Difference between revisions of "Newest Thrillers Reviews"

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[[Category:Thrillers|*]]
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{|class-"wikitable" cellpadding="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0241678412
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|title=The Proof of My Innocence
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|author=Jonathan Coe
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|rating=4
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|genre=Thrillers
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|summary=Life after university hasn't worked out quite the way that Phyl anticipated.  She's back home, living with her parents and on a zero-hours contract serving sushi to tourists at terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport.  All those ideas of becoming a writer seem to have come to nothing.  The situation improves when 'Uncle' Chris comes to stay and introduces Phyl to his adopted daughter, Rashida.  Christopher Swann (described by some as a lefty blogger) is investigating a think tank which originated at Cambridge University in the 1980s.  It plans to push the government in a more extreme direction and is ready to act.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0008385068
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|title=The Midnight Feast
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|author=Lucy Foley
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|rating=4.5
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|genre=Thrillers
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|summary=It's midsummer on the Dorset coast and guests gather at The Manor.  It's their opening weekend and splendid celebrations are promised.  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 famous.  Her husband, Owen, was the architect and work is still ongoing on parts of the site.  The heat is oppressive and amongst the guests are enemies as well as friends.  Old scores are going to be settled and it won't be long before a body is found.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Saima Mir
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|title=Vengeance
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|rating=3.5
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|genre=Thrillers
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|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.
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|isbn=0861541561
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=David Chadwick
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|title=Headload of Napalm
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|rating=4.5
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|genre=Thrillers
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|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....
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|isbn= B0D321VJ76
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1399613073
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|title=Moral Injuries
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|author=Christie Watson
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|rating=4.5
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|genre=Thrillers
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|summary=Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the 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 be a 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's going to end in tragedy.  We don't 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.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Sunny Singh
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|title=Hotel Arcadia
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|rating=3.5
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|genre=Thrillers
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|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.
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|isbn=086154742X
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Cody Goodfellow
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|title=Vertical
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|rating=3.5
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|genre=Thrillers
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|summary= There's something about tall buildings that just captures my imagination. Who doesn't love a good view from up high, after all? Even the drabbest office building is somewhere I'm intrigued to get inside if it's 40 stories tall. So when I picked up this book – about people who scale tall buildings for fun – I was instantly intrigued.
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|isbn= 1803363991
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1804183210
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|title=No Reserve
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|author=Felix Francis
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|rating=4
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|genre=Thrillers
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|summary=Thirty-four-year-old Theo Jennings shouldn't have been on the rostrum when the colt - as yet unnamed - came up for auction, but Peter Radway, the chairman, hadn't arrived, so he continued his session.  To say that he was shocked when the bidding reached three million pounds would be an understatement. A lovely animal - but three million pounds?  Two men had been bidding against each other.  Brian Kitman and Elliot 'Mitch' Mitchell were well-known and respected in the racing industry.  Jennings was in one of the cubicles in the toilets when the two men came in and their conversation revealed that the horse had been deliberately bid up to that figure.  Both were happy that they had insurance in place.  The following morning, the horse was dead in its stall.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1405951680
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|title=The Safe House
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|author=Cameron Ward
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|rating=4
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|genre=Thrillers
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|summary=Jess Walker accepted an offer (OK, actually she was gently nudged into it by her friend, Rupert) to caretake a luxury property in the Australian outback for a couple of months.  After the problems she'd had at work, it seemed like just the break she needed.  She was no longer a data analyst for the Metropolitan police in London: she was Jess who was returning to the country of her birth and in need of the space to get over the traumatic end of her relationship with Charles.  A few weeks in the Otway Ranges in Victoria sounded like just the ticket.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1448309743
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|title=The Devil Stone (DCI Christine Caplan)
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|author=Caro Ramsay
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|rating=4
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|genre=Crime
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|summary=In the village of Cronchie on the West coast of Scotland, five members of a wealthy family are found murdered.  The only item missing from the home is the Devil Stone: myth says that if the stone is removed from Otterburn House, death will follow.  The only suspects are known Satanists but in many ways, that's an easy conclusion given that two of them 'discovered' the body.  The Senior Investigating Office is DCI Bob Oswald but when he disappears, DCI Christine Caplan is pulled in to 'shadow' him.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=B0CCCPJJ5B
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|title=The Last Person in the World
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|author=Matthew Tree
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|rating=4
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|genre=Thrillers
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|summary=Our narrator was a scholarship day boy at the London-based public school where he met Ralph Finns.  It was an unusual relationship as Ralph was a boarder and had money to throw around on a  Rolex watch, vintage wines and a state-of-the-art sound system.  Both were probably quite surprised when they became almost friends and certainly more than acquaintances.  Finns had no intention of going on to University, unlike our storyteller who had a place at Wolverton College in Wellingford, the UK's third most prestigious university. Before going up, he took up a loose invitation to visit Ralph at his home, Clouds Manor in West Dorset.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Dean Koontz
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|title=The House at the End of the World
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|rating=4
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|genre=Thrillers
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|summary=When you experience overwhelming tragedy and feel that there is no one on your side, you can either suck it up, saddle up and ride on or you can retreat to your own private fortress on an island that sits snugly in a small chain of tiny dots on the map and live out your days in peace and solitude.  That's what Katie thought she was doing when she shut down her old life to start afresh on Jacob's Ladder; and all would have been the aforementioned peace and solitude were it not for the pesky US Government occupying Ringrock, the neighbouring island and perpetrating all manner of mischief in the name of science and quite possibly bringing about the end of all mankind.
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|isbn=1662453159
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1787636607
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|title=The Trap
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|author=Catherine Ryan Howard
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|rating=4.5
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|genre=Crime
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|summary=It's a scene replicated all too often in the early hours of the morning.  Drunken revellers spilling out of clubs and looking for a way to get home.  Some are lucky and manage to get one of the few taxis available.  Others squash onto the night bus that will only go as far as one of the outlying villages.  The woman all regret the 'taxi problem', particularly in the light of 'the missing women'.  For one young woman, the final stop on the bus leaves her a long way short of her home.  She had intended to ring someone to come and collect her - but her phone's dead. The bus had driven off before she had the chance to beg the bus driver to let her use his.  There's no option but to start walking - unsuitably clothed and in high-heeled shoes.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1529195977
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|title=None of this is True
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|author=Lisa Jewell
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|rating=5
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|genre=Thrillers
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|summary=On her 45th birthday, Alix Summer celebrated with a crowd of friends in the Landsdown pub on Salisbury Road when she encountered Josie Fair.  She, too, was out celebrating her 45th birthday, only she was just with her husband, Walter.  It turns out that not only are Alix and Josie birthday twins, they were both born in St Mary's hospital.  That's where the similarities end, though: Alix, with her husband, Nathan, are in the midst of a joyful, monied group of friends and whilst they're not ''exactly'' rowdy, they're enjoying themselves.  Josie, on the other hand, holds her handbag close to her tummy and you get the sense that Walter's not too happy.  He's not used to spending this much money on a meal - but it is Josie's birthday after all.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1803136383
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|title=Tin Soldiers
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|author=David Chadwick
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|rating=4.5
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|genre=Thrillers
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|summary= Wat Tyler has returned from fighting in Vietnam under something of a cloud. What actually happened out there is gossiped about and nobody is sure exactly what took place, but an act of heroism leading to a rare battlefield commission followed by rank cowardice and disgrace seems to be the consensus. Wat himself is keeping his cards close to his chest, as he always does.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=B0C7J9D21B
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|title=A Captive in Algiers (Muhammed Amalfi Mysteries)
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|author=A J Lewis
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|rating=4.5
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|genre=Historical Fiction
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|summary=When we first meet our hero, his name is Ettore and he lives at The House of Beautiful Swallows.  Idyllic as this might sound, it's a bordello and Ettore's mother died when he was born.  He's not been short of mothers, though - but for someone of his background in late-eighteenth-century Amalfi, it's difficult to obtain decent employment. The stint working with the preparation of anchovies didn't work out and bastards are considered bad luck on fishing boats.  Ettore was nothing if not resourceful - and determined - and it was not long before he had a successful business as a guide for visitors.  He was even saving some money.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0241996104
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|title=Coming to Find You
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|author=Jane Corry
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|rating=4.5
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|genre=Thrillers
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|summary=Nancy's mother and step-father were brutally stabbed at their Sussex farmhouse and her step-brother, Martin, has been convicted of their murder.  We first meet Nancy outside the court, after Martin receives a life sentence.  The barrister tells her that she's received a 'silent sentence' - she's not been found guilty of anything but will have to live with what happened for the rest of her life.  Of course, it's made worse because Nancy's rich - she inherited five million pounds from her mother - and the papers are making the most of it.  ''Farmhouse slaughter daughter'' is one favourite epithet and ''rich bitch'' might not be printed but is undoubtedly spoken.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1529135389
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|title=The Fall
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|author=Gilly Macmillan
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|rating=4.5
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|genre=Crime
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|summary=Nicole Booth had spent the morning at the county fair before she returned home.  There was no sign of her husband but opera was playing on the state-of-the-art music system installed in The Glass Barn.  They'd not been in the architect-designed house on Lancaut Peninsula for long and were still getting used to all the high-tech systems Tom had insisted upon.  Some of them fought with each other and didn't work as reliably as they should.  It had all come about through a ten-million-pound lottery win and they were still getting used to having that sort of money, too.  Eventually, Nicole found Tom dead in the swimming pool with a wound to his head.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Alan Parks
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|title=To Die in June
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|rating=4
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|genre=Crime
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|summary=What first seems like the unfortunate, accidental death of a homeless man on the streets, suddenly starts to feel like something more sinister as another body is discovered, and then another.  This is worrying enough for detective Harry McCoy, but all the more so because his own father is a down and out alcoholic, with no fixed abode, and he has been for years.  At the same time as facing these possible murders, Harry is also dealing with a move to a different police station, and the arrival there of a woman who claims her little boy has gone missing, only no record of the boy having existed can be found.  Something feels wrong - not just with the woman’s story but also with the other officers where he has been stationed, but can Harry uncover just what is going on?
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|isbn=1805300784
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1529382823
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|title=The Last Passenger
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|author=Will Dean
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|rating=4.5
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|genre=Thrillers
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|summary=Caroline Riley (she prefers 'Caz') is middle-aged and has found herself somewhat surprisingly in love with Pete.  They're off on a cruise to New York on ''Atlantica''.  Caz's sister, Gemma, reckons that Pete is going to propose but Caz hasn't spotted a ring-shaped bulge in his suit pocket and she doesn't know whether she's relieved or disappointed.  They've not been a couple for that long and the trip will be an excellent opportunity to get to know him a bit better.  Meanwhile, Gemma is looking after Caz's cafe as well as their mother who has dementia.  It's going to be good, isn't it?
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Mark Edwards
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|title=Keep Her Secret
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|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Thrillers
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|summary= Matthew and Helena are in Iceland, rekindling their university romance some twenty-odd years after they first met.  The alien-landscape of the lava fields and black beaches is breath-taking and Helena seems intent on getting the perfect photograph to encapsulate the joy she is feeling in this moment, even if it kills her… which it nearly does when the edge of a ravine gives way and Helena finds herself clinging to the rockface with just the snagged strap of her rucksack between her and a 500 foot drop to certain death below.  Convinced she is going to die, Helena must purge herself of the shocking secret she has been keeping and makes a panicked, cryptic declaration to Matthew.  Just moments later their heroic, and frankly very well prepared, Icelandic tour guide swoops in and hauls Helena to safety and Matthew is left wondering what he just learned about Helena.
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|isbn=166250893X
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Jenny Lund Madsen and Megan E Turney (translator)
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|title=Thirty Days of Darkness
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|rating=3.5
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|genre=Thrillers
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|summary=Hannah presents as an unlikeable, bitter woman, an author of failing if well-regarded literary short novels.  Sorry to leave her bottles of red wine behind her for an afternoon at a book fair, she flukes her way into a public argument with the latest hot shot in the world of crime fiction, saying he's populist trash and only writing what anyone could write.  Cue the bet that she cannot live up to that accusation.  Her publisher duly books her flights from Denmark to Iceland, where she is put up for a wintry month away from it all.  Just on the point of despairing – about her writing, about the people and the lack of stimulus for her plot, more or less about everything – word comes that the landlady's nephew has been found dead…
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|isbn=1914585615
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0861544056
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|title=Twin Truths
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|author=Jacqueline Sutherland
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|rating=5
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|genre=Thrillers
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|summary=Belle and David's twin daughters are just coming to the end of their first term at university.  Kit's been at Bristol and Jess's in Exeter.  It's not only the first time they've been away from their parents for any length of time - but they've also been apart from each other.  Belle can't wait to have them all to herself for a while.  Then Kit rings up - can she bring her boyfriend home with her?  Belle would prefer that he didn't come but doesn't want to upset Kit.  Ivo's apparently 'older': he's twenty-four to Kit's eighteen but Belle figures that she can cope with that.  And they'll be sharing a bedroom.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Robert Dugoni
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|title=Her Deadly Game
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|rating=5
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|genre=Crime
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|summary= Patrick Duggan & Associates has been the life's work of Patsy Duggan – rather charmingly nicknamed 'The Irish Brawler' due to his reputation for no holds barred courtroom performances in defence of his clients.  Along with an indisputable talent for the law, Patsy also has a gift for drinking himself to oblivion and inevitably the latter was beginning to overshadow the former.  Enter Keera Duggan, former competitive chess prodigy and proven Seattle Prosecutor who finds herself in the hideous position of asking her father for a job at the family firm because a romantic entanglement with a senior colleague, Miller Ambrose, had gone, rather spectacularly, south.
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|isbn=1662500181
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Vanda Symon
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|title=Expectant (Detective Sam Shephard)
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|rating=4.5
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|genre=Crime
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|summary=Detective Sam Shepherd is approaching the start of her maternity leave when there is a brutal, shocking murder of an expectant woman in Dunedin.  Suddenly she finds herself embroiled in the hunt for a killer targeting pregnant women, with all the extra pressure that entails being pregnant herself.  Finding herself put on desk duties, which she rails against, she just can't let the case go and she starts to follow every thread to uncover what's actually happening, and the increasingly disturbing worry of just what might happen next.
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|isbn=1914585577
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1787301036
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|title=What July Knew
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|author=Emily Koch
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|rating=5
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|genre=Thrillers
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|summary=When we first meet July Hooper on 20 July 1995 she's just ten years old.  She's a careful, meticulous child.  The care has been taught by her father, Mick Hooper, who is not prepared to discuss the death of his wife, July's mother, and any hint that the conversation is heading that way will lead to the necessity of a Lesson.  Other infractions of his requirements also lead to these Lessons and he's not even careful about whether or not the injuries are visible.  July's teacher is concerned and brings up the possibility of abuse with the head but her worries are dismissed: Mick has been good to the school, has he not?  The playground wouldn't have been resurfaced but for him.
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}}
  
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0008454493
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|title=All the Dangerous Things
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[[image:1472235878.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472235878/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
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|author=Stacy Willingham
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|rating=4.5
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|genre=Crime
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|summary=Isabelle Drake hasn't really slept for a year - well, apart from the odd occasion when she lost track of time or drifted off for a moment. It's now a year since her son, Mason, was stolen from his bed in the middle of the night and Izzy is consumed with guilt that she heard nothing and particularly about her relief in the morning when she thought he was sleeping in. In that year she's done everything she could to raise awareness about the case. She does interviews and when we meet her, she's just been to TrueCrimeCon where she gave a keynote  presentation.  On the plane back, she's approached by a podcaster, Waylon Spencer, who points out that she could do a podcast and get to so many more people than she could by giving speeches to a few hundred people at conferences.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1848458436
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|title=Just the Nicest Couple
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|author=Mary Kubica
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|rating=4
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|genre=Thrillers
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|summary=''The whole thing has spiralled out of control, turning into someone I'm not.''
  
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''Just the Nicest Couple'' is the story of two couples: Christian and Lily Scott, and Nina and Jake Hayes.  The connection between the two is that Lily and Nina teach in the same school: Nina teaches English and Lily covers high school algebra.  The couples have mixed as a foursome but it's not a regular thing.  Christian is a market research analyst and Jake is a neurosurgeon: they don't have much in common except their wives.  Lily hasn't said anything yet, but she's pregnant.  She has a lengthy history of miscarriages so she doesn't want to tempt fate by making the knowledge public.
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}}
  
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Move on to [[Newest Travel Reviews]]
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===[[A Gathering of Ghosts by Karen Maitland]]===
 
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[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]]
 
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Witchcraft, the supernatural and the will to survive at all costs collide in a story that never shies away from the darker side of human nature. The land is unhappy, the old spirits want revenge and famine is kindling a resurgence of the old faith.  As fear rises, it is increasingly difficult for Prioress Johanne to ignore that something rotten has taken root. The sacred well is tainted, its healing waters run red with blood and strangers are blowing in on a wind of change. [[A Gathering of Ghosts by Karen Maitland|Full Review]]
 
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===[[The Aladdin Trial by Abi Silver]]===
 
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[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]]
 
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When elderly hospital patient Barbara Hennessy is found dead on the pavement outside the hospital, a police investigation is launched into whether she jumped or was pushed. Having just have surgery on her foot, there is sufficient grounds to think this was no accident, but the only suspect the police can link to the death is the hospital cleaner, a Syrian refugee, Ahmad Qabbani. Solicitor Constance Lamb and barrister Judith Burton reunite to defend Ahmad, but with an uncooperative hospital staff, Barbara's self interested children and Ahmad keeping secrets, it's going an increasingly difficult task to prove to the jury and the media, that he is innocent. [[The Aladdin Trial by Abi Silver|Full Review]]
 
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===[[The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola]]===
 
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[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]]
 
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Audrey, a complex mix of flights of fancy and seriousness, wanting, needing, to be more than what everyone expects of her, escapes from the straightjacket of her home. Where every action, every thought, every yearning is controlled by her father, who only once in his life threw caution to the wind and married way beneath him for love. Now a widower and remarried, he has rigorously returned to upholding what is right, what is proper, the bastion of doing what is expected. [[The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola|Full Review]]
 
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===[[Silence in the Desert by David Longridge]]===
 
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[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]]
 
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As the shadow of the Second World War descends upon the planet, four people are explored in a tale of love and friendship. Henri, fulfilling a family tradition in joining the Foreign Legion, Bill, arriving at Cambridge on an RAF scholarship, Leo, struggling to align his beliefs with those of his upbringing, and Elisabeth, crossing continents and changing names are all brought together by strife and turmoil. As the war rages, these men are tested like never before, with trust, loyalty and love leading to decisions that affect both their lives and those all around them. [[Silence in the Desert by David Longridge|Full Review]]
 
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===[[The Poison Bed by E C Fremantle]]===
 
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[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]]
 
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The year is 1615 and celebrated couple Robert and Frances Carr have been arrested for murder. She is young, beautiful, and a member of the notorious Howard family. He is one of the most powerful men in the kingdom, risen from nothing yet has the King's ear. Both of them are suspected but the crime is not as black and white as it seems. Is Frances an innocent or is she the witch so many believe her to be? Is Robert telling the truth when he says he knows nothing of the murder? In between all these questions is King James I, for it is his secret that is at stake. One of them is a killer, but who has committed the murder in question? [[The Poison Bed by E C Fremantle|Full Review]]
 
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''Do you not sometimes think a storm is coming?''
 
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''Hunted'' continues where the ''Voices'' series left off, with our heroine on the run without anyone to defend her whilst the world around her is descending into chaos.
 
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Lacey, barely escaped with her life after the events of [[Defender by G X Todd|Defender]] and now she's being hunted. By a boy driven by a voice stealing away his sanity piece by piece and by another incapable of speech. Both are determined to find her at all costs and both are building up an army of followers to track her precise location before the other. [[Hunted by G X Todd|Full Review]]
 
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I have heard it said that the best way to begin to tell a story is to create a multi-dimensional character, imbued with compelling layers of detail - be it backstory, character quirks or behaviours. The point seems to be that in creating a character in such a way you begin to reflect the truth of life wherein people are by definition multi-dimensional and thus, you bring your story to life. In Major Tom Fox, Grimwood has successfully created just such a character. In one man he gifts us an exciting and honourable figure who somehow simultaneously manages to present as damaged and flawed. Grimwood provides some character history for Fox which clearly informs the actions of the character but I would suggest that rather than any written history provided for Major Fox, it is in the way he interacts with the other characters and drives the action of the story that we come to know him.  [[Nightfall Berlin by Jack Grimwood|Full Review]]
 
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===[[Don't Make a Sound by David Jackson]]===
 
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Malcolm and Harriet are a little odd. That much is clear from the start, from the way he is around her, the way he prepares things in such a way as to make her happy. It's a nice sentiment, but something is off. We meet their daughter Daisy and again, it all seems nice enough but there's a vibe, a hint of a feeling that all is not what it seems. Just how bad things are, though, is yet to be revealed. [[Don't Make a Sound by David Jackson|Full Review]]
 
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===[[All These Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth Klehfoth]]===
 
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Elizabeth Klehfoth's debut novel is a mystery thriller written from the perspective of Charlie Calloway, a teenage girl in her final years at boarding school who is plagued by her mother’s disappearance. As the story progresses she begins to learn more about what happened to her mother, finding out along the way that not everyone was who she thought they were. Titled ''All These Beautiful Strangers'' it really makes you question whether you are surrounded by strangers too. [[All These Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth Klehfoth|Full Review]]
 
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===[[The Industry of Human Happiness by James Hall]]===
 
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[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]]
 
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''The Industry of Human Happiness'' first and foremost is a novel about music. It is about human beings being able to find music and magic in the simplest of places. Max and his younger cousin have realised their dream of opening a gramophone company. However, their ambition and hubris soon puts them on a course towards London's underworld. They will ascend broken and their lives changed forever. [[The Industry of Human Happiness by James Hall|Full Review]]
 
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===[[Greeks Bearing Gifts: Bernie Gunther Thriller 13 by Philip Kerr]]===
 
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Set in Germany in 1957, ''Greeks Bearing Gifts'' is a historical crime thriller with everything from dodgy Nazi past histories to insurance fraud.  Bernie Gunther is a Berliner, who was a sarjeant during the second world war and now, in this novel, is working in the morgue of a hospital.  He finds himself embroiled in a mystery, taking on a new role as an insurance claims investigator.  The investigation takes him to Greece, and back into the dark times of the war.  With layered plots and double-crossing left, right and centre, there's lots to keep you guessing throughout this story. [[Greeks Bearing Gifts: Bernie Gunther Thriller 13 by Philip Kerr|Full Review]]
 
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===[[The Reckoning by Yrsa Sigurdardottir and Victoria Cribb (translator)]]===
 
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[[The Legacy: Children's House Book 1 by Yrsa Sigurdardottir and Victoria Cribb (translator)|Last time]], this series opened with a plot that derailed the careers of both its leads – Huldar the policeman, and child psychologist Freyja. Demoted and stuck with a kind of love/hate connection, they are left staring into space for want of something to happen. Huldar can even find some gruesome human remains the police have been tipped off about, but still isn't allowed to investigate them, so he settles for the drudge work involved in a threat found left in a school's time capsule. Even Freyja can be persuaded to stop twiddling her thumbs and help him out. It's the nature of these books that we know both plots will be connected somehow – but how, we will be asking, will either relate to the prologue, where a young girl was snatched ten years ago, and what is a modern family under threat to do with anything? [[The Reckoning by Yrsa Sigurdardottir and Victoria Cribb (translator)|Full Review]]
 
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===[[Everything About You by Heather Child]]===
 
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[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]], [[:Category:Dystopian Fiction|Dystopian Fiction]]
 
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In the future, your social feed is your entire existence. A.I. is here and it is all around you. It fills your fridge, it keeps up to date with your friends and fulfils your wishes. It is also stealing your jobs and, possibly, loosening your grip on reality. Freya is unexpectedly given a beta testing version of the latest smart specs, glasses which give her all the information she'll ever need, right in front of her eyes by barely thinking about it, complete with a personality to guide her. The problem is that the personality on the glasses is that of her missing and presumed dead sister. Freya is thrown and unsettled by this. Her mum tells her to stop using them or at the very least to reset them to a different personality. But Freya just can't do this. Hearing her sister's voice again is like she's right there, and although she knows this is just Ruby's data, part of Freya can't believe that it can be this accurate, it can't be this Ruby. Is it just possible that something more is feeding this personality than Ruby's data? [[Everything About You by Heather Child|Full Review]]
 
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Don Challenor is a down on his luck estate agent who gets tasked to sell a house in Cornwall and upon meeting the live-in cleaner, Blake, finds his life utterly turned upside down. A simple sales job gets increasingly complex with the addition of a witch, professional heavies and a mysterious panic room. Intrigue builds on intrigue and what started fairly simply becomes something far more complex. [[Panic Room by Robert Goddard|Full Review]]
 
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===[[Munich: The Man Who Said No! by David Laws]]===
 
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I've played Neville Chamberlain in public, you know – a full one-line in a ''Beyond the Fringe'' sketch, where he says he has a piece of paper from Hitler. I then proceeded to prove it was a paper bag, in fact, by blowing it up and immediately bursting it. That is what that paper was to many – the indicator of a lot of hot air, and only leading to an unwelcome noise, when WW2 actually struck anyway. Certainly, not everyone was keen on his appeasement with the Nazis, and this book opens with the first-person reportage of one such man, keen on showing proof to Chamberlain that he should not sign the Sudetenland away. But he only got so far before his story was cut off entirely – leaving a grand-daughter, Emma, at Cambridge but under a cloud of ignominy, to pick the last, barest threads of the story up and see just what did happen to him. Oh, and her help has just come out of prison… [[Munich: The Man Who Said No! by David Laws|Full Review]]
 
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A drone collides with an air ambulance, the mess falls on a busy shopping centre and we are barely out of the first chapter. DC Max Wolfe's latest adventure looks at religion, radicalisation, hate and paranoia. Without drawing breath we immediately jump to catching those responsible. The rest of the book gradually builds a web of intrigue and a virtual soap opera of family issues. [[Girl on Fire by Tony Parsons|Full Review]]
 
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Claude Whelan, Regent Park's First Desk has insurmountable problems. He's charged with protecting a lame duck prime minister, but he's under fire himself. There's the self-publicising MP who orchestrated the Brexit vote and who might just be looking to take the PM's job from him. The MP's wife is a columnist for one of the tabloids who's having a go at Whelan in print and who will do anything to promote her husband's interests. Then there's the PM's favourite Muslim who's running for mayor despite having a very dark secret himself. As if this wasn't enough, Whelan's deputy, Lady Di Taverner is watching for his every stumble - and it's not so that she can catch him and help him to safety. [[London Rules by Mick Herron|Full Review]]
 
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In the crazy world of Arthur Brown, he can be standing at the altar giving his dutifully prepared sermon one minute, and wasting bad guys with his guns the next. What's inspired this? Two low-lifes, way from the top of the crime ladder in this particular city, who stole millions from a shady casino, and stashed the money in his basement. Two other lowlifes, working for the drug lord who owns the casino, come for the money, kill Arthur's family, and leave him so badly knifed on his floor that he's taken for dead when he's discovered. But he's not dead, and nor is his God-given hope to redress the balance in his town, and to right some very big wrongs. Yes, truly is he the god of hell fire, and he will take some men to burn… [[A Righteous Killer: Blood Murder Betrayal by Ellace James|Full Review]]
 
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Heike Lerner leads a seemingly pleasant life in America after a damaged childhood in war-torn Europe. She is a stay-at-home mother, the wife of a successful psychiatrist, and her everyday routine is pleasantly quiet. Then one afternoon her four-old-son befriends a young girl by the lake, who vanishes suddenly under the water. Although Heike dives in after her, the girl is nowhere to be seen, leaving Heike wondering what happened to her. In an attempt to find answers, Heike seeks the help of paranormal television writer Leo Dolan after her controlling husband refuses to believe her. But then things take another turn when Heike's son disappears, and it's her husband who was the last to see him alive. [[I Remember You by Elisabeth de Mariaffi|Full Review]]
 
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FBI Agent Elsa Myers finds missing children. There's a link back to her childhood here, as she might not have been missing but she was certainly lost. Her mother was abusive and her father preferred not to do anything about it: there might have been a bit of pretense but there was no protection. All that should be in the past, although Elsa is still self-harming when under pressure, but her father is dying of lung cancer and although she would have hoped for some personal time with him, her boss has allocated her to a new case, that of 17-year-old Ruby Haverstock, and you can't waste any time when children go missing. [[A Map of the Dark by Karen Ellis|Full Review]]
 
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Latest revision as of 10:34, 20 November 2024

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Review of

The Proof of My Innocence by Jonathan Coe

4star.jpg Thrillers

Life after university hasn't worked out quite the way that Phyl anticipated. She's back home, living with her parents and on a zero-hours contract serving sushi to tourists at terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport. All those ideas of becoming a writer seem to have come to nothing. The situation improves when 'Uncle' Chris comes to stay and introduces Phyl to his adopted daughter, Rashida. Christopher Swann (described by some as a lefty blogger) is investigating a think tank which originated at Cambridge University in the 1980s. It plans to push the government in a more extreme direction and is ready to act. Full Review

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Review of

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

It's midsummer on the Dorset coast and guests gather at The Manor. It's their opening weekend and splendid celebrations are promised. 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 famous. Her husband, Owen, was the architect and work is still ongoing on parts of the site. The heat is oppressive and amongst the guests are enemies as well as friends. Old scores are going to be settled and it won't be long before a body is found. Full Review

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Review of

Vengeance by Saima Mir

3.5star.jpg Thrillers

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. Full Review

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Review of

Headload of Napalm by David Chadwick

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

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.... Full Review

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Review of

Moral Injuries by Christie Watson

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the 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 be a 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's going to end in tragedy. We don't 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. Full Review

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Review of

Hotel Arcadia by Sunny Singh

3.5star.jpg Thrillers

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. Full Review

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Review of

Vertical by Cody Goodfellow

3.5star.jpg Thrillers

There's something about tall buildings that just captures my imagination. Who doesn't love a good view from up high, after all? Even the drabbest office building is somewhere I'm intrigued to get inside if it's 40 stories tall. So when I picked up this book – about people who scale tall buildings for fun – I was instantly intrigued. Full Review

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Review of

No Reserve by Felix Francis

4star.jpg Thrillers

Thirty-four-year-old Theo Jennings shouldn't have been on the rostrum when the colt - as yet unnamed - came up for auction, but Peter Radway, the chairman, hadn't arrived, so he continued his session. To say that he was shocked when the bidding reached three million pounds would be an understatement. A lovely animal - but three million pounds? Two men had been bidding against each other. Brian Kitman and Elliot 'Mitch' Mitchell were well-known and respected in the racing industry. Jennings was in one of the cubicles in the toilets when the two men came in and their conversation revealed that the horse had been deliberately bid up to that figure. Both were happy that they had insurance in place. The following morning, the horse was dead in its stall. Full Review

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Review of

The Safe House by Cameron Ward

4star.jpg Thrillers

Jess Walker accepted an offer (OK, actually she was gently nudged into it by her friend, Rupert) to caretake a luxury property in the Australian outback for a couple of months. After the problems she'd had at work, it seemed like just the break she needed. She was no longer a data analyst for the Metropolitan police in London: she was Jess who was returning to the country of her birth and in need of the space to get over the traumatic end of her relationship with Charles. A few weeks in the Otway Ranges in Victoria sounded like just the ticket. Full Review

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Review of

The Devil Stone (DCI Christine Caplan) by Caro Ramsay

4star.jpg Crime

In the village of Cronchie on the West coast of Scotland, five members of a wealthy family are found murdered. The only item missing from the home is the Devil Stone: myth says that if the stone is removed from Otterburn House, death will follow. The only suspects are known Satanists but in many ways, that's an easy conclusion given that two of them 'discovered' the body. The Senior Investigating Office is DCI Bob Oswald but when he disappears, DCI Christine Caplan is pulled in to 'shadow' him. Full Review

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Review of

The Last Person in the World by Matthew Tree

4star.jpg Thrillers

Our narrator was a scholarship day boy at the London-based public school where he met Ralph Finns. It was an unusual relationship as Ralph was a boarder and had money to throw around on a Rolex watch, vintage wines and a state-of-the-art sound system. Both were probably quite surprised when they became almost friends and certainly more than acquaintances. Finns had no intention of going on to University, unlike our storyteller who had a place at Wolverton College in Wellingford, the UK's third most prestigious university. Before going up, he took up a loose invitation to visit Ralph at his home, Clouds Manor in West Dorset. Full Review

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Review of

The House at the End of the World by Dean Koontz

4star.jpg Thrillers

When you experience overwhelming tragedy and feel that there is no one on your side, you can either suck it up, saddle up and ride on or you can retreat to your own private fortress on an island that sits snugly in a small chain of tiny dots on the map and live out your days in peace and solitude. That's what Katie thought she was doing when she shut down her old life to start afresh on Jacob's Ladder; and all would have been the aforementioned peace and solitude were it not for the pesky US Government occupying Ringrock, the neighbouring island and perpetrating all manner of mischief in the name of science and quite possibly bringing about the end of all mankind. Full Review

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Review of

The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard

4.5star.jpg Crime

It's a scene replicated all too often in the early hours of the morning. Drunken revellers spilling out of clubs and looking for a way to get home. Some are lucky and manage to get one of the few taxis available. Others squash onto the night bus that will only go as far as one of the outlying villages. The woman all regret the 'taxi problem', particularly in the light of 'the missing women'. For one young woman, the final stop on the bus leaves her a long way short of her home. She had intended to ring someone to come and collect her - but her phone's dead. The bus had driven off before she had the chance to beg the bus driver to let her use his. There's no option but to start walking - unsuitably clothed and in high-heeled shoes. Full Review

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Review of

None of this is True by Lisa Jewell

5star.jpg Thrillers

On her 45th birthday, Alix Summer celebrated with a crowd of friends in the Landsdown pub on Salisbury Road when she encountered Josie Fair. She, too, was out celebrating her 45th birthday, only she was just with her husband, Walter. It turns out that not only are Alix and Josie birthday twins, they were both born in St Mary's hospital. That's where the similarities end, though: Alix, with her husband, Nathan, are in the midst of a joyful, monied group of friends and whilst they're not exactly rowdy, they're enjoying themselves. Josie, on the other hand, holds her handbag close to her tummy and you get the sense that Walter's not too happy. He's not used to spending this much money on a meal - but it is Josie's birthday after all. Full Review

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Review of

Tin Soldiers by David Chadwick

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

Wat Tyler has returned from fighting in Vietnam under something of a cloud. What actually happened out there is gossiped about and nobody is sure exactly what took place, but an act of heroism leading to a rare battlefield commission followed by rank cowardice and disgrace seems to be the consensus. Wat himself is keeping his cards close to his chest, as he always does. Full Review

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Review of

A Captive in Algiers (Muhammed Amalfi Mysteries) by A J Lewis

4.5star.jpg Historical Fiction

When we first meet our hero, his name is Ettore and he lives at The House of Beautiful Swallows. Idyllic as this might sound, it's a bordello and Ettore's mother died when he was born. He's not been short of mothers, though - but for someone of his background in late-eighteenth-century Amalfi, it's difficult to obtain decent employment. The stint working with the preparation of anchovies didn't work out and bastards are considered bad luck on fishing boats. Ettore was nothing if not resourceful - and determined - and it was not long before he had a successful business as a guide for visitors. He was even saving some money. Full Review

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Review of

Coming to Find You by Jane Corry

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

Nancy's mother and step-father were brutally stabbed at their Sussex farmhouse and her step-brother, Martin, has been convicted of their murder. We first meet Nancy outside the court, after Martin receives a life sentence. The barrister tells her that she's received a 'silent sentence' - she's not been found guilty of anything but will have to live with what happened for the rest of her life. Of course, it's made worse because Nancy's rich - she inherited five million pounds from her mother - and the papers are making the most of it. Farmhouse slaughter daughter is one favourite epithet and rich bitch might not be printed but is undoubtedly spoken. Full Review

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Review of

The Fall by Gilly Macmillan

4.5star.jpg Crime

Nicole Booth had spent the morning at the county fair before she returned home. There was no sign of her husband but opera was playing on the state-of-the-art music system installed in The Glass Barn. They'd not been in the architect-designed house on Lancaut Peninsula for long and were still getting used to all the high-tech systems Tom had insisted upon. Some of them fought with each other and didn't work as reliably as they should. It had all come about through a ten-million-pound lottery win and they were still getting used to having that sort of money, too. Eventually, Nicole found Tom dead in the swimming pool with a wound to his head. Full Review

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Review of

To Die in June by Alan Parks

4star.jpg Crime

What first seems like the unfortunate, accidental death of a homeless man on the streets, suddenly starts to feel like something more sinister as another body is discovered, and then another. This is worrying enough for detective Harry McCoy, but all the more so because his own father is a down and out alcoholic, with no fixed abode, and he has been for years. At the same time as facing these possible murders, Harry is also dealing with a move to a different police station, and the arrival there of a woman who claims her little boy has gone missing, only no record of the boy having existed can be found. Something feels wrong - not just with the woman’s story but also with the other officers where he has been stationed, but can Harry uncover just what is going on? Full Review

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Review of

The Last Passenger by Will Dean

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

Caroline Riley (she prefers 'Caz') is middle-aged and has found herself somewhat surprisingly in love with Pete. They're off on a cruise to New York on Atlantica. Caz's sister, Gemma, reckons that Pete is going to propose but Caz hasn't spotted a ring-shaped bulge in his suit pocket and she doesn't know whether she's relieved or disappointed. They've not been a couple for that long and the trip will be an excellent opportunity to get to know him a bit better. Meanwhile, Gemma is looking after Caz's cafe as well as their mother who has dementia. It's going to be good, isn't it? Full Review

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Review of

Keep Her Secret by Mark Edwards

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

Matthew and Helena are in Iceland, rekindling their university romance some twenty-odd years after they first met. The alien-landscape of the lava fields and black beaches is breath-taking and Helena seems intent on getting the perfect photograph to encapsulate the joy she is feeling in this moment, even if it kills her… which it nearly does when the edge of a ravine gives way and Helena finds herself clinging to the rockface with just the snagged strap of her rucksack between her and a 500 foot drop to certain death below. Convinced she is going to die, Helena must purge herself of the shocking secret she has been keeping and makes a panicked, cryptic declaration to Matthew. Just moments later their heroic, and frankly very well prepared, Icelandic tour guide swoops in and hauls Helena to safety and Matthew is left wondering what he just learned about Helena. Full Review

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Review of

Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen and Megan E Turney (translator)

3.5star.jpg Thrillers

Hannah presents as an unlikeable, bitter woman, an author of failing if well-regarded literary short novels. Sorry to leave her bottles of red wine behind her for an afternoon at a book fair, she flukes her way into a public argument with the latest hot shot in the world of crime fiction, saying he's populist trash and only writing what anyone could write. Cue the bet that she cannot live up to that accusation. Her publisher duly books her flights from Denmark to Iceland, where she is put up for a wintry month away from it all. Just on the point of despairing – about her writing, about the people and the lack of stimulus for her plot, more or less about everything – word comes that the landlady's nephew has been found dead… Full Review

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Review of

Twin Truths by Jacqueline Sutherland

5star.jpg Thrillers

Belle and David's twin daughters are just coming to the end of their first term at university. Kit's been at Bristol and Jess's in Exeter. It's not only the first time they've been away from their parents for any length of time - but they've also been apart from each other. Belle can't wait to have them all to herself for a while. Then Kit rings up - can she bring her boyfriend home with her? Belle would prefer that he didn't come but doesn't want to upset Kit. Ivo's apparently 'older': he's twenty-four to Kit's eighteen but Belle figures that she can cope with that. And they'll be sharing a bedroom. Full Review

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Review of

Her Deadly Game by Robert Dugoni

5star.jpg Crime

Patrick Duggan & Associates has been the life's work of Patsy Duggan – rather charmingly nicknamed 'The Irish Brawler' due to his reputation for no holds barred courtroom performances in defence of his clients. Along with an indisputable talent for the law, Patsy also has a gift for drinking himself to oblivion and inevitably the latter was beginning to overshadow the former. Enter Keera Duggan, former competitive chess prodigy and proven Seattle Prosecutor who finds herself in the hideous position of asking her father for a job at the family firm because a romantic entanglement with a senior colleague, Miller Ambrose, had gone, rather spectacularly, south. Full Review

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Review of

Expectant (Detective Sam Shephard) by Vanda Symon

4.5star.jpg Crime

Detective Sam Shepherd is approaching the start of her maternity leave when there is a brutal, shocking murder of an expectant woman in Dunedin. Suddenly she finds herself embroiled in the hunt for a killer targeting pregnant women, with all the extra pressure that entails being pregnant herself. Finding herself put on desk duties, which she rails against, she just can't let the case go and she starts to follow every thread to uncover what's actually happening, and the increasingly disturbing worry of just what might happen next. Full Review

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Review of

What July Knew by Emily Koch

5star.jpg Thrillers

When we first meet July Hooper on 20 July 1995 she's just ten years old. She's a careful, meticulous child. The care has been taught by her father, Mick Hooper, who is not prepared to discuss the death of his wife, July's mother, and any hint that the conversation is heading that way will lead to the necessity of a Lesson. Other infractions of his requirements also lead to these Lessons and he's not even careful about whether or not the injuries are visible. July's teacher is concerned and brings up the possibility of abuse with the head but her worries are dismissed: Mick has been good to the school, has he not? The playground wouldn't have been resurfaced but for him. Full Review

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Review of

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

4.5star.jpg Crime

Isabelle Drake hasn't really slept for a year - well, apart from the odd occasion when she lost track of time or drifted off for a moment. It's now a year since her son, Mason, was stolen from his bed in the middle of the night and Izzy is consumed with guilt that she heard nothing and particularly about her relief in the morning when she thought he was sleeping in. In that year she's done everything she could to raise awareness about the case. She does interviews and when we meet her, she's just been to TrueCrimeCon where she gave a keynote presentation. On the plane back, she's approached by a podcaster, Waylon Spencer, who points out that she could do a podcast and get to so many more people than she could by giving speeches to a few hundred people at conferences. Full Review

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Review of

Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica

4star.jpg Thrillers

The whole thing has spiralled out of control, turning into someone I'm not.

Just the Nicest Couple is the story of two couples: Christian and Lily Scott, and Nina and Jake Hayes. The connection between the two is that Lily and Nina teach in the same school: Nina teaches English and Lily covers high school algebra. The couples have mixed as a foursome but it's not a regular thing. Christian is a market research analyst and Jake is a neurosurgeon: they don't have much in common except their wives. Lily hasn't said anything yet, but she's pregnant. She has a lengthy history of miscarriages so she doesn't want to tempt fate by making the knowledge public. Full Review

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