The Pain Tourist by Paul Cleave

Following a home invasion gone wrong Frank and Avah Garrett are dead and their son James is in a coma. When James wakes from the coma nine years later he struggles to comprehend exactly what has happened as he has lived a normal life in his "Coma World" as far as he is concerned. As he slowly begins to build up his strength the police become concerned that the men responsible may target James once they know he has woken from his coma.

When I read The Quiet People last year I was gripped by the pace of the story and frightened by the way in which social media was used to manipulate people. Therefore I was keen to read Paul Cleave's next book, The Pain Tourist. This is a very different type of thriller. Not as pacey, more pervasive with a constant air of menace.

As well as the initial crime and the possibility that the criminals may return there is also a copycat serial killer on the lose. Ex-detective Theodore Tate and DI Rebecca Kent end up working together to protect James Garrett, and uncover more crimes on the way. The way in which all of the crimes become interlinked really adds to the thrill of the story-line and you constantly fear for the safety of everyone involved.

The most interesting part of the novel is "Coma World", the life that James Garrett has lived for nine years. Elements of Coma World are as a result of things that are said in real life, things that James has obviously overheard while in his coma. This really does make you wonder about how the brain works, after all we've all seen TV programs where doctors tell people to talk to coma patients.

I love a thriller where it's impossible to guess who is responsible, in The Pain Tourist author Paul Cleave managed to do it not once but twice. I was even questioning if the good guys were actually the bad guys as I didn't have a clue.

 

November 2022 Reads

 

My November reads looks pitiful. That's because my reading mojo has completely deserted me. I just can't seem to settle for any length of time to make headway with whatever I'm reading. I can't blame the books, two out of the three I've managed this month have been great. November was a busy month for me so that is probably part of the reason, I'm still trying to catch up after a fantastic trip to London at the beginning of the month. I just hope that December improves.

On with the books. November started with Murder At The Castle by Chris McGeorge. This took a look at a royal family from an alternate timeline, looking at who would be monarch if Edward VIII hadn't abdicated. The family are isolated at Balmoral when the King dies, possibly poisoned by another member of the family. More a locked castle than locked room mystery, I was left a little underwhelmed by the whole story. I couldn't get to grips with the writing style and I felt that there were far too many red herrings.

Louise Candlish is superb at writing middle-class suburban thrillers. You look at some of the characters and think that could easily be me, or my neighbour. In The Only Suspect we have Alex who is worrying about a piece of wasteland being transformed into a nature trail. Immediately you are wondering what he is afraid of being uncovered. The story then jumps back to 1995 and we meet Rick who gets involved with a married woman. Alternating between the two characters you are on the edge of your seat wondering how Alex and Rick are connected and what lies buried.

My favourite book of the month was The Ugly Truth by L. C. North. When a business woman/influencer goes missing her friends are adamant she's being held captive by her father. Her father is insistent she is at a private retreat struggling with her mental health. Through transcripts for a documentary, interviews for a book, video clips and twitter comments we learn all about Melanie Lange, how she rose to fame and how constant press and public intrusion effected her mental health. I found the book quite shocking, as I was reading I could identify real life examples that were similar to those in the book. 

I only managed one audiobook during the month. Sing Me A Secret by Julie Houston is an enjoyable listen about a family hiding secrets. Juno Sutherland is a married GP who lusts after a new work colleague while her husband is working away. Juno begins to question if her marriage is a happy one. Younger sister Lexia left home at sixteen and never returned. Thanks to a reality TV singing competition she became a star. Now her footballer husband has been transferred to her home town team so she has to return home and face secrets she's kept hidden for years.

Dates to watch out for are:-

Sing Me A Secret by Julie Houston will released on audio format on 8th December 2022. The paperback and ebook are already available.

The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish will be published on 2nd March 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

The Ugly Truth by L. C. North will be published on 16th March 2023 in hardback and audio format. The ebook will be available from 2nd March 2023.

Sing Me A Secret by Julie Houston (Audiobook)

 

Juno Sutherland is just about managing to keep things together. Her job as a GP and raising a family mean that she is constantly on the go, and continually criticised by her smart as a whip daughter. Things have been a bit of a struggle since her husband took a years secondment to America. When a dishy new doctor joins the practice Juno begins to question whether her marriage is a happy one. Life becomes even more complicated when her younger sister, Lexia, returns home. Lexia left home at sixteen to become a sing star on reality TV and hasn't returned home since. Lexia's return home signals an unraveling of lots of secrets.

This is one of those stories that has a little bit of everything; romance, an unhappy marriage, precocious children, family secrets, heartbreak and so much more. I really enjoyed the mix of characters, particularly Juno and Lexia.

Juno's story focuses on the marriage she fell in to, the rest of her life is fine. The appearance of the handsome new doctor while her husband is working away is the catalyst needed to make her examine the status quo. There are some humorous moments, along with the inevitable misunderstandings, before the situation is resolved.

The elements featuring Lexia show the seedier side of reality TV and hammer home the fact that fame isn't everything we expect. From the outside Lexia appears to have everything but we slowly learn that her marriage to a waning football star has lost its gloss and huge secrets are ruining her happiness.

Along with Juno and Lexia there are two other Sutherland sisters, sisters who play more minor roles in the story, however they are hiding secrets too. Some of the secrets are darker than others but over time we learn that life becomes more complicated the longer those secrets remain hidden.

Sing Me A Secret by Julie Houston will be published in audio format on 8th December 2022, the paperback and ebook versions are already available. My thanks to NetGalley and Saga Egmont for a review copy.

The Ugly Truth by L. C. North

 

At the age of fifteen Melanie Lange comes to the attention of the media when she accompanies her businessman father to an event. A career as a model is launched and every moment of Melanie's life is under public scrutiny for the next fifteen years. However, not everything published about Melanie is accurate and the constant pressure begins to take its toll on her mental health.

This is a shocking story. It's not often a book makes you take a step back and consider if you are part of the problem. We live in a society obsessed by social media and celebrity culture. Reality TV seems to dominate our TV screens and young people look at these types of programs as a way of accessing instant fame and riches. The Ugly Truth shines a light on how the media can twist what we see.

Told through a variety of formats (transcripts for a book, twitter comments, the script from a Netflix documentary, video clips) we learn how Melanie Lange was thrust into the limelight at the age of fifteen. Under constant media scrutiny she is portrayed as a wild child. The press seem to delight in anything negative they can get their hands on, manipulating every story to sell more issues. 

Elements of the story make you think of real life instances where individuals have had to cope with constant press intrusion, Britney Spears and Meghan Markle being the most obvious ones. 

Social media is also a huge part of this story. Fans constantly wanting to know more about the lives of their idols, acting as if they own them. Fans who find it easy to pick fault and criticise without thinking about the effect their words may have. Fans who don't realise the toll their words will have on the mental health of the person they worship.

The Ugly Truth is a disturbing read but one you simply cannot put down. I desperately needed to know how the story was going to end. Part of me also wondered throughout if everything was part of some massive media campaign and everyone was being manipulated.

The Ugly Truth by L. C. North will be published on 16th March 2023 in hardback and audio format. The ebook will be available on 2nd March 2023. My thanks to NetGalley and Transworld Books for a review copy.

The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish

 

Alex and his wife live a quite, normal life in a secluded suburb of London. When a local group campaign to turn a stretch of overgrown land into a nature trail Alex begins to worry that the life he has built for himself will begin to unravel as long buried secrets are revealed.

Author Louise Candlish is a skilled writer who has the knack of slowly drawing you into a story, gradually revealing pertinent pieces of information so that you think you've solved the puzzle, only to then be proven incredibly wrong.

In The Only Suspect we initially focus on Alex, wondering why he is so worried about the nature trail. The story then jumps back to 1995 and we are introduced to Rick, a young man who meets an enigmatic woman, Marina. Rick slowly fall in love with Marina, despite the fact she's married. Holding Rick at arms length Marina admits that her husband is very controlling. Rick is prepared to do anything to help Marina escape her unhappy marriage.

Back in the present Alex begins to behave strangely, things aren't helped when his wife allows a friend to move in after becoming homeless. You then begin to wonder how the two stories are connected, particularly when we learn that Alex changed his name a number of years ago. This really does add an air of mystery as you keep trying to figure out which character from 1995 he is.

The 1995 elements of the story grip you far more than those set in the present. Rick is a knight in shining armour, desperate to save the damsel in distress, even if he ends up putting himself in danger. However, it's that constant sense of never quite being able to see the complete picture that is unsettling. One moment you think you've figured out what is happening, the next you are doubting and take off on a new tangent.

While the conclusion isn't a shock, I still wasn't convinced there wasn't going to be another twist until I actually read it.

The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish will be published on 2nd February 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK for a review copy.

A Murder At The Castle by Chris McGeorge

Christmas Day at Balmoral Castle and the royal family are celebrating alone, apart from the royal chef. The rest of the entourage have been dismissed for the day. At 3pm, as the rest of the country is watching the King's speech on TV, the royal family are preparing to listen to a very different speech. Everyone is expecting the King to abdicate and announce his successor. Just as he begins to speak the King collapses and dies, all indications are that he has been poisoned. With only the royal family present and a blizzard outside everyone is a suspect and the chef has to investigate.

Having recently read Murder Most Royal by S. J. Bennett I was very keen to see how A Murder In The Castle by Chris McGeorge compares. While both are crime novels and feature the royal family they are very different. In the former The Queen is the investigator and all "real" characters are part of the establishment we know. In the later The King is murdered, a King and family from a completely different timeline.

Initially I liked the premise of the story. We're asked to consider what would have happened if Edward VIII hadn't abdicated and his heirs are now on the throne. King Eric would be our current King, he would have two daughters and two grandsons. Other than lineage very little else has changed.

At the grand old age of 85 King Eric has been a popular monarch but is ready to step down and the family fully expect him to announce his eldest grandson as his successor. When he dies during his speech suspicion falls on all the members of the royal family since they are the only people present. A blizzard has ensured that they are snowed in.

I really struggled with the writing style and the fact that absolutely everyone was a suspect. There were far too many red herrings along with huge parts of the novel were very little happened apart from reiterating what we already knew. This resulted in a stilted, slow pace. Some of the characters were thoroughly unlikeable and the rest were so insipid I really didn't care either way about them.

Overall a disappointing read considering the potential at the start of the book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Orion Books for a review copy.

 

October 2022 Reads

After a very diverse reading list in September I was back to usual in October with only one book being outside the thriller genre. I'm going to start with that book, Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey. I was drawn to this by the blurb "hilarious and addictive" and "laugh-out-loud funny, razor sharp and painfully relatable" as well as the fact that the author had been a screenwriter for the comedy series Schitt's Creek. Unfortunately I really struggled with the book and didn't find it relatable at all. It would probably appeal more to younger women. I also think that the dialogue and activities don't translate well to the UK market.

My other slightly disappointing read was The Prisoner by B. A Paris. This author was new to me and I was immediately gripped by the blistering start, the terror and the tension. The reader is thrown in to as much confusion as the central character, Amelie Hawthorpe, as she tries to figure out why her and her husband have been kidnapped. The pace is kept up by jumping between time periods so that the background to the couples relationship is revealed. A change in direction about two-thirds of the way through spoilt the premise of the story for me. My disappointment certainly hasn't put me off trying the author again.

The rest of the month was filled with 4 and 5 star crackers. Starting with the 4 star reads.Doug Johnstone continued the story of the Skelf women with the fourth book in the series, Black Hearts. A mixture of cases to investigate with a common thread of how we all deal with grief differently. Lighter moments in the story are contrasted with some dark and disturbing behaviour.

In Murder Most Royal from  S. J. Bennett we return to the series "Her Majesty The Queen Investigates", a cozy crime novel in which The Queen, aided by her Assistant Private Secretary, solves a murder. A fun take on crime, with The Queen coming across as totally normal and everyday. The only thing that stopped this getting 5 stars from me was the vast array of characters I struggled to keep straight in my mind.

Another book that was fun to read was Killers Of A Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. Imagine Charlie's Angels meets The Golden Girls in a Mission Impossible setting and you'll have an idea of how fun this book is. A group of female assassins are about to retire when they become the targets. They need to out-smart the organisation they used to work for and figure out who exactly wants them dead and why.

My last read of the month was one I look forward to all year, the latest book from Lee Child & Andrew Child. I've been a fan of the Jack Reacher series for over twenty years so was keen to get my hands on the latest novel, No Plan B. Reacher witnesses a murder that the police conclude was a suicide. Reacher is determined to investigates and travels across the country to discover who is responsible. This is standard stuff for a Jack Reacher story, however mixed in with this we had the stories of four other characters and it was impossible to see how they were all connected. All these extra story-lines dragged the story out. I do begin to wonder if it's time for Reacher to settle down.

Now on to the 5 star reads. The month began brilliantly with The Mysterious Case Of The Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett. This is probably my favourite of Hallett's books as the author weaves together a wide variety of media to give us an investigation into a cult that was going to sacrifice a baby eighteen years ago. Little is known about the actual events and mystery surrounds the whereabouts of the survivors. Twists and turns abound, to the point that when I got to the end I wanted to go right back to the beginning and start again.

In The Blink Of An Eye by Jo Callaghan is a new take on the buddy-cop thriller as one of the investigators is AI. I enjoyed the interactions between the real life detective who was partnered with the AI under duress and the AI persona, AIDE Lock. Being a fan of sci-fi shows I could easily imagine the monotone, emotionless voice. As the story progressed we discover that data driven investigation and human instinct are both needed to solve crimes.

What July Knew by Emily Koch is more a mystery than an thriller as we try to piece together exactly what happened to July Hooper's mother eight years ago. July knows her mother Maggie was killed in a car accident but everyone around her refuses to talk about Maggie. Desperate for even the smallest tit-bit of information July begins to investigate. Unfortunately this results in her father's disapproval, leading to some heart-breaking situations. July leaps out of the page, she is so lifelike and loving; I felt so much anger and frustration towards the adults in her life who abused her physically and emotionally.

Author Helen Field is someone I've only discovered in the past year and having now read three of her books I'm blown away by her skill and imagination at writing stories which are so engrossing and completely different from each other. The Institution takes place in a high security hospital for the criminally insane. When a pregnant nurse is murdered and her baby cut from her body psychologist Connie Woolwine has to go undercover onto the ward housing the worst of the inmates in order to try and find who was responsible and hopefully save the babies life. Terror, tension, revulsion and panic alternate throughout as you wonder if Connie can survive, never mind solve the crime.

If I was really pushed to pick a favourite book this month it would probably be Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent. Sally certainly is a strange character. The opening chapters make you leap to a conclusion that is slowly shown to be completely wrong as we learn about Sally's background. Sally has been sheltered from society by her parents but now that she's alone she has to begin to interact with the world around her. 

Two audiobooks listened to this month. How To Kill Men And Get Away With It by Katy Brent is a breath of fresh air. Modern, pacey and irreverent with an iconic lead character, Kitty Collins. After accidentally killing a man who refused to take no for an answer she sets out to deal with similar men.

The second audiobook was Christmas In The Little Irish Village by Michelle Vernal. Following the breakdown of her relationship Shannon swears off men for good as she is forced to move back home to the village of Emerald Bay. A host of eccentric characters and a handsome American tourist made this a gentle and comforting story.

Publication dates to watch out for are:-

The Prisoner by B. A. Paris will be published in hardback, ebook and audio format on 3rd November 2022.

Murder Most Royal by S. J. Bennett will be published in hardback, ebook and audio format on 10th November 2022.

The Mysterious Case Of The Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett will be published in hardback on 12th January 2023 with the ebook being available on 19th January 2023.

Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey will be published in hardback, ebook and audio format on 19th January 2023.

In The Blink Of An Eye by Jo Callaghan will be published in hardback, ebook and audio format on 19th January 2023.

What July Knew by Emily Koch will be published in hardback, ebook and audio format on 9th February 2023.

The Institution by Helen Fields will be published in hardback, ebbok and audio format on 2nd March 2023.

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent will be published in hardback and ebook format on 2nd March 2023.