THE VERSION THAT SURVIVED by Vera Mercer #RBRT

 4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: Psychological mystery about grief, guilt and lies

I was most intrigued by this book from the word go - I won't go into the plot as that's in the blurb.  I was struck by how clever the writing was, it flowed so well, and also I loved how the author did not reveal essential detail about the events the book hinged upon - I was thinking, what's going on here?  Happily, the writing was compelling enough to keep me wondering and turning the pages, as the picture came into focus.

Sadly, I did lose interest in the second half, much of which was dialogue between the main character (Nora), and various others, in which they discussed intricate points and details.  It started to feel like a report, rather than a story, which made the drama ebb, somewhat.  I realised then that I wanted to read the actual story from, when the accident took place, with Lydia's rise in real time, as they say.  Her scheming, her manipulation of just about everyone, her need to redeem herself.  She was a fascinating character, and I would have liked to see her in action.  Know more about her.  There is more than one way of telling a story - choosing the right one can be very difficult!

'The reveal' did bring all the threads together, and explain much that went before, with all its implications and long-ranging effects.  The change in character focus really worked.  Completely satisfying end (loved the very last lines), always appreciated.

This is a debut novel, and I wish Vera Mercer all the best in her literary career :)

DRIVEN BY DECEIT by Georgia Rose @GeorgiaRoseBook

 4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)

On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: I'd read the other books in the series so I knew it was coming!

In a Nutshell: Crazy woman moves into a village and causes mayhem

Driven by Deceit is the 5th book in the series A Shade Darker, an everyday story of country life in the fictional village of Melton, which enjoys more than its fair share of drama and colourful characters.

Laura runs a stable, and lives a fairly happy, quiet life, until a certain person from her past appears out of the blue, and causes a stir.  Soon, Laura and her friends are drawn into a the dark, deceptive web of Ms Cecelia Clark.  But why is she there?  What is she up to?

Cecelia is certainly a larger than life character and I enjoyed reading about her machinations - the story is a cracking yarn with never a dull moment!  

I always appreciate the structure of Georgia Rose's books; she knows exactly when to reveal the right amount of backstory to keep you interested.  I also very much liked the horse stuff - I know nothing of the equine world, so found the detail about how the stable was run, etc, most interesting.

I look forward to the next book!

FOIL by Evan Klonsky #RBRT

 4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: Human drama exploring many psychological issues of the current day.

At Penn Station, New York, a man called Sam sees what he believes to be a young man wearing a suicide vest, about to blow the place sky high.  Out of nowhere, Sam finds the courage to stop this from happening by wrestling the younger man, Xander, into submission, in a far more brutal fashion than was perhaps necessary.

The aftermath of these events forms the basis of the story, with stark illustration of how the actions of one can affect many.

The first thing that struck me about this book was how totally screwed up, self-absorbed and self-indulgent the characters are - I couldn't say I liked any of them.  Audrey came across as cold and selfish, Sam as rather sweet, childlike, almost, but alarmingly superficial, and poor Holly as an emotional mess, for good reason.  Maybe it's simply the world we live in these days.  This is not, incidentally, a criticism; the author portrayed all the characters so well, and I don't need to like a character to want to read about them.  I was particularly impressed by a minor player called Ainsley, who fancies himself as a Shaman - I loved the scene that comprised him, Sam and Sam's friend Gelb.  Excellent piece of writing.

The story is engaging and unusual, and I couldn't work out how it might develop.  Evan Klonsky is a jolly good writer, and this is a highly competent first novel in which he captures so well this current age.  I was a little disappointed by how the plot simmered down towards the end; I was expecting more 'events', but it's nothing if not realistic, and other readers may love the last ten per cent for this reason alone.

I'm sure this author has an interesting future ahead!

THE STRANGER IN MY HOUSE by Judith Barrow

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)

On Goodreads

 

How I discovered this book: I've read and enjoyed quite a few by this author

In a Nutshell: Complex family drama

The Stranger in my House begins in the 1960s, in what I assume is a fictional village somewhere between Yorkshire and Lancashire.  Eight-year-old twins Charlie and Chloe are still mourning the loss of their mother, three years before, when father Graham brings home his new girlfriend, Lynne, who is soon to become his wife.  Charlie has reason to dislike and distrust Lynne from the start, because of a memory that Chloe doesn't share with him; however, Chloe soon finds her own reasons.

Along with Lynne come her children: the kind and supportive teenage daughter Evie, and Saul, an apprentice thug a few years older than the twins.  The problems begin immediately, and only escalate.

Part Two of the story takes place after a time jump of a few years, showing the effects of the marriage on all of them.  

I found this book hard to put down, reading it in the early hours when I should have been sleeping!  My initial feelings towards the Collins twins and their father were great sympathy and frustration at the lack of communication, at Graham's inability to stand up for what he knew was right, though this is in no way a criticism; rather the opposite.  Graham's lack of assertiveness and desperation to keep the peace was understandable because of all he had been through, and the twins were but children.  Also, this was another world; sixty years ago, values and attitudes were so different from now.  The family's inability to resolve their situation was what made the book so real, and such a 'page turner' - I completely believed in the characters.

The (probably) psychopathic Lynne was so well drawn, and for me the whole story highlighted something that so many of us suffer from: the mistaken belief that others are basically honest and well-intentioned.  Oh, and something else I loved - how Chloe, when a child, used to write letters to Sandie Shaw, her heroine.  She never sent them, but imagined the singer reading them, which helped her pour out her thoughts.  I loved Sandie Shaw when I was a child in the 60s, and can imagine myself doing similar.  Well done, Judith B! 

THIS LINK will take you to the song that Chloe and her family loved so much - Always Something There to Remind Me 😀

NOWHERE MAN by Deborah Stone #RBRT

 3.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: complex domestic, psychological drama

This is the sort of story that makes you keep turning the pages because, even if you're pretty sure what's going on, you suspect that there might be another twist, and maybe even one more... 

Deborah Stone has a relaxed, flowing writing style that made this book an 'easy read'.  The plot was well structured, with the complex web of events and deceptions slotting together nicely, and all the intricacies and character history being woven in at just the right time.   

I did have a few issues with the novel as a whole, though.  For the plot to work as well as it did, both Diana and Angie needed to be unusually insular, with little or no social life, or awareness of anything outside their own tiny corner of the world.  The reasons for this are revealed over the course of the book but, having said that, many of the attitudes seemed to come from another era.  I wondered, at first, if the story was set in the 1970s or 80s.  A secondary character, Julia, I also found problematic; in her first scene she manages to eat almost an entire sponge cake, which was amusingly written, giving the extra detail that fleshes out a secondary character so well.  I thought the pudding was somewhat over-egged, though, her self-indulgence highlighted in almost every scene she was in.  I found the dialogue unrealistic, too, with these characters.

The males, however, worked much better.  Daniel's story was good to read, while Ben and Patrick were convincing, as was Diana's mother.

To sum up, the plot is compelling, and I did enjoy it - I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a cracking plot and is able to suspend disbelief - but aside from a couple of mentions of WhatsApp, the online world with all its possibilities (especially where scammers, tracking people down and the general gleaning of information are concerned) seemed to barely exist.  As a contemporary story, it didn't feel quite feasible.

THE ARCHITECT OF GRAYLAND by Evelyn Arvey #RBRT

 4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: SciFi fantasy; a kidnapping across time.

A most curious book!  Long, at 500 pages, but interesting enough for me to keep turning.  At no time did I think it could have been cut down, as one often finds with longer books

The plot: Elaine wakes up in a world of grey.  There is nothing there at all, just acres of grey all around - she isn't even wearing any clothes, and she has no water to drink.  Worst of all, she has no memory of what came before.  Of who she is, where she is from, how she got to this place.  To survive, she must find ways to work with her environment to feed herself, keep warm, find others.

We soon discover that she has been kidnapped from the present and dumped into the distant future, into 'the Domain', by a historical anthropologist under pressure to produce an enthralling spectacle, that the habits of the 'primitive human' may be observed.  Not only is Elaine the subject of Professor Mirri's research, but the public are able to watch her story unfold.  Unbeknownst to Elaine (and others she meets later), she has become a celebrity amongst the viewers.  It brought to mind a futuristic version of the first series of the Big Brother House, when the contestants had no idea how popular the show had become, on the outside!

I did enjoy this book and it's a wonderfully original idea, unfolding slowly, though I was disappointed by the lack of resolution, for both myself and Elaine.  I still had so many unanswered questions when the book suddenly finished.  I needed to know how the subjects were extracted from present to future, how they were chosen, what year in the future we were looking at - thousands of years away, I imagine, because the humans had actually evolved physically in some rather alarming ways - the reveal of this was so well done and quite shocking.  However, I so wanted to know more about life itself in this strange time, whereabouts in the world Professor Mirri lived.  I wanted more information, generally; I am sure that the sparsity of such was an artistic choice that will work well for some, though I was frustrated by it - just a personal preference!   

ONE TUESDAY, EARLY by Annalisa Crawford @AnnalisaCrawf #RBRT

 4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: mysterious psychological drama.

A curious and interesting book that kept me turning the pages from the outset.  Finn and Lexi have been together for five years and have their ups and downs, until one morning after a drunken night when Lexi wakes up in a strange, alternative reality.  From Finn's point of view, she's disappeared.  Left him, and everything else in her life.  The chapters alternate from his and her points of view, with Lexi's being written in the second person, which should have felt awkward but for the most part worked very well.

As the story goes on, we see Lexi stuck in this strange place in time, and Finn dealing with his life without her - or not dealing with it.  I realised what was happening to Lexi about half-way through, though the ending still held plenty of surprises.  The book is extremely well-written and edited, nicely paced, and Ms Crawford can certainly tell a tale.

It's a particularly hard story to review without giving spoilers, but the next part might be a bit spoiler-ish, so please be aware!

The entire story spans 20 years, and I was quite a way through before I thought, hang on, why isn't this woman's disappearance being investigated more thoroughly?  By the police, and her aunt, who'd brought her up and was like a mother to her?  By her close friends, who loved her?  Nobody appeared to do anything other than ring up Finn to ask him if he'd heard from her.  This bit didn't ring true for me.  If realistic investigations had been carried out, the plot would have fallen apart.  I still enjoyed it, though, and was able to suspend my disbelief.  Mostly.

A MOONLIT PATH OF MADNESS by Catherine McCarthy @serialsemantic

 5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Twitter; have read and enjoyed others by this author before.

In a Nutshell: Eerie visions in an old family house in Wales, at the turn of the 20th Century.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which I read in just a few days.  Grace Morgan from Vermont inherits the old family home in Newport, South Wales and, after the death of her mother, makes the decision to move back there with faithful maid Lilah.  Family mysteries and secrets abound, and Grace begins to have curious visions, as did her mother.

A Moonlit Path of Madness is a quieter work of the supernatural horror genre - I'm not much of a one for ghoulies and ghosties, but this is more about the emotions of the characters than things that go bump in the night.  Those emotions are so well portrayed, the whole story so atmospheric - and who could resist that glorious cover?  The writing flows, and I was completely immersed all the time I was reading it, eager to know what would happen, wrong about most of my predictions, which is always a plus!

I've just tried to write about the ending three times and deleted each time, because it's hard to do so without giving clues, so I'll simply say that it's just right, with an essence of melancholia that fits so well with the rest of the story

GLASS HALF BROKEN by Rachel Richards #RBRT

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: fast-paced drama around the theme of a serious psychological disorder.

A strange novel, this one, about law student Annie Bell who suffers from a form of schizophrenic disorder involving delusions and hallucinations, as well as self-harming.  Billed as a 'thrilling psychological suspense novel', the writing style made it feel more like dark, disturbing chick lit, oxymoronic though that observation is.  This is not a complaint - I liked the style very much, as a witty approach to dark subject matter totally works for me if executed well, and this is.  

The story takes the reader through traumatic events in Annie's childhood and up to her early twenties, as she finishes studying to become a lawyer.  Throughout, she is often unable to separate reality from imagination, inventing relationships with individuals that don't exist, to the extent that she believes herself to be living a life contrary to actual events.  I know nothing about this sort of illness, but I did wonder why her mother and her best friend didn't realise that there was something seriously, dangerously wrong with her early on, and that she needed intensive psychiatric care.  I also wondered how she was able to maintain her studies, given that half the time she was literally living in a fantasy world.

Throughout the book we read about the people with whom Annie comes into contact; usually it was clear who was real and who was a product of her illness, though now and again I wasn't sure!  I admit to being disappointed by the ending, which seemed to wrap it all up too nicely, but on the whole I enjoyed reading this book very much.

THE GODS OF SANIBEL by Brian Cook

 3.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

An interesting book.  I was slightly put off at the start, because the main female character's name is 'Kak', a nick-name because her initials are K.A.K.  The American author probably does not know that the word 'cack' is English slang for faeces - I winced every time I read it!  

Basically, the story is about Kak and Rudy, who meet at defining moments of their lives.  Kak's problem is that she does not want to become an appendage to her husband-to-be, a handsome, rich doctor from a wealthy, controlling family.  Rudy is a corporate big shot, and has an epiphany when he sees how company policy has brought devastation to workers further down the chain in the company he makes money for.

I loved reading Rudy's sections - he was a great character, so likable, and I enjoyed reading all about the hellish world of amassing the billions at any cost.  I was not so keen on Kak, who came across (to me, anyway) as dithery and self-indulgent and, like Rudy, I grew tired of her talking in semi-riddles.  The main problem for me about the whole plot was this: if she didn't want to marry Phillip, why didn't she just ... not marry him?  There didn't appear to be any love there.  She could have just walked away.

Despite a few editing errors (names changing, the odd homonym - I think Phillip becomes Andrew at one point), the writing itself is great.  The dialogue is tight, realistic and amusing, with some great throw-away remarks and quips.  This was what made me want to keep reading, as well as finding out what happened.  I found the novel somewhat disjointed at first and kept having to go back so I could work out what was actually happening when - dates might have helped - but it sorts itself out by about 10%.

To sum up - there is a lot of good stuff in this book, but I think it could do with another draft or two.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN by Lionel Shriver

 5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Watched the film for the first time a few years back.

In a Nutshell: Can a child be born evil?

This film popped into my head recently and I watched it again, then decided, on impulse, to get the book too.  You'll probably have heard about it - it's about Eva, happily married to Franklin, deciding to start a family.  Throughout the pregnancy she's not sure if she's done the right thing, and from the moment Kevin is born she does not bond with him at all.  From when he's a toddler, she begins to believe that he either hates her, or was born evil.  Events pile up, over the years, until just before his sixteenth birthday when he instigates catastrophe.

The book is written in the form of Eva's letters to Franklin, after the life-changing events of April 8th, 1999.  It's hard to say how much I would have understood about what she insinuates had I not seen the film, though some of the outcome is made clear from the beginning.  Some reviews have criticised this, but there is more to find out right at the end, if you haven't seen the film.  The unfolding of the family's life after Kevin's birth, in her letters, is truly shocking.

It's an unusual structure and format, being written partly in the second person, but for me it totally worked, and I was engrossed throughout.  Highly recommended (and in answer to the book club question examples at the end, yes, I think he was born evil and no, I don't think any of it was Eva's fault!). 

A MEAL IN WINTER by Hubert Mingarelli

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book:  I read a review of it on BookerTalk book blog.

In a Nutshell: Novella about one day in the life of three German soldiers.  Written in the first person from one point of view. 

On a freezing day during a Polish winter, three German soldiers out 'hunting' find a young Jewish man hidden in a hole.  After his capture, hungry and tired, they make camp in a deserted hovel, where they break up furniture and doors in order to make a fire and cook the little food they have into a soup. Soon, a guest arrives: a Pole, who displays great animosity towards the Jew, and offers his bottle of alcohol for a share of their meal.

The novella, which I would say took me about two or three hours to read altogether, centres around that cold afternoon and evening in the hovel, while the five wait for the meal to cook and, finally, get to eat. The German soldiers are portrayed not as monsters, but simply as men trying to find a way to sleep at night, in view of what they must do.  Of the three, Bauer is the most ruthless and jaded; I had the impression that he has only become so because of the horrors of the holocaust.  Emmerich, on the other hand, is plagued by guilt and fear about the effects of their actions on the rest of his life.

The brutality of their existence, and those of the Pole and the Jew, underlined for me once again how we in the Western world in the present day know so little about true hardship.  It's beautifully written, highly atmospheric, a story that will stay with me for some time.

THE BOY AND THE LAKE by Adam Pelzman #RBRT

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads and BookBub

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member. 

In A Nutshell: Literary coming-of-age novel set in 1960s New Jersey, with a low-key mystery.

From the blurb, I thought this book would be dark and plot-driven; it mentions protagonist Ben's suspicions about a body found floating in the lake, thus: As Ben’s suspicions mount, he’s forced to confront the terrifying possibility that his close-knit community is not what it seems to be—that, beneath a façade of prosperity and contentment, darker forces may be at work. I expected all sorts of sinister revelations, but the Ben's questions surrounding the death of Helen Lowenthal form the background rather than the main story—though when his answer arrives, it is shocking indeed.  I love a good twist within a twist that I didn't even half-guess, and this certainly ticked that box.

Essentially, this is a coming-of-age novel.  Although I think it could have done with a little more plot, the writing itself is spectacularly good, of much literary merit, making it a joy to read.  The subtleties of the characters, traditions and social protocols of the Jewish community in the 1960s were acutely observed, as were the marital problems of Ben's parents, his mother's neuroses, and his own burgeoning drink problem.  Later, the lake by which the community lives is contaminated, which I took to be allegorical of not only the underlying problems within the society that was Red Meadow, but the 1960s themselves—the corruption and unrest beneath the image of hope, prosperity, revolution and the Summer of Love.  Or perhaps I'm reading too much into it.

It's one of those books that I didn't absolutely love because of personal preference about genre, but I can appreciate is first class of its type.  Should complex family intrigue, stunningly good writing, coming-of-age dramas and the strange new world of the 1960s be totally your thing, I would recommend that you buy and start reading this immediately.  And the ending is perfect.

THE MEMORY by Judith Barrow

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: I've read all of Judith Barrow's books, so I bought this as soon as it came out.

In a Nutshell: Intense family drama dealing with Down's Syndrome, bereavement and dementia.

I liked the structure of this book a lot - it's written in the first person, and each chapter starts with a small section in the present day (2002), with Irene, the main character, taking care of her mother, who has dementia.  Then it goes back in time, starting in 1963 when she was a child, and her sister, Rose, who has Down's Syndrome, is born.  I really loved the first third, which detailed Irene's love for her sister (quite beautiful) and the difficulties within the family, with her cold, brusque mother, delightful father and the grandmother she adored.  I was completely absorbed.  The rest of the story pivots around a shocking event that takes place at around 40%.

The book slowed down for me a little during the middle section, which was about Irene's growing up and the early part of her marriage to Sam, and I found the family's lives rather depressing (which is a bit rich coming from someone who writes about dystopian horrors, but I find the end of the world as we know it less depressing than a humdrum life.  I know, I'm weird).  In the final third developments became much more interesting, and I was engrossed once more.  I would have liked a little more in the way of plot, but that's just personal taste, not a criticism; this is a character rather than a plot-driven book.

The strongest aspect of the latter part of the book was the initial development of the mother's dementia; I have experience of this with my late mother, and, although the circumstances were very different, it certainly struck a chord, with one particular episode bringing tears to my eyes.

My favourite characters were Irene's father and her husband, Sam, who I thought got a bit of a raw deal and put up with too much (I do hope he had more fun than he admitted to Irene, during a time when circumstances forced them apart).  I can't say I liked Irene, who put her own obsession with the past before his happiness, and whose outlook often seemed rather narrow (I kept wanting to tell her to lighten up, and do something a bit crazy!), but I appreciated how deeply and lastingly she was affected by the aforementioned shocking event, and she's a thoroughly three-dimensional character.

The other star of the book is the time and place—the working class northern England of the 1960s and 70s, which was as starkly and realistically portrayed as any TV kitchen sink drama.

The ending brings a most surprising twist directly related to the events of Irene's earlier years, which filled me with regret on her behalf.  If you enjoy emotional family dramas that dig deep into the psyche, you will love this book, with its vivid descriptions of familial conflict, loss and the day to day difficulties of caring for a person with dementia.

OBSESSION by Robin Storey @RobinStorey1 #RBRT

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member; I enjoyed the last book I read by this author, Secret Kill, so chose this one straight away.

In a Nutshell: Novella, set in Australia, in which an intellectually disabled man becomes obsessed with a neighbour.

Intellectually disabled Benny Goodchild is in his early forties, works in a warehouse where he suffers taunts from colleagues, and lives alone.  His life is humdrum indeed, but trouble starts when he starts doing gardening work for Olivia, who lives nearby.  Then he gets the opportunity to earn some serious money—the sort of serious that he suspects might be illegal.

I was engrossed in this book all the way through, looking forward to getting back to it at each session.  It's written in the third person, with the deep point of view that allows the reader to see into Benny's often rather confused mind.  The story has been planned well, and I couldn't work out what was going to happen, at all—it could have taken a number of different turns.  Ms Storey has an easy, flowing writing style, and the characterisation is subtly but artfully developed, even for lesser characters.

I would have given it five stars if it wasn't for a practical issue that didn't convince me, but I do tend to read with an editor's head on, and I doubt it would bother most people; if Amazon ratings had a ten star range, I'd give it eight.  Overall, this is a highly entertaining book throughout which I was not tempted to skip-read once (which is something, for me!) and it comes with a definite recommendation.  Buy it!

HANDS UP by Stephen Clark #RBRT

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: Family/psychological drama dealing with murder: racially motivated or not?  Set in Philadelphia.

An interesting crime novel that's more psychological drama than thriller.  It centres around Ryan Quinn, a police officer who shoots and kills Tyrell Wakefield, a young black man pulled over in a routine traffic enquiry—or is it?  As the story progresses, we become more aware of racial profiling within the police, and especially that of Quinn's partner, Greg.  More sinisterly, this same bigotry is present within the 'civilian' white families we meet in this book.

Also centre stage are Jade, Tyrell's sister, and Kelly, his estranged father.  The story is written from these three points of view; Quinn is written in the first person, which totally worked for me, with Jade and Kelly in the third.  This also worked, I think, better than if Kelly and Jade had been in the first person as well.  They were all three-dimensional; Kelly, in particular, alternated in my head between being a basically decent guy who wanted to make up for some wrong choices in life, and an opportunistic creep. 

I very much liked how the truth about what happened that night, from Quinn's point of view, came out only gradually, and that we saw the emotional effects of the case from all three sides.

When I began to read the book the first thing that struck me was that the author can certainly write; I was drawn in, immediately, though the first ten per cent includes a fair bit of telling-not-showing (when the writer tells the reader how someone is feeling/what their personality is like, rather than showing it in dialogue and actions), and, throughout, there is too much mundane detail—we don't always need, for instance, to know what people were wearing, unless relevant, what they ate in restaurants (ditto), or how someone got from A to B.  I read in the notes at the back that the author is a (most successful) journalist, and this is evident; now and again, I felt as though he needed to be reminded that a novel's flow can be improved by the omission of detail, rather than the inclusion of every fact.

Mostly, the plot kept me interested throughout, though I didn't think the romantic involvement between Quinn and another character towards the end of the book was necessary; a friendship/sympathetic connection would have been enough, and more realistic; that it happened made both characters less credible, to me.  I also felt that Quinn's previous romantic entanglement was too quickly and neatly disposed of.

On the whole, though, I liked this novel, and it has a lot going for it.  The issues of racial prejudice and police corruption were dealt with well, and though none of the characters were likeable, they were all fairly compelling.  I think that if Mr Clark were to learn the art of ruthless pruning during redrafts and observe how other writers create tension, he could produce something most memorable.

HOTEL OBSCURE by Lisette Brodey @LisetteBrodey

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: I read about it in an interview with the author on another author's blog.

In a Nutshell: short stories, separate but with connections, all taking place in a rundown hotel.

I was pleased to find that the seventeen stories in this collection are all quite long, making this book novel-length - there's plenty to get your teeth into.  One element I loved was loose connections between them; if you have a shocking memory like mine, it's best to read them in order, and without too much of a break in between, so you don't start thinking, 'oh yes, she's talking about that chap in that other one, two stories before...which one was it?'  But it doesn't matter if you don't remember, because each works well on its own.

As with most collections, some of them I just quite liked, others I liked more, and a few I thought were outstanding.  There isn't one weak one, though; it's a fine book, all round.  Number three was the first one I really loved, and remained one of my favourites; 'I'm a Fucking Cliché' had a totally different voice from the first two, and featured a self-destructive writer.  I also liked the one that connected to it, 'I Miss Him (The Great Sabotage)'.  The more I read, the more I admired Ms Brodey's understanding of the human psyche; many contained such astute observations, perfect dialogue, immaculate characterisation and some delightful turns of phrase.

Others I liked a lot:

• 'Twenty-Seven', about a musician's appalling luck in life.
• 'Only Sixteen', which was one of the saddest.
• 'To Be Perfectly Frank'.
• 'Thursday, Wrapped in Sadness' - another heartbreaker.

Some are told mostly in dialogue, others in the inner narrative of the protagonist, either in first or third person; I preferred the latter, but even here there was an exception; 'Junk Truck', a most compelling tale in which the main character is stalked by a lonely, probably psychotic woman desperate for her friendship.  As with others, the tone reminded me, on occasion, of Dorothy Parker's short stories, which I have read over and over. 'Junk Truck' had its threads neatly sewn together in the final story, 'Ellmore J Badget Jnr's Very Unusual Day'. 

This isn't a book for those looking for something 'feel-good'; though not without humour and the occasional happy ending, the stories are sad, raw, tragic, enveloped in loneliness and desperation, sometimes of the character's own making.  But other times not; on occasion I felt so sorry for the person I was reading about that I wished I could climb the dingy staircase of Hotel Obscure and make everything okay for them.  Yes, I most certainly recommend :)

Finally, I love this, taken from another review on Amazon.com: 

'There is, though, an eighteenth story that is not immediately apparent. It belongs not to a person, but to the Hotel Obscure itself. We don’t know the beginning of the hotel. We don’t know the ending. We only know the middle. The beginning and the ending are for us to provide. The middle is provided by Ms Brodey.'

THE GIRL IN HIS EYES by Jennie Ensor @Jennie_Ensor

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: the author asked me if I would like an ARC for a review/quotes, and I said yes please!

Genre: Dark family drama/'grip lit'.

The Girl In His Eyes is a disturbing family drama, told from the points of view of the three main characters: mother Suzanne, daughter Laura and father Paul.  An affluent, middle-class family living in a nice area of London, their lives seem fine to their set of equally successful friends, but behind closed doors lie dark secrets of the most heinous kind.

Suzanne was a frustrating character to read about, which I am sure was intentional.  Although around fifty, she behaves and thinks like a child, is emotionally dependent, and wishes to know only about her nice little world where everything is, she needs to believe, safe and discord-free.  Laura, in her twenties, lives alone in a rundown flat where her life is coming to pieces, a slow unravelling that began when she was eleven or twelve—when her father started to touch her.  She can't hold down a job and has no friends aside from the horribly censorious and insensitive Rachael.  I thought Laura's inner thoughts were beautifully depicted, so real.

What makes this novel such a page-turner is not only the slow unfolding of the chaos within, but the clever inclusion of Paul's point of view: Paul, the handsome, well groomed and athletic fifty-three-year-old, with a penchant for young girls.  This was exceptionally well done, and most disturbing without being remotely tacky.  He tells himself that he is only acting on urges common to all men.  Every time he feels bad, he excuses his own behaviour.

Laura's life continues to unravel as she pursues a maybe unwise solution to her debt problem—an aspect of this novel that kept me engrossed.  Meanwhile, back in suburbia, Paul is asked to take a friend's daughter swimming ... and over the course of five months, the family's lives change forever.

I imagine this novel will do extremely well in this ever-popular genre of dark domestic drama; it deserves to.  It is structured well, and the writing really flows.  I enjoyed the first three quarters, in particular, and looked forward to opening my Kindle each time I was able to get back to it.  Now and again, though, I did find the writing a little 'safe'.  Also, I wasn't convinced by some of the developments in the last quarter; it all seemed too neatly tied up, particularly the choices made by Suzanne and the brother's change of heart.  Other than that, though, it is a most compelling novel, and I'd most definitely recommend it to those who love well-written stories of family turmoil. 

LILY WHITE IN DETROIT by Cynthia Harrison @CynthiaHarriso1 #RBRT

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

Genre: Crime, Psychological

Lily White is a PI in Detroit who usually concentrates on insurance scams and missing persons.  When she is asked to investigate the activities of Jimmy Heyl's wife, she finds herself involved in much more than she bargained for, and events become complicated when her personal and professional lives become intertwined.

The novel is written in alternating POVs: Lily in the 1st person, and Detective Paxton in the third.  From the beginning of the story, we discover that there is more to Lily than meets the eye, and the mystery surrounding her is drip-fed slowly, which I liked.  The theme of PTSD is examined throughout the novel, with regard to both Lily and the ex-partner of Paxton.  It is clear that the author has done her research into not only the psychological effects but also the physiological, and the effect is quite an eye-opener for a reader such as me; I knew very little about it.  The factual side of the novel is convincing throughout, and I liked the picture of the Detroit of the 21st century.

I do warm to an emotionally damaged loner in novels, and though this character type is one to be found often in detective stories both in literature and on-screen, Lily was in no way a stereotype.  The author's background in romance novel writing was evident in that I could see exactly where a certain relationship was heading from the very beginning (you know how in romance novels the reader knows before the characters do!), but this element did not seem out of place, for this is a psychological drama as well as a crime story.

There were some events that I thought deserved to be shown in an actual scene via flashback, or at the time, rather than the details being related to one character from another in dialogue, which would have made for more impact and suspense, but on the whole it's a cleverly put together book, and I'd recommend it for anyone who enjoys unravelling murder clues, or has particular interest in PTSD.