The stolen child – Sanjida Kay

Book blurb:

“Zoe and Ollie Morley tried for years to have a baby and couldn’t. They turned to adoption and their dreams came true when they were approved to adopt a little girl from birth. They named her Evie. In the days following Evie’s birth the new parents watch anxiously as their precious daughter struggles – she is battling the severe effects of the drugs her birth mother was addicted to.

Seven years later, the family has moved to Zoe’s native Yorkshire and grown in number: a wonderful surprise in the form of baby Ben, conceived naturally against the odds. Ollie is earning good money allowing Zoe to pursue her career as an artist. As a working mum it’s not easy, but Zoe has an exhibition coming up and her reputation is growing. Life is good.

But then Evie begins to receive letters and gifts. The sender claims to be her birth father. He has been looking for his daughter. And now he is coming to take her back….”

My Thoughts:

After a couple of audible resets a few hours in, i am happy to say i finally got to listen to this in its entirety and what a story i was.
I was immediately drawn into this family’s story,first the shiny look of domestic bliss then the scene is shattered and Zoe and Ollie to through something no family should have to face, their daughter goes missing.

Right from the outset i found myself invested in Zoe her brutally honest and frustrated search for answers,putting equal amounts of energy into protecting her remaining child while desperately searching for her lost one.

Her husband Ollie i really didn’t take to at all at first, his lack of interest in family life, his must work attitude I felt his heart was In the right place, even if his actions were not, but has the story progressed my understanding of him grew and slowly he grew on me.

The writing style was in such a way that even though I had never been to Ealing in Yorkshire i felt i knew the place and could picture the scenes and places as the story unfolded.

The narrator here was Helen Johns who did an excellent job of telling this story, each character came to life in my mind.

If you haven’t listened to this yet, I highly recommend it,nothing like a bit of home grown uk psychological thriller ,you won’t be disappointed.

You can find it here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Stolen-Child/dp/B01N39USAO/ref=la_B019E7380S_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1521012308&sr=1-1&refinements=p_82%3AB019E7380S%2Cp_n_binding_browse-bin%3A308724031
You can follow her on Twitter: @sanjidakay
And her website is: http://www.sanjida.co.uk

#BlogTour Dark Harvest – Chris Patchell

Book blurb:

“The deaths of innocents, the birth of evil…

When a single-mother-to-be goes missing on a snowy Seattle night, the investigators at the Holt Foundation fear that the police have zeroed in on the wrong suspect. With the baby’s due date weeks away, two lives hang in the balance as the harrowing search for the missing woman unfolds.

For single-mother Marissa Rooney, the case feels personal. With her own daughter still recovering from the trauma of being kidnapped, Marissa is torn between trying to help her daughter recover and her growing responsibilities at the foundation. Her fragile new relationship with the scarred widower, Seth Crawford, adds another layer of complication to an already difficult situation.

Then a second pregnant woman goes missing.

As the Holt Foundation’s chief investigator, Seth desperately races to unravel the threads linking the two missing women and their babies. His success or failure could mean the difference between life or death for another innocent woman and her unborn child. Then a chilling clue surfaces, revealing a sinister motive behind the crime. With time running out, Marissa has a secret of her own that could make her the target of a madman and throw all their lives into jeopardy.

Entangled in the roots of a growing madness, Seth and Marissa are in a race against time to stop a killer before he can reap his dark harvest…

”

My thoughts :

Well, welcome back to book two of two dear readers and listeners alike.

As this story opens, we find the Holt Foundation getting its first case without Elizabeth at the helm, her son now in charge.

I feel this one started as strongly as the last one ended,the progression of the characters stable and believable.

I can only imagine being pregnant is hard enough, but when you are taken for your babies gene’s to be harvested for someone else’e gain that just makes things so much more complicated.

I wouldn’t have said straight away the doctor that the doctor was evil, not at first,he was simply trying to help himself and help his mind not melt away.

He of course doesn’t do his own dirty work, enter the mysterious redhead nurse, who I am glad to see is very human, she develops a concsious.

The more I listen, the more the character of Marissa grows on me and since the last book her daughter is falling apart, but Marissa juggles it all beautifully.

All the characters evolve in such a way that it was easy to follow.

Returning for an encore on the narration front it is Lisa stathopolis and Corey Gagne, again they provide brilliant story telling and keep the quality high.

All in all these are 2 books in a great series, I am hoping there is a third, I Am sure I am not alone.

You can buy it here:

#BlogTour In The Dark – Chris Patchell

Book Blurb:

“Marissa Rooney stands in her daughter’s empty dorm room, a half-used vial of insulin clutched in her trembling hand. Brooke has been missing for days. Her roommate hasn’t seen her since that night in the bar. And if Marissa has Brooke’s insulin, it means that Brooke does not.

But Marissa isn’t alone in her terror. A phantom from her past is lurking in the shadows, waiting in the night, and holding her family captive…In the dark”

My Thoughts:

After reading the description of this book I was hooked, welcome to book one of two.

The story is loaded with atmosphere from the word go, I wanted to keep listening as every turn something even more sinister happened.

Marissa’s life as a busy working single mom with two teenage daughters, takes a dark twist as the older of the two disappears, and if that wasn’t bad enough the medication she needs she doesn’t have, Marissa’s life falls out from under her feet.

I loved how the author squeezed every bit of life out of the characters, I felt every emotion along with Marissa and her family as she frantically searched for her missing child as the shadow of the past reached closer with every chapter.

It’s soon all hands on deck as the police follow leads to find the missing girl, I really enjoyed that it wasn’t solved and tied in a neat little bow really quickly. Many times I thought “oh they have it solved”, then something else would send things in a totally different direction.

Into the story enters Elizabeth Holt, founder of the Holt foundation alongwith her Son. They pull together resources, and through various circumstances Marissa soon gets on board.

The two narrators for this are, Lisa Stathoplos and Corey Gagne, each play their part excellently and together they make the story complete.

As far as openers for a series go I really enjoyed this one, I will talk to you again in a few days when I review book two.

you can buy it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Holt-Foundation-Story-Book-ebook/dp/B00YNKHFI8

You can follow Chris Patchell here: @chris_patchell

The Silent Child – Sarah A. Denzil

Book Blurb:

“Winner of Audible’s 2017 Narrator of the Year Award

Introducing Audible’s Thriller of the Year: Silent Child by Sarah A. Denzil, performed by Joanne Froggatt.

In the summer of 2006, Emma Price watched helplessly as her six-year-old son’s red coat was fished out of the River Ouse. It was the tragic story of the year – a little boy, Aiden, wandered away from school during a terrible flood, fell into the river, and drowned. His body was never recovered. Ten years later Emma has finally rediscovered the joy in life. She’s married, pregnant, and in control again…until Aiden returns.

Too traumatised to speak, he raises endless questions and answers none. Where has he been? What happened to him on that rainy afternoon? And now that he’s back, whom can he trust?

At Audible we love listening to crime books. But every so often one comes along that we think is truly special. An Amazon Kindle number one best-seller, Sarah A. Denzil’s Silent Child is taking Audible HQ by storm. In an Audible Exclusive production, Joanne Froggatt (Mrs Bates, Downton Abbey) delivers a powerhouse performance that will keep you gripped until the very last second.”

 

My Thoughts:

I know I said the last one was my last review of 2017 but I couldn’t let this one slip by. I am not sure if even the greatest reviewer could do this justice, I absolutely loved it.

The intensity of the characters, the suspense attached to each one sustained right to the very end. The story twists and turns like a eerie unmarked forrest trail, I can see why it won Thriller of the year.

Nearly every second of it was believable up until near the very end, I’m not sure how much fighting a heavily pregnant women could realistically do, but when in that situation perhaps she could.

I thought although Aiden didn’t say anything, he spoke volumes throughout, just goes to show you don’t need words to make a statement.

The narrator is Joanne Froggatt, best known for her role as Mrs Bates in that well loved TV show Downton Abbey, she does an excellent job of this narration the suspense just keeps going, it was wound up all the way from beginning to end. Definitely look forward to hearing her narrate more.

This is one going straight in my top 3 of 2017, if you haven’t given this a chance I couldn’t recommend it highly enough, brilliant all round.

You can buy it here:

 

Follow Joanne Froggatt here: @JoFroggatt

A Mind to Kill – John Nicholl

Book Blurb:

The hunters become the hunted…

‘I’m in here. Come on. I’m in here. Come and play with me. I’ve been waiting for you…’

When Rebecca’s childhood abuser avoids prosecution, it sets her on a path to revenge, revenge on any man who preys on the innocent. Twenty-three-year-old Rebecca poses as a child online and sets her trap, luring one predatory paedophile after another to their deaths. When a man’s severed head is found washed up on a windswept estuary beach, the police begin their investigation.

The internationally bestselling author of White is the Coldest Colour is back with an electrifying psychological thriller packed with suspense.

Brilliantly gripping, A Mind To Kill will have you hooked from the very first page and holding your breath to the heart-racing and shocking ending.

 

My thoughts:

Ahhh! Where did I put my torch, oh this story is dark, no rainbows or unicorns here, oh how I miss them.

Well what does this story have to offer, revenge, death and hiding in plain sight, I guess you never know a person really and in this story the person on the inside you really don’t want to know.

Part of me agree’s with reasons for what happens in this book but another part of me runs screaming from it’s blood soaked tendrils, there were a few times I decided I wasn’t going to finish as the subject of the book made me squirm from the inside, but I persevered and I’m glad I did.

The subject matter might not be to everyone’s tea, some graphic torture descriptions. But the story is well researched and the writer  gives the material the respect it deserves.

Onto the writer, once again it is John Nicholls who has other great books, remember google is your friend (or this blog which i have reviewed Bully Boy Blue). Anyway John Nicholls teams up with that Welsh terror Jake Urry a force to be reckoned with indeed if you combine John’s writing and Jake’s narration then you are onto a winner.

A well written and a well told story, as I said at the beginning if you are of a weak constitution then the subject matter might not be for you, but if you can see past it you are in for a good listen.

You can find it here:

Wretchedness – Ambrose Ibsen

“There is no hope.

A peculiar tablet unearthed in a Middle Eastern ossuary provokes madness in those who encounter it. One by one people come under the tablet’s sway and are subjected to horrific visions and dreams. In time, the tablet’s true purpose becomes clear: It is the harbinger of an eons-dead god whose reemergence will steep the world in terror and suffering. Having put the pieces together, two men race against the clock and attempt to disrupt the terrifying work of an ancient cult.”

My thoughts:

First thing I have to say about this book is if you are a visual person be prepared to get very uncomfortable very quickly, that’s not a bad thing, in fact it makes this book all the more special, for everyone else you will still get the impact.

I found myself at several points actually turning it off and putting something lighter and cheerier on because this story is no sunshine and lollipops, that’s why it took me so long to get to the end but glad to say I did keep going back to it.

Fear is a funny thing, it can manifest itself in many ways and in this book it was something truly horrific, I ‘enjoyed’ it and it terrified me in equal measure, not many books can do that.

If I find a stone tablet anywhere I am definitely going to leave it well alone after learning many lessons from this story.

I found the characters engaging and felt sorry for them at times, the narrator was the welsh terror Jake Urry, he did a fantastic job keeping the intensity dialed up to eleven! His descriptions of the people, places and things meant I could visualise everything.

It left me wanting to know more about the old lady, more about her past, how did she come across that tablet.

If you are looking for something with a dark side then this is the story for you, just don’t listen to it alone at night…

You can find it here:

In The Dark – Daniel Fox

Book blurb:

“My name is Steve Lewis.
I know this because it’s one of the few things I remember.
I have a wife, a son and I run a successful business.
I know this because that’s what they tell me.
I remember things that aren’t true.
I forget things that are.
I see things and people that aren’t real.
You see, I have brain damage
…and that’s the only rational explanation for things like this.”

 

My review:

This is undeniably one of my favourite psychological Thrillers of 2017, answered alot of questions throughout the story but happily left me with so many more.
It left me wondering about how the brain and mind work, the difference between dreams and reality.

The narrator Timothy Mckean does a great job of keeping the chilling tone travelling through the story and up and down my spine.

Poor Steve throughout the book struggles with what’s real and what’s not, at times I found myself questioning my own sanity the mark of a great storyteller.

The only flaw, and it’s a minor one, was the very end jumped about really quickly so I really had to concentrate but it was well worth it, with an ending I did not see coming.

This is one I would definitely recommend, I will be looking out for more.

You can find the book here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/153277866X/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1500664371&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=In+the+dark+Daniel+fox&dpPl=1&dpID=511CU8VXmZL&ref=plSrch

Bully Boy Blue – John Nicoll

Book blurb:

“Every aspect of Kathy’s life is dominated by her abusive bully boy husband. Now she’s pregnant and in fear for her life. Can she ever escape him?”

 

My review:

Although it is only 1 hour and 50 minutes long the story evoked so many emotional reactions from me, and at the same time I didn’t know how to feel.
The intimidating, violent and abusive husband, John Connor, finally gets his comeuppance in a very well thought through and executed plan.

The wife, Kathy, finds herself pregnant trapped and who will believe her predicament? Who will come through for her?

In the end the elaborate plan was brilliantly executed, I did wonder if it was a bit far fetched but the ingenious twists kept the intrigue going.
narrator, Jake Urry, with ‘that’ voice made this story come to life with dripping suspense.
A short but powerful story that addresses an issue that is very uncomfortable, but tackles it well.

A Second Hand Life – Pamela Crane

 

The blurb:

A heart never forgets its last beat…

In a freak collision when she was twelve, Mia Germaine faced death and the loss of her father. A heart transplant from a young murder victim saved her life, but not without a price. Twenty years later, chilling nightmares about an unresolved homicide begin to plague Mia. Compelled by these lost memories, she forms a complicated connection to the victim—the girl killed the night of Mia’s accident—due to a scientific phenomenon called “organ memory.”

Now suffocating beneath the weight of avenging a dead girl and catching a serial killer on the loose dubbed the “Triangle Terror,” Mia must dodge her own demons while unimaginable truths torment her—along with a killer set on making her his next victim.

As Mia tries to determine if her dreams are clues or disturbing phantasms, uninvited specters lead her further into danger’s path, costing her the one person who can save her from herself. More than a page-turning thriller, “A Second hand Life” weaves a tale of second chances and reclaimed dreams as this taut, refreshing story ensnares and penetrates you.

 

My review:

I went into this not really sure what to expect, the blurb gave you the outline but there was so much more.

The author Pamela Crane has put a lot of research into the supernatural side of it.

The characters are well-rounded and believable, Mia is tenacious, the other characters all fit in and play their part well.

Unlike some crime novels, the clues in this story drip in an unobtrusive way

The serial killer in the shadows is both human and monster in equal measure.

The narrator Melanie Carey is easy to listen to, some places I felt her voice drag a bit where it could be more animated but those were few.

The conclusion I did not see coming, a sad but fitting end to a story that was both harrowing and brilliant in its own right. Definitely will get the rest of the series

You can find the book at: