Category: Orenda Books

The Seven Doors by Agnes Ravatn

The Seven Doors by Agnes Ravatn

Translated by Rosie Hedger

Summary:

University professor Nina is at a turning point. Her work seems increasingly irrelevant, her doctor husband is never home, relations with her difficult daughter are strained, and their beautiful house is scheduled for demolition.

When her daughter decides to move into another house they own, things take a very dark turn. The young woman living there disappears, leaving her son behind, the day after Nina and her daughter pay her a visit.

With few clues, the police enquiry soon grinds to a halt, but Nina has an inexplicable sense of guilt. Unable to rest, she begins her own investigation, but as she pulls on the threads of the case, it seems her discoveries may have very grave consequences for her and her family.

Exquisitely dark and immensely powerful, The Seven Doors is a sophisticated and deeply disturbing psychological thriller from one of Norway’s most distinguished voices.

My Review:

Being such a big fan of Nordic noir I really enjoyed The Bird Tribunal back in 2016 and now at last the long awaited return of Agnes Ravatn with The Seven Doors now out through Orenda Books and is a dark psychological thriller and follows the story of Nina who is a university professor and is trying to cope with the fact that their home that she loves is to be demolished, she has an adult daughter but her relationship is somewhat strained let alone Mads her husband.

Nina is dealing with the loss of the home she has lived in for many decades as Mads has agreed to the sale so that a railway can be built. Now that her daughter Ingeborg has arrived needing somewhere to stay as her own home has a problem with Silverfish. Ingeborg is pregnant with her second child. We find out that the Nina and Mads have a second home that they have rented out to Mari Nilsen. This is where the story becomes darker and tragic as Ingeborg has twisted the arms of her parents to allow her to move into the second home. When Ingeborg arrives she is more than just persuasive with her attitude and confronts Mari.

Nina is dealing with the loss of the home she has lived in for many decades as Mads has agreed to the sale so that a railway can be built. Now that her daughter Ingeborg has arrived needing somewhere to stay as her own home has a problem with Silverfish. Ingeborg is pregnant with her second child. We find out that the Nina and Mads have a second home that they have rented out to Mari Nilsen. This is where the story becomes darker and tragic as Ingeborg has twisted the arms of her parents to allow her to move into the second home. When Ingeborg arrives she is more than just persuasive with her attitude and confronts Mari.

 The following day Mari has disappeared and her young son, there is no trace of Mari. This has sent shock waves through Nina and Mads and it is Nina who decides that she cannot just leave it as it is and decides she needs to look into what really has happened to Mari and if her daughter played any role in her disappearance.

This is really why I am really taken with Agnes Ravatn’s writing as she weaves a story as seen through the eyes of Nina as she tries to uncover what happened to Mari, did Ingeborg play a part or was it Mari’s ex-husband. The more Nina tries to uncover the more she sees and is disturbed by her findings. Agnes Ravatn brings many characters to the plot and Nina is beginning to look at members of her own family. This is a very atmospheric novel and the plot will have the reader looking closely at each of the main characters. But Nina is one that many will warm to. A thoroughly engrossing psychological thriller and wonderfully translated by Rosie Hedger.

276 Pages

@OrendaBooks

#TheSevenDoors

Thank you to Orenda Books for the review copy of The Seven Doors by Agnes Ravatn.

The Seven Doors by Agnes Ravatn was published by Orenda Books and was published on 17th September 2020 and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.

Hinton Hollow Death Trip by Will Carver

Hinton Hollow Death Trip Cover

Hinton Hollow Death Trip by Will Carver

Summary:

It’s a small story. A small town with small lives that you would never have heard about if none of this had happened.

Hinton Hollow. Population 5,120.

Little Henry Wallace was eight years old and one hundred miles from home before anyone talked to him. His mother placed him on a train with a label around his neck, asking for him to be kept safe for a week, kept away from Hinton Hollow.

Because something was coming.

Narrated by Evil itself, Hinton Hollow Death Trip recounts five days in the history of this small rural town, when darkness paid a visit and infected its residents. A visit that made them act in unnatural ways. Prodding at their insecurities. Nudging at their secrets and desires. Coaxing out the malevolence suppressed within them. Showing their true selves.

Making them cheat.
Making them steal.
Making them kill.

Detective Sergeant Pace had returned to his childhood home. To escape the things he had done in the city. To go back to something simple. But he was not alone. Evil had a plan.

My Review:

Having really enjoyed Good Samaritans and Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver I was really looking forward to seeing what was to come next. The wait was worth it. Hinton Hollow Death Trip (Orenda Books) is released on 6th August and its narrator is evil itself.

Will Carver Author pIc

The story begins with Henry Wallace an eight-year-old boy who was put on a train by his mother and a note attached to him saying keep him safe for a week. Back in his home town of Hinton Hollow evil has arrived and over the next five days the 5,120 inhabitants of this small town will know darkness has befallen their small town and lives will never be the same again.

This is gripping and dark novel that follows Carver’s previous novel Nothing Important Happened Today and we back with DS Pace. Nothing will prepare you for this one though. Will Carver a writer who will take you on a reading journey unlike anything else you will ever read. This small town where everyone knows everyone and their business. Now evil is here and he has a job to do. In this town you will meet some characters that could be similar to those who live in your town. But now evil is here and he is going to make them do things that are out of character to say the least.

This is the third in the series involving DS Pace, but I felt sorry for him as he returned to his home town only to face evil and its manipulations and this will be his biggest test yet. Can he save the residents of Hinton Hollow from themselves? As much as you can read as a standalone you will want to read the previous two after you have read Hinton Hollow Death Trip.

This is a novel with short chapters and into days and allows the storyline to creep under your skin the deeper you get into the book. It will leave you asking many questions of yourself and others. Will Carver’s novels are some of the best in the way that he writes and crafts his storyline and they leave you just wanting more and more. Highly Recommended.

@will_carver

@OrendaBooks

320 Pages.
Thank you to Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books) for the review copy of Hinton Hollow Death Trip by Will Carver.
Hinton Hollow Death Trip by Will Carver was published by Orenda Books and will be published on 13th August 2020 and is available to Pre-order through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.

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I Am Dust by Louise Beech

Copy

I Am Dust by Louise Beech

Summary:

A haunted theatre
A murdered actress
Three cursed teenagers
A secret that devastates them all…

The Dean Wilson Theatre is believed to be haunted by a long-dead actress, singing her last song, waiting for her final cue, looking for her killer…

Now Dust, the iconic musical, is returning after twenty years. But who will be brave enough to take on the role of ghostly goddess Esme Black, last played by Morgan Miller, who was murdered in her dressing room?

Theatre usher Chloe Dee is caught up in the spectacle. As the new actors arrive, including an unexpected face from her past, everything changes. Are the eerie sounds and sightings backstage real or just her imagination? Is someone playing games?

Is the role of Esme Black cursed? Could witchcraft be at the heart of the tragedy? And are dark deeds from Chloe’s past about to catch up with her?
Not all the drama takes place onstage. Sometimes murder, magic, obsession and the biggest of betrayals are real life. When you’re in the theatre shadows, you see everything.

And Chloe has been watching…

 My Review:

One of my favourite authors returns with her fifth novel. I Am Dust (Orenda Books) by Louise Beech confirms just what an exceptional writer she really is. I just would not know what genre to put Louise in as she is such a versatile writer.

Author

 I loved Louise’s last novel Call Me Star Girl and I did wonder how she was better this. I need not have worried. I Am Dust is set in and around The Dean Wilson Theatre which is believed to be haunted. As with Louise Beech’s previous novels she builds characters superbly. We meet Chloe over two timelines the first in 2005 when she was playing in the local school production of Macbeth. But all is not well with Chloe and we fast forward to 2019 and The Dean Wilson Theatre is about to put on a musical performance of Dust twenty years after it was last played at the theatre. But back then the lead actress who was playing Esme Black was found dead in her dressing room, it was murder. Now a murder in a theatre always makes a good read and this is no exception.

Chloe is now working at the theatre as an usher, The Dean Wilson Theatre has seen better days with audience attendances dropping alarmingly. Now Dust is back! But for Chloe she is not coping as she has blackouts and is self-harming and trying hard to forget her younger years. But she is about to play a significant role but not on stage.

Was Morgan Miller murdered? Is she still haunting the theatre and waiting for her killer to return? There are new actors and actresses playing in the new production of dust but the real drama is about to play out away from the stage.

Sometimes the drama of life can lurk in the shadows of our lives and as someone once said “All the world’s a stage”. Louise Beech can create a story and as a reader you are instantly drawn not only to the storyline but the characters are so real. Chloe’s story is just heart-breaking. Haunting and emotional I Am Dust is just exceptional.

300 Pages.

Thank you to Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books) for the review copy of I Am Dust by Louise Beech.

I Am Dust by Louise Beech was published by Orenda Books and was published on 16th April 2020 and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop. During the current lockdown most independent bookshops are offering free delivery. Check your local bookshops for delivery options.

Beast by Matt Wesolowski

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Beast by Matt Wesolowski

Summary:

Elusive online journalist Scott King examines the chilling case of a young vlogger found frozen to death in the legendary local ‘vampire tower’, in another explosive episode of Six Stories… In the wake of the ‘Beast from the East’ cold snap that ravaged the UK in 2018, a grisly discovery was made in a ruin on the Northumbrian coast. Twenty-four-year-old Vlogger, Elizabeth Barton, had been barricaded inside what locals refer to as ‘The Vampire Tower’, where she was later found frozen to death. Three young men, part of an alleged ‘cult’, were convicted of this terrible crime, which they described as a ‘prank gone wrong.’ However, in the small town of Ergarth, questions have been raised about the nature of Elizabeth Barton’s death and whether the three convicted youths were even responsible. Elusive online journalist Scott King speaks to six witnesses people who knew both the victim and the three killers to peer beneath the surface of the case. He uncovers whispers of a shocking online craze that held the young of Ergarth in its thrall and drove them to escalate a series of pranks in the name of internet fame. He hears of an abattoir on the edge of town, which held more than simple slaughter behind its walls, the tragic and chilling legend of the ‘Ergarth Vampire’… Both a compulsive, taut and terrifying thriller, and a bleak and distressing look at modern society’s desperation for attention, Beast will unveil a darkness from which you may never return…

My Review:

It only seemed a short time that I read book one of Matt Wesolowski’s Six Stories. Now Matt is back with Beast (Orenda Books) the fourth in the series. If you have not discovered any of the books in the series, it is a fantastic gripping series based on a series of six podcasts as online journalist Scott King investigates true-life crimes. And the fourth in the series is not to be missed.

Author

The winter of 2018 saw a bitterly cold period with snow and ice as the Beast from the East held the country in its icy grip, at the same time a successful Vlogger Elizabeth Barton was taking part in a social media challenge and she has been found dead in the ruin on part of the Northumbrian Coast and in what the locals call the Vampire Tower. It was a shocking discovery for those who found her.

Is the case against three young men who were part of a cult as rock solid as many believe? They were convicted and are now behind bars. But for journalist Scott King this is the perfect case for his true-life crime podcast series. Scott now talks to six people as part of the six podcast series to try and get behind what really happened to Elizabeth Barton the bitterly cold night.

Is there really a vampire stalking this part of the coastline just waiting for her next victim or is this really a case of cold blooded murder? The podcast interviews are gripping. The Beast from the East does not just refer to the snow storms but the Ergarth Vampire who many locals say came from Siberia. So this really is a spooky crime investigation for Scott King.

As the six podcast carry on more and more is known and revealed but then just wait until the final podcast. My mind was blown. For Elizabeth Barton who was taking part in the social media challenge ‘Dead in Six Days’ (except your do not really die) but something sinister happened to Elizabeth and the truth is out there. Beast is chilling and sinister and a novel you cannot leave alone. Brilliantly written with a storyline that will make you want to choke on your coffee. Dare you leave this one alone. Perfect as a standalone but you must read the others after. You will be hooked.

If reading about the Six Podcasts is gripping imagine what the audio book would sound like? One I am going to have to look into.

320 Pages.

Matt Wesolowski: @concretekraken

Orenda Books: @OrendaBooks

Thank you to Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books) for the review copy of Beast by Matt Wesolowski

Beast by Matt Wesolowski was published by Orenda Books and will be published on 6th February 2020 and is available to pre-order through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.

Violet by SJI Holliday

Violet Jacket

Violet by SJI Holliday

Summary:

Carrie’s best friend has an accident and can no longer make the round-the-world trip they’d planned together, so Carrie decides to go it alone.

Violet is also travelling alone, after splitting up with her boyfriend in Thailand. She is also desperate for a ticket on the Trans-Siberian Express, but there is nothing available.

When the two women meet in a Beijing Hotel, Carrie makes the impulsive decision to invite Violet to take her best friend’s place.

Thrown together in a strange country, and the cramped cabin of the train, the women soon form a bond. But as the journey continues, through Mongolia and into Russia, things start to unravel – because one of these women is not who she claims to be…

 My Review:

The first things that strikes you is the cover. It really caught my attention. There is something about Orenda Books and not only their authors but the jacket cover designers. They really are outstanding.

I have to say that I loved The Lingering and before that The Deaths of December by SJI Holliday. They are worth checking out especially The Deaths of December as that is a Christmas crime novel worth reading. Now SJI Holliday returns with Violet a chilling novel perfect for this cold winter evenings.

Susi author photo.jpg

To say this is dark is an understatement, it really is a dark and twisting psychological thriller that will have you glued to the plot all the way through.

Violet has just broken up with her boyfriend Sam and now she meets Carrie and the two end up travelling the world together. Two strangers who happen to meet but this is not going to be any trip for either of them

They end up on the Trans – Siberian Express sharing a cabin. They soon start to get to know each other but this is about to be tested as dark secrets and tension start to emerge. There is something so gripping as a thriller set on a long train journey. It is all here. Shattered and broken characters and minds. The pace is as fast as the changing scenery from the cabin. What are the motives of the two women? Something tells me we are not being told the truth and you get the feeling of unease with these two characters and each has an agenda but what exactly is it? I felt quite uneasy with Violet. Something about her made the hair on the back of neck stand up. This is a captivating and also compelling thriller that I dare you to try and put down. One not to be missed. If you are planning a long train journey ahead of Christmas, then Violet by SJI Holliday is one book I would pack.

276 Pages.

 Thank you Karen (Orenda Books) and also to Anne Cater (Random Things Tours) for the review copy of Violet by SJI Holliday.

Violet by SJI Holliday was published by Orenda Books and was published on 2019 and is available to pre-order through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.

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Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver

Nothing Important Cover .jpeg

Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver

Summary:

Nine suicides
One Cult
No leader

Nine people arrive one night on Chelsea Bridge. They’ve never met. But at the same time, they run, and leap to their deaths. Each of them received a letter in the post that morning, a pre-written suicide note, and a page containing only four words: Nothing important happened today.

That is how they knew they had been chosen to become a part of the People Of Choice: A mysterious suicide cult whose members have no knowledge of one another.

Thirty-two people on that train witness the event. Two of them will be next. By the morning, People Of Choice are appearing around the globe; it becomes a movement. A social media page that has lain dormant for four years suddenly has thousands of followers. The police are under pressure to find a link between the cult members, to locate a leader that does not seem to exist.

How do you stop a cult when nobody knows they are a member?

My Review:

Back in December 2018 I raved about Good Samaritans by Will Carver but now he has returned with the dark and sinister Nothing Important Happened Today (Orenda Books). It can at times easy to refer to a writer as a genius but what Will Carver has given us in nothing short of jaw dropping. A storyline that made me at times gasp for air and made me sit bolt upright even on my journey to the office.

Will Carver 2

I have written this review not once or twice but this is now my third attempt at writing a review worthy of such an outstanding piece of work but here goes. The story really does not let up from page one until the very last so be warned you may want to lock the door and ignore your phone. This is one book you will need to read this Christmas. How would I describe Nothing Important Happened Today? One word. Sensational. This is not going to be your book that has Christmas written all over it but one that will grab hold of you and take you on a journey. Imagine you are one of nine people who wake up one morning and decide that today will be the day when they head to Chelsea Bridge and jump into the River Thames and for each of them this is where their lives end. But this is where the story begins.

I am not going to say this is an easy topic and some may find the content disturbing. What made all nine want to end their lives in what was a mass suicide. Who and what is behind what has just happened and are their other ‘chosen’ ones to end their lives. This is why I was left gasping for air. Carver has carefully sculptured a novel that takes hold of you and twists your mind and thoughts in a way like no other book I have read in a very long time.

There was one time when I was left with my head in my hands but I know I wanted to know what was going to happen. I wanted answers and wanted to know there and then.

Someone is behind the suicides and through this thriller you get to meet the individuals who are chosen to end their lives as the book moves back and forth through time. You the reader will become entangled with each of the characters involved and this left my head spinning. Mr Carver clearly did a lot of research when he decided to write this book and how he has pulled this one off. All I will say is be prepared. Your mouth will go dry and your palms will sweat even on a cold day. Will Carver you have pulled it off. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

276 Pages.

#NothingImportantHappenedToday

@Will_Carver    @OrendaBooks

Thank you to Karen at Orenda Books and Anne Cater (Random Things Tours) for the review copy of Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver

 Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver was published by Orenda Books and was published on 14th November 2019 and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.

 

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Cage by Lilja Sigurðardóttir

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Cage by Lilja Sigurðardóttir

Translated by Quentin Bates.

Summary:

As a group of foreign businessmen tries to draw Agla into an ingenious fraud that stretches from Iceland around the world, Agla and her former nemesis, María find the stakes being raised at a terrifying speed.
Ruthless drug baron Ingimar will stop at nothing to protect his empire, but he has no idea about the powder keg he is sitting on in his own home.
At the same time, a deadly threat to Sonya and her family brings her from London back to Iceland, where she needs to settle scores with longstanding adversaries if she wants to stay alive.

My Review:

Cage (Orenda Books) is the third and also final part in the Reykjavik Noir Series by Lilja Sigurðardóttir following on from Snare and Trap. Goodness how I love these tense edge of the seat thrillers and Cage delivers on all fronts as it was a review copy I was reading I found myself highlighting key parts throughout the book.

AUTHOR

Those that have read the previous two novels in the series know that that there are two main characters in Agla and her lover Sonja. For her part in a major banking scandal Agla was locking in prison and know she is out but there is no Sonja to meet her. Agla throughout was a tough no-nonsense character but locked away she has faced her own demons and now she is out she has to face up to life without her lover despite how she feels inside.

Agla has been recruited to look into a scam that spans borders across the world and requests the help of an old quittance in Maria but there is previous with the pair. When Maria realises just how big this fraud is and the scale and who is involved she decides to help Agla. But at the top of this fraud is one man who in in the previous books was the head man of the scams and he will not be stopped and will deal with anyone caught sticking their nose into his business. Ingimar will protect what he has built. All in all, this is an edge of the seat thriller that keep a pace all the way through. What Sigurðardóttir has delivered in the trilogy is a stunning read from book one to the last page of book three. It has everything from drug-smuggling, banking scandals, politics, murder and love. One aspect of Cage I like was that the chapters are short and this makes for a perfect read on the commute to work. (nothing worse than having to leave a chapter half way through). All in all, Cage delivers and I will miss the characters in the series. So now what Lilja Sigurðardóttir what on earth are you going to give us? Highly Recommended.

276 Pages.

My thanks to Karen (Orenda Books) for the review copy of Cage by Lilja Sigurðardóttir.

 Cage by Lilja Sigurðardóttir was published by Orenda Books and was published on 17th October 2019 and is available to through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.

 

The Closer I Get by Paul Burston

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The Closer I Get by Paul Burston

Summary:

Tom is a successful author, but he’s struggling to finish his novel. His main distraction is an online admirer, Evie, who simply won’t leave him alone.

Evie is smart, well read and unstable; she lives with her father and her social-media friendships are not only her escape, but everything she has.

When she’s hit with a restraining order, her world is turned upside down, and Tom is free to live his life again, to concentrate on writing.

But things aren’t really adding up. For Tom is distracted but also addicted to his online relationships, and when they take a darker, more menacing turn, he feels powerless to change things. Because maybe he needs Evie more than he’s letting on.

A compulsive, disturbingly relevant, twisty and powerful psychological thriller, The Closer I Get is also a searing commentary on the fragility and insincerity of online relationships, and the danger that can lurk just one ‘like’ away…

AUTHOR

My Review:

My goodness how I loved reading The Closer I Get (Orenda Books) by Paul Burston. The idea of writing about the dangers of Social Media and stalking really had my thinking about how we all interact with other. Many will know and follow me via Twitter and there were times when I switched off Twitter while I was reading Paul Burston’s brilliant taught thriller.

Novels are not just about the storyline they are nothing without characters and Paul has created and crafted some wonderful characters with Tom and Evie. Let’s start with Evie. She is totally off her head in fact dangerously and worryingly psychotic. The story opens with what seems like a letter from Evie to Tom and from this moment the reader is inside Evie’s head. Then the story from Tom’s point of view moves back eight months.

Tom is a writer and his first novel was a huge success and became a big screen film starring a major Hollywood actor. But Tom is struggling to find the form of his successful debut as his second failed and now so does his next. He needs to up his game or his agent will not need an excuse to offload him. Tom is side-tracked by Evie who it seems is stalking him on Social Media.

The story is told by both Evie and Tom but who is telling the truth about what really is going on here? Evie clearly has a real interest in Tom and will not leave him alone. It is very clear Evie has some serious issues. As I became part of the storyline to try and understand both Evie and Tom I just became a little uneasy about what Tom was really up to. Was there something he was doing to get Evie to play along. This was beginning to freak me out a little. Were they both as bad as each other. This was brilliant writing from Burston and a very clever storyline. Together with other characters that make up The Closer I get this was a truly chilling and an unsettling read. I needed a cool shower after finishing reading, you will see why when you read it and you will want to. Reading this riveting thriller made me question what really does go via Social Media.

@PaulBurston  #TheCloserIGet

@OrendaBooks

276 Pages.

Thank you to Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books) for the review copy of The Closer I Get by Paul Burston.

The Closer I Get by Paul Burston was published by Orenda Books and was published on 11th July 2019 and is available now through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.

A Modern Family by Helga Flatland

COVER 2

A Modern Family by Helga Flatland

Translated by Rosie Hedger

Summary:

When Liv, Ellen and Håkon, along with their partners and children, arrive in Rome to celebrate their father’s seventieth birthday, a quiet earthquake occurs: their parents have decided to divorce.

Shocked and disbelieving, the siblings try to come to terms with their parents’ decision as it echoes through the homes they have built for themselves, and forces them to reconstruct the shared narrative of their childhood and family history.

A bittersweet novel of regret, relationships and rare psychological insights, A Modern Family encourages us to look at the people closest to us a little more carefully, and ultimately reveals that it’s never too late for change…

AUTHOR.jpg

My Review:

This is really a story many of us can easily identify with. A Modern Family (Orenda Books) by Helga Flatland and beautifully translated by Rosie Hedger. Many will not know Helga Flatland but she is already an award winning author in Norway after her debut novel Stay if You Can, Leave if You Must. This is now her fifth novel and follows three siblings. Liv, Ellen and Hakon and all their respective family members travel to Italy for their father’s birthday celebrations in what should be a grand affair. But what if all does not go as planned?

Their parents are the glue to which the family are bonded. But the glue has come unstuck as the extended family arrive in Rome for the celebrations their parents have an announcement to make. They are getting a divorce! BOMBSHELL! No-one was expecting this. It has come out of no-where and no warning of this announcement.

The initial shockwave is like watch what happens when a pebble is thrown onto a pond. The ripples extend outwards through each the families and how they come to terms with the news their parents have dropped on them. For Liv who is also the elder of the children, this has hit her hard and we follow her world as it has come to a standstill. For Ellen she is more or less the quieter of the siblings and then the young member Hakon who is the brother.

Each of the family member’s lives is now the centre of the story and each one has something of interest to the reader and many like me will find themselves nodding in agreement with certain parts of the storyline. ‘Yes I recognise this from my own family’ I won’t divulge too much about each of the three but they all have their hang-ups in life, just like we all do.

Helga Flatland has hit the nail on the head with A Modern Family as she has written a story that is not a thriller, or a crime novel, nor a romance novel but a novel based on a normal family. This could be my family or yours. This is about a family and each member and how they have come to terms with a piece of news that none were expecting to hear and how they now look at each other and their own relationships.

I want to just congratulate Helga Flatland on such a beautifully written and poignant novel. She describes a normal family with such vibrancy and the characters could be any of us. This is a novel that just reached out to me and one I did not really want to come to an end. Helga Flatland you have nailed it. One book I would recommend for your holiday read this Summer. Highly Recommended.

 276 Pages.

Thank you to Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books) for the review copy of A Modern Family by Helga Flatland

A Modern Family by Helga Flatland was published by Orenda Books and was published on 13th June 2019 and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.

Turbulent Wake – Paul E. Hardisty

FINAL Turbulent Wake Cover

Turbulent Wake – Paul E. Hardisty

Ethan Scofield returns to the place of his birth to bury his father. Hidden in one of the upstairs rooms of the old man’s house he finds a strange manuscript, a collection of stories that seems to cover the whole of his father’s turbulent life.

As his own life starts to unravel, Ethan works his way through the manuscript, trying to find answers to the mysteries that have plagued him since he was a child. What happened to his little brother? Why was his mother taken from him? And why, in the end, when there was no one else left, did his own father push him away?

Swinging from the coral cays of the Caribbean to the dangerous deserts of Yemen and the wild rivers of Africa, Turbulent Wake is a bewitching, powerful and deeply moving story of love and loss … of the indelible damage we do to those closest to us and, ultimately, of the power of redemption in a time of change.

Paul Hardisty Author Pic

My Review:

The first things I have to say is that I am not sure my review will ever do justice to what I found a remarkable novel that took my breath away. Many will know the author for his previous crime novels but Turbulent Wake by Paul E. Hardisty is a breakaway from his Claymore Straker series.

Prepare to be totally immersed in a novel that will sweep you up and and carry you along on a journey that involves love, loss and grief. A story told in the past but also in the present. A very personal novel drawn from the authors own personal experiences.

Ethan Scofield is on a journey to the past, the past being home to the very place he was born as his father has died and he must confront the past as his relationship with his father has broken down. It is at this point during sifting through his father’s belongings and discovering some journals that his father had written. These are written for Ethan but inside of the main character there is a lot of anger and you feel it bubbling away on every page. A man whose anger at his father, his former wife and his own daughter. There is anger really at the world at large. A man searching for answers as to why his own father deserted him.

The journals that Ethan is now reading may contain the answers that he is looking for as this is the story of his father’s own turbulent life story. From a young man so full of promise as his travels take to different parts of the world to the woman he loved. There is regret in these journals as Ethan reads of what his father has lost with no chance of turning the clock back. So much pain in the words that his father has written.

I must pass on my gratitude to Paul E. Hardisty for writing a novel that held me on every page and was hard to leave at the end and left with trying to find the right words to describe a novel of such beauty. I am not one for ‘urging’ people to read books that I review but this I would urge you to read. You will not regret it. Find some quiet time and shut the world away and read Turbulent Wake one of my books of the year.

258 Pages.

Thank you to Karen Sullivan of Orenda Books and Anne Cater (Randon Things Tours) for the review copy of Turbulent Wake by Paul E. Hardisty

Turbulent Wake by Paul E. Hardisty was published by Orenda Books and is published on 16th May 2019 and will be available through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.

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