REVIEW: Random by Craig Robertson

Random by Craig Robertson

Genre: Psychological Thriller, Mystery

Read: 15th April 2017

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Purchase: Amazon

★★★★★ 5 stars

Wow! Wow! Wow! I have just finished RANDOM and it was by far one of the best reads I have read in some time! I read the complete second half of the book tonight...as I could not put it down till I found out how it ended. Brilliant. Not 5 stars - 10 stars!! Loved it.

I thought when I started it that from the perspective of the serial killer might get a little tedious but it is anything but! The continual monologue from the killer's perspective is both fascinating and eye-opening as well as very different. It is one of those books where I keep telling myself "just one more chapter" and then keep reading beyond that and more! And I read generally when I go to bed so I can be up till 3am still reading, unable it put it down....as I was last night. Until my eyelids began drooping and I was getting weary - given the hour that was to understandable - and I closed at the end of the chapter. But it is then a case of when I wake in the morning I have to pick it up again to find out more! With each chapter more about the killer is revealed in small yet significant ways. It is incredibly well written to be solely from the perspective of the killer, with the police and the investigation taking a backseat to the killer's motives, and what makes him do what he has. And the process he undertakes in selecting his victims. And we see him more than a killer - but a father, a husband - and we begin to feel sympathy towards him. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book...though I didn't think I would.

REVIEW: Never Somewhere Else by Alex Gray

Never Somewhere Else (DCI Lorrimer #1) by Alex Gray

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction

Read: 30th March 2017

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Purchase: Amazon

 ★★★★ 4 stars

Enjoyable read set in Glasgow. Love my Scottish thrillers. I did guess the killer but then I didn't mind. Not that it was easy...I just figured it was. Great read. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

REVIEW: Telling Tales by Ann Cleeves

Telling Tales (DCI Vera Stanhope #2) by Ann Cleeves

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction

Read: 21st March 2017

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Purchase: Amazon

★★★★ 4 stars

3 and a half to 4 stars. Pretty much because I felt it dragging a little at the beginning. Even though Vera appeared earlier in this one than in The Crow Trap, I still felt she was a distant ring-in as it switched from one to another, with Vera popping up every now and then. I was longing to see who really murdered Abigail but disappointed with who it turned out to be. I think it would have been better with Robert as the murderer. It made sense. Or even Emma herself. That is one screwed up lady. Vera's right. It's time she (Emma) got a life.

But having said that, I still enjoyed the book. The mystery and the little twists.

REVIEW: Broken Skin by Stuart MacBride

Broken Skin (DS Logan McRae #3) by Stuart MacBride

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction

Read: 10th March 2017

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Purchase: Amazon

★★★★★ 5 stars

Brilliant! MacBride has done it again with his dark but very witty humour that often has me laughing, in his third Logan MacRae novel. I can never wait to read the next but I always mix my reading up a bit and tackle another author in between and revisit at a later time. But I love MacBride so much I want to just move onto the next one....hoping to find out a few answers from where this one left off.

While most of the mysteries were solved in this book, one remained just that - a mystery. And who was really responsible? MacBride tantalises with the reader leaving us gasping for more as MacRae ponders what really happened the night footballer Macintyre was beaten to within an inch of his life and left in a coma. Leaving MacRae wondering...just what had Jackie done?

REVIEW: The Darkness and the Deep by Aline Templeton

The Darkness and the Deep (DI Marjory Fleming #2) by Aline Templeton

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction

Read: 5th March 2017

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Purchase: Amazon

★★★★ 4 stars

I always enjoy a good British mystery, and I've enjoyed Aline Templeton's first two books in the Marjory Fleming series. However, not being a born and bred Scot (though I am of Scottish heritage) it doesn't help me with some of the Scottish vernacular I struggle to understand. I can generally get the gist but the dialect used makes it hard for those of us who have not grown up with it to understand. This I feel is a drawback for the series....because not all readers will understand the strange vernacular that goes way over our heads.

REVIEW: The Retribution by Val McDermid

The Retribution (Tony Hill/Carol Jordan #7) by Val McDermid

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction

Read: 26th February 2017

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Purchase: Amazon

★★★★★ 5 stars

** spoiler alert **

I don't know why some say this was the worst Tony Hill/Carol Jordan book. Why? Because readers were wanting to see Tony and Carol hit the sack together? Because Carol got the shits with Tony and blamed him for her brother's murder? Really? Doesn't that speak to the dynamics of their relationship? They don't have to bed each other to have the kind of respect for one another that has been earned as theirs has. So when Carol's brother is murdered it's only natural for Carol to lash out and blame Tony, who she trusted completely. She felt he let her down and her brother by not foretelling this aspect of Vance's revenge.

While I was disappointed to see Carol too stubborn to see Tony's pain and blame him, I felt this was one of the best in the series for some time. 'Beneath the Bleeding' was one of the worst and lacked my interest being sports related and Tony's god awful mother Vanessa. I think 'The Torment of Others' was probably the last best one, though 'Fever of the Bone' wasn't too bad. This one however had all the hallmarks of the early Hill and Jordan mysteries, particularly revisiting an old nemesis from the second book, Jacko Vance. My only disappointment being Vanessa outsmarted him. Really? She's a hateful person and as I was reading the lead up, I was rooting for Vance to finish the job before Tony got there...even if he was still on the scene or Carol got him back at the house...even if. But alas, the awful Vanessa lives to breathe another day and to turn up in another book down the line. Does that sound awful? At least in the imagination and pages of a book is it safe to wish something like that...only because I'd hate to see her lash more hate on Tony in the future as she has done so all his life.

In all, a fantastic read. Well done Val McDermid! I'll have to tweet you my thoughts now...

REVIEW: Dying Light by Stuart MacBride

Dying Light (DS Logan McRae #2) by Stuart MacBride

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction

Read: 27th November 2016

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Purchase: Amazon

★★★★★ 5 stars

Love MacBride's wit and dark humour interwoven into the oftentimes serious nature of the plots. Typically fantastic instalment in the DS Logan MacRae series, though I have to sympathise with Logan always getting the rough end of the stick particularly where the crass and vulgar DI Steel is concerned who has no concept or respect for personal time or privacy. Or missing out on the credit for a job well done where he has done the hard work and doesn't get rewarded. I like him. And DC Rennie's incessant monologues of his TV serials which Logan finds himself tuning out to. I love both of them and of course the sweetie munching "on the road to diabetes" DI Insch. I much prefer Logan working with Insch than Steel. Though I love the descriptions of Steels unruly hair...lol. Can't wait to read more of these gritty stories and the tales and woes of DS MacRae.