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<metadesc>Book review siteExpert, with books full book reviews from most walks of literary life; fiction, biographynon-fiction, crime, cookery and children's books & self-published books plus author interviews and & top tens.</metadesc><h1 id="mf-title">The Bookbag</h1>Hello from The Bookbag, a site featuring books from all the many walks of literary life - [[:Category:Fiction|fiction]], [[:Category:Biography|biography]], [[:Category:Crime|crime]], [[:Category:Cookery|cookery]] and anything else that takes our fancy. At Bookbag Towers the bookbag sits at the side of the desk. It's the bag we take to the library and the bookshop. Sometimes it holds the latest releases, but at other times there'll be old favourites, books for the children, books for the home. They're sometimes our own books or books from the local library. They're often books sent to us by publishers and we promise to tell you exactly what we think about them. You might not want to read through a full review, so we'll give you a quick review which summarises what we felt about the book and tells you whether or not we think you should buy or borrow it. There are also lots of [[:Category:Interviews|author interviews]], and all sorts of [[:Category:Lists|top tens]] - all of which you can find on our [[features]] page. If you're stuck for something to read, check out the [[Book Recommendations|recommendations]] page.

Reviews by readers from all the many walks of literary life. With author interviews, features and top tens. You'll be sure to find something you'll want to read here. Dig in! Find us on [[File:facebook.gif|link=https://www.facebook.com/TheBookbagCoUk|alt=Facebook]] [https://www.facebook.com/TheBookbagCoUk '''Facebook'''], [[File:twitter.gif|link=http://twitter.com/TheBookbag|alt=Follow us on Twitter]] [http://twitter.com/TheBookbag '''Twitter'''], [[File:instagram_classic_logo.png|link=https://www.instagram.com/thebookbag.co.uk/|alt=Follow us on Instagram]] [https://www.instagram.com/thebookbag.co.uk/ '''Instagram'''] and [[File:LinkedIn.png|link=https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-bookbag-1b12a264/|alt=LinkedIn]] There are currently '''{{PAGESINCATEGORY:Reviews}}''' [[:Category:Reviews|reviews ]] at TheBookbag.

==Reviews of the The Best New Books==

{'''Read [[Forthcoming Publications|class-"wikitable" cellpadding="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->reviews of books about to be published]].<!-- Jo Spain -->{{Frontpage|-author=Max Boucherat| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|The Last Life of Lori Mills[[image:1787474372.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1787474372/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Confident Readers| stylesummary="verticalWe meet Lori on the first evening she's got the house to herself – no neighbour to pop in, babysitter poorly, mother at work, just an avidly rule-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Boy Who Fell (Inspector Tom Reynolds) by Jo Spain]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] There were six friends: four men and two womenbreaking eleven year old, on her lonesome. They're all about eighteen What could possibly go wrong? Snuggled in a blanket fort, she has one main intention, and theythat is to log on to Voxminer, the world-building, critter-collecting game that is a hit in Lori've known each other since they started schools world. Both girls - Hazel Brophy and Charlotte Burke - have been in relationships with one of the boysBut first Lori has a tiny inkling that this stormy night doesn't find herself entirely on her own, but Charlotte was determined that it would not be sexualand then she finds something even more spooky. Hazel's views were so dramatically opposite that you wondered how they could For the server she and her bestie and nobody else should be friendsable to enter shows signs of tampering. They were all partying When malevolent eyes spark up on her phone screen, and her safe place in a derelict house when Luke Connelly was pushed to his death from a third floor window and Daniel Konaté Jones was charged with rape and murder. Daniel was loosely associated with the group but never felt himself one of them. He didn't come from a wealthy backgroundthe game has been doctored – well, where is of mixed race and openly gay. Targets don't come much easier than that, except for one thing. [[The Boy Who Fell (Inspector Tom Reynolds) by Jo Spain|Full Review]]<!-- Webb -->a girl to turn?|-isbn=0008666482}}{{Frontpage| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Jenny Lecoat|title=Beyond Summerland[[image:1916459900.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1916459900/ref4|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] General Fiction| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Disbelieved: Skin Jean lives on Jersey with her mother where they are celebrating the end of the occupation. During the war, Jean's father was arrested for listening to a banned radio and soldiers took him away one night, leaving Jean and Bone CSIs by Beth Webb]]=== [[image:4her mother waiting for years for news of him.5star As the British finally free the Channel islands from the Nazis, and the war is finally over, their hopes rise that they will finally learn what became of him.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  Anelise - Annie - has been living with her cousin Joe and her aunt But will the truth come as a relief, an eminent forensic scientist, since her mum died and her naturalist father went abroad on a research trip. So she does wonder sometimes whether or will it raise further questions around what else happened during the war? Who was the minor premonitions she has - informer who's on told the other end of Nazis about the ringing phone, or at radio? And what other secrets have been kept throughout the door when there's a knock - are in her imagination. But to foresee a serious accident and then for it to actually happenoccupation? And the dreadful headaches. Something's going on. Luckily for Annie, Joe is convinced and also willing to help. So they start to investigate the accident... [[Disbelieved: Skin and Bone CSIs by Beth Webb|isbn=1846976537}}{{Frontpage|Full Review]]isbn=1529428289<!-- Mick Herron -->|title=A Grave in the Woods (A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel)|-author=Martin Walker| stylerating="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"4|genre=Crime[[image:147365744X.jpg|linksummary=http://wwwBecause of various property transactions, people were searching for the grave but when they found it, it came with three sets of bones.amazon.co.uk/dp/147365744X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag They dated back to World War II and it fell to Bruno, the Chief of Police for St Denis, to discover the identities of the bodies and establish whether or not a crime had been committed. As if this isn't enough to worry about, the Dordogne River -21]]normally tranquil - is flowing at record levels. It's not just the local autumn rains that have caused the problem: various dams upstream on another river have had to release water and St Denis faces the possibility of a devastating flood.}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"152919640X|title=The Suspect|author=Rob Rinder|rating=4.5|genre=[[Joe Country (Jackson Lamb 6) by Mick Herron]]===Crime[[image:5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] IThe nation'd like to say s favourite daytime TV presenter, Jessica Holby, was murdered live on television and it seems that all the old crew are in Slough House but the rate of natural (or unnatural) wastage is such as to have Health and Safety worriedthere's only one suspect. Roderick HoHe's there though, narcissistic as ever, celebrity chef Sebastian Brooks and so's Louisa Guyhis contract stated that he must not serve anything containing miso to Jessica Holby. She's getting over the death seriously allergic and carries an EpiPen in case of Min Harper to the extent that she's not ''too'' concerned when she gets a phone call from Clare Harper, Min's wifeemergencies. River Cartwright has got death on his mind tooEverything seemed as normal - as normal as they can be in a busy, but in his case it's the impending demise of his beloved grandfather live television studio - and former spook, the OBBrooks served a ragout to Holby. Diana Taverner has taken over from Claude Whelan as First Desk at Regent Park Her EpiPen was nowhere to be found and she's going to make changes: one of the first is a shockwas dead within minutes. An argument with Emma Flyte sees the head dog departing the serviceIt was soon clear that this was no accident. Meanwhile at Slough House, Catherine Standish is buying booze again, Jackson Lamb is offensive as ever and Shirley Dander and J K Coe do their best to remain unnoticed, the latter by saying nothing. [[Joe Country (Jackson Lamb 6) by Mick Herron}}{{Frontpage|Full Review]]isbn=0008385068 <!-- Laurain -->|title=The Midnight Feast|-author=Lucy Foley| stylerating="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|4.5[[image:1910477672.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1910477672/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Thrillers| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Vintage 1954 by Antoine Laurain, Jane Aitken (translator) It's midsummer on the Dorset coast and Emily Boyce (translator)]]=== [[image:4guests gather at The Manor.5star It's their opening weekend and splendid celebrations are promised.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Vintage 1954 starts by thrusting several completely different characters upon us, before deciding to run with them It's all headed up by Francesca Meadows. The Manor was her ancestral home and she's converted it into an impressive retreat for the wealthy and formulate a plotfamous. So we have an American biker Her husband, Owen, just landing in Paris but unfortunately not with was the wife who shared his dream architect and work is still ongoing on parts of visiting the city togethersite. We have a goth girl who everyone recognises from an American crime show, but actually The heat is a humble restorer of antiquesoppressive and amongst the guests are enemies as well as friends. We have Old scores are going to be settled and it won't be long before a cocktail barman, infatuated with the goth girlbody is found. We also have a man ruling the roost over a whole suite of individual apartments fabricated from the Haussmann-era mansion his family once owned}}{{Frontpage|author=Ashley Hickson-Lovence|title=Wild East|rating=4. Finally something conspires to get them together5|genre=Teens|summary=Written in verse, this is Ronny's story, and drinking from the same bottle of a rare 1954 red wine. Only, one of them young black fourteen year old boy from Hackney who suddenly has to move to Norwich and start at a bizarre incidence in his family history that also features the same plonk – where a grandfather imbibed, and walked out the door one rainy morningmostly white school. The move is initiated by Ronny's mum who is worried for Ronny's safety after a tragic event, never and so Ronny finds himself trying to be seen again. But of course nobody will be doing any disappearing nowsettle in a new town, though – will they? [[Vintage 1954 by Antoine Lauraina new school, and keep himself out of trouble. He listens to music constantly, Jane Aitken (translator) and Emily Boyce (translator)|Full Review]] <!-- Ford -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0356510441has always dreamed of being a rapper.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co But now, in this new school, his teacher encourages him to be part of a poetry writing workshop group and, slowly, Ronny begins to see the connections between rap and poetry, and the power of creativity and crafting your words.uk/dp/0356510441/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"0241645441}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1635866847|title===[[The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind by Jackson Ford]]===Lavender Companion[[image:4star.jpg|linkauthor=Category:{{{Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci|rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers=4.5|Thrillers]]genre=Lifestyle As |summary=It's strange, the title suggests, things that make you ''immediately'' feel that this is the book is all about a girl, Teagan Frost, who has psychokinesisfor you. Forced to secretly work for the government along with a few unique (and shady) individuals Before I started reading ''The Lavender Companion'', Teagan has to use her power for unimaginable tasksI visited the author's [https://www.pinelavenderfarm. All com/ website] and there's a picture of this whilst under the pretence a slice of working for a movingchocolate cake on the homepage. I don't eat cakes and desserts -companybut I wanted that cake viscerally. After her latest job goes wrong and her and (There's a recipe in the team escape by the skin of their teethbook, Teagan finds herself as which I'm avoiding with some difficulty!!) Then I started reading the book and I was told to make a murder suspect when mess of it. Notes in the victim is found in such a way that only she could have committed margins are sanctioned. You get to fold down the crimecorners of pages. The rest You suspect that smears of the story unfolds in butter would not be a fast-paced race against time to clear Teaganproblem. I ''s name and find out exactly what has happenedloved'' this book already. Is it possible that someone with a gift like Teagan's has managed to fly under the radar? [[The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind by Jackson Ford|Full Review]]}}<!-- Caro Ramsay -->{{Frontpage|-author=Rob Keeley| styletitle="widthChildish Spirits: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"10th anniversary special edition|rating=4[[image:0727887602.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0727887602/refConfident Readers|summary=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Suffering Around here, we're big fans of Strangers by Caro Ramsay]]=== [[image:4starchildren's author Rob Keeley.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Roberta (please call her He'Bobby') Chisholm is sleep deprived. Six-week-old Sholto doesn't ''ever'' seem to sleep, so Bobby's like s a robot. There's a little light on the horizonball of happy positivity, though: her husband James is up for a new jobhe understands children, which could mean quite a bit more money. When and he rings to tell her that he's got it he's obviously over the moon writes for their pleasure and tells Bobby enjoyment, not to go to the local shop and get a bottle of champagne so that they can celebratelecture or hector. For once Sholto has dropped off to sleep and when Bobby gets to the shop she's reluctant to disturb him: surely there won't be a problem if she dashes into the shop to get the bubbly? She can keep an eye on the car through the shop window, but when she comes out, the car has gone... [[The Suffering of Strangers by Caro Ramsay|Full Review]] <!-- Christopher Edge -->|-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:1788004949.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788004949/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[The Longest Night of Charlie Noon by Christopher Edge]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category: Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] ''If you go into the woods, Old Crony will get you.'' Secrets, spies or maybe even a monster... What lies in the heart of the wood? Charlie, Dizzy and Johnny are determined to discover the truth, but when night falls without warning they find themselves trapped in a nightmare. Lost in the woods, strange dangers and impossible puzzles lurk in the shadows. As time plays tricks, can Charlie solve this mystery and find a way out of the woods? But what if this night never ends...? [[The Longest Night of Charlie Noon by Christopher Edge|Full Review]] <!-- Rachel Lynch -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:B07P1T8H6J.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07P1T8H6J/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Bold Lies (DI Kelly Porter 5) by Rachel Lynch]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] It was the smell which announced the presence of the body in the wheelhouse of a boat and identification wasn't going to be easy as the man was stark naked. There were all the signs of a brutal, cold-blooded execution but gradually the man was traced back to Allendale House, the estate of the former Lord Allendale, and then to London, where two more bodies, naked, in a staged setting in a garage, were discovered. Senior Investigating Officer DI Kelly Porter had to go to London and was shocked to discover that the SIO for ''that'' case was DCI Matt Carter, her manipulative and untrustworthy ex-lover. It was going to be anything but easy to work alongside Matt the Tw... Ah, well let's not go there. [[Bold Lies (DI Kelly Porter 5) by Rachel Lynch|Full Review]] <!-- Jonathan Meres -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1781128693.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1781128693/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Special Delivery by Jonathan Meres]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Dyslexia Friendly|Dyslexia Friendly]], [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] How do you explain to children about dementia? Injuries or illnesses are obvious, but when the problem is the brain which isn't functioning quite as it used to it isn't as easy to grasp. Frank was a normal nine year old and like many nine year olds what he wanted was a new bike. He'd had his for about seventy-eight years and he didn't want to raise the seat any more. Mum pointed out that it wasn't his birthday or Christmas any time soon and bikes cost a lot of money, which didn't grow on trees. His sister Lottie had a solution: Frank could help her with her paper round. Frank agreed despite thinking that it would take him a thousand years to save up the money for a bike AND he had to get up at six o'clock in the morning. [[Special Delivery by Jonathan Meres|Full Review]] <!-- Vivian French -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1781128707.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1781128707/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Spectacular Revenge of Suzi Sims by Vivian French]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Dyslexia Friendly|Dyslexia Friendly]], [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Suzi Simms loved running and it was her ambition to win the 100 metres race on sports day at the end of term - and that was next week. We're going to read about what happened in her diary, although there's a warning that we really shouldn't be reading it, particularly as it's about Barbie Meek. To say that the two girls don't get on at all well is a bit of an understatement. Suzi wouldn't actually do anything about it, but Barbie is a troublemaker and she wants to win the 100 metres race too - by fair means or foul. [[The Spectacular Revenge of Suzi Sims by Vivian French|Full Review]] <!-- Pye -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1471170233.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471170233/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Adventures of Harry Stevenson by Ali Pye]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Meet Harry Stevenson. He's a typical guinea pig, except he's perhaps a bit more ginger than normal. And more lazy than usual. And his appetite is possibly bigger than the norm. Apart from that he's a regular guinea pig. But the stories in which he features are nothing like. In the first one here, the lad who owns and looks after him is being forced to move house. It should be a simple journey for Harry, safe in his cage from all the predators that watching nature documentaries have put into his imagination, but he gets distracted and – shock horror – left behind. It takes some bravura slapstick and a charming contrivance for him to be found again. In the second, for we get two full-length stories in this volume, there's a party being held to get the lad used to his new schoolmates, and Harry used to life in a garden hutch. And one more wonderful conceit that drives high drama. [[The Adventures of Harry Stevenson by Ali Pye|Full Review]] <!-- Angie Kim -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1529374944.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529374944/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Miracle Creek by Angie Kim]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] The Yoo family originated in Seoul. Yoo Young and her daughter Meh-hee came on ahead of the father of the family, Yoo Pak, as a couple in Baltimore offered to provide accommodation for Young and Meh-hee in exchange for assistance in their grocery store. What Young had not appreciated was that she was to work from 6 a.m. until midnight, seven days a week. For years she hardly saw her daughter except when the Kangs brought Meh-hee to see her at the store. Meh-hee became Mary and struggled at school: her fellow pupils were no exceptions to the rule that children can be cruel and Mary was an easy target. [[Miracle Creek by Angie Kim|Full Review]] <!-- Megan E O'Keefe -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0356512223.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356512223/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Velocity Weapon by Megan E O'Keefe]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction]] The last thing Sanda remembers is her gunship exploding. She expected to be recovered by salvage-medics and to awaken in friendly hands, patched-up and ready to rejoin the fight. Instead she wakes up 230 years later, on a deserted enemy starship called The Light of Berossus - or, as he prefers to call himself, 'Bero'. Bero tells Sanda the war is lost. That the entire star system is dead. But is that the full story? After all, in the vastness of space, anything is possible . . . [[Velocity Weapon by Megan E O'Keefe|Full Review]] <!-- Parker -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1789018269.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789018269/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[The Chessmaster's Secret by Mary Parker]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]  Belle and Joe travel to London in 1944, towards the end of World War II. Orphaned evacuees, they haven't had a good time of it - especially Joe, who is a sensitive child and was badly bullied. Meeting them is Uncle Griff, a kindly man, but one without much money. He is more than happy to have the children stay during the school holidays. Uncle Griff owns the ''Shop of Mechanical Marvels'' and the children love all the old things it contains. Uncle Griff hopes to restore it to profitability and bring some wonder back into London's bombed out streets. [[The Chessmaster's Secret by Mary Parker|Full Review]] <!-- Rob Walker -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1529104432X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529104432X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Art of Noticing: Rediscover What Really Matters to You by Rob Walker]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] The curse put on reviewers is that we get to read through a book which is really better dipped into, or read gradually and thoughts allowed to be provoked. And so it was with ''The Art of Noticing''. It's a simple premise: the pace of modern life and rapidity of technological advances means that we are constantly overwhelmed and distracted. Rob Walker wants us to be able to steal our attention back. He gives us his thoughts on various areas of our lives and then provides 131 exercises to help us recover our attention. [[The Art of Noticing: Rediscover What Really Matters to You by Rob Walker|Full Review]] <!-- Lesley Thomson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786697246.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786697246/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Playground Murders by Lesley Thomson]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Rachel Cater was having an affair with her boss, Chris Philips, an auctioneer. It was, she told her mother, love at first sight. Her mother was more sceptical and wondered why, if it had been love at first sight, it had taken him so long to do anything about it. Still, more than anything, she wanted her daughter to be happy. That was what Rachel wanted too and it was why she went to the Philips' family home, determined to have it all out in the open. Instead she was stabbed fifteen times. Her lover was convicted of her murder. [[The Playground Murders by Lesley Thomson|Full Review]] <!-- Dare -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:191303674X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/I191303674X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[The Billion Pound Lie by Bill Dare]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] Can you imagine what it would be like to win a billion pounds? The UK's biggest ever lottery winners were a couple from Ayrshire, who won a £161 million EuroMillions jackpot a few years ago. That's so much money that it landed them on the Sunday Times Rich List of the UK's thousand most wealthy people. So a billion pounds. That's a lot, right? Can you imagine it? What would you do? Would you try to remain anonymous? And, if you did, how would this affect your relationships with your nearest and dearest? What it would be like? How could you keep your friends and family from knowing that you were now one of the richest people in the country? [[The Billion Pound Lie by Bill Dare|Full Review]] <!-- Vaughn -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0751568228.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0751568228/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Across the Void by S K Vaughn]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] Sea epics? So 20th century. Try a space epic. [[Across the Void by S K Vaughn|Full Review]] <!-- McLean -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786076071.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786076071/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Van Apfel Girls are Gone by Felicity McLean]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] When Tikka Molloy was eleven and one-sixth years old, the Van Apfel sisters disappeared. In the long hot summer of 1992, in an isolated suburb of Australia surrounded by Bushland, the girls vanished during the school's Showstopper concert at the riverside amphitheatre. Did they run away? Were they taken? While the search for the sisters united the small community, they were never found. Returning home years later, Tikka must make sense of that strange moment in time – of the summer that shaped her, and the girls she never forgot. [[The Van Apfel Girls are Gone by Felicity McLean|Full Review]] <!-- Stowell -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1788000269.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788000269/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Dragon in the Library by Louie Stowell and Davide Ortu (Illustrator)]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]], [[:Category:Emerging Readers|Emerging Readers]] It is the start of the summer holidays and Kit has plans. These plans involve climbing trees, getting muddy and being outside. Her friends, Josh and Alita, on the other hand want to go to the library. Kit hates reading and can't see the point of books at all but is very reluctantly persuaded to go with the others to the local library. Once there the children meet the librarian and Kit makes an incredible discovery; the librarian is a wizard! Even more incredibly, Kit is a wizard too and she and her friends have an important task. They must save the library…and save the world! [[The Dragon in the Library by Louie Stowell and Davide Ortu (Illustrator)|Full Review]] <!-- Stuart MacBride -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0008208263.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0008208263/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[All That's Dead (Logan McRae 12) by Stuart MacBride]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] It seemed like a good idea. Logan 'Lazarus' McRae was back at work after a year off sick. He'd been stabbed in the line of duty and recovery had been slow: he still had some pain. His first case was to be a simple one - just to ease him back into work - but it turned out to be anything but. Professor Wilson, a high-profile anti-independence campaigner has gone missing, apparently abducted from his home, but nothing was left behind except some bloodstains. In much the same way that Brexit is dividing people south of the border, there's going to be a war between the pro- and anti-independence factions in Scotland - and the police are not above being involved. [[All That's Dead (Logan McRae 12) by Stuart MacBride|Full Review]] <!-- Louise Voss -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:B07MWXBTV8.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MWXBTV8/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Last Stage by Louise Voss]]===

[[imageThe ''Childish Spirits'' series is one of his greatest achievements. It's a sequence of ghost stories centring on Ellie, a stalwart young girl who can cope with anything the spirit world throws at her, and Edward, a spoiled lordling and the first spirit Ellie encounters|isbn= 1783064617}}{{Frontpage|author=Jenny Valentine|title=Us in the Before and After|rating=5|genre=Teens|summary=Elk and Mab are best friends, or more than that even, their friendship is a once in a lifetime connection. They meet as children one day on a trip out but unfortunately they don't get each other's contact details at the time. But then chance brings them back together, and they are inseparable. Something has happened though, something terrible and tragic, and now they must work through their grief, and their friendship, together.|isbn=1471196585}}{{Frontpage|author=Kieran Larwood and Joe Todd-Stanton|title=Dungeon Runners:Hero Trial|rating=4|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Meet Kit. Like most of the people in his world, it seems, he is an avid fan of Dungeon Running – the sport where a team of warrior, mage and healer enter specially prepared, century-old, magical mazes, and race to the exit, perhaps bothering with the treasure or the big bad and the points they grant you along the way. Unfortunately for Kit, the only thing he's seen of the latest race on the inn TV equivalent is that one team has been retired, eaten, and a new trio of questors is needed.5star Possibly very unfortunately indeed for Kit, he has taken to the goading from the token bully of his world and stumbled into declaring he'll enter as a team.jpg What chance does this friendless, muscle-free-zone have in actually managing that, and how could he possibly hope to succeed?|linkisbn=Category:{1839945184}}{{Frontpage|author=Saima Mir|title=Vengeance|rating=3.5|genre=Thrillers|summary= I was instantly intrigued by the premise of this novel – an organised crime syndicate in the north of England run by a Muslim woman. The fact that it was the second in a series I hadn't read didn't stop me – I've jumped midway into a few series before (on page and screen) and it needn't be a hindrance if it's good enough. And that wasn't a problem here. Vengeance swiftly brings you up to speed, and I never felt lost.|isbn=0861541561}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]

If you were looking back {{Frontpage|author=Stuart Douglas|title=Lowe and Le Breton Mysteries - Death at the Dress Rehearsal|rating=3.5|genre=Crime|summary=During location filming for his 1970's sitcom 'Floggit and Leggit', leading man Edward Lowe stumbles across the dead body of a woman on the edge of a reservoir. The police seem happy to when assign it began youas an accidental death, but something about the whole thing bothers Lowe, and he enlists the help of a fellow actor, John Le Breton to help him investigate matters further. They travel across the country during their days off filming, uncovering more possible murders and, seemingly, a link to death during the Second World War. But is there really a link between the deaths? And will they manage to uncover who is responsible before more people lose their lives?|isbn=1803368209}}{{Frontpage|isbn=B0CYV674G2|title=Swanton Morley (John Tanner)|author=David Blake|rating=3.5|genre=Crime|summary=It seemed like an open-and-shut case. A man, covered in mud and blood - and carrying a knife, comes into the police station shouting that he hasn't killed the man. A body at the bottom of a freshly dug grave at Swanton Morley church - he's been stabbed to death. DCI John Tanner is just back from his honeymoon, which coincided with the birth of his daughter Samantha. You would think he'd have be grateful for an easy answer but the words 'perverse' and 'John Tanner' were made for each other. He's sleep-deprived to the point of falling asleep at work but he's determined to keep going - probably because he can't get any sleep at home.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1787333175|title=You Don't Have to be Mad to say that it Work Here|author=Benji Waterhouse|rating=5|genre=Popular Science|summary=I was before 1995tempted to read ''You Don't Have to be Mad to Work Here'' after enjoying Adam Kay's first book {{amazonurl|isbn=1509858636|title=This is Going to Hurt}}, a glorious mixture of insight into the workings of the NHS, humour and autobiography. Meredith Vincent (that wasn''You Don't Have to be Mad...'' promised the same elements but moved from physical problems to mental illness and the work of a psychiatrist. I did wonder whether it was acceptable to be looking for humour in this setting but the laughter is directed at a situation rather than a person and it is always delivered with empathy and understanding. }}{{Frontpage|author=Onyi Nwabineli|title=Allow Me to Introduce Myself|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=Anuri spent her name then) had gone childhood on display to the world, thanks to Greenham Common her step-mother Ophelia's increasingly popular presence on social media, where she posted every step of Anuri's childhood for sponsorships and influencer deals and, basically, monetary gain. Now Anuri is in her seventeenth birthdaytwenties and she is slowly trying to regain her confidence and to get her life back, dressed as a teddy bearsuing her step-mother to take down the content about her. Anuri is battling alcoholism, failing to protest start her PhD, undergoing therapy and secretly abusing people online and receiving money from them for doing so. Most importantly, she is desperately worried about nuclear weaponsher little sister, who is the new focus of Ophelia's online empire. Can she save her sister, and perhaps herself and her relationship with her father at the same time?|isbn=0861546873}}{{Frontpage|author=David Chadwick|title=Headload of Napalm|rating=4.5|genre=Thrillers|summary= It 's September 1973 in Hicks, California. Hicks is a Mojave desert town of a few thousand people with its nearest neighbours of LA and Las Vegas both a significant drive away. Not much happens in Hicks. A silver mine and a defence contractor are the main local employers but otherwise, there's not much of note other than dive bars and Joshua trees. Life is quiet, until....|isbn= B0D321VJ76}}{{Frontpage|author=Tom Percival|title=The Wrong Shoes|rating=5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Will's life is difficult, in a multitude of ways. He is bullied because he has 'the wrong shoes', he has the wrong shoes because his dad can't work and doesn't have enough money for even the most basic of things like food, and his dad can't work because he lost his job at the college, was whilst working a cash-in-hand job on a building site and had an accident. Throw into that mix the fact that his mum and dad are separated, and Will's life seems bleak in every direction. And yet, he still has a tiny amount of hope. He is good at art, and clings to the moments of joy when he is drawing, that feel like a light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.|isbn=1398527122}}{{Frontpage|author=Sylvie Cathrall|title=A Letter to the Luminous Deep|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction|summary= There are few greater joys than a book which lives up to a compelling premise. And this is one of them.|isbn= 0356522776}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008517061|title=Death in a Lonely Place|author=Stig Abell|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary= Former Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky. There’s perhaps a little uncertainty about the future of his life with his vet girlfriend, Livia and her daughter Diana, as moving in together would mean a lot of compromise: does Jake give up his off-grid and relaxing life to move in with Livia or does Livia move to Little Sky despite her reservations about whether or not this is the future she wants for herself and her daughter? For the moment they’re enjoying life in the present and putting the future on the back burner.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1786482126|title=The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)|author=Elly Griffiths|rating=4.5|genre=Crime|summary=Builders were demolishing an old house in Norwich - the site was going to hold seventy-five 'luxury' apartments - when they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway. There was there no skull. Was this a ritual killing or murder? Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. It's difficult as Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn't, that she met Samanthais pregnant with his child as a result of the one night they spent together some three months ago. Her condition will be obvious before long, fell head over heels not least because Ruth is prone to sudden bouts of sickness.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008551324|title=The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|author=Neil Lancaster|rating=4.5|genre=Crime|summary=It's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the police. Neither side likes or has any respect for the other. But Davie Hardie is struggling in love prison and he's prepared to tell the police where the body of a missing person is buried and who was responsible for her death. This person, he promises, is someone big and it will be worth the police doing what he wants. And what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to serve the remainder of his sentence and to get an early parole date. Not much to ask, is it? The new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded - make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008405026|title=A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)|author=Jane Casey|rating=5|genre=Crime|summary=It's sixteen years since nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night. She was never found and went the investigation ground to live in a squat halt. Now, her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in Londontheir bed. Initially, leaving behind it looks like a straightforward murder/suicide but there's something about the positioning of the bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and her A levelsboss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. What looked as though it was going to be an open-and-shut case is now a complex double murder. Kerrigan is convinced that the explanation lies in Rosalie's disappearance: others (such as Derwent's boss, her recentlyUna Burt) are less convinced.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0571379877|title=The Kellerby Code|author=Jonny Sweet|rating=3.5|genre=Crime|summary=Edward Jevons is a working-widowed mother class young man, obsessed with his upper- class friends, Robert and her twin brotherStanza. Robert's a theatre director. He's also self-obsessed, Petedemanding, handsome and entitled and uses Edward to look after run errands for him. Edward has been in love with Stanza since their university days - and he's drunkenly confided how he feels to Robert. Most men in Robert's position would stay away from Stanza or tell Edward that a relationship had begun between them but he's not like most men: Edward is left to stumble upon the two of them kissing in a dark passageway.}}{{Frontpage|author=Jo Callaghan|title=Leave No Trace|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=When a man is found crucified on the top of a hill in Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to the case alongside hersidekick, the AI detective Lock. Samantha was It's their first live case together, having previously been very successful with several cold cases. But when there occasionally but Meredith was drawn into forming is a second body found crucified a band few days later, Kat is suddenly struggling with a potential serial killer and a very high profile case that draws a lot of unwanted attention to their AI Future Policing project. Will they be able to solve the boys from case in time, or will Kat find herself taken off the squat case and against all , potentially, out of a career?|isbn=139851120X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1399613073|title=Moral Injuries|author=Christie Watson|rating=4.5|genre=Thrillers|summary=Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the odds Cohen went on first day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century. Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to become be a sensation cardiothoracic surgeon. Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Anjali is the free spirit of the group and she becomes a GP. When we first meet them they're at a drug and alcohol-fuelled party and it wasn's going to end in tragedy. We don't long before Meredith know who suffered the tragedy or the consequences. Twenty-five years later there will be an eerily similar event that will impact the three friends. This time, it's their teenage children who are involved.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0241636604|title=The Trading Game: A Confession|author=Gary Stevenson|rating=4.5|genre=Autobiography|summary=If you were to bring up an image of a city banker in your mind, you're unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson. A hoodie and jeans replaces the pin-stripe suit and his background is the East End, where he was familiar with violence, poverty and injustice. There was no posh public school on his CV - but he had been to the London School of Economics. Stevenson is bright - extremely bright - and he has a facility with numbers which most of us can only envy. He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid. It was his ability at what was, essentially, a card game which got him an internship with Citibank. Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1035021803|title=The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder|author=C L Miller|rating=3.5|genre=Crime|summary=It's twenty years since Freya Lockwood has been back to the English country village where she grew up. She's back now because of a request for help from her beloved aunt, Carole. Freya's former mentor and Carole's close friend, Arthur Crockleford, is dead and the circumstances seem suspicious, to say the least. Arthur was living the reason why Freya had not been back to the village: Arthur, she feels, let her down badly. Even though they were in business together as antique hunters, she has not felt able to be near the man or pursue the profession she loved. After the split, she worked in a mansion rather than cafe, met and married James (on the rebound from the squatlove of her life, who was murdered) and Freya and James have now divorced. [[The Last Stage by Louise Voss}}{{Frontpage|isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover|title=All Tomorrow's Futures: Fictions that Disrupt|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction|Full Review]]summary=''Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of things to come.''

<!I've heard it said that 'technology' is what happens after you're eighteen. Well, I must confess that there have been more than a few decades of technology in my lifetime. I've kept up reasonably well with what's advantageous to me but I'm left with the feeling that it's all getting away from me. Some of it is -frankly - DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE quite frightening. Of course, I could research the possibilities and the probabilities and end up down rabbit holes without really understanding whether I'm reading someone who knows what they're talking about or the latest conspiracy theorist. I needed people I knew I could trust and who could deliver information in a way I could understand.}}{{Frontpage|author=Sunny Singh|title=Hotel Arcadia|rating=3.5|genre=Thrillers |summary=The Hotel Arcadia is a luxury hotel in an unnamed city that has suddenly been violently taken over by a terrorist group. Hiding from the terrorists who are rampaging through, killing everyone on site, there is Sam, a wartime photographer and Abhi, the hotel manager. As Abhi continues to try to care remotely for the residents who are still alive in the hotel, he forms a bond with Sam who refuses to be cowed by events, and keeps on venturing out of her room to try to capture what's happened through her photography. Although they only ever talk over the phone, their friendship grows as Abhi tries to help her keep safe and they both wait to see if they will be rescued before they are discovered by the terrorists.|isbn=086154742X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529153298|title=The List of Suspicious Things|author=Jennie Godfrey|rating=5|genre=General Fiction|summary=It's 1979 and Margaret Thatcher is Prime Minister. (A woman? I mean, honestly...) She's not what's worrying Miv's family, though. Women have been disappearing. Well, they've been murdered, but to have 'disappeared' doesn't sound quite so frightening. Miv's upset because she's overheard that her father wants to move the family 'Down South'. When you're from Yorkshire, Down South is a frightening, foreign place, best avoided. For Miv, the move would mean leaving her best friend, Sharon, and she'll do anything to prevent that. She's not worried about the dangers or that her Mum's stopped talking -->to anyone.|}}