The Sixth Window

Rachel Abbott has quickly become one of favourite authors.  Her previous novels have combined suspense with crime very successfully, making for intriguing and heart stopping reading which just makes you want to keep turning the pages.

Her latest book The Sixth Window is no different.  Guessing at every turn of the page,  I still didn't guess quite correctly who the culprit was in this spellbinding thriller.

In the opening chapters we are introduced to two mysteries, one involving the strange and unsettling voices in a newly converted flat and the other a hit and run.

Fast forward eighteen months and we meet Natalie and her daughter, Scarlett. It is Natalie's husband who was killed in the hit and run and it is her husband's best friend with whom they now live.  Until Natalie spots something on Ed's computer that makes her very uncomfortable and threatens their relationship.  Deciding to move out for some space, Natalie and Scarlett take up residence in an almost empty apartment complex where Scarlett starts to hear things.

Meanwhile, the hit and run case has been reopened and who should be investigating but our favourite detective, Tom Douglas.  As Natalie starts asking questions and Scarlett investigates the noises in the flat, Tom and team are looking into a teen suicide and the circumstances surrounding the hit and run.  It could be that all are connected.....

This really was a gripping, page turning delight.  The twists and hints kept coming and just when I thought I had it sussed, another twist!  Absolutely brilliant.  The story had some pretty dark things going on but the storylines and characters were so cleverly intertwined that it made for a truly enthralling read.  And the end!  Loved that end!  Spine tingling!

It was great to be reunited with Tom too, who has a bit of luck with love, at last.  The characters and the storyline were very realistic; Scarlett a headstrong teenage girl; Natalie, the worried, working mum, torn in two by what she thinks she knows and the other main characters all very well portrayed, ordinary working people caught up in something sinister and not always who we think they are!

A fantastic book, chilling and in someways disturbing but so brilliantly put together.  Can't wait for the next book by the lovely Rachel Abbott.

Thank to Netgalley and Black Dot Publishing for the ARC of this book.

The Summer of ImpossibleThings

The Blurb

If you could change the past, would you?

Thirty years ago, something terrible happened to Luna’s mother. Something she’s only prepared to reveal after her death. 

Now Luna and her sister have a chance to go back to their mother’s birthplace and settle her affairs. But in Brooklyn they find more questions than answers, until something impossible – magical – happens to Luna, and she meets her mother as a young woman back in the summer of 1977. 

Where to start with the spectacular new novel from Rowan Coleman?  If you love mystery,romance and imagination you will love this book.

When Luna and younger sister Pia tragically lose their mother, they watch a film she made to say goodbye, which sends them to Brooklyn to sell the old family house.  Once there more secrets are uncovered but not in the most straightforward of ways.  Luna discovers that,far from her belief that she is ill with a serious brain defect, she has in fact a unique gift that might possibly change the past and the present.

As Luna tries to piece together the last few days of the mother's time in Brooklyn, she encounters true love and pure evil and must make up her mind whether to comitt the biggest sacrifice of all.
As the story flits between the heatwave of 1977 and Rissa's story and thirty years later with Pia and Luna trying to make sense of their mother's secret, I was caught up in the excitement the teenagers felt at the filming of Saturday Night Fever in that summer of '77, picturing those hot dusty streets whilst around them crimes and violence were rife. Rowan paints a very realistic picture of a scorching dreamlike summer where everything is going to change.
Back in the present, I felt the apprehension but also the anticipation of Luna's actions, urging her on but with a sense of foreboding as the story reaches its climax, wondering all the while...Will it work and what about Luna....?

But I am not going to spoil that!  Suffice to say that it was a story that truly catches your imagination and your heart. It also made me think quite deeply afterwards; what would I do? What would I change?  Would I change anything?  A beautifully written story that captures your thoughts and feelings in this way is very special. I loved the way the characters are portrayed, each one cast to perfection so that you can close your eyes and see them, how they stand, move, react...so vivid in my mind.

So please, pull up your comfiest chair, have your favourite drink and snacks on standby, curl up and just lose yourself in this little miracle.
Rowan, you've done yoursef proud x

The Midwife

The Midwife by Jolina Petersheim

Although Rhoda is head midwife at Hopen Haus, an Old Order Mennonite run home for unwed mothers, she finds herself conflicted between wanting the best for the women she cares for and in keeping the modern day world and her past at bay. Keeping secrets from the women she works with and cares for has become second nature to Rhoda but after a news article about the work of Hopen Haus is printed, a new girl needing help and a figure from her past turn up and throw Rhoda's carefully preserved life into disarray.
This is ultimately a tale of mothering.  What makes a mother?  What sacrifices will a mother make for her child? In it, Jolina Petersheim explores with great depth and understanding what it means to be a mother through carrying, birthing, adopting and losing a child.  There are many sorts of mothers and situations portrayed in this book.  Young girls, thrown out of their homes, or runaways, all wanting the best for the baby they carry.  Mothers who can't keep their baby for one reason or another, mothers who are desperate to hold a child.
It is clear that Rhoda has had a very difficult past and it is obvious in her manner that she holds a tight rein on her emotions and feelings to keep the past in the past but Rhoda cares about her patients and it is only when a childhood friend turns up that her story becomes clearer and so do the reasons for her need for privacy.
There is a lot of hurt, betrayal and confusion in the story that Jolina Petersheim unfolds for us and it is one that cannot fail to capture your imagination and your heart.  She has made Rhoda a very sympathetic character, though strong and not always likable. Her story is told with feeling and thought, never judging for the decisions she has made.
Jolina has a knack for getting to the heart of some very serious matters without making them contrived and hard to believe, this story was utterly believable and very moving.  I have enjoyed her previous work, The Outcast and hope to enjoy further work from her in the future.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

The Day We Disappeared

This is such a powerful book and a compelling read containing a fabulous cast of characters and one of the most breathtaking storylines I have ever read.

Kate , running from something, washes up in a eventing yard, completely out of her depth but desperate to make a go of it, finds herself making a niche for herself within the stables she works in with forthright Becca, randy Joe, smouldering Mark and not forgetting Stumpy the horse.

Annie on the other hand has just started a fabulous new job, found a fabulous bloke and things are really starting to look up her.  But even she has her secrets.

What secrets are they each hiding?  Well, you will need to read this totally compelling book to find out.  There is everything that makes a book brilliant, from a wonderful and colourful cast of characters to romance, mystery and intrigue, humour and darkness.  All combine to make this a very read-worthy book.

Lucy Robinson has created a wonderful web of mystery that keeps you turning the pages, flowing from heart-in-the-mouth moments to light-hearted giggles.  It's a book that captures you from the first pages and holds you totally in its power until the final page and it never disappoints.

A Lovely Way to Burn

The opening chapter of this book sets the scene quite well for what is to come. Three unconnected shootings that set the stage for a London on the brink of disaster.
Stevie Flint, one time journalist and now shopping channel hostess finds herself caught up in most bizarre circumstances after she finds her boyfriend dead in his flat. Simon has left her a letter leaving her instructions about a package he has secreted in her loft space and telling her to trust no one but a named colleague.
Between finding Simon and being given his letter, Stevie has been ill, what she thought was the after effects of finding her lover's body, but in fact turns out to be an epidemic that has hit London. When Stevie goes in search of the colleague to whom she must hand the package, she discovers that he is dead from the virus that is being called 'the sweats' and that the package is very important to someone.
After she is attacked and her home broken into Stevie starts to investigate the package which contains a laptop; with the help of a few people she learns that the laptop contains information about a treatment her boyfriend and his colleagues were developing and it seems someone needs that information to stay hidden. Despite the 'sweats' killing people, including the one who help her, Stevie presses on with her investigation, determined to discover what it was Simon knew that he had to be killed for.
Louise Welsh writes a very atmospheric story, the sense of people panicking and dying in droves, of people trying to ignore what is happening and go about their business lends a sense of urgency to Stevie's mission. Although the idea of the sweats adds to the atmosphere it is probably not really necessary to the main story, which is the delving into Simon's death and the reasons behind it, although, maybe the sweats becomes more significant in the following books. However, it does add a bit more interest to the overall story.
The mystery of the laptop and what was on it did keep me intrigued and I hope that the sweat mystery does continue into the next book and we get to find out if Stevie can help find a cure, to me this was a more fascinating, truly dystopian subject and one which piqued my interest.
I thought it was quite a fast paced novel, with a sense of urgency, of time running out and it being of the essence that the laptop mystery was solved; although, thinking about it logically and as it was put in the book, Stevie was rather meddling whilst London was burning. Maybe the laptop stuff didn't matter because everyone was dying anyway but hey, suspend belief and go with it, it kept me guessing and urging her to hurry and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the Plaque series and finding out more about Stevie.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hatchette UK for the ARC of this book. 

All Fall Down

I love Jennifer Weiner's original, quirky style of story telling and have loved all her previous books. All Fall Down did not disappoint. Although it would seem that I do not have an addictive personality (apart from when it comes to books) and panic if I have to take more than two paracetemol a day, I find the idea that people can and do become addicted to something as seemingly straightforward as painkillers both fascinating and frightening. This account of a an ordinary woman spiralling out of control with her dependency on prescription drugs kept me on tenterhooks. I could quite easily see how someone who is juggling a lot of balls and doesn't have the greatest support network can start to think that a strong painkiller, pretty much like a glass of wine, just takes the edge of the stresses of the day...until it doesn't.
Allison appears to have it all, a loving husband, a wonderful daughter, a beautiful home and a successful blog but beneath the surface she is paddling like mad. A father with Alzheimers, a house that isn't finished, a job that the family income depends on, a husband who is growing more distant, a high-functioning daughter, housework that never gets done...the list goes on. Having discovered that the drugs prescribed for a wisdom tooth removal and then a slipped disc also make life roll a little better, it's not long before Allison is depending on them for more than physical pain and when they stop having an effect the next step is something a bit stronger until she is on a rollercoaster of ordering from the internet and needing more and more to gain the effect she craves.
Jennifer Weiner does a brilliant job of detailing Allison's spiralling addiction as she struggles to take control of her life and I felt increasing sympathy for the character. The dependency on her by the other people in her life is a strain and she has clearly has little support, added to which she is living in a big house that wasn't her idea and which she can't make feel like home because of all the calls on her time. As her front slips and people become aware that she has a problem, her husband, rather than being sympathetic, is condemnatory and accusing. I felt truly sorry for her. As Allison loses control of her life she finds herself in rehab and it is here that she must confront her ghosts and admit that she has a problem.
Although quite a shocking story, it did ring true to me and it did, in fabulous Weiner fashion, have its humorous moments as well as more sobering and reflective ones. I liked the character of Allison, I could sense the stress she was under and suspected her inner demons came from a childhood short of affection, something she was determined not to put her own daughter through. I also thought the depiction of Ellie was excellent although I felt increasingly frustrated by the demands of the little girl and by the selfishness of Allison's husband in showing no real interest in his wife and daughter. It's no wonder I felt such sympathy for Allison.
All in all I felt Jennifer Weiner has done a stellar job of detailing the curse that is prescription drug addiction in suburbia. I found the tricks that Allison deployed to cover her tracks very believable and also the struggle she faced in owning up to and tackling her addiction very real.
A difficult subject to tackle but a job well done.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simone and Schuster UK for the ARC of this book.

Pretty Baby

When Heidi first spots the girl she feels the need to do something but doesn't.  The girl however has made an impact with her torn clothes and thin coat, no match for the relentless weather, and the small infant tucked inside her coat. Heidi knows from years of experience working with the poverty stricken that it can be a dauntless task trying to help those in need  but nevertheless, it is what she does and she feels a pull towards this slight teenage girl with the small child. Inevitably she offers help which lead to a tangled web of deceit and lies.
This story is told in three voices; Heidi, who finds herself in a situation she could never have imagined but who also finds herself facing old and new heartaches once Willow and baby Ruby are in her life.
Willow, the girl, who has a very complicated and heart rending story to tell about how she came to be on the streets with a baby.
And Chris, Heidi's husband, who is the steadfast voice, detailing the story from another, less involved perspective.
All three stories come together to make what is a superb psychological thriller about lives that become enmeshed and the reasons people do the things they do.
Having the story told from three points of view makes the story seem more involved and gives an understanding as to the reasons people behave as they do.  Nothing is ever as simple as it seems. It is particularly fascinating how we see Heidi, a seemingly contented and savvy woman, becoming infatuated and slowly unravelling as her involvement with Willow and Ruby becomes more serious and the how events in her past contribute.
The different voices also build up a certain amount of tension and apprehension , especially as there is only one person who knows exactly what is going on and it is interesting to see how the relationship between the three enhances the suspense.
It is an excellent story, one that kept me intrigued and turning the pages.  I felt sympathetic to all three main characters and thought they were well written.  It was easy to see why all acted as they did and to not have sympathy with them would take a very hard heart!
All in all an excellent read and one I would certainly recommend.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin UK for the ARC of this book.