Old friends and new enemies blog tour

Owen Mullen writes the Kind of detective fiction you expect from Hammett and Chandler but with a modern twist and Old friends and New Enemies is a great release:

The body on the mortuary slab wasn’t who Glasgow PI Charlie Cameron was looking for.

But it wasn’t a stranger.

Suddenly, a routine missing persons investigation becomes a fight for survival. As Charlie is dragged deeper into Glasgow’s underbelly he goes up against notorious gangster Jimmy Rafferty and discovers what fear really is.

Rafferty is so ruthless even his own sons are terrified of him.

Now he wants Charlie to find something. And Jimmy Rafferty always gets what he wants.

There is only one problem… Charlie doesn’t know where it is.

A shining example of modern British noir fiction,  this is a  fantastic Scottish detective novel,there are some gruesome moments in this one definitely not one to read if you feel slightly squeamish.

I loved the characters and how they develop throughout the series although none of them were particularly likeable as people they all felt quite real to me as I was reading, possibly because they were flawed. You do become endeared with Charlie and his compatriots and you almost enjoy that the Bar/cafe he uses as his office really existed.

The novel on my Kindle as it was an ARC finished quite soon and I felt slightly bereft when I reached the end always a sign of a good read. If you like your crime gritty and full of dark drama then this is the read for you. Owen Mullen and Bloodhound books are a Winning combination, and this is an outstanding 5* read for me

After she’s gone by Sheryl Browne

today I’m on the blog tour for Sheryl Brownes, new book afters she’s gone –

He’s killed your child and kidnapped your wife. What would YOU do? 

There’s evil and then there’s Patrick Sullivan. A drug dealer, pimp and murderer, there are no depths to which Patrick would not sink, and Detective Inspector Matthew Adams has found this out in the most devastating way imaginable.

When Patrick’s brother is shot dead in a drug bust gone wrong, the bitter battle between the two men intensifies, and Matthew finds it increasingly difficult to hold the moral high ground. All he wants is to make the pimping scum suffer the way he did … the way Lily did.

But being at war with such a depraved individual means that it’s not just Matthew who’s in danger. Patrick has taken a lot from Matthew, but he hasn’t taken everything – and now he wants everything.

Sound exciting well I have a wonderful little excerpt for you:

Prologue

‘Oi, you can’t park there!’ a police officer yelled as Matthew mounted the kerb, careering his car haphazardly to a stop on the pavement.

His gut twisting violently inside him, his head reeling, Matthew ignored him, ramming his door open instead to scramble from the car and set off at a run.

‘What the …?’

Vaguely aware of the man giving chase, Matthew kept going, attempting to push past another officer closing in in front of him, only to be caught from behind.

‘Whoa. Come on, mate, you need to get back.’ Taking hold of his arm, the officer behind attempted to steer him away. ‘There’s been an accident up ahead. We need to clear—’

‘Shit, it’s Adams.’ The officer in front intervened.

‘Who?’ The man still hanging on to his arm asked.

‘Detective Inspector Adams,’ the officer in front supplied warily. ‘Let him through.’

Stumbling forwards as the guy behind relaxed his grip, his legs like dead weights beneath him, Matthew forced himself on, bypassing other officers, who now stood respectfully aside.

His wife was with her. Matthew swallowed back a hard knot in his throat. She was crouched over her, holding her impossibly small hand in her own. She didn’t look up. Rebecca kept her gaze focussed on their daughter. His daughter. Matthew felt something break inside him as he took in his baby’s injuries, her broken body, the slow trickle of lifeblood pooling beneath her, staining the drab, grey road crimson.

Please don’t. Matthew prayed hopelessly as he moved closer. Please don’t do this. The world seeming to slow to a stop around him, the use of his legs finally deserting him, Matthew dropped to his knees at the side of the child he’d loved with every fibre of his being ever since he’d first glimpsed her tiny form on the monitor.

‘Hey, Tigerlily,’ he said, his voice cracking as Lily’s eyes fluttered open. Wide blue eyes, once crystal clear with the innocence of childhood, they were filled with confusion and pain as she looked pleadingly up at him, silently begging him, her daddy, to fix it. His heart turned over as her lips parted. She wanted to speak. She couldn’t. Please don’t try to speak, baby. Tears he couldn’t hope to hide streaming down his face, Matthew leaned towards her, brushing her blood-matted, beautiful blonde hair gently away from her face. ‘Daddy’s here, darling,’ he choked. ‘It’s going to be just fine.’

Lies. Lies. He screamed inside. It was going to be fine. It could never be. He couldn’t fix it. How could he let his little girl go knowing he couldn’t? Cradling his baby gently in his arms, Matthew’s heart splintered inside him as he watched her life ebb away.

****

They were taking her away in an ambulance. What use was an ambulance? Panic engulfing him, Matthew took a faltering step towards it, and stopped. He couldn’t. Couldn’t ride with her, watch as the warmth drained from her body, her baby-soft skin turning blue and cold. Life fucking extinct.

‘Matthew!’ Rebecca called to him as, his chest heaving, Matthew turned away. Terrified of what he might see in her eyes, he couldn’t turn back. This was his fault. He should have been there. He’d promised to drive them to the cinema. He’d known Patrick Sullivan might make good his threat. He should have been there! A potent mixture of grief and rage broiling inside him, Matthew recalled his last encounter with the sadistic piece of scum with sickening clarity. Sullivan’s expression hadn’t altered when he’d informed him his brother had been an unfortunate casualty in a drug bust gone wrong. Matthew had been surprised. Sullivan’s hatred of him went way back since they were kids in school. Guessing he would hold him personally responsible, Matthew had been bracing himself for Sullivan to reach across the table and attack him right there in the prison interview room. Instead, Sullivan had reached casually for a cigarette. Lighting up, he’d glanced down and scratched his forehead slowly with his thumb.

‘How’s that pretty young wife of yours, DI Adams? Pregnant again, isn’t she?’ he’d enquired eventually, blowing smoke circles into the air as he’d looked back at him. ‘Give her my regards, won’t you?’

Sullivan had then leaned forwards, a twisted smirk on his face, his eyes as black as molasses and swimming with pure evil. ‘I would do it myself, but I’m a bit busy … banged up … in here.’

It had been a threat. Innocent to all ears but Matthew’s, it had been a direct threat. And now, still sitting pretty in prison with a cast iron alibi, Sullivan was no doubt congratulating himself on a job well done, imagining that he’d also succeeded in warning Matthew off pursuing him once he got out. Wrong, you bastard.

A little bit about the author:

Heartache, humour, love, loss & betrayal, Sheryl Browne brings you edgy, sexy, heart-wrenching fiction. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association, Romantic Novelists’ Association and shortlisted for the Best Romantic e-book Love Stories Award 2015, Sheryl has several books published and two short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies, where she completed her MA in Creative Writing.

Recommended to the publisher by the WH Smith Travel fiction buyer, Sheryl’s contemporary fiction comes to you from award winning Choc Lit

to have a chance of winning a copy go here:

ECOPY OF THE BOOK

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or to buy a copy visit here:

http://www.choc-lit.com/dd-product/after-shes-gone/

Robbing the Dead by Tana Collins

Today i’m on the robbing the dead blog tour – This is a new novel by Tana Collins a yorkshire born novelist and one of the burgeoning group of talents in Bloodhounds flock.

I am new to reading Tana and found robbing the dead refreshing and gritty – it stood out from a lot of crime i’ve read recently.

Robbing the dead is based in a small Scottish university town

what links a spate of horrible murders, a targeted bomb explosion and a lecturer’s disappearance? Is a terror group involved? If so, who is pulling the strings? And what does something that happened over forty years ago have to do with it?

At its heart it’s a police procedural with a very goes against the rules kind of copper as the main protagonist, and his fetching young lady assistant. What confuses me about this novel is it feels like it is very of a particular time – It spends a lot of time discussing welsh nationalism and bloody sunday. The events it depicts happening like a spate of arson attacks etc are things I remember from being a child. So it feels like it is set in the past but it isn’t.

The novel is set now, and these events are affecting people now, and to that extent it makes a good point about radical views and the long reaching affects of terror both on the families of the extremists and the people sent to deal with them. For that reason it still has something to say as a novel and I like that the author uses a different example of people with extreme views, rather than reaching for the current baddies we all think about.

I also loved the characters – you grew to know everyone who had a role in the novel, I enjoy books when the characters grow and develop as they go, by the end of this novel I felt involved in their lives. It also feels like there is more to come from these characters and that we will go on and see them in other books by the author and maybe even find how their lives develop over time. Their is a back story to the characters but it is not overplayed, you feel like what you find out about the characters past has a real impact on how they respond to the events in the novel.

I finished this novel a few days ago now and it still makes me think even a few days later – this is the sign of a well written book. I would look forward to reading more by Tana collins, this is a very accomplished start to her Bloodhound career. A solid 5* read from me 

 

Blogger Recognition awards

I got nominated for this by Caroline Vincent – a true fan of all things bookish, especially those related to miss christie – she blogs here https://www.bitsaboutbooks.net/blogger-recognition-award-feb-2017/ and is an amazing blogger. She really sums up how I feel about books with this statement from her blogs homepage: Books open up new worlds to us and form the perfect escape for our minds – books make us feel sad, happy or smile, a book is your ideal companion in life.

As both a blogger and someone who arrange blog tours for people I know how important it is to authors and readers that there are such amazing bloggers out in the world. Now this award come with some strings attached so here are the rules.

RULES OF THE AWARDS

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
2. Write a post to show your award.
3. Give a brief story of how your blog started.
4. Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
5. Select 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to.
6. Comment on each blog; let them know you have nominated them; provide the link to the post you created.

How my blog got started:

I read too much, or so my real life book group told me and they suggested that as I already read far more than I should maybe I should start a blog to share my ideas about books, So I did. Unfortunately unlike many of the bloggers I’ll go on and discuss, I dont really have the time to commit to making my blog as good as it could be and I tend to blog sporadically, that’s the reason caroline’s nomination is so special.

2 pieces of advice to new bloggers 

1. say what you think and blog about what you know, its the only way you will ever make your blog stand out and stay true to yourself
2. learn from others, there are some amazing bloggers out there – and more often then not they will give you some great hints and tips about how to improve your blog.

15 other bloggers- this is the problem – i’m not sure I know that many so here goes

1)Sarah hardy – blogs at by the letter book reviews – https://bytheletterbookreviews.com – she is my biggest inspiration as a blogger – she very generously shares everyones blogs and goes out of her way to encourage people – my blog is only as good as it is because of the encouragement of people like Sarah.

2)Maggie James – http://www.maggiejamesfiction.com/blog – she’s a fantastic author and blogs as well, I don’t know how she find the time

3)Caroline vincent  – already nominated me but is a fantastic and reliable blogger

4) Sarah kenny  – blogs at the great british book off – https://sarahjk79.wixsite.com/thegreatbritishbook/single-post/2017/02/13/BLOG-TOUR—No-Safe-Home-by-Tara-Lyons-bloodhoundbooks-TaraLyons-NoSafeHome-Blogtour-bloghounds-review-thriller – she is amazing and does no end of things to help authors – her book launch parties are fantastic.

5) Nicki Murphy – blogst at Nickis book blog on facebook – https://www.facebook.com/nickisbookblog/

6) Ignite bookblog – http://ignitebooks.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/sarah-denzil.html – Is another author, blogger, all around megastar – she writes amazing ghost stories by the way.

7) Noelle Holten and Claire Knight – blog at crime book junkie – https://crimebookjunkie.co.uk – another must stop for all things crime related

8) Alexina golding – Bloghound extraordinare at bookstormer  – https://www.facebook.com/bookstormer/ – another member of the bloghound pack and all around wise blogger and reader.

Sorry Caroline Vincent – this will stop with me as I cannot possibly name 15 other bloggers.

 

 

The Watcher by Netta Newbound

Today is my turn on the blog tour for the watcher, before i give you my opinion lets talk a little about what the book is about:

Life couldn’t get much better for Hannah. She accepts her dream job in Manchester, and easily makes friends with her new neighbours.

When she becomes romantically involved with her boss, she can’t believe her luck. But things are about to take a grisly turn.

As her colleagues and neighbours are killed off one by one, Hannah’s idyllic life starts to fall apart. But when her mother becomes the next victim, the connection to Hannah is all too real.

Who is watching her every move?

Will the police discover the real killer in time?

Hannah is about to learn that appearances can be deceptive.

This is published by bloodhound books, Netta Newbound describes herself as someone who as a child was plagued by a wild imagination, often getting in trouble for making up weird and wonderful stories. Yet she didn’t turn her attention to writing until after her children had grown and left home.

I have mixed feelings about the watcher, It is as well written as you would expect something produced by #teambloodhound to be, however there was to much tension for me, i didn’t feel like it ever dipped in tension and as such I found I was less involved in the story as I would have liked to have been.

The concept of the story is fascinating, and one to avoid if you are on your own at night and the characters are interesting, however the book didn’t draw me in as much as I would have liked it too, it scores 3.5/5 for me.