The Girlfriend
by
Michelle Frances
I picked up this book whilst shopping with my birthday gift vouchers earlier in the year. I have heard good things on Twitter about it and one of my work colleagues had read this and said it was good so I picked it up with another 5 books.
"The X-Files taught us to "Trust No One" this book proves they were right. A Cracking thriller"
Blurb:
A girl. A boy. His mother. And the lie she'll wish she'd never told.
Laura has it all. A successful career, a long marriage to a rich husband, and a 23 year old son, Daniel, who is kind, handsome and talented.
Then Daniel meets Cherry. Cherry is young, beautiful and smart but she hasn't had the same opportunities as Daniel. And she wants Laura's life.
Cherry comes to the family wide-eyed and wants to be welcomed with open arms, but Laura suspects she's not all that she seems.
When tragedy strikes, one of them tells an unforgivable lie - probably the worst lie anyone could tell. It is an act of desperation, but the fall-out will change lives forever.
Review:
This is Michelle Frances debut novel so I had no idea how the writing or story telling would be. Like I said before I had heard great things about this book, but sometimes that could be a problem as your expectations are already high and there is that worry that you could be let down. Thankfully though all was good. I got straight into this book from the off and never looked back. It was one of those books that you think you have been reading for ten minutes, but then you realise you are already a 100 pages in. The chapters were short, which I love in psychological thrillers as you can you have a lot of "just one more chapter" moments. This really added to the pace of the book. This was another book that took me just over a week to read which is really quick for me. I am getting a lot faster now with my reading and I am on course to smashing my target I set in January.
The story itself was brilliant, dark and so addictive. The X-files (one of my favourite TV shows of all time) taught us to "Trust No One" and this book proved they were right. Lie after lie by more than one character, just to get the upper hand and get what they really want. I have not really read anything along these sort of lines before and I thought it was great. There were more twists than you can shake a stick at and just when you thought it was over... Boom! another one..
I loved the characters in this book. The main ones were Laura, Cherry & Daniel. Cherry was my favourite. I found she had a very dark mind, and would not stop till she got what she wanted. It was great to follow her throughout the book. Would she get what she wanted or would she fail at the last hurdle?
Thinking about this book, I don't think there was anything I did not like about it. From start to finish it was brilliant and if you love psychological thrillers like I do you have to give this one a go. I think you will love it.
I scored this book a 5 out of 5. A quality debut novel. I cannot wait for Michelle's next novel. Because of this book I will automatically buy the next. Hopefully It was be as good as this one and won't let me down.
Have you read The Girlfriend by Michelle Frances? what do you think? Do you agree with me or not? I would love to know..
Speak soon,
CBailey31
Cross Her Heart
by
Sarah Pinborough
This book, I was always going to read. I read Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough and absolutely loved it, so it was a case of when rather that would I... I also could not wait for the paperback so got the hardback version on one of my frequent trips to the bookshop.
"An dark and sometimes evil story which grips you and leaves you wanting more"
Blurb:
Someone is living a lie... But who?
Is it Lisa?
Haunted by a tragic past, all Lisa wants is a quiet life with her daughter, Ava. And when she meets a new man, things seem to be falling into place. But Lisa is hiding a secret so momentous it could shatter her entire world...
Is it Ava?
When sixteen year old Ava saves a young boy's life, she becomes a local hero. But never in a millions years could she have anticipated the fallout of her actions...
Is it Marilyn?
Marilyn has the perfect life. Her husband, her job, her house - she seems to have it all. But she could never admit to her best friend Lisa the lies she tells herself to get through the day...
One moment will change these three women's lives forever. And the secrets they've been keeping could destroy them all.
Review:
Sometimes when you love a book so much, there is always that worry that when it comes to the next book the author has written it will be a let down. How can you follow a book up with something as good or if not better?? This has happened to me in the past and going into this book, it was my biggest fear. Thankfully though I was not let down as I absolutely loved this book and would even go to say it was better than Behind Her Eyes. From the very off you were sucked in and you just had to keep reading. The story flicked between the three main characters Lisa, Ava & Marilyn which I really liked as you followed the story from three different angles. But also, all three of them had big secrets which you were desperate to find out about. The chapters were short which helped with the pace of the book and there were plenty of "just one more chapter" moments meaning I went to work the next day very tired. I read this book in less than a week which is really quick for me and normally means that I have really enjoyed it.
This story has a very dark tale and I am sure a few people could find it upsetting. I however could not get enough of it and found that the evilness made the story better. I do wonder sometimes though what this says about me in general.
The characters I found were also brilliantly written, not just the three main characters but all the supporting characters as well. I loved the fact that at one point I did not trust any of them and I felt that they all had something to hide. This was why I changed my mind so many times throughout the book as to how I thought this was going to end.
Was there anything I did not like about this book? Nope, nothing at all.
I scored this book a 5 out of 5. It was amazing and like I said earlier I thought it was even better than Behind Her Eyes which I also loved. If you love thrillers like I do then I fully recommend you read this book.
Have you read this book? What do you think? Do you agree with me or not? I would love to know..
Speak soon,
CBailey31
#BlogTour
The Bad Neighbour
by
David Tallerman
Hello and welcome to my stop on the #BlogTour for The Bad Neighbour by David Tallerman. Massive thanks goes to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours, Flame Tree Press and the author David Tallerman for an ARC of this book to review.
"A crime thriller that's dark and evil that leaves you wondering who are your neighbours and what secrets do they have"
Blurb:
The Bad Neighbour is a gritty contemporary crime thriller set in the north of England, rooted in the author's personal experience of the region while drawing upon wider issues of racial intolerance, gang crime and police corruption...
When part-time teacher Ollie Clay panic buys a rundown house in the outskirts of Leeds, he soon recognises his mistake. His new neighbour, Chas Walker, is an antisocial thug, and Ollie's suspicions raise links to a local hate group. With Ollie's life unravelling rapidly, he feels his choices dwindling: his situation is intolerable and only standing up to Chas can change it. But Ollie has his own history of violence, and increasingly, his own secrets to hide; and Chas may be more than the mindless yob he appears to be. As their conflict spills over into the wider world, Ollie will come to learn that there are worse problems in life than one bad neighbour....
Review:
This is my first book that I have read by David Tallerman, so I went into this one with an open mind. Although from the off I was looking forward to it after reading what this was about and the fact that it was set in Leeds which is different to most other books I read that are set in the UK.
The book started off ok with the normal scene setting and introducing you to the main character Ollie Clay. I found the first quarter or so of the book a little slow if I am to be honest. Not in a bad way, it just built the story up at a steady pace and because of this you were not hooked straight away.
Once this period was over though, the book came to life and was jammed packed full of action which had twists here, there and everywhere. The more you read the darker it became and it became clear that you had no clue what secrets where coming on the next few pages and you got to the point where any of the characters could have something to hide. Whilst the first part of book was a bit slow to read the rest I flew through as the pages turned at a very fast rate.
I really liked the characters in this book. Ollie the lead character was great to follow and you knew he had a past, but knew nothing of what he did when he was younger, this gave the so called goody of the book a mysterious feel. Chas the evil next door neighbour was also great to follow. I don't know what it is about baddies in books but they seem so much better and more interesting. It may be just me and my love for Darth Vader the daddy of all baddies but there you go. Chas was a dark and chilling character and you were kept on the edge of the seat as to what he was going to do next.
Overall I really did like this book it was great. If like me it starts a bit slow then please keep with it. If you do like crime thrillers like me I believe you should give it a go and you will not be disappointed..
This book is published on 06 September 2018 and you can buy this on the link below:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Neighbour-Fiction-Without-Frontiers/dp/178758027X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532861542&sr=8-1&keywords=the+bad+neighbour+tallerman
David Tallerman is the author of the Digital Fiction Publishing fantasy adventure series The Black River Chronicles, so far comprised of Level One and the Ursvaal Exchange, as well as the novel Giant Thief (described by Fantasy Faction as "one of the finest debuts of 2012") and its sequels Crown Thief and Prince Thief, all published though Angry Robot. His crime debut is The Bad Neighbour published by Flame Tree Publishing
In his spare time, David watches inordinate numbers of movies, hikes, plays board games, and helps in the ethical submission, capture, and resettlement of troveless dragons...
