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About The Book:

What could be worse than your child disappearing? An emotional, whipsmart and brilliantly clever thriller about a child’s disappearance, and the disintegration of a family in the aftermath.

Gordon and Sarah Rutherford are normal, happy people with successful fulfilling lives. A son they adore, a house on the beach, a safe, friendly and honest community in a picture-postcard town on the Ayrshire coast.

Until one day Bonnie the lab comes in from the beach alone. Their son Rory has just gone – the only trace left is a single black Adidas slider.

Their lives don’t fall apart immediately – while there’s still hope (and no body) they can dig deep and try to carry on.  Rather it’s a process of abrasion, a wearing away of that happiness and normality; a slow degradation, a gradual breakdown – until they’ll never be the people they were before. This sort of tragedy impacts a whole town – does the community still feel the same after? What are folk saying about you? Who are your friends? Who can you trust?

When the worst thing has happened and you’ve lost everything, you either go under or you rebuild, start again.

My Thoughts:

What would you do if your child vanished of the face of the earth? You thought he would be safe. Nothing would happen to a child playing on the beach. WRONG!! He vanishes and that is where the nightmare begins

Fast forward seven years, you have a new family, twins and much to your surpprise your missing child reappears. Your life and family are complete and the future is rosy. Or so it seems, but if you knew what the future held would you be so happy.

This is a complex, dark and tense story.. It uncovers a future, linked to past that has secrets of its own. This is a completely different story from the previous book of Liam’s that I read. The Quaker. But it is just as good.

The story that Liam has served up to us is top notch and will leave you turning the pages furiously and second guessing everything you are reading and shaking your head in wonderment and saying why did you do that?

Liam has written a story that is an exciting, fast paced and I have no hesitation in recommending it to all readers of good fiction.

The Author:

Liam McIlvanney was born in Scotland and studied at the universities of Glasgow and Oxford. He has written for numerous publications, including the London Review of Books and the Times Literary Supplement.  His first book, Burns the Radical, won the Saltire First Book Award. His crime novels have won multiple awards, including the Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize, the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, and he has also been shortlisted for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year. He is Stuart Professor of Scottish Studies at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He lives in Dunedin with his wife and four sons.

Blurb:

It is the year 1710, and Thomas True has arrived on old London Bridge
with a dangerous secret. One night, lost amongst the squalor of
London’s hidden back streets, he finds himself drawn into the
outrageous underworld of the molly houses.
Meanwhile, carpenter Gabriel Griffin struggles to hide his double life as
Lotty, the molly’s stoic guard. When a young man is found murdered,
he realises there is a rat amongst them, betraying their secrets to a pair
of murderous Justices.
Can Gabriel unmask the traitor before they hang? Can he save hapless
Thomas from peril, and their own forbidden love?
Set amidst the buried streets of Georgian London, The Betrayal of
Thomas True is a brutal and devastating thriller, where love must
overcome evil, and the only true sin is betrayal

My Thoughts:

This is my first book by this author and a new read for me. Loosley it could be called historical fiction, but it could be rightly be called queer historical fiction. But one thing is certain OrendaBooks has found a new voice and he has written a tale of a history I knew nothing about.

The history of Molly Houses, the places where gay men went to live their lives free from persecution. Apart from the obvious history of these houses A.J. has written a history that conjures the smells, the places and unfortunately the predjudice of the times.

As I’m more used to reading thrillers and crime based books the style of writing and the slower pace of the book took some getting used to but once I got used to it I was immersed in this book.

If you like historical fiction that makes you think then I recommend this book.

The Author:

ABOUT A.J. WEST
A.J. West’s bestselling debut novel The Spirit Engineer won the Historical Writers’
Association Debut Crown Award, gaining international praise for its telling of a longforgotten true story.
An award winning BBC newsreader and reporter, he has written for national newspapers context of contemporary events.
A passionate historical researcher, he writes at The London Library and museum archives around the world.
To connect with AJ and discover more about his research, visit http://www.ajwestauthor.com

Blurb:

The Hatter’s Daughter is the third book set in W.A. Simpson’s Riven Isles
universe.
There is more to the Vine than mortals and immortals know. It reaches its
branches and tendrils into realms beyond the Riven Isles. On the night Faith
was born, her mother perished, but not before sending Faith to safety, in
Underneath. Discovered by The Mad Hatter, he takes Faith home to raise as
his own. When the Rot invades, Faith determines to fight. She won’t do it
alone. Herchildhood friend, Prince Rowan accompanies her. Faith must
return to her birthplace to find aLegendary Heroine. But Overland is
dangerous,and the minions of the Rotare in pursuit. If she doesn’t succeed,
the minions of the Rot will destroy everything theyknow.
Tales from the Riven Isles is a dark fantasy series set in a world outside of our
own, where the characters of myth and fairy-tales exist,and their legends live
on. Featuring the novels: ‘Tinderbox’, ‘Tarotmancer’,and ‘The Hatter’s
Daughter’.

The Author:

Wendy has been writing since the age of five and finished her first novel at fourteen. Her debut novel Tinderbox and its sequel Tarotmancer are available both in-store and online. Tinderbox made the Top 100 on the Amazon Best Sellers List in Black &African American Fantasy Fiction and is the 2022 GOLD Winner for Fantasy Foreword Reviews Indie Award.

When she’s not writing, she’s reading, working in her garden, or gaming and streaming on Twitch under the handle of Runic Nightshade. She shares her home with her older brother and two diva cats. Visit her blog at www.authorwasimpson.com to learn more! Girl Gamer. Bibliophile. Gardener. Chocoholic. Cat Person. Breast Cancer Warrior. Black Lives Matter.

Blurb:

BOWIE IS STILL OUT THERE…
Following open heart surgery, poet and writer Peter Carpenter was given one instruction –
‘Walk, if you want to stay on this planet’. And so when his hero and inspiration David
Bowie died in 2016, he knew what he had to do. The man who was to so many a
companion and guide had left no shrine, no focal point of understanding. To reconnect
with Bowie, he would take a walk into the past, to the streets, towns and places where
David Jones became something more.
Walking to recover, to stay alive, Peter realised he was also recovering his lost hero.
Leaving behind Heddon Street and Brixton, well-known Bowie shrines, he moved out
through South London edgelands and suburbia to remoter Bowie haunts: Croydon,
Aylesbury, Pett Level, Southend-on-Sea. Finding the windows Bowie had stared out from
in Clareville Grove; the streets in Beckenham where he’d scurried by. He sifted through
debris on a patch of waste ground in Tunbridge Wells where Bowie’s parents first met. He
turned the handle and entered Shirley Parish Hall to find the same stage where a young
Davy Jones and the Kon-Rads set up to play back in 1962; and travelled to Berlin, to
emerge from the S-Bahn to gape at the ruined portico of the Anhalter Bahnhof and asked
‘What is this?’
In Bowieland, Carpenter’s peripatetic trampings seem to echo Bowie’s own wandering
creative spirit, the walks often uncovering hidden layers, and making fresh connections to
key Bowie stories, revealing influences conscious and subconscious. Through walking, an
understanding is reached of where Bowie sits in the culture, his place among the poets,
painters, artists and musicians who came before him, who inhabited the same spaces and
in doing so passed on their wisdom to Bowie.
Through Carpenter’s travels these suburban lands became a new, very real place, that
anyone can visit if they take the time… Welcome to ‘Bowieland’

My Thoughts:

You have just had a major heart operation and you are told by your medical advisors that to stay alive you have to walk. But where? Hills, Forests Canals?

Peter always had a great love for music and especially David Bowie , the chameleon like figure, who shed his skins and persona like a snake sheds his skin.

Peter not only explores Bowie’s formative years and influences but also the many places where he performed and the people who performed with and were influenced by him. People like Marc Bolan, Mick Jagger, Tina Turmer and Roxy Music.

It is also not only a exploration of Bowie and his music but also his many other influences such as mime , art and literature. He was an avid read and had library of thousands of books the majority of which he had read.

Peter not only found walking helping with his physical health and the exploration of Bowie as a musician and a person; nut also found a medativeprocess which helped with his mental health.

A book that should appeal to Bowie fans, music fans and lovers of good memoirs. Recommended.

The Author:

Peter Carpenter’s poetry has been widely anthologised and praised and his chapter on
creative writing appears in The OUP Handbook of British and Irish Poetry.
He has written essays and articles on a wide variety of subjects, from the photography of
Boris Mikhailov to the poetry of T. S. Eliot, in journals such as London Magazine and PN
Review. He contributed a chapter about rock star Gary Holton in London: City of
Disappearances; and in Iain Sinclair’s circuit around the M25, London Orbital, Peter
appears as a character and guide.
Born in Epsom, Peter now lives near Oxford with his wife, Amanda, a sustainability
activist, who runs the acclaimed Planet Pod . They also co-direct cult independent
micropress, Worple.
Peter walks for life and still supports his local team.

Blurb:

The deaths of a series of young Eastern European women in Glasgow leads to a stately home in the Scottish countryside, and back to the Second World War, where a group of young soldiers made their own, shocking rules… Saltire Prize shortlisted author David F. Ross returns with an extraordinary, dark mystery – first in a new series.

__________

Glasgow, 1966: Stevie ‘Minto’ Milloy, former star footballer-turned-rookie reporter, finds himself trailing the story of a young Eastern European student whose body has been found on remote moorland outside the city. How did she get there from her hostel at the Sovereign Grace Mission, and why does Stevie find obstacles at every turn?

Italy, 1943: As the Allies fight Mussolini’s troops, a group of young soldiers are separated from their platoon, and Glaswegian Jamesie Campbell, his newfound friend Michael McTavish at his side, finds himself free to make his own rules…

Glasgow, 1969: Courtroom sketch artist Donald ‘Doodle’ Malpas is shocked to discover that his new case involves the murder of a teenage Lithuanian girl he knows from the Sovereign Grace Mission. Why hasn’t the girl’s death been reported? And why is a young police constable suddenly so keen to join the mission?

No one seems willing to join the dots between the two cases, and how they link to Raskine House, the stately home in the Scottish countryside with a dark history and even darker present – the venue for the debauched parties held there by the rich and powerful of the city who call themselves ‘The Weekenders’.

Painting a picture of a 1960s Glasgow in the throes of a permissive society, pulled apart by religion, corruption, and a murderous Bible John stalking the streets, The Weekenders is a snapshot of an era of turmoil – and a terrifying insight into the mind of a ruthless criminal…

My Thoughts:

What I love about the imprint OrendaBooks is the wide range of authors in their stable and one of these authors is David F.Ross. I have read many of David’s books and what I love about him is he never writes the same book twice.

This novel is one to caterogise. Is it crime, historical fiction or psychological thriller? Or is it a mash up or maybe a genre of it’s own?

Told in three points of view. First up is the story of Steve Minto, a footballer who’s career is ruined by injury. He becomes a reporter and during his investigations finds out about, not only the dark side of Scottish football but the darker side of the Scottish establishment.

Next up is Jamsie Campbell who is a survivor of World War 2 where he has been saddled with trauma, of his own making, and where he made his own rules. After the war he finds himself involved with the ruling classes who have an agenda of their own. Which suits Jamsie.

Then we have Donald Malpas, more commonly known as Doodle because he is sketch artist for the Scottish press. He is also a weekend evangelist trying to spread God’s message to the masses.

These disperate stories centre around the Sovereign Grace Mission and Raskine House and a dark and sinister club called The Weekenders.

Daid has pulled all these threads together and tied them up into a great parcel that will entertain you. Commended.

The Author:

David F. Ross

David F. Ross was born in Glasgow in 1964. His critically acclaimed debut novel, The Last Days of Disco, was long-listed for the Best First Novel Award by the Author’s Club of London. National Theatre Scotland acquired dramatic rights for the book in 2015.

He completed a trilogy of Ayrshire-based books with The Rise & Fall of the Miraculous Vespas and The Man Who Loved Islands. All three novels have been translated into German, published by Heyne Hardcore (Random House). Welcome to The Heady Heights – His fourth for Orenda Books – was published in March 2019.

There’s Only One Danny Garvey was shortlisted for Scottish Fiction Book of the Year 2021. It has been called ‘a brilliant, bittersweet story that captures the rawness of strained relationships.’

David F. Ross is a regular contributor to Nutmeg and Razur Cuts magazines, and in December 2018 was chosen to contribute a poem commemorating the 16th anniversary of the death of Joe Strummer for the publication Ashes to Activists. In 2020 he wrote the screenplay for the film ‘Miraculous’, based on his own novel.

His sixth novel – Dashboard Elvis Is Dead – will be published by Orenda Books in December 2022

Follow David on Twitter @dfr10, on Instagram @davidfross10 and his own website: davidfross.co.uk

Blurb:

Battle Mountain

Can Joe Pickett stop an old friend throwing his life away in order to gain revenge? The gripping new novel from #1 New York Times bestseller C.J. Box.

The campaign of hate and vengeance that a pair of violent criminals wreaked on Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett and his friend, falconer Nate Romanowski, left both men in tatters, but it was Nate who came closest to losing everything.

Facing his lowest ebb, Nate decided the only option was to drop out of society. Taking only his birds, he went off-grid to rediscover his true self… and prepare for his own revenge.

When Joe is called on to help the governor, whose son-in-law is missing in the Sierra Madre mountains, the investigation takes a darker turn when Joe and Nate’s very different journeys unexpectedly converge.

All will come to a head at Battle Mountain, but in a struggle neither of them would ever have seen coming, can both Joe and Nate survive?

My Thoughts:

This is my first read of this author and though it’s book 25 in a long running series I read this as a stand-alone. Though there’s some back story it is not intrusive to the story.

This story has three main protaganists Joe Pickett , Nate Romanowski, who has dropped off the grid but surfaces seeking revenge on  Axel Soledad who has attacked his family.

This is a fast moving thriller with inter woven story-lines and fast building plot lines. The prose is well written and the relentless pace of the story keeps the reader turning the pages in an efforrt to find out what happens next. Though this is book 25 it has given me a taste of Joe Pickett and C.J.’s writing, solooking out for more in the series. Recommended for thriller fans an indeed all lovers of fast moving fiction.

The Author:

Author Bio –

C. J. Box is the author of over 30 novels including the Joe Pickett and Cassie Dewell series. He has won Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, Gumshoe and Barry Awards, as well as numerous other US and international awards for literature. Two television series based on his novels have been produced (Big Sky on ABC/Disney+ and Joe Pickett on Paramount+) with him serving as Executive Producer for both series. He and his wife Laurie live on their ranch in Wyoming.

Social Media Links –

Author Social Handles 

X: @cjboxauthor 

Instagram: cjboxnovels 

Facebook: C.J. Box 

Website: Author C.J. Box (cjbox.net) 

Blurb:

Earth has declared war on Eamhain.

Raised by the peaceful Fenodyree as one of their own after her parents’ deaths, Lucile Taylor is trying to navigate a life torn apart by invasion.

Commander Jacob Reid is a USUK soldier, raised in the bunkers on Earth and ordered to exterminate the Fens without question.

Dragged away from her quiet life by Jacob’s unit, Lucile’s unique ability to command the magic of Eamhain puts her and those she loves in danger.

As Lucille and Jacob grow closer in their shared trauma, she learns that the corruption of Earth runs much deeper than she realised. Now she must fight to keep the secrets of the Ferrishyn at all costs, or risk the entire future of Eamhain…

My Thoughts:

This is the type of book I don’t usually read not being a big fantasy fan; but I do like a dystopian novel. So when I read the blurb I was attracted by the fact that the novel was set in a fictional future world and not the normal fantasy world of dragons, elves etc.

Apart from being an outstanding story it is a book set in the future but also resonnates with the present world, exploring a lot of themes. I like the way the author weaves themes throughout her fictional world. Her quality prose and superb storytelling not only tells the story of a dying earth and the forces of US/UK invading another world at the expense of the local inhabitants. Until Jacob meets Lucile and begins to question not only his mission but also the threat, if any, the peaceful inhabitants pose.

This is a novel that explores the themes of human greed, PTSD and the fact that might is always right.

A book that I thouroughly enjoyed and have no hesitation recommending to others. So grab a copy folks.

The Author:

Ivy is a dedicated mental wellbeing specialist, trauma risk management (TRiM) practitioner, yoga teacher, and charity advisor. A former RAF reservist, she served as one of the UK’s official war artists with the 617 ‘Dambuster’ Squadron in Afghanistan. She is a wellbeing advisor for national UK charity Mast Cell Action.

Her writing is a mixture of fae-fi, folklore, and eco-criticism, with a dash of sci-fi, fantasy and romance thrown in for good measure. Educated at University College London (UCL), Ivy has a BA in Ancient World Studies and an MA in Medieval Studies, with a specialist interest in folklore and demonology. Ivy has previously contributed a number of short stories to literary anthologies and had her fae-fi novella ‘And Where Will You Go, Gan Didean?’ published by a small independent press in 2022. ‘Ferrishyn’ is her debut novel. 

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope you have everything you can wish for. Happy reading folks

Blurb:

TWO DEATHS

Tommy and Markie Jones are discovered dead at the side of a road in Scotland.

TWO RIVAL GANGS

Detectives Jazzy Solanki and Annie McQueen are on the scene where the bodies are identified as the nephews of Loanie Gibbs, head of a notable Edinburgh gang.

The turf war between the gangs of Glasgow and Edinburgh has existed for years, but these murders signal an escalation in violence.

ONE UNFORGIVABLE BETRAYAL

As the investigation unfolds, there’s suspicion about a leak within the police force, and to her dismay Jazzy is asked to keep a watchful eye on someone close to her. With distrust on all sides, can the pair uncover the truth before the body count mounts even more?

My Thoughts:

Book two in the Jazzy and Queenie series. This is a series that is fast improving and if you like your Tartan Noir gritty then this is the book for you. The latest episode with Jazz and Queenie. Explores the relationship between inter-city gangs, family, personal relationships and mental health. We see Jazz and Queenie grow into their characters. This nuanced book is much more than a crime novel. It is a novel of secrets and lies and their consequences. Apart from the main story of someone out for revenge and the clashes between Glasgow and Edinburgh gangs who are using West Lothian as their dumping ground for bodies.

Liz has not only written what on the face of it is a crime novel but also an exploring of the mental health of the characters. As I have said earlier the two main characters have grow immensely from book one. As I live in West Lothian this made the book more personal to me. A book I would recommend and commend both for the storyline and the quality of the writing.

The Author:

Author Bio –

Liz Mistry moved to West Yorkshire in the late 1980s. Her gritty crime fiction police procedural novels set in Bradford embrace the city she describes as ‘Warm, Rich and Fearless’ whilst exploring the darkness that lurks beneath. Yet, her heart remains in Scotland, where childhood tales of bogey men, Bible John and grey lady ghosts fed her imagination.

Her latest work, The Solanki and McQueen crime series is set around West Lothian, where she uses the distinctive landscape, historic heritage and Scottish culture as a backdrop to her gritty yet often humorous stories.

Struggling with clinical depression and anxiety for many years, Liz often includes mental health themes in her writing. She credits her MA in Creative Writing from Leeds Trinity University with helping her find a way of using her writing to navigate her ongoing mental health struggles. The synergy been creative and academic writing led Liz to complete a doctorate in creative writing researching the importance of representation of marginalised groups within the genre she loves.

Her husband, three children and huge extended British Indian family are a constant support to her. In her spare time, Liz loves visiting the varied Scottish and Yorkshire landscape, travelling, listening to music, reading and blogging about all things crime fiction on her website blog, The Crime Warp.

Social Media Links –

Website: lizmistry.com/

X (Twitter): LizMistryAuthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LizMistrybooks Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizmistryauthor