Hall of Fame Review: Ride or Die by Khurrum Rahman

Thursday 23 April 2020 0 comments
Title: Ride or Die
Author: Khurrum Rahman
Publisher: HQ
Publication Date: 9th July 2020
Pages: 400
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon
JAY QASIM is finally out of the game and trying to lay low. But then he gets news that rocks his world and drags up everything that he thought he’d left behind. Jay must break his vow never to work with MI5 again and turn to the person who sold him out. But this time he’s determined to do it on his terms.

IMRAN SIDDIQUI once tried to kill Jay but now they have a common adversary. The one thing worse than death is watching the people closest to you die. And after the happiest day of Imran’s life becomes the most tragic, he will stop at nothing to take revenge on the people that have taken away his family.

But when everyone has their own agenda, who can you really trust?

Your most deadly enemy is about to become your closest ally.

Review: Vixen by Sam Michaels

Wednesday 22 April 2020 0 comments
Title: Vixen
Author: Sam Michaels
Publisher: Aria
Publication Date: 23rd April 2020
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon
While World War Two rages on around them, the gangs of London are fighting for their turf...

There might be a war on, but that doesn't stop Georgina Garrett running her business with an iron fist. No one said running the Battersea gang was going to be easy, but her unflinchable nature makes Georgina unstoppable.

With a role that requires a ruthless ability to seek revenge and pay out crippling punishments, Georgina's enemies are growing in number. With a target on her back, Georgina knows she must do everything to protect her family. But, with the loss of someone closest to her, can Georgina rise up from the ashes or allow a usurper take her crown?

Hall of Fame Review: Killing Mind by Angela Marsons

Friday 10 April 2020 0 comments
Title: Killing Mind
Author: Angela Marsons
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 13th May 2020
Pages: 367
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon
It had seemed so simple. Get in, get the information, get out. But now they were getting inside her mind and she didn’t know how to stop them...

When Detective Kim Stone is called to the home of Samantha Brown, she finds the young woman lying in bed with her throat cut and a knife in her hand. With no sign of forced entry or struggle, Kim rules her death a tragic suicide.

But a visit to Samantha’s parents rings alarm bells for Kim – there’s something they’re not telling her. And, when she spots a clue in a photograph, Kim realises she’s made a huge mistake. Samantha didn’t take her own life, she was murdered.

Then a young man’s body is found in a local lake with his throat cut and Kim makes a link between the victim and Samantha. They both spent time at Unity Farm, a retreat for people seeking an alternative way of life.

Beneath the retreat’s cosy façade, Kim and her team uncover a sinister community preying on the emotionally vulnerable.

Sending one of her own undercover into Unity Farm is high risk but it’s Kim’s only hope if she is to catch a killer – someone Kim is convinced the victims knew and trusted.

With Bryant distracted by the emergence of a harrowing case close to his heart, and an undercover officer in way over her head, Kim’s neck is on the line like never before. Can she protect those closest to her before another life is taken?

Review: Amazing Grace by Kim Nash

Thursday 9 April 2020 0 comments
Title: Amazing Grace
Author: Kim Nash
Publisher: Hera Books
Publication Date: 10th April 2019
Pages: 257
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon
She’s taking her life back , one step at a time…

Grace thought she had it all. Living in the beautiful village of Little Ollington, along with head teacher husband Mark and gorgeous son, Archie, she devoted herself to being the perfect mum and the perfect wife, her little family giving her everything she ever wanted.

Until that fateful day when she walked in on Mark kissing his secretary - and her perfect life fell apart.

Now she's a single mum to Archie, trying to find her way in life and keep things together for his sake. Saturday nights consist of a Chinese takeaway eaten in front of the TV clad in greying pyjamas, and she can’t remember the last time she had a kiss from anyone aside from her dog, Becks

Grace’s life needs a shake up – fast. So when gorgeous gardener Vinnie turns up on her doorstep, his twinkling eyes suggesting that he might be interested in more than just her conifers, she might just have found the answer to her prayers. But as Grace falls deeper for Vinnie, ten-year-old Archie fears that his mum finding love means she’ll never reconcile with the dad he loves.

So when ex-husband Mark begs her for another chance, telling her he’s changed from the man that broke her heart, Grace finds herself with an impossible dilemma. Should she take back Mark and reunite the family that Archie loves? Or risk it all for a new chance of happiness?

Hall of Fame Review: Homegrown Hero by Khurrum Rahman

Monday 6 April 2020 0 comments
Title: Homegrown Hero
Author: Khurrum Rahman
Publisher: HQ
Publication Date: 25th July 2019
Pages: 384
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon
Reluctant spy. Trained assassin.
WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?

JAY QASIM is back home in West London and in pursuit of normality. He’s swapped dope-dealing for admin, and spends his free time at the local Muslim Community Centre or cruising around Hounslow in his beloved BMW. No-one would guess that he was the MI5 spy who foiled the most devastating terrorist attack in recent history.

But Jay’s part in sabotaging Ghurfat-Al-Mudarris’ hit on London didn’t pass unnoticed.

IMRAN SIDDIQUI was trained to kill in Afghanistan by the terrorist cell who saved his life after his home was destroyed by war. The time has finally come for him to repay them – throwing him headlong into the path of Jay Qasim.

Now, they must each decide whose side they’re really on.

Review: East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman

Thursday 2 April 2020 0 comments
Title: East of Hounslow
Author: Khurrum Rahman
Publisher: HQ
Publication Date: 30th November 2017
Pages: 353
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon
Meet Jay.
Small-time dealer.
Accidental jihadist.
The one man who can save us all?

Javid – call him Jay – is a dope dealer living in West London. He goes to mosque on Friday, and he’s just bought his pride and joy – a BMW. He lives with his mum, and life seems sweet.

But his world is about to turn upside-down. Because MI5 have been watching him, and they think he’s just the man they need for a delicate mission.

One thing’s for sure: now he’s a long way East of Hounslow, Jay’s life will never be the same again.

With the edgy humour of Four Lions and the pulse-racing tension of Nomad, East of Hounslow is the first in a series of thrillers starring Jay Qasim.

Review: Deep Dark Night by Steph Broadribb

Wednesday 18 March 2020 0 comments
Title: Deep Dark Night
Author: Steph Broadribb
Publisher: Orenda Books
Publication Date: 5th March 2020
Pages: 320
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon
A city in darkness. A building in lockdown. A score that can only be settled in blood…

Working off the books for FBI Special Agent Alex Monroe, Florida bounty-hunter Lori Anderson and her partner, JT, head to Chicago. Their mission: to entrap the head of the Cabressa crime family. The bait: a priceless chess set that Cabressa is determined to add to his collection.

An exclusive high-stakes poker game is arranged in the penthouse suite of one of the city’s tallest buildings, with Lori holding the cards in an agreed arrangement to hand over the pieces, one by one. But, as night falls and the game plays out, stakes rise and tempers flare.

When a power failure plunges the city into darkness, the building goes into lockdown. But this isn’t an ordinary blackout, and the men around the poker table aren’t all who they say they are. Hostages are taken, old scores resurface and the players start to die.

And that’s just the beginning…

Hall of Fame Review: Dead Wrong by Noelle Holten

Friday 13 March 2020 0 comments
Title: Dead Wrong
Author: Noelle Holten
Publisher: One More Chapter
Publication Date: 14th March 2020
Pages: 432
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon
The serial killer is behind bars. But the murders are just beginning…

DC Maggie Jamieson's past comes back to haunt her in this dark and gripping serial killer thriller.

Three missing women running out of time…

They were abducted years ago. Notorious serial killer Bill Raven admitted to killing them and was sentenced to life.

The case was closed – at least DC Maggie Jamieson thought it was…

But now one of them has been found, dismembered and dumped in a bin bag in town.

Forensics reveal that she died just two days ago, when Raven was behind bars, so Maggie has a second killer to find.

Because even if the other missing women are still alive, one thing’s for certain: they don’t have long left to live…

Review: Fearless Girl by Emma Tallon

Wednesday 11 March 2020 1 comments
Title: Fearless Girl
Author: Emma Tallon
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 14th April 2020
Pages: 305
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon
It’s been three years since Freddie Tyler was sent to prison, now he’s back on the streets of London and about to find out that everything has changed.

As Freddie enters his West End club for the first time in years, he finds ex-girlfriend Anna Davis sitting behind his desk, confidently leading his team of men. Anna used to hate the world he lived in, but she has now become a big part of it. And she’s not about to give up running the family business easily.

Anna shows a toughness Freddie has never witnessed in her before when she tells him about her new enterprise, smuggling stolen diamonds through London’s Hatton Garden. And alarm bells start ringing when Freddie meets Anna’s new partner. Cold and ruthless, Roman Gains isn’t someone Freddie trusts around the club and particularly not around Anna.

Whilst tensions flare between Anna and Freddie, a new Russian firm enters their world, determined to bring the Tylers down. And when they take out one of his best men, Freddie has to take drastic action to wrestle control from Anna. But she has other ideas. And when Roman becomes Anna’s closest ally, Freddie finally reaches breaking point. Could this be the fall of the Tyler empire and the last time Freddie and Anna are on the same side?

Hall of Fame Review: First Blood by Angela Marsons

Friday 7 February 2020 0 comments
Title: First Blood
Author: Angela Marsons
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 14th November 2019
Pages: 448
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon
When the body of a young man is found beheaded and staked to the ground in a secluded woodland area of the Clent Hills, Kim and her new squad rush to the crime scene.

Searching the victim's home, Kim finds a little girl's bedroom and a hidden laptop, but where is the child? And why does the man's own sister seem relieved that he's dead?

As Kim begins to unearth the shocking truth about the victim, a disturbing resemblance is spotted with the recent murder of a man found beneath the staircase of Redland Hall with multiple stab wounds.

Both these men had dark secrets and Kim discovers a link to a women's shelter. As a child of the care system herself, Kim knows all too well what it means to be vulnerable. Could the shelter be the key to cracking this case?

With the killer about to strike again, Kim is in deep water with a rookie squad. Inexperienced Stacey is showing signs of brilliance but struggling to hold her nerve and, while D.S. Bryant is reliable and calm, D.S. Dawson is a liability. With his home life in pieces, his volatile behaviour is already fracturing her fragile new team.

Can Kim bring Dawson in line and pull her crew together in time to catch the killer before another life is taken? This time, one of her own could be in terrible danger . . .

Hall of Fame Review: Queenie by Kimberley Chambers

Wednesday 22 January 2020 0 comments
Title: Queenie
Author: Kimberley Chambers
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: 23rd January 2020
Pages: 512
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon
SHE WAS MADE IN THE EAST END . . .

For young Queenie, life in the backstreets of Whitechapel was a lesson in survival – Hitler’s bombs hit those with nothing the hardest. When danger strikes close to home, Queenie finds an ally in Mrs O’Leary, whose two sons are the kingpins of the East End. But while the O’Learys are the light in Queenie’s life, fate has a different path in store.

AND MEN ARE WHAT THEIR MOTHERS MAKE THEM . . .

Now married to the useless Albie Butler, Queenie is raising her children to fight their own battles. If the O’Learys taught her anything, it was that surviving meant doing whatever you had to, no questions asked, and family always comes first. The Butler boys will make sure their mother’s name becomes East End legend.

MEET QUEENIE.
THIS IS HER STORY.


Review: The Six by Luca Veste

Saturday 11 January 2020 0 comments
Title: The Six
Author: Luca Veste
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Publication Date: 26th December 2019
Pages: 432
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon
Six friends trapped by one dark secret.

It was supposed to be our last weekend away as friends, before marriage and respectability beckoned. But what happened that Saturday changed everything.

In the middle of the night, someone died. The six of us promised each other we would not tell anyone about the body we buried. But now the pact has been broken. And the killing has started again …

Who knows what we did? And what price will we pay?

My Top 10 Books of 2019 (and a Return to Blogging?)

Saturday 4 January 2020 0 comments
Near the end of 2017 I lost control of my domain due to me not renewing it. Despite many attempts to try and get it back, I had no luck, until a few months ago when it expired again and became available for it to be mine once more. After over two years I was starting to get the blogging bug back again, and missed all of the friends that I had made in the blogging world. I started 2020 asking myself whether a return to blogging was doable.

When I quit blogging back in 2017 and read solely for enjoyment, with no time restraints, no commitments and no having to worry about writing a review, I found it to be extremely liberating and actually found that I enjoyed reading more than when I was blogging. And so, I might make a tentative return to reviewing and see how it goes. For now though I have compiled my Top Reads of 2019, some of the books were released in other years but were read in 2019.

I hope you enjoy reading what books I enjoyed the most in 2019 and will stick with me as I attempt a (probably somewhat quiet) blogging comeback.

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