A STOLEN FUTURE by Georgia Rose @georgiarosebook

 4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: I'd already read the previous books in the series

In a Nutshell: An antagonist who doesn't realise who he's dealing with...

Well, this was a fun romp!  Book 4 in the A Shade Darker series, which tells the individual stories of various characters living in the fictional village of Melton - this time we turn to Alice, the conscientious right-hand woman of the owner of a local construction company.

Alice's life seems, at the outset, closed and a little depressing.  She's a widow of not quite fifty, but gives the impression of someone much older, possibly living half a century ago.  She has given her life to her work, is liked and appreciated by her colleagues, but has nothing else in her life; she still 'talks to' her husband, who died when she was young.

Her world is turned upside down when her beloved boss dies and is replaced by his thoroughly objectionable son, Rex.  As the story moves along, one gets the impression that there is more to Rex and his mother's unveiled dislike for Alice.  Trouble is, they don't know who Alice used to be, or anything about her background.  That when she decides to take charge, she knows exactly what to do...

I had fun guessing possible outcomes while I was reading this (I was wrong, every time!).  It's very 'readable'; the characters are somewhat larger than life, and there's a darkly comedic air to the story because of this.  Nice twist at the end ... and so it all made sense.  A revelation!

CRACKED LENSES by L J McIntyre

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Friend Recommendation

In a Nutshell: English photographer visits eerie New Zealand town.  Murder and mystery.

This book reminded me, at first, of films such as The Wicker Man and Straw Dogs, and also, slightly, of 1960s TV series The Prisoner.  Jack Coulson is a photographer who travels to the isolated, small town of Nesgrove in New Zealand, hoping to take the photograph that will go 'viral' and make his career.  He soon discovers that this is no normal town - especially when he finds out that, owing to a Facebook post about his trip, they're already expecting him...

Jack's personal demons are as much a part of the story as the mystery surrounding Nesgrove.  He is on medication for anxiety, had a traumatic childhood, and seeks validation through social media 'likes', on a neurotic level.  At first I thought he was going to be a bit of an irritating twerp, with his social media obsession and preoccupation with his emotional state, but threaded through the story are transcripts of his sessions with a counsellor, and I began to understand why he was so; also, I saw that he makes the perfect main character for this story.  Though the events in Nesgrove are terrifying, they also change his life in ways he could not have imagined.

I found this book a definite page-turner, with the grim atmosphere of Nesgrove and Jack's neuroses so starkly illustrated.  The writing flows well, the suspense builds at just the right pace and I read it quickly, eager to find out what would happen next; each event was unpredictable and at no time was I able to see which way the story was likely to go. 

The only part I was not keen on was the 'reveal' about the village: the reasons 'why', and Jack's final scene, which I actually read twice because I was not quite sure exactly what it was supposed to mean.  But that sort of opinion is purely subjective, and I'd still recommend this as a jolly good book.

MURDER UNDONE by Robin Storey

3.5 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.

In a Nutshell: Woman murders husband.  Gets chance to go back in time and make different decisions.  Involves drugs, sex, criminal underworld.

This book starts well, with main character Eva poisoning her cheating husband.  Fast forward twenty years: she's married again, and living with the fall-out.  Except she can't deal with it; she drinks too much, and goes into bars to pick up men for casual sex.  Then she is offered a chance to go back in time, still retaining her memories of her 'real' life, and not murder Cheating Charlie after all....

I found this author's style pretty readable; I'd suddenly realise I'd galloped through 10 pages or so, without thinking about stopping to make notes, which is a good sign.  I was moderately drawn in when I first started to read, but as soon as Eva got a chance to go back in time, I thought, ah—now I'm interested!

The story continued to zip along in a readable fashion, but I did have some problems with it.  Eva's character seemed more like a vehicle for the plot that the other way round; I never believed in her.  One minute she is the pampered, submissive wife of a millionaire businessman, the next she is daredevil sleuth, able to talk her way into any private location, and mixing with the criminal underworld without turning a hair, to the extent of having sex with them for information (and enjoying it despite the guy having had a knife to her throat, but I'm not even going to go there; the cocaine she'd taken, alone, would make her paranoid and agitated in this situation).

I was dubious about some dialogue (the way one of the female characters talks about sex would make Samantha from Sex and the City cringe) and unconvinced by some events; for instance, before she goes back in time, Eva is around 60 years old, but gets hit on/approached for casual sex every time she enters a bar to have a drink.  However glamorous and well-kept a woman of that age may be, I found this a little unlikely.

One other point is something the author might want to consider for future work of this genre.  Later in the book, Eva is caught driving under the influence of cocaine.  There was a detailed chapter about her court appearance, ending with the news report about it on TV.  Why not just cut the whole court thing, and start the chapter with the news report, ending with a paragraph or two about how she felt, watching it broadcast to the world?  That would have given all the information the reader needed, and let them get on with the more juicy stuff, like infidelity, deteriorating marriage and underworld dealings ...

... because it is a rip-roaring tale, and not badly put together at all, generally. 
The basic idea is great, though I didn't feel enough use was made of the fact that she was living her life over again; I expected more references to the past, and perhaps the steering of other events, too.  It's a bit like a watered-down Jackie Collins (that's a compliment, by the way!), but, alas, I need to be convinced by and become totally involved with the characters in order to really enjoy a book, and Eva never came alive to me.

To sum up: the author has much of the skill and writing style for this genre, but it still needs a bit of fine tuning!

HOME TO ROOST by Chauncey Rogers

3.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

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

When trying to 'tag' this book for my blog, I wasn't sure under what genre to put it; possibly there should be a new Amazon category for it, called anthropomorphic suspense, or something.  There's a horror aspect too - it gets darker as it goes on.  Okay.  The basics.  It's about chickens, mostly Little Crown, a small black rooster, and how he finds his way in the world (or the coop).  But it's also NOT about chickens, but about social hierarchy and pressure.  Another reviewer labelled it 'Animal Farm meets Watership Down', which sums it up, I think.  

I loved some of the all-too-human observations, like the way in which Long Tail the Father Rooster does not want Little Crown to learn to fight, because he wants to be all powerful, and show to the hens that he can protect them.  And how the chickens think that the Great Yolk (actually the sun, which they consider to be ruler of all things) prizes chickens over other beings, and looks after them first and foremost.  Reminded me of the practice of armies praying to an entity in the sky for victory in battle, with the self-important assumption that such an entity would necessarily favour them over the opposing armies.  

Home to Roost is written mostly from the point of view of Little Crown, and the first half dots back and forth between his very early life, when he was adopted by the daughter of the farmer's daughter, and before and after 'the racoon incident' ~ an attack outlined at the beginning.  Other points of view are from dogs or occasional humans.  It's well-written and clever, but I think it would have worked better without all the to-ing and fro-ing with the timeline, just as a straight narrative; I didn't think going back and forth between time periods added anything to it.  I also thought the whole thing was too long; chopping down by about a third would have given the story more impact.

Little Crown (earlier and later to be known as Brad) gains knowledge about coop life through the somewhat limited guidance of the Mother Hen, faces fear in the form of cats and snakes, experiences love, loss and revenge.  It's good, and interesting; I'd say that it would appeal most to readers interested in sociology and psychology, and people-watching in general.

THE INFINITY POOL by Jessica Norrie

4.5 out of 5 stars

Dark contemporary drama/suspense

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

Reviewed by me as a member of Rosie Amber's Review Team

This was one of those surprise gems that I find now and again on Rosie's review team list.  An unusual and intelligently written holiday drama, the story takes place on an unnamed island where the locals fail to find accord with the owners, staff and guests of Serendipity, a New Age/bohemian/back to nature type retreat.  It centres round some jagged relationships: charismatic womaniser Adrian, village girl Maria who catches his eye, Serendipity regular Alice (wonderfully obsessive and creepy!).  Then there is the effervescent Ruby who finds love with a local, female detective Chris, who isn't quite sure what she's signed up for, and Bernard, the creative writing teacher who is frustrated and bitter about his own inability to produce any work of note.  Eventually the resentments and incompatibilities erupt, not only between incomers and locals but between the camp residents.

The book starts with a dramatic episode, then goes back to September 2010, which sees Adrian at his lecherous best, the camp successful, but the seeds of discontent among the villagers are already sown deep.  Fast forward to June 2011, and Serendipity is all but falling apart, with key people missing, guests unhappy, and finances falling short.

The subtle characterisation in this novel is excellent; there's a hint of mockery of the New Age claptrap in some of the guests' silliness, and I smiled at the smugness of those who considered themselves more 'in touch with their feelings' than some of the newcomers (especially those who had not yet experienced the wonder of Adrian).  The comparison between the simple lives of the villagers and the spoiled Northern Europeans who aim to slough off their weight of privilege by rather self-consciously going 'back to basics' is artfully portrayed.

At the dramatic end, some of the characters who were dubious about the place find that their lives have changed for the best after all, though perhaps not in the way that Serendipity intended.  

Alice is an excellent character; I spent much of the novel wishing that more was being done with her, and felt some of her potential went undiscovered by Ms Norrie, but her end scenes really worked and I decided that, in this case, less was more.  The high spot the whole novel, though, is the sections from the point of view of the character who has a head injury.  So good I read them twice.  I've been close to someone with a brain injury and worked with some sufferers, and this gives such an insight into how it (probably) really is for them.  He has quite an adventure; it's entertaining to read as well as being an eye-opener.

This is how to write a novel with a fair bit of domestic detail and without great swathes of thrills and spills, and still make it a real page turner!