Review: Border Angels by Anthony J. Quinn

Title: Border Angels
Author: Anthony J. Quinn
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication Date: 7th January 2015
Pages: 240
Source: Unsolicited Review Copy
Rating: 4.5/5
Purchase: Amazon

A charred corpse and a set of footprints in the snow lead Celcius Daly into the twilight world of people trafficking.

Inspector Celcius Daly is hunting for a missing woman, Lena Novak, who mysteriously disappeared one winter's night along the Irish border, leaving in her wake the corpses of two men.

Daly finds himself hooked together with a prostitute and a hit man in a life-or-death chase. His investigation leads them deep into border country, a wild terrain of disappearing lanes and blown-up bridges, abandoned ghost-estates and thick forests - the ultimate refuge for anyone who does not want to be found.

Review: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Title: The Girl on the Train
Author: Paula Hawkins
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Date: 15th January 2015
Pages: 320
Source: NetGalley Review Copy
Rating: 4/5
Purchase: Amazon

Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough.

Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar.

Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train…

Guest Review: Angel of Death by Ben Cheetham

Title: Angel of Death
Author: Ben Cheetham
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication Date: 8th May 2014
Pages: 352
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 4/5
Purchase: Amazon

Would you break the law to see justice done? A former prostitute turns to murder in order to take revenge on the men who abused her.

Sheffield: a bankrupt businessman has murdered his family. It seems like an open-and-shut case: a desperate man resorting to desperate measures.

Middlesbrough: a woman named Angel is heading south. She is a woman alone. A prostitute. Now a murderer. And she has only one thing on her mind: revenge.

Two crimes, a hundred miles apart, but a terrible secret connects them. And although the courts may not agree, DI Jim Monahan has all the proof he needs to bring down justice on a group of particularly vicious criminals...

Review: Tell No Tales by Eva Dolan

Title: Tell No Tales
Author: Eva Dolan
Publisher: Harvill Secker

Publication Date: 8th January 2015

Pages: 384
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 4.5/5
Purchase: Amazon

In the second book from a rising star of crime fiction, Detectives Zigic and Ferreira must investigate a hit-and-run that leaves two migrant workers dead and a series of horrific killings, seemingly with a Neo-Nazi motivation, captured on CCTV.

The car that ploughs into the bus stop early one morning leaves a trail of death and destruction behind it.

DS Ferreira and DI Zigic are called in from the Peterborough Hate Crimes Unit to handle the hit-and-run, but with another major case on their hands, one with disturbing Neo-Nazi overtones, they are relieved when there seems to be an obvious suspect. But the case isn't that simple and with tensions erupting in the town leading to more violence, the media are soon hounding them for answers.

Ferreira believes that local politician Richard Shotton, head of a recently established right-wing party, must be involved somehow. Journalists have been quick to acclaim Shotton, with his Brazilian wife and RAF career, as a serious contender for a major political career, despite his extremist views, but is his party a cover for something far more dangerous?

My Week In Books #1

It's hard to believe it's 2015 already, and that I've been blogging for almost 10 months! That time has flown, but in that time I have read so many amazing books and 'met' some fantastic people online, both bloggers and authors. My Week In Books will be a recap of reviews posted on the blog, books I've read, books I've received, upcoming reviews etc and at the end of each post I will list reviews from other blogs that I've enjoyed reading this week (and any other bits and pieces I might feel like adding!).

Review: The Life I Left Behind by Colette McBeth

Title: The Life I Left Behind
Author: Colette McBeth
Publisher: Headline
Publication Date: 1st January 2015
Pages: 384
Source: bookbridgr Review Copy
Rating: 4/5
Purchase: Amazon

Everyone tells her she's a survivor. No-one knows she's dead inside.

She's dead but she's the only one who knows what really happened;

What your friends have said.

What the police missed.

Who attacked you.

So if you want the truth who else are you going to turn to?

Review: Afraid by Mandasue Heller

Title: Afraid
Author: Mandasue Heller
Publisher: Hodder
Publication Date: 1st January 2015
Pages: 352
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 4.5/5
Purchase: Amazon

Mandasue Heller's thrilling novel is set on the gritty streets of Manchester.

When fifteen-year-old Skye's mother finally does something so shocking that it can't be hushed up, the police turn her over to the social workers - and that's when the nightmare begins.

She doesn't know if her father is alive or dead; the woman who is supposed to be helping her dumps her in a terrifying 'home' that's more like a jail. But she still has one friend to turn to: the sympathetic girl she's met in an internet chat room, the one who seems to have a home life as unhappy as Skye's. And Jade offers her a safe place to stay . . .

Alone in Manchester, nearly penniless, Skye is willing to trust Jade. Even when it isn't Jade who turns up at the rendezvous, but a grown-up man who says he's Jade's brother...