REVIEW: The Death Messenger by Mari Hannah (ARC)

The Death Messenger (Matthew Ryan #2) by Mari Hannah

Genre: Crime Fiction, Thriller

Read: 29th December 2018

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★★ 2 stars

It's hard to review a book that took me 10 days to read and then feel like it dragged out a bit. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed parts of it but some of it just seemed a little too convoluted and dare I say again...dragged out.

Although THE DEATH MESSENGER is the second in the series, this is the first book by Mari Hannah I have read and while I was a little disappointed with the overall book, I really enjoyed the camaraderie between O'Neil and Ryan. Despite him being her subordinate, she really seemed to value his input and hold him in high regard. While they are colleagues, they do appear to have a personal friendship that works well alongside their professional relationship. I wouldn't like to see them fall into bed together as those story arcs tend to spoil the comradeship of the main players.

THE DEATH MESSENGER begins with a Prologue that doesn't seem to tie in with the first chapter or so, and I admit to being a little puzzled as to its relevance. It referred to another place, another victim than the one they were investigating.

DVDs are being sent to the police around the country of crime scenes with no bodies...and no obvious links. Whoever is behind the DVDs and the killings takes great pleasure in death as the murders escalate. The victims are diverse and the locations are all over the place. They don't even appear to know each other. It's not long before Ryan and O'Neil are on their way to various crime scenes from Northumberland to Scotland to Brighton and then Denmark! Their only clue is the voice on the DVD to link the scenes but who is she? And why is she killing?

Ryan and O'Neil shine as they delve into the mystery of this demanding case. With personal histories, they fight, they talk and they learn to trust each other. They have integrity and it makes them a passionate and likeable team. I'm not sure about Grace and Newman. She is not backward in coming forward and he is a secretive spook. I don't that in her or anyone and I don't trust him. But Ryan and O'Neil, I love!

This is a dark story, gritty and chilling. Ryan and O'Neil are a formidable pair that work well together. I look forward to more stories featuring them, but I don't like the spook-MI5-MI6 angle. I like cut and dried. Spooks-MI5-MI6 are not. They are secretive and they are always lurking, always watching. I don't like that and I Don't trust that. Get rid of the spook angle and the stories will be far more enjoyable.

The story on the whole DID confuse me a lot in the beginning. They started referring to "Spielberg" and I had no idea who that was although it became clear that when using that name they were referring to the killer. Did I miss something where they coined that term? There were a few places where I found myself confused as to what was taking place, as some of it didn't seem to make sense. I think it's that that spoilt it for me.

I was also confused as to why this was an ARC from the publisher when the book has appeared to have been released for some time - a year in fact. Why is it listed on NetGalley as being released 15th January when I've since come across it available for sale on Amazon since December 2017. 

Overall, THE DEATH MESSENGER was an average story. I think Ryan and O'Neil alone saved it as without them I would have given up long ago, and there were times I was tempted when I was just confused as to what was going on for a while. The story has promised but didn't entirely deliver with all its confusion and the whole lengthy process which just seemed to drag it out. And the spook. Get rid of the spook angle. That does nothing for me. This is not James Bond, nor do I wish it to be. But it does have promise. I won't give up. I will test the waters with another in the series, however it sounds as if I will give the first one "The Silent Room" a miss since that featured spookness heavily from what I've read.

Thank you to #MariHannah, #NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of #TheDeathMessenger in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: The Taken Girls by G.D. Sanders (ARC)

The Take Girls (DI Edina Ogborne) by G.D. Sanders

Genre: Crime Fiction, Mystery

Read: 18th December 2018

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Purchase: Amazon

★★★★ 4 stars

THE TAKEN GIRLS is the debut book by G.D. Sanders and the first in a series featuring newly promoted DI Edina "Ed" Ogborne. And wow, what a great debut. After a couple of average books I found myself caught up in the storyline very quickly, finding myself unable to put it down.

DI Ogborne has been transferred out of the Met due to an indiscretion with a senior officer and it still being much of an old boys' club, was sent off to a posting with Canterbury CID in Kent...a post sweetened with the deal that it came with a promotion from DS to DI. Upon arrival in Canterbury, Ed soon finds that her transfer may not be as welcome as she first thought. It seems the team were expecting the current DS, who had been groomed to take over the position as DI, was transferring to Maidstone and therefore making way for Ed. It didn't matter that the decision came from the top brass and had nothing to do with Ed, as her new Chief Superintendant was quick to remind her. She had six months to prove herself or she'd be out. Starting with a case that had come in overnight.

Teenager Lucy Naylor is abducted on the short walk home from her best friend's place one night. No one saw anything. No one heard anything. Lucy had disappeared without a trace. Ed, keen to impress, plunges into the case despite having little to go on. Working alongside the current acting DI who seems to smooth her transition into the team, it soon becomes clear that Lucy's disappearance bears many similarities to one four years ago.

Then just a month later Lucy turns up unconscious, unharmed but pregnant. Like the girl in the case four years before. As the team delve further, they shift their focus to any other cases that may have been similar. Then they discover rumours of the possible disappearance of a young girl the same age as both girls, but when she turned up her family went on an extended holiday overseas and upon their return, left Kent altogether. There appeared to be no trace of them at all. The girl's father was a solicitor and an affluent member of Caneterbury. Ed soon tasked her team with finding any trace of the girl and her family.

Then when a fourth girl goes missing, time is running out to find her before the villain/abductor impregnates her.

The villain in this book is somewhat different than you would expect. He is not a sexual sadist, nor has he any sexual interest in his victims. Just an obsession and extreme desire with fathering a child of his own. His method did leave me puzzled to begin with as to how this was possible but we are enlightened along the way. For once, I had no idea who the abductor was until it was revealed, and I must admit I was sadly disappointed - hoping it was one of the others.

The story unfolds mostly from Ed's POV, with the occasional secondary character and then of course the chapters devoted to the villain. I did find some of the story surrounding Ed unnecessary and a tad voyueristic and while it may have had a little do with Ed's backstory I found it a little too descriptive and yes, unnecessary. There were some characters I took a real dislike to, in particular one who found himself in the suspect pool. I would love to have drowned him in it!

I can't say I took to Ed. I don't like her name for a start. Couldn't it be shortened to "Edie"? Not Ed. And not Eddie. But still I wasn't a huge fan of her. She is impulsive with a few too many poor decisions in her personal life, which if that was anything to go by I fail to see her success as a DI! I hope she develops into a more likeable character and makes better decisions in future books. I do look forward to the next book, whose premise sounds exciting.

I would like to thank #GDSanders, #NetGalley and #AvonUK for the opportunity to read an ARC copy of #TheTakenGirls in return for an honest review.

REVIEW: Last Lullaby by Carol Wyer (ARC)

Last Lullaby (DI Natalie Ward #2) by Carol Wyer

Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Crime Fiction

Read: 15th December 2018

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Purchase: Amazon

★★★ 3 stars

LAST LULLABY by Carol Wyer is the second in the DI Natalie Ward series, though I have yet to read the first. Like most series, each book has a standalone mystery to solve and it doesn't really matter a whole lot if read out of sequence. Though as a general rule, I do prefer to read them in order.

I have read the first in her DI Robyn Carter series, "Little Girl Lost" and I absolutely LOVED it, so I had high hopes for this one...particularly given the theme. However, I may be one of the only ones to find the book falling a little flat for me. I didn't find it as enthralling as the previous book I read and it seemed to drag in places. Of course it never helps if you have difficulty identifying with the characters and I did feel somewhat this way with many of them.

It begins with Charlotte, mother of 6 month old Alfie, being brutally murdered in her home one night after dinner with her parents and a row with her husband on the way home. Adam, her husband, had left to take the babysitter home and left to have drinks with a mate at the pub then back at his place before returning home and discovering his wife's blood soaked body. It appears he has an airtight alibi...or does he?

DI Natalie Ward and her team investigate Charlotte's brutal murder, all the while trying to find holes in Adam's narrative and before long they discover he has a few too many secrets he has been keeping. It isn't long before they also find his alibi isn't as strong as he claimed, putting him firmly back in the frame. However, he isn't the only suspect and the team find themselves butting heads trying to get a lead.

When a second body is found with disturbing similarities Natalie realises they may have a serial killer in their midst. With Adam remaining firmly in the frame, the team delve into both women's lives to find a link between them in an effort to discover why they have been killed, and their babies left unharmed in the next room to their mothers' untimely ends. Before a third victim falls prey to this brutal killer.

The book is written from multiple POVs to enable the reader to get the bigger picture and get a feel for each of the characters. We also get a glimpse into their personal lives aside from the investigation which does give it a more personal touch. Although sometimes I wondered whether I was more irritated by that and preferred to rather get on with the case instead of worrying about whether your own husband is lying to you. Unless of course it has something to do with the case - which it doesn't so it irritated me a little. The fact that Natalie is ballsy and strong while her husband is someone emasculated by her position, doesn't sit right with me either. Call me old-fashioned but I prefer a softer woman and a stronger husband whilst still remaining sensitive. To me, David just whined a whole lot and I just didn't want to hear it while Natalie preferred to shut the door on it till the case was over. Lucy was ballsy too. I really don't see why authors feel the need to paint their women in such bitchy or ballsy or overly strong "don't mess with me" women, whilst stripping them of their femininity, making them basically men with tits. It doesn't sit right with me, I am not a fan of it, so I guess it makes it hard for me to connect with characters like this when I wouldn't befriend people like this in real life.

But they weren't the only characters I couldn't connect with. I didn't like or trust Adam, Lee, Rob, Jed or even Charlotte's sister Phoebe. The whole lot appeared dysfunctional and selfish. Had another side to them been portrayed as well, I may have connected to them better.

The interesting chapters were those between the psychologist and the patient. It is apparent from the start of these insights that the patient is the killer and we find ourselves sifting through what we already know to try and identify them. We don't know whether the psychologist is male or female until later. But it does have a huge bearing on the case and the story unfolding. I did find one fault in these chapters. That is, the psychologist is referred to as "doctor". Psychologists are not doctors. They are mental health professionals in psychology but have no medical training so therefore they are not doctors. A little error, but one I feel should have been addressed before publication.

I loved the premise. I loved the whole concept. I loved how it panned out. BUT...it still fell flat. I didn't find it compelling or as intriguing, and while I loved the build up to identifying the killer and discovering why, it still fell flat. And I was disappointed because I so loved "Little Girl Lost". And I know Carol Wyer is a brilliant author.

I did quite like the cliffhanger we were left on and I hope we won't have to wait long for the follow up.

I would still recommend LAST LULLABY because it is an OK read in my opinion but others may really love it. For me the characters irritated me and I guess it was that that made it disappointing. But it was still enjoyable. I just felt it could have ended sooner, and I felt it dragged a little by the end. Also, as an aside, I thought the title was a little misleading as it gives the impression of it being about the children when they actually feature so little in the story.

I would like to thank #CarolWyer, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #LastLullaby.

REVIEW: The Uninvited by J.A. Baker (ARC)

The Uninvited by J.A. Baker (ARC)

Genre: Psychological Thriller, Gothic

Read: 6th December 2018

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Purchase: Amazon

★★ 2 stars

THE UNINVITED by J.A. Baker is a psychological thriller with a difference. It's a little bit of mystery, a little bit of ghost story and a tad creepy.

Faye and Hugh move into Cross House in Brackston, North Yorkshire for a new beginning after a somewhat disturbing year. The house is an old delapidated sprawling structure on around an acre of untended and overgrown land. Needless to say, it requires a lot of work to make it remotely inhabitable. But despite this, they tidy the house up enough to live in and undertake the renovations themselves. It becomes a bit of nightmare living in a near warzone when it's discovered the entire house needs rewiring. But regardless, Faye and Hugh remain upbeat and make it a bit of an adventure for their two children, Aiden and Poppy.

But then strange things begin to happen. Faye wakes in the night to the sound of heavy breathing, a kind of groaning and the sound of shuffling in their bedroom. She tells her husband but he dismisses her concerns as paranoia in the aftermath of the reign of terror they were subjected to the previous year. She is even more enraged to discover he has made an appointment for her to see her psychiatrist. If anything, he should be supporting her not writing her off as psychotic and bundling her off to therapy. She decides she will not confide in Hugh anymore regarding her fears surrounding the house.

Then one night Hugh wakes Faye suddenly, claiming that there is someone in the house. He could hear them breathing and shuffling through the room. He even caught a glimpse of the silhouette shadowed by the night as he chased them out the door. All of a sudden, he believed Faye in her tales of nighttime visitors. She wasn't paranoid. It was real. He heard and saw them too.

But what distubed Faye were the pictures she found in the old summerhouse that Poppy had drawn. Pictures of what appeared to be a monster in her room. Faye put it down to bad dreams. Surely Poppy hadn't seen anything. But Poppy is adamant. There is someone who lives in her room with her.

When Faye discovers some old diaries in the back of an old wardrobe, she begins to spend time reading them and learning about the family who lived in Cross House before. Obviously the property of the previous owners, she feels a little voyeuristic reading their secret thoughts but she finds she can't help herself as she endeavours to learn more about them. Most of the diaries appear to be that of a teenage girl and Faye is shocked to discover the horrid cruel detail of some of the entries which went beyond normal teenage angst. 

Faye discovered the family who had lived there were the Wentworths. Adrian, his wife Hilary, their teenage daughter Tammy and someone called Peter who appeared to be unwanted. They had a sad and tragic history. Adrian went missing only to be found dead five days later on the moors. Hilary, a chronic sufferer of bronchitis and breathing problems, fell to her death down the stairs in Cross House. But when she searched, she could find no information on either Tammy or the boy called Peter. What had happened to them? Faye made it her mission to find out. What really happened at Cross House almost 40 years ago? Why did Adrian go out onto the moors? And did Hilary really fall down those stairs...or was she pushed? And where were Tammy and Peter now?

THE UNINVITED is written solely from Faye's perspective so we get to see, hear and feel everything as she does. I found her a little grating at times but not completely unlikeable. 

Personally, I thought the first half of the book was so long and drawn out I was almost ready to give up several times. I wanted to know what was happening but I didn't anticipate the long winded way it got there. For me, the book didn't even start to get remotely interesting until about halfway through and by then most people would have given up. I didn't care for the long winded story about Todd or Jeff only to find out they had nothing to do with it. Most of that could have been cut out and the story would have been far better and much more gripping. I mean, Faye spent an awful lot of time just wandering about the village not really doing anything. She is supposed to be a writer, but she didn't write a thing throughout the entire story.

The story started to get interesting with the introduction of Gwen. But then it tapered off into a tangent again, most of which (I say again) could have been eliminated. But once the story started to get interesting, it really did get interesting. However, I figured there had to be a logical explanation to "the bumps in the night", so to speak and I had long worked out who or what was behind it before Faye even got there. To me, it was logical. So there was no surprise or twist at the end for me. What did come as a surprise was that the entire house appeared to be complete after just two more weeks when, at the end, the final chapter is titled "Two Weeks Later" and Faye's friend Irena had previously stated she wouldn't come for drinks until the house was complete...and there she was!

THE UNINVITED certainly sounded appealing by the book description but for me it failed to deliver in its entirety. I did end up enjoying it, but it shouldn't take 50% of the book to get there. For me, it was OK but not great.

Many thanks to #JABaker, #NetGalley and #BloodhoundBooks for a free ARC of #TheUninvited in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: The Diary by Vikki Patis (ARC)

The Diary by Vikki Patis (ARC)

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Read: 30th November 2018

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Purchase: Amazon

★★★★ 4 stars

A tale of secrets, lies and misconceptions, THE DIARY by Vikki Patis is an intriguing narrative about six teenage girls, six secrets and a 10 year mystery. It delves into the sisterhood of teenage friendship and how fickle and tenuous it can be, and how easily broken the ties between us and those we consider important. It's about different forms of abuse, bullying, judgement and revenge. it's about teenage suicide. It's about past mistakes, forgiveness and letting go - or lack there of. It's about Lauren...and Hannah...

Ten years ago, Lauren Winters left home, running from her past, her secrets and her memories of her best friend Hannah. She loved Hannah like a sister but their relationship, as close as it was, was fraught with secrets and lies that once she found out, Lauren couldn't forgive. But when Hannah commits suicide on her 18th birthday, Lauren's world spirals. Her last words to Hannah were hateful - and now she can't take them back or apologise. And they have resounded in her mind over and over for a decade. 

Now 10 years later, she is returning home for a memorial in Hannah's memory at her dad's request. She doesn't plan to stay long - just a few days.

But then she receives a strange text. Like it was Hannah speaking...from the grave. Someone knows what she did. Someone else knows her secret. Someone besides Hannah. But who? But it doesn't stop there. She receives another...and another. And when she meets up with the old crowd from school, she soon learns that they too have been receiving strange and threatening texts about their own secrets - secrets that only Hannah knew about.

One of the girls asks Lauren about Hannah's diary. What diary? Hannah didn't need a diary, Lauren thought; She had me. But this diary, if it exists, would contain all their secrets. What if someone had found it and was using it to taunt them?

But when Lauren finds a tatty old notebook hidden away beneath the only remaining piece of furniture in her room, she is shocked to discover that it is Hannah's diary. The very diary she didn't think existed...filled with all their secrets. Everyone's. Except Hannah's. And within these pages another secret emerges...the pure contempt and almost hatred of everyone she writes about. The picture of a very different Hannah. How could she say such things? About any of them? These were her friends. Hannah knew what happened to her and within these pages she throws it back in her face.

Then it is suggested that there is another copy of the diary. One of their outer group reveals that Hannah called him the night before she died, declaring that there was a diary in which she detailed everything about everyone. That she left it with someone she trusted more than anyone and threatened to go public with it and all their dirty little secrets. Is there another diary? And is this what their tormentor is using to taunt them with?

THE DIARY is a captivating story told entirely by Lauren both in the past and present, as slowly the secrets begin to unfold. In some parts, Lauren hints at some things that occurred without really going into detail which I found a little irritating at times. Did it happen or did it not? Did she say this or did she not? In some parts, the reader is left to "just work it out" themselves without anything really being revealed as such. 

Lauren was fairly likable, but I found her view of Hannah a little obsessional. I failed to see why she put her on such a high pedestal when it was clear Hannah was a bully and could be mean and cruel. Even Hannah's closest friends said so. Even when Lauren discovered Hannah was responsible something so incredibly humiliating happening to her, she still had her on this pedestal. Maybe it's just what happens when someone like this dies, rather than remembering them in their cruel and often true form you place a halo on them in their memory and hold them in a high regard - possibly out of your own regret. Either way, I grew to dislike Hannah immensely - maybe because I was victim to bullies like her at that age so I failed to have any sympathy for her. Teenagers can be cruel, and the tale told here just highlights that fact. 

However, five of them grew out of the terrible teenage years and look back on them with horror at some of the things they did. Hannah didn't have a chance to, she took her life before she could. And the question remained - WHY? Why did Hannah take her own life? The tormentor from their texts proclaimed to know why. But did they really? When Lauren makes another shocking discovery, she learns the truth of Hannah's death and she finds herself crying tears of regret and pain for her long lost friend.

THE DIARY is an emotional read in some parts - particularly for those who have ever experienced the things outlined in the story. You can feel their pain, their angst, almost to the point of reliving your own teenage years. Where Hannah's tortuous abuse was revealed I found myself empathising with her in a detached way, though I could still feel the sting of her words and her cruelty to those she called her friends. 

While I liked Lauren and her dad, I didn't like the other girls - they all seemed to be harbouring something sinister. And I didn't like Hannah - and she was dead! But the biggest niggle for me was the constant reference to Hannah being Lauren's sister. She wasn't. She may have loved Hannah like a sister, they may have grown up together, but they weren't sisters. And the constant reference - even by one of the former teachers - to them being sisters just irked me. Hannah lived in Lauren's house for just a year. Hardly enough to make them sisters. When I started the book I admit I was thoroughly confused with the sister reference, wondering how it factored in - which of Lauren's parents was Hannah's and all that. It was off-putting and irrelevant. Best friends is where it should have been left.

I've seen some people mention that the title is misleading and has nothing to do with a diary at all. This is not the case. While "the diary" appears to play a small part in the story, it is its entire existence and the secrets it contains that has a hold over every single one of the women - and its inference is very clear. THE DIARY knows ALL their secrets, just as Hannah did. Secrets that many are afraid will come out. THE DIARY is their incubus.

A compelling story though with a predictable outcome THE DIARY was still a good read. 

Thank you to #VikkiPatis, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheDiary in exchange for an honest review.