#BlogTour Fault Lines by Doug Johnstone

#BlogTour

Fault Lines

by

Doug Johnstone

Hello and welcome to my stop on the #BlogTour for Doug Johnstone's Fault Lines.. Massive thanks goes to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for organising this tour and a huge thanks also goes to the author and Orenda Books for the copy to read and review.

"A thriller with twists and turns that keeps you guessing all the way through the book"

Blurb:

In a reimagined contemporary Edinburgh, where a tectonic fault has opened up to produce a new volcano in the Firth of Forth, and where tremors are an everyday occurrence, volcanologist Surtsey makes a shocking discovery.

On a clandestine trip to new volcanic island The Inch, to meet Tom, her lover and her boss, she finds his lifeless body, and makes the fatal decision to keep their affair, and her discovery, a secret.

Desperate to know how he died, but also terrified she'll be exposed, Surtsey's life quickly spirals into a nightmare when someone makes contact - someone who claims to know what she's done...

Review:

This was the first book that I read by Doug Johnstone so I went into this with an open mind. To start with, whilst reading what the book was about I thought what a cool idea it was to think that there was a volcano in Edinburgh. I also thought how on earth will this fit in, in a whodunit thriller and how will the author use it as part of the story line. Well, it did not take long to get to know Scotland's latest tourist attraction The Inch. From the very beginning you are there and boom!.. A dead body has been found. No scene setting, no back story just straight into the action. I really like books like this as you are already working your brain and preparing for the next information on the trail to find out how they have died.

Thinking about it, I don't know if I have ever read a book set in Edinburgh before, although I have been on a couple of occasions and always enjoyed it there. This was one thing I enjoyed as it was somewhere different than the usual UK hotspots.

The pages turned very fast as the story built, along with the short chapters it meant there were always plenty of  "just one more chapter" moments, even though your eyes were sore and you needed to sleep. The book itself was short compared with a lot of books but the pages were packed with twist after twist. If you don't always have time to read, this book will be perfect for you.

I really loved the characters in this book. Surtsey the main character was great to follow. Not only was her married lover dead but she was also, along with her sister having to deal with her mother, who has a terminal disease. I found this a sub plot in the book which was very sad but also very real. It shows that in life different people handle things like this in different ways.

I really enjoyed this book. It had everything a good thriller should have and this will definitely not be my last book I read by Doug Johnstone. If like me, you love thrillers I fully recommend giving this book a go you will not be disappointed.... Well I say that, but I think next time I go to Edinburgh I may be disappointed when there is no volcano for me to visit...

This book is out now on E-Book and published in Paperback on 22 May 2018..

About the Author:

Doug Johnstone is an author, journalist and musician based in Edinburgh. He's has eight novels published, most recently Crash Land. His previous novel, The Jump, was a finalist for the Mcllvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year. Doug is also a Royal Literary Fund Consultant Fellow. He's worked as an RLF Fellow at Queen Margaret University, taught creative writing at Strathclyde University and been Writer in Residence at Strathclyde University and William Purves Funeral Directors. He mentors and assesses manuscripts for The Literary Consultancy and regularly tutors at Moniack Mhor writing retreat. Doug has released seven albums in various bands, reviews books for the Big Issue, is a player-manager for Scotland Writers Football Club and has a PhD in Nuclear Physics..