiest of golden age scribes, NICK reveals the man behind the narrator who has captivated readers for decades.

Review

First and foremost I now have to go back and read The Great Gatsby again in order for this prequel of sorts to find a better lace in my reading experience and literary consciousness - Nick Carraway before he meets Jay Gatsby, the story previously untold.

The author makes a really interesting point in the foreword, which is probably something readers who go back to the same books now and again will be aware of. Your reading experience is always subjective and always seen through your own frame of reference. Those frame of references change depending on what age or stage of life you are currently in. It changes the way you interpret and experience the words you are reading.

Take that concept and adapt it to a book of notable literary fame and then consider the experience. The awed young reader, becomes the disenchanted one and the older reader is perhaps the one who comprehends as never before. It's an incredibly insightful thought. Now combine that with the fictional backstory of  a character from The Great Gatsby, hence now needing to read the GG again.

It absolutely helps that the author does this with an astute emotional connection to Nick, the prose is both lyrical and at times brutally frank, which lends itself to the creation of a beautiful piece of work. It's an homage to the work of scribes of the golden age.

Buy Nick at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎No Exit Press; pub date 24 Sept. 2021. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour Deep Cover by Leigh Russell

 It's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Deep Cover by Leigh Russell.

About the Author

Leigh Russell is the author of the Ian Peterson series (Cold Sacrifice, Race to Death and Blood Axe) and the internationally bestselling Geraldine Steel series: Cut Short, Road Closed, Dead End, Death Bed, Stop Dead, Fatal Act, Killer Plan, Murder Ring, Deadly Alibi, Class Murder, Death Rope, Rogue Killer, Deathly Affair and Deadly Revenge.

The series has sold over a million copies worldwide. Cut Short was shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association (CWA),John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award, and Leigh has been longlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library Award. Her books have been #1 on Amazon Kindle and iTunes with Stop Dead and Murder Ring selected as finalists for The People's Book Prize. Leigh is chair of the CWA's Debut Dagger Award judging panel and is a Royal Literary Fellow. Leigh studied at the University of Kent, gaining a Masters degree in English and American Literature. She is married with two daughters and a granddaughter, and lives in London. Follow @LeighRussell on Twitter, Visit leighrussell.co.uk

About the book

When a sex worker dies in suspicious circumstances in York, Detective Inspector Geraldine Steel struggles to remain focused on the murder investigation. She is distracted by her worries about her colleague and life partner, Ian Peterson, who has disappeared. Geraldine becomes close to her colleague, Matthew. She is unaware that Ian is working under cover in London, helping to identify a criminal gang who have been targeting Geraldine. As a second victim is discovered in York, Ian’s life is threatened by a psychopath. If he fails in his mission, both he and Geraldine may die...

Review

In this 16th installment of the DI Geraldine Steel series, the two main characters go in two different directions to combat crime in their own way. Their relationship has hit a snag, although it's fair to say one of them is both more aware and dealing with it with more finality than the other.

Is that why Ian has  more or less disappeared into an avenue of police work that ensures isolation and lack of contact to Geraldine, whereas she is confused by the aforementioned. In fact Geraldine thinks there is something wrong and finds it hard to concentrate on the killer who has a penchant for prostitutes.

In a police procedural of such longevity it's important to shake the status quo up now and again to keep readers engaged, even if that means driving a wedge between two favourite characters. In this case they are quite literally so separate that it's often like reading two crime stories in one. The question is where does the series go from here?  Does Steel need new challenges and a new character to bounce off and interact with? I'm sure the author won't disappoint.

Buy Deep Cover at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎No Exit Press pub date 24 Aug. 2021. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt

It's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt.

About the Author 

Chris Offutt is the author of the short-story collections Kentucky Straight and Out of theWoods, the novels The Good Brother, Country Dark and The Killing Hills, and three memoirs: The Same River Twice, No Heroes, and My Father, the Pornographer. 

His work has appeared in Best American Short Stories and Best American Essays, among many other places. He has written screenplays for Weeds, True Blood, and Treme, and has received fellowships from the Lannan and Guggenheim foundations.

Visit chrisoffutt.com for more information or find him on Twitter @chris_offutt

About the book

Mick Hardin, a combat veteran now working as an Army CID agent, is home on a leave that is almost done. His wife is about to give birth, but they aren't getting along. His sister, newly risen to sheriff, has just landed her first murder case, and local politicians are pushing for city police or the FBI to take the case. 

Are they convinced she can't handle it, or is there something else at work? She calls on Mick who, with his homicide investigation experience and familiarity with the terrain, is well-suited to staying under the radar. As he delves into the investigation, he dodges his commanding officer's increasingly urgent calls while attempting to head off further murders. And he needs to talk to his wife.

Review

The whole mule thing - I swear is there anything more backwoods? I mean, who does that? (Yes, it made me laugh)

Mick's sister has asked him for help in a murder investigation. She is finding it difficult to assert herself as a woman in male dominated field, especially because the men around her really want to see her fail. Mick on the other hand is dealing with the disintegration of his marriage and being blindsided by some uncomfortable truths. The question is whether they will get in the way of finding a killer.

I enjoyed the way the main character and the setting take equal standing and never overshadow each other, and that balancing act is a testament to the storytelling skills of the author. It gives the read a more realistic in the here and now feel.

Not sure why Offutt hasn't been on my radar before, but he certainly is now. His writing style and the way he draws the reader into the surroundings reminds me of Jane Harper. It's a gritty read with a subtle sarcasm, self-deprecating humour and the inside knowledge of the close-knit community. The ingrained sense of loyalties and of course the flip side of that are the cross generational feuds many of the families feed off and fuel.

On a final note, the way Offutt introduces possible future and past storylines, crimes and scenarios was both intriguing and an absolute way to hook a reader -hook, line and sinker. I need to find out about all these other crimes Mick is going to solve or not.

Buy The Killing Hills at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: No Exit Press; pub date 23 Nov 2021| Paperback Original £9.99 | Ebook available. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour Play The Red Queen by Juris Jurjevics

Today its a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Play The Red Queen by Juris Jurjevics.

About the Author

Juris Jurjevics (1943-2018) was born in Latvia and grew up in Displaced Persons camps in Germany before emigrating to the United States. He served in Vietnam for fourteen months, nine days, and two hours, his original departure date delayed by the Tet Offensive. He wrote two other novels, Red Flags and The Trudeau Vector, which was published in ten other countries. Publisher and co-founder of the Soho Press, Jurjevics worked for decades in the book industry.

Read more about books by Juris Jurjevics at Goodreads, on Amazon, Buy Play The Red Queen

About the book

Vietnam, 1963. A female Viet Cong assassin is trawling the boulevards of Saigon, catching US Army officers off-guard with a single pistol shot, then riding off on the back of a scooter. Although the US military is not officially in combat, sixteen thousand American servicemen are stationed in Vietnam “advising” the military and government. Among them are Ellsworth Miser and Clovis Robeson, two army investigators who have been tasked with tracking down the daring killer.

Set in the besieged capital of a new nation on the eve of the coup that would bring down the Diem regime and launch the Americans into the Vietnam War, Play the Red Queen is a tour de-force mystery-cum-social history, breathtakingly atmospheric and heartbreakingly alive with the laws and lawlessness of war.

Review

Whilst the story begins with the hunt for an experienced unapologetic assassin, who is taking out Americans in broad daylight on the streets of Saigon without a second thought - the story ends with betrayal. She is bold, fearless and is working on a schedule - a plan with consequences. She personifies the lack of gentleman's rule and white man's war game the Viet Cong became famous for - ruthless and anyone can be the enemy. 

It's been quite a while since I have read a story about the 'skirmish' in Vietnam that manages to catch it with such accuracy. Jurjevics writes this mystery war crime with the sharp tongue of a social commentary. One of the most contentious periods of the US political interference in foreign countries, which was never officially deemed as something on par with other wars, hence the word skirmish, despite the losses and trauma it left in its wake. It also opened up a controversy on homeland soil the likes of which the US is still recovering from and still apologising to its veterans for. Rightly so.

As the story leads the reader into the above events it's important to add a footnote that warfare against the VC was something the westerners were completely unprepared for and they experienced a completely different thought and tactical processes that cost many lives, killed many and left survivors with lifelong trauma and some never returned at all. 

Vietnam Veteran is a word bandied about without a lot of thought, but it's important to remember that they didn't and still don't receive the accolades survivors of other wars did and do. People find it really hard to separate the concept - soldiers act on orders and are not the ones making the decisions - the top brass and upper echelon does.

I think a great writing talent has been lost where Juris Jurjevics is concerned, but readers can take solace that he left a fantastic body of work in his wake. His books are infused with a stark sense of realism, due to his own experiences, which always gives the reader a different kind of experience. This book is one of those.

Buy Play The Red Queen at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: No Exit Press; pub date 12 Nov. 2020. Buy at Amazon com. At Hive. At Bookshop.org.

#BlogTour Verbal by Peter Murphy

Today it's my turn on the BlogTour Verbal by Peter Murphy.

About the Author 
Peter Murphy graduated from Cambridge University and spent a career in the law, as an advocate, teacher, and judge. He has worked both in England and the U.S., and served for several years as counsel at the Yugoslavian War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. He is the author of six historical/legal thrillers featuring Ben Schroeder, including A Matter for the Jury and And Is there Honey Still for Tea? The Heirs of Owain Glyndwr, Calling Down the Storm and One Law for the Rest of Us. He is also the author of the Walden of Bermondsey series. He lives in Cambridgeshire.

Follow on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit petermurphyauthor.co.uk, Buy Verbal

About the book
A clever, accomplished Cambridge graduate with a good job and an attentive lover, Imogen Lester seems to have the world at her feet. But when her parents are murdered abroad while working for the Diplomatic Service, she is suddenly thrown headlong into a murky world of espionage and organised crime.

When she is charged with drug trafficking, even Ben Schroeder’s skills may not be enough to save her – unless a shadowy figure from Ben’s past can survive long enough to unmask a web of graft and corruption…

Review
The world seems cruel enough when Imogen learns of the tragic brutal death of her parents in a foreign country. It appears as if they were in the middle of something politically complex and yet when Imogen returns to London and her world is turned upside down she realises there is so much more at stake than simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It's a legal thriller with elements of spydom, politics and police procedural. It's a fast paced read that takes the reader in the direction of one thing and wanders slowly into a dark layer of corruption.

I recommend reading the Author's Notes at the end of this story. It gives an interesting insight into the plot and the historical factual basis some of the story is based on.

When you read urban crime and police procedurals that take place in a certain timeframe there is most definitely a line drawn in the sand when it comes to corruption and reputation of the police. Mentioned under the almost amusing catch phrases of tough policing, turning a blind eye and a sense of fear that stemmed from knowing lawlesss often included the very men who were meant to uphold the law - it defined the way policing was perceived.

What worth does a system have when the people in charge are as corrupt as the criminals they are supposed to be apprehending? How much respect can they expect when everyone knows it isn't the truth or justice that counts, instead it is all about profit, greed and hiding the uncomfortable truth. You turn a blind eye for one thing and before you know it is worth your while to turn a blind eye to everything.

Murphy brings that element of the Flying Squad and their notorious corrupt ways, although they themselves would say they did enough good to balance out the occasional black mark. Easy enough to live by when you aren't the person who has to suffer from the corruption.

Kudos to Murphy for a great read and for the really well explained political and cultural landscape of former Yugoslavia.

Buy Verbal at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: No Exit Press; pub date 25 Jun. 2020. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at No Exit Press.

Read my review of Walden of Bermondsey by Peter Murphy.

#BlogTour When We Fall by Carolyn Kirby

Today it's the last day, but a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour When We Fall By Carolyn Kirby.

Based on the Katyn massacre of 1940, When We Fall is a moving historical novel of three lives forever altered by one fatal choice.

Carolyn Kirby - 'All of the victims of the Katyn massacre were men, except, remarkably, for one woman. And when I discovered that this woman, Janina Lewandowska, was a pilot, I knew that the Polish experience would become the heart of my novel… The story I tell is fiction, but it is one that I could not have begun to imagine without the remarkable life and death of Janina Lewandowska'

April - May 2020 marks 80 years since the Katyn massacre and 10th April 2020 also marks the 10th anniversary of the airline crash that killed top Polish dignitaries on their way to Russia to commemorate the atrocity.

About the Author
Carolyn Kirby is the author of The Conviction of Cora Burns which was longlisted for the Historical Writers’Association Debut Crown Award.

Before being a full-time writer, Carolyn worked in social housing and as a teacher. She has two grown-up daughters and lives with her husband in Oxfordshire.

Follow @novelcarolyn on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit Carolynkirby.com, Buy When We Fall

About the book
England, 1943. Lost in fog, Air Transport Auxiliary pilot Vee Katchatourian is forced to make an emergency landing where she meets enigmatic RAF airman Stefan Bergel, and then can’t get him out of her mind.

In occupied Poland, Ewa Hartman hosts German officers in her father’s guest house, while secretly gathering intelligence for the Polish resistance. Mourning her lover, Stefan, who was captured by the
Soviets at the start of the war, Ewa is shocked to see him on the street one day.

Haunted by a terrible choice he made in captivity, Stefan asks Vee and Ewa to help him expose one of the darkest secrets of the war. But it is not clear where everyone’s loyalties lie until they are tested.

Review
This is the story of Ewa, Vee and Stefan. Three people doing their part to win and survive the war, and reveal the dark secrets that have been hidden and used to fuel the anger towards the enemy.

Ewa is adjusting to her hometown being occupied by the Germans. She has been waiting for news from her lover, a prisoner of war courtesy of the Soviets. Vee is doing her part as a pilot for the Air Transport Auxiliary, and both women know Stefan Bergel. Stefan is a man scarred by his years as a prisoner and determined to make sure the world knows what happened to his comrades and who is responsible.

The propaganda machine of the Soviets was a very effective tool, as is the Russian one now, even in the 1940s. They didn't acknowledge or confirm their responsibility for the Katyn massacre until 1990. Instead they hid their atrocities alongside those of the Nazi regime - in plain sight. The NKVD were responsible for the deaths or rather executions of 22000 Polish military officers, police officers and intelligentisa. They were killed in a series of mass executions.

Polish intelligentsia were people arbitrarily identified as intelligence officers and imprisoned. I say arbitrarily, but they were men who held important positions in their communities. According to historians Stalin wanted to ensure any future Polish military power would struggle, due to a lack of leaders and talent. Sounds so rational and cold.

It's historical war fiction based on the true events of the Katyn massacre.

In a way Kirby shows us how so many lives became connected for the greater good and simultaneously also through unfathomable trauma. Bonds and tethers that remain throughout the years, regardless of which side they were on. This is what makes the ending of the book so perfectly imperfect.

It's another riveting read from Kirby.

Buy When We Fall at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: No Exit Press | pub date 7th May 2020 | Demy Paperback Original with flaps | eBook also available | £12.99. Buy at Amazon com.

Read my review of The Conviction of Cora Burns by Carolyn Kirby.