Blog tour

All posts in the Blog tour category

Blog Tour – Come Sundown by Nora Roberts

Published June 9, 2017 by bibliobeth

What’s it all about?:

A saga of love, family ties, and twisted passions from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Obsession…

The Bodine ranch and resort in western Montana is a family business, an idyllic spot for vacationers. A little over thirty thousand acres and home to four generations, it’s kept running by Bodine Longbow with the help of a large staff, including new hire Callen Skinner. There was another member of the family once: Bodine’s aunt, Alice, who ran off before Bodine was born. She never returned, and the Longbows don’t talk about her much. The younger ones, who never met her, quietly presume she’s dead. But she isn’t. She is not far away, part of a new family, one she never chose—and her mind has been shattered…

When a bartender leaves the resort late one night, and Bo and Cal discover her battered body in the snow, it’s the first sign that danger lurks in the mountains that surround them. The police suspect Cal, but Bo finds herself trusting him—and turning to him as another woman is murdered and the Longbows are stunned by Alice’s sudden reappearance. The twisted story she has to tell about the past—and the threat that follows in her wake—will test the bonds of this strong family, and thrust Bodine into a darkness she could never have imagined.

What did I think?:

First of all, a huge thank you to Clara Diaz and Little, Brown publishers for inviting me to take part in this blog tour and sending me a complimentary copy of Nora Roberts’ new novel, Come Sundown in exchange for an honest review. Strangely enough, I first came across Nora Roberts through Little, Brown publishers themselves when they asked me if I’d be interested in participating in a blog tour for the latest book in her futuristic suspense In Death series which she writes under a pseudonym, J.D. Robb. I really enjoyed the novel, Echoes In Death and was determined to seek out some more of her work. Thanks to Little, Brown I didn’t have to wait long! In Come Sundown, there’s a lot more romance compared to Echoes In Death but it still had a classic, sometimes terrifying crime focus and, in some ways, felt a lot more sinister which I did appreciate, being somewhat of a sucker for a darker narrative.

The story is set in Montana on a ranch owned by a hard-working dynasty of a family and spear-headed by the strong and independent Bodine Longbow, who has an incredibly loyal support network of family, friends and employees behind her willing her on and assisting her in every way possible when required. There are some fierce and fantastic characters in her family, namely her mother and grandmother whom even after undergoing so much personal hardship in their pasts are committed to their family in the present time and have a clear and blissful vision of what the future could hold.

Many years ago, Bodine’s Aunt Alice left her family in search of bigger adventures and has not returned, breaking her mother’s heart and angering others. Since then, things have been relatively peaceful on the ranch, everyone has muddled through and the business has become extremely successful. When a childhood friend of Bodine’s, Callen Skinner returns to the ranch and begins working there, things may also be looking up in the romantic sense too! However, when the body of an employee is found on the ranch in suspicious circumstances and Aunt Alice unexpectedly returns with devastating news to share, Bodine begins to realise that her haven of peace, tranquillity and control may not be so safe anymore.

I don’t want to say much more about the plot of this novel as it’s honestly so much better to just discover it all for yourself. Personally, I was delighted by what I found. It was the perfect mixture of romance, suspense and mystery all rolled into one and I’ll be the first one to admit that I’m not a big romance fan. For some reason, the relationships in this book just worked for me. This includes the non-romantic ones I hasten to add! I really loved the family dynamics between Bodine and her mother, grandmother, brothers and also the strong friendship she ends up forging with Jessica, events manager for the site. To top it all off (and my favourite part of the novel) was an incredibly strong and eerie crime plot with a villain that will send chills down your spine and make you think a lot deeper about the psychological damage and lasting effects that accompany a hugely traumatic event. I’m very pleased I read this novel, it was a lot deeper and darker than I was expecting and I certainly won’t hesitate to pick up another story by Nora Roberts.

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

four-stars_0

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Nora Roberts is the number one New York Times bestseller
of more than 200 novels. With over 500 million copies of her
books in print, she is indisputably one of the most celebrated
and popular writers in the world. She is a Sunday Times
hardback bestseller writing as both Nora Roberts and J.D.
Robb.

Find Nora on her website at http://www.noraroberts.com/

Or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/norarobertsjdrobb

Thank you once again to Little, Brown publishers for inviting me to take part in this blog tour, I’ve had a great time doing it. Come Sundown was published on 30th May 2017 and is available from all good bookshops now. Why not check out some of the other stops on the tour?

Blog Tour – Dougal Daley: It’s Not My Fault – Jackie Marchant, Loretta Schauer (illustrator)

Published May 4, 2017 by bibliobeth

What’s it all about?:

I, Dougal Daley, am dead! Ok I’m not actually dead. But if I m not careful I soon will be.

In this first book, football-loving Dougal Daley finds himself at risk from the mysterious creature living in the garden shed. Nobody believes him but as a precaution, he sets upon writing his will – rewarding those who help him and disinheriting those who get on his bad side. Meanwhile, as limbs and windows alike are broken by rogue footballs and unhinged canines, Dougal finds himself in all sorts of trouble. . .and NONE of it is his fault!

Hello everyone and welcome to my spot on the Dougal Daley blog tour! Today, I have a very special guest post to share with you from the illustrator of the book, Loretta Schauer where she talks about her experiences of illustrating this book. Over to Loretta!

For this book we had the text laid out first and knew where we wanted to put the illustrations. Most of the images were to work in amongst the text, rather than taking up a whole facing page, but as you’ll see some of what would otherwise be text was actually illustrated too.

The story is told through Dougal’s voice so we wanted the illustrations to reflect this. They are not entirely drawn as if by Dougal himself, but there is an immediacy and slightly anarchic feel to them, as if visualising the world through Dougal’s eyes. I used pencil for most of the images with the occasional bit of watercolour wash and a few grungy charcoal smudges here and there. Some of the images are as if Dougal is working out his own thoughts and feelings about concepts – like his dilemma actually being a tri-lemma, but sometimes the illustrations are just funny incidental details like Dougal’s big sister Sybil’s nail varnish collection (vomity violet and putrid pink) or the packets of crisps Dougal’s friends are eating when they don’t invite him round because they assume he’s grounded. My favourite bits to draw were Death by Crutches, Claude’s fluffy hamster toy, and of course, the creature in the shed!

For this book, a lot of the text and speech is also illustrated to keep with Dougal’s voice – like Dougal’s jumbled speech bubble when he tries to explain why his friend ended up in the river. Big chunks of the story are told through handwritten notes between the various characters and of course the will that Dougal is writing and updating throughout the book. All these needed to be illustrated “in character”, so I made up a handwriting style for each person (10 in total!) using different pens and pencils, and like an actor, I needed to keep these handwriting characters consistent throughout the story.

I think my favourite hand writing styles were Claude Barleycorn, Angela Sweeter and Dougal’s very important notes to the Police.

The handwritten notes were treated exactly the same as the rest of the illustrations, where we worked out where they needed to be in advance, and sometimes this meant four of five pages in a row of nothing but illustrated notes back and forth between the characters.

‘Dougal Daley – It’s Not My Fault’ was lots of fun to illustrate, and it was great working with Jackie the author and the team at Wacky Bee. I’m looking forward to illustrating book 2 – ‘Dougal Daley – Where’s my Tarantula?’

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Dougal Daley was inspired by a messy bedroom and a random question from my son about writing a will. Dougal Daley has been huge fun to write about – you wouldn’t believe the disasters that happen around him (none of which are his fault of course)! When I’m not writing I love doing school visits and creative writing workshops. I also take time away from the writing world looking after guide dogs while their owners are away.

Website: https://www.jackiemarchant.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JMarchantAuthor

ILLUSTRATOR INFORMATION

I originally studied performing arts and have a degree in Dance Performance – well you never know when you need a quick pirouette! I also worked in practical conservation for a long time, and spent many years battling balsam, identifying lichen, and searching for creepy crawlies before I picked up my pencils and paints and began exploring illustrating and writing for children. In 2011 I won the Waterstone’s ‘Picture This’ competition and I now illlustrate full time. However I am still happiest noodling around for fossils and shells on the beach!

Website: http://lorettaschauer.tumblr.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Loretta_Schauer

A huge thank you to everyone involved in this blog tour and to Loretta for providing me with some wonderful background information about her illustrating journey. Why not check out the rest of the stops on the tour where you’ll find some fantastic reviews from my fellow bloggers? Dougal Daley: It’s Not My Fault was released by Wacky Bee Books on 4th April 2017 and is available from all good bookshops now.

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35003254-dougal-daley

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dougal-Daley-its-Not-Fault/dp/0995697221

Blog Tour – Black Knight (The Inventory #3) – Andy Briggs

Published April 30, 2017 by bibliobeth

What’s it all about?:

Dev and his friends are back with more mind-bending tech in this third installment of the Inventory series.
The World Consortium is recruiting more agents to defend the most advanced technology the world isn’t ready for, and it’s up to Dev, Lottie and Mase to train them up for action. But will they be ready before Shadow Helix’s next strike? And has Dev uncovered all the secrets of his past, or is there more to know about his special abilities?

Hello everyone and welcome to a very special post on the blog tour for the latest book in the fantastic Inventory series by Andy Briggs. The series began with Iron Fist which you can see my review of HERE and continued with Gravity which I also hosted a guest post for HERE. Today, Andy has been kind enough to tell me his favourite children’s books whilst he was growing up. This is what he has chosen:

ANDY BRIGGS – FAVOURITE CHILDREN’S FICTION

There are many books that inspired me while growing up, but I have selected a few:

STIG OF THE DUMP – by Clive King

I must admit this was a title I hadn’t read for a long time, but even now, at the grand old age of *# I still remember my first impressions on reading this spellbinding book. All you need to know is that it’s about a boy called Barney who discovers a caveman called Stig living in a dump in an old chalk quarry (presumably before his future race driving career). The rest is pure magic.

THE LOST WORLD – by Arthur Conan Doyle

Yes, the same Arthur Conan Doyle who created Sherlock Holmes, it’s not that common a name. This has always been my favourite Doyle book and, although not strictly an MG book, I read it when I was 11 or 12 and it captured my imagination so much that, when I became an alleged adult, I eventually travelled to the very flat-topped mountains in Venezuela that inspired Doyle. Eccentric Professor Challenger leads a party of explorers into the depths of South America to discover that dinosaurs still exist. It’s an exciting adventure story and one that instilled a sense in me that the world is still a wondrous place with many amazing things left to discover…

CAPTAIN COBWEBB – by Gordon Boshell

When David and Tony’s uncle Septimus Cobwebb sits in a fairy ring and vanishes into another realm, the fun begins. This is a magical series of books in which our heroes are sent on missions to various fantastic places, encountering amazing creatures and people…

Sadly, these books are no longer in print, which is a crime in my view. You just can’t have much more fun than Captain Cobwebb and the Red Transistor, which got me through a particularly terrible bout of chicken pox. Find them, read them!

WARLOCK OF FIRETOP MOUNTAIN – by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone.

I distinctly remember buying this book (from a sadly long extinct indecent bookstore in Prescot, Merseyside called Reading & Writing). I had no idea what I was getting myself into. This was the first book that launched the Fighting Fantasy series and showed me that a book can be so much more than passive story.

For those who don’t know, this was one of the first books in which you made decisions by turning to different pages, thus affecting the outcome of your story. You were able to fight monsters using a clever system that decided you fate on the roll of a dice. It was, and still is, the perfect form of escapism… and all without a computer.

Finally, I have to put in an honourable mention for the ASTERIX books by Goscinny and Uderzo. They are fabulous graphic novels – beautiful art, wonderful characters, exciting stories with a grounding in history.

The world is split between Tintin and Asterix. But only one has a magic potion which makes them invincible…

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Andy has extensive experience working on multinational co-productions and has worked in comics, books, TV, film and trans-media projects.

Andy wrote and Executive Produced Legendary, currently the most successful independent UK/Chinese co-production. Released in China and grossing $5 million in the first week, with a theatric US release in 2014. With his brother he worked on Hollywood features such as Judge Dredd and Freddy vs. Jason and TV shows for the SyFy Channel and Netflix.

He wrote and co-created Secret Agents, a trans-media interactive spy experience for children, currently on at the Discover Centre, Stratford. He has 16 books and graphic novels published in the UK and around the world.

He has written 20 books and graphic novels published in the UK and around the world. In 2016 his latest feature, Crowhurst, will be released.

Website: http://www.andybriggs.co.uk

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/aBriggswriter

A huge thank you to everyone involved in this blog tour and to Andy for providing me with his favourite children’s fiction (and possibly some ideas for my Kid Lit challenge!) Why not check out the rest of the stops on the tour where you’ll find some fantastic reviews from my fellow bloggers? Black Knight (The Inventory #3) was released by Scholastic Press on 6th April 2017 and is available from all good bookshops now.

Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34704550-black-knight?ac=1&from_search=true

Amazon UK link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inventory-3-Black-Knight-ebook/dp/B06XGKFMPK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493055078&sr=8-1&keywords=black+knight+the+inventory

Blog Tour – Dream Magic (Shadow Magic #2) – Joshua Khan

Published April 6, 2017 by bibliobeth

What’s it all about?:

In a world ruled by six ancient Houses of Magic, a girl and a boy begin an epic and dangerous journey of discovery . . . Lilith Shadow, princess of darkness, is struggling with her growing powers. Castle Gloom is filling with ghosts, zombies roam the country and people throughout Gehenna are disappearing. Then Lily is attacked in her own castle by a mysterious sorcerer known as Dreamweaver and his army of jewel-spiders whose bites send victims to sleep. Thorn, and his giant bat Hades, must save Lily from the realm of sleep and help her overcome the evil Dreamweaver in order for her to reclaim her kingdom.

What did I think?:

Welcome to my post on the blog tour for Dream Magic, the second book in the Shadow Magic series by British author, Joshua Khan, a series that Rick Riordan has quoted on the covers: “I defy you not to love this story.” Well, with an endorsement like that, what else could I do but read it? I read the first book, Shadow Magic recently, check out my post HERE and definitely recommend reading the series in order to get the back story of the characters and an introduction to a beautiful fantasy world that I just loved.

So, as mentioned in the synopsis, this world involves a number of different lands, ruled by six Houses of Magic. In the first story, it focuses on the House of Shadows and the thirteen year old ruler, Lilith Shadow who takes up the mantle of ruler after her parents and brother were murdered. She makes friends with Thorn, a peasant boy who is currently a squire at Castle Gloom and along with his giant bat, Hades, helps her deal with an attempt on her own life shortly after ancient enemies, the Solars from Lumina come to Gehenna after she becomes engaged to their heir, Gabriel. Here’s where we are now. Lily is no longer engaged to Gabriel and is somewhat weakened after the surprising events at the end of the last story but is gradually growing stronger with the help of her father, now a ghost but managing to appear to her in the library of Castle Gloom and helping her amass the skills she needs to defend her land and her people.

For there is a new threat in Gehenna. The trolls have started marching, determined to create a war as their people have started disappearing and they blame the House of Shadows. However, villagers from all over the lands, inside and outside Gehenna are going missing, including Lily’s protector and faithful executioner, Tyburn. When Lily and Thorn investigate, they uncover a strange plague of jewel spiders that put everyone they bite into a seemingly endless sleep. After many frightening incidents, they discover that a powerful sorcerer is controlling these jewel spiders for his own dastardly reasons. What is his connection with the House of Shadows and why is he so hell-bent on revenge? Can Lily and Thorn solve the puzzle of what’s going on before they lose any more of her people or become embroiled in a bloody war with the trolls?

Once again, Joshua Khan knocks it out of the park with an amazing fantastical world that was so exciting to read about and was a genuine roller-coaster of a reading experience. He has a huge, seemingly endless imagination for creating new worlds and it was another magical story that I thoroughly enjoyed. We learn a lot more about the characters back stories, especially Thorn and his family in this book which I appreciated and even a tid-bit into the stoic Tyburn’s past which only made me hunger for more! Of course, it was wonderful to see the return of Hades the giant bat who has to be one of my favourite non-human characters and I hope to see lots more of him in future books in the series. Finally, I also love that the author doesn’t shy away from using potentially scary creatures, like zombies and massive spiders, which is exactly what I wanted from authors I chose to read when I was younger. I would suggest that because of this it might not be suitable for much younger children but if you have a particularly precocious reading child – go for it, it’s certainly a wonderful series to read!

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

four-stars_0

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Joshua Khan was born in Britain. From very early on he filled himself with the stories of heroes, kings and queens until there was hardly any room for anything else. He can tell you where King Arthur was born* but not what he himself had for breakfast. So, with a head stuffed with tales of legendary knights, wizards and great and terrible monsters it was inevitable Joshua would want to create some of his own. Hence SHADOW MAGIC. Josh lives in London with his family, but he’d rather live in a castle. It wouldn’t have to be very big, just as long as it had battlements.
*Tintagel, in case you were wondering.

Website: http://www.joshuakhan.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/writerjoshkhan

Thank you to everyone who invited me to be a part of this blog tour, I’ve had a great time doing it. Dream Magic, the second book in the Shadow Magic series was released on 6th April 2017 by Scholastic Books and is available from all good bookshops now!

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34740944-dream-magic
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dream-Magic-Shadow-Joshua-Khan/dp/1407172093

Want to know more? Why not check out all the other stops on the blog tour from my fellow bloggers?

Blog Tour – Bamboo Road by Ann Bennett

Published March 30, 2017 by bibliobeth

Hello everyone and welcome to my spot on the Bamboo Road Blog Tour. Bamboo Road is the third in a trilogy of historical fiction books about Southeast Asia during the Second World War that can be read in any order. To see my review of the first book Bamboo Heart, please click HERE and for the second book, Bamboo Island, please click HERE.

What’s it all about?:

Thailand 1942: Sirinya and her family are members of the Thai underground, who risk their lives to resist the World War Two Japanese occupation and to and help British prisoners of war building the Thai-Burma railway. The events of those years have repercussions for decades to come. The book tells Sirinya s wartime story and how in the 1970s she returns to Kanchanaburi after a long absence abroad, to settle old scores from the war years. Bamboo Road is volume three in a Southeast Asian WWII trilogy that includes Bamboo Heart and Bamboo Island (the books may be read in any order).”

What did I think?:

After the beautiful second novel in the trilogy that was Bamboo Island, I was eager to get to Bamboo Road, make friends with a host of new characters and find out even more about the horrific things that Japanese prisoners of war went through during the Second World War. I’m very pleased to report back that Bamboo Road did not disappoint. Brutal in points, that’s a given considering the subject matter but hugely interesting involving a lot of other themes including friendship, the importance of family and love.

Our protagonist for this story is Sirinya, a young woman living in Thailand with her uncle, aunt and cousin and whom, when the Japanese invade and take over, goes to extreme lengths with her family to help the prisoners of war when she is horrified to discover how they are being treated. As with the other novels in the trilogy, there are a couple of different time periods, that of 1942 when Sirinya was a huge part of the underground movement fighting against the cruel methods used by the Japanese to torture prisoners and the 1970’s where Sirinya as a grown woman returns to her family home to settle an old score from years ago that has shadowed and deeply affected her life ever since.

Once again, similar to Bamboo Island, it was wonderful to read about such a brave and independent female lead character who I instantly sympathised and felt connected to. Sirinya takes many risks, is subjected to the worst kind of torture and experiences many losses of her own yet remains strong and determined that the prisoners of war should categorically not be suffering. Once she catches a glimpse of their starving, emaciated bodies in the jungle she is willing to put her own life on the line to ensure that they got enough food and that medicines that they desperately needed were smuggled into the camp. She had so much heart and compassion, not only in this but in the way she reacted to the people around her, especially her close family and I loved rooting for her throughout the novel. Throughout the trilogy, the author has struck an excellent balance between the horror, challenges and moments of romance that her characters experience and I feel like I’ve learned not only about the terrible conditions of prisoner of war camps but about Southeast Asia as a region, something I was hoping for when beginning the series and Ann Bennett delivered on every level.

If you like the sound of Bamboo Road, you can buy it here:

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bamboo-Road-BAMBOO-HEART-Bennett-ebook/dp/B06XFJSD7S

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

four-stars_0

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Ann Bennett was born and raised in a small village in Northamptonshire, UK. She read Law at Cambridge and qualified and practised as a solicitor. During a career break, to have children, she started to write. Her father had been a prisoner of war on the Thailand– Burma Railway and the idea for a Southeast Asian WWII trilogy came from researching his wartime experiences. The research took her back to Asia, a place she loves and has returned to many times. She lives in Surrey with her husband and three sons and works in London as a lawyer.

Website: https://www.bambooheart.co.uk/
Blog: https://annbennettbambooheart.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/annbennett71
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ann-Bennett-242663029444033/

Thank you once again to Monsoon Books and Faye Rogers for inviting me to take part in this blog tour, I’ve had a great time doing it. Bamboo Road, the third in the Bamboo trilogy was published on 1st March 2017 and is available from all good book retailers now! If you’re hungry for more, why not check out some of the other stops on the tour from my fellow bloggers?

Blog Tour – Echoes In Death (In Death #44) – J.D. Robb

Published February 3, 2017 by bibliobeth

29863968

What’s it all about?:

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES . . . The chilling new suspense novel from the author of Brotherhood in Death.

After a party in New York, Lieutenant Eve Dallas rides home with her billionaire husband, Roarke, happy to be done with cocktails and small talk.

After another party, not far away, a woman retires to her bedroom with her husband—and walks into a brutal nightmare.

Their paths are about to collide…

When the young woman—dazed, naked, and bloody—wanders in front of their car, Roarke slams on the brakes just in time, and Eve, still in glittering gown and heels, springs into action. It’s been a long night for the tired homicide cop, and it’s far from over.

Daphne Strazza is rushed to the ER, but it’s too late for Dr. Anthony Strazza. A brilliant orthopedic surgeon, he now lies dead amid the wreckage of his obsessively organized town house, his three safes opened and emptied. Daphne would be a valuable witness, but in her terror and shock the only description of the perp she can offer is repeatedly calling him “the devil” . . .

While it emerges that Dr. Strazza was cold, controlling, and widely disliked—and that he treated Daphne like a trophy wife—this is one case where the evidence doesn’t point to the spouse as the first suspect. So Eve and her team must get started on the legwork, interviewing everyone from dinner-party guests to professional colleagues to caterers, in a desperate race to answer some crucial questions:

What does the devil look like? And where will he show up next?

What did I think?:

First of all, many thanks to Little, Brown publishers for inviting me to take part in this blog tour and providing me with a copy of Echoes In Death in exchange for an honest review. Now, I love my crime fiction but so far haven’t actually read any of J.D. Robb’s novels – and there’s been a lot of them. This is the forty-fourth in the In Death series featuring Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her Irish husband Roarke and the author has written many more novels (more than two hundred to be exact!) under both the pseudonym J.D. Robb and her real name, Nora Roberts.

The novel follows our main character Lt Eve Dallas, her husband to a lesser extent, and her loyal partner Peabody as they deal with a frightening new evil. On their way home from a party, a naked, bloody and petrified young woman jumps out in front of Eve and Roarke’s car. After further questioning the woman, Daphne Strazza is found to have undergone a horrifying ordeal. A man has broken into her house, brutally raped and beaten her multiple times and killed her husband. The only thing she can tell Eve for certain is that he was “the devil.” Eve soon discovers that the assailant was wearing a mask and shortly forms a connection between two other incidents involving rich couples where the perp dressed up as a vampire and secondly as a ghoul. However, the previous two incidents didn’t involve any deaths and Eve worries that the incidents are escalating. Eve and her department must pull out all the stops to find the man responsible for these atrocities before he strikes again.

Echoes In Death isn’t like any other work of crime fiction that I’ve read before and I loved that about it. It’s actually set in the future, a mid 21st-century New York City where the landscape still feels quite familiar but technology has moved on in giant leaps and bounds. We have intricate home security systems in place, machines that can identify a living person or corpse at the touch of a button, new drugs and treatments for things as simple as a headache and (my favourite) helpful household droids. There are a multitude of strong, interesting characters including the independent, compassionate Eve and her side-kick Peabody whom I instantly fell in love with. My only slight issue was that I guessed who the killer was pretty soon after he was introduced in the novel. I usually feel quite disappointed when this happens but I have to say that it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the story at all.

I have to admit to being a bit concerned when I agreed to read this novel as I’m a bit of a stickler at reading things in order and not having read any of the other books in the series I was worried that I wouldn’t connect to certain things in the characters back stories. It’s true at points I did feel slightly ignorant, especially concerning Eve’s traumatic past (which I won’t go into for fear of spoilers) but in a positive way, I am looking forward to having lots of books in the series to go back to and fill in the blanks for myself! This book surprised me in a lot of ways, it certainly wasn’t what I expected and I’m really looking forward to catching up with things right from the beginning of the series.

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

3-5-stars

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Nora Roberts is the number one New York Times bestseller of more than 200 novels. She published her first novel using the pseudonym J.D. Robb in 1995, with the In Death series, Robb has become one of the biggest thriller writers on earth, with each new novel reaching number one on bestseller charts over the world. With over 450 million copies of her books in print, she is indisputably one of the most celebrated and popular writers in the world.

Find Nora on her website at http://www.noraroberts.com/

Or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/norarobertsjdrobb

Thank you once again to Little, Brown publishers for inviting me to take part in this blog tour, I’ve had a great time doing it. Echoes In Death was published on 7th February 2017 and is also available as an e-book. Why not check out some of the other stops on the tour?

echoes

Blog Tour – Burned And Broken – Mark Hardie

Published January 27, 2017 by bibliobeth

30325102

What’s it all about?:

An enigmatic policeman – currently the subject of an internal investigation – is found burned to death in his car on the Southend sea front.

A vulnerable young woman, fresh out of the care system, is trying to discover the truth behind the sudden death of her best friend.

As DS Frank Pearson and DC Catherine Russell from the Essex Police Major Investigation Team are brought in to solve the mystery that surrounds their colleague’s death, they’re under intense pressure to crack the case without damaging the force’s reputation.

When a dramatic turn of events casts a whole new light on both cases, the way forward is far from clear. Were the victims connected in some way? And just how much should Pearson and Russell reveal to their bosses as they begin to unearth some dark secrets that the force would rather keep buried?

Mark Hardie’s stylish and gripping debut introduces a brilliant new detective duo to the world of crime fiction, weaving together two suspenseful stories that end in a breath-taking finale.

What did I think?:

First of all, a huge thank you to Little, Brown publishers for inviting me to take part in this blog tour and providing me with a copy of Mark Hardie’s debut novel in exchange for an honest review. I may have mentioned in previous posts that I used to read almost exclusively crime fiction, until I started broadening what I read as I found with many crime novels, they were getting a bit “samey,” to me. Therefore, it takes something quite special (usually terrific characters or an intriguing plot) to get me back into reading the genre. Luckily, Burned And Broken had both and I was captivated until the end.

Our two main characters are DS Frank Pearson and his partner DC Catherine (Cat) Russell who are working together to try and piece together the reasons behind the gruesome death of their colleague, DI Carragher killed in suspicious circumstances after his burned body was found in his car. Alongside this story is also the story of a dead young girl, Alicia whose case Carragher was working on before his unfortunate demise. Then there is Donna, best friend of Alicia who is certain that Alicia’s death was no accident and is determined to see her murderer brought to justice. She comes with her own set of issues, raised in the care system, a loner with mental health issues and an adoring friend, Malcolm who follows her like a little shadow. How and why are the two stories linked? And what murky secrets are about to be unearthed as Pearson and Russell go digging?

I really enjoyed many things about this novel. The style of writing was intense and brilliant that shifted from past to present to future without ever muddling or over-complicating the narrative. At times, the pace may feel slightly slow but it all builds up to an explosive finale with many twists and turns to savour. I liked how Pearson and Russell worked as a team but I don’t really feel we got to know them deeply as characters – perhaps this is all to come in further books in the series? My favourite character had to be troubled Donna who was written fantastically. She instantly drew me into her world, where just struggling to survive every day was a huge achievement. As always, it’s a bonus for me if I can’t see the ending coming or guess any of the possible motives/perpetrators and I certainly didn’t with this novel. This is a very promising start to a series from Mark Hardie and I look forward to where he takes the characters next.

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

3-5-stars

AUTHOR INFORMATION

hardiemark-c-mark-hardie

Mark Hardie was born in 1960 in Bow, East London. He began writing fulltime after completely losing his eyesight in 2002. He has completed a creative writing course and an advanced creative writing course at the Open University, both with distinction.

Mark lives with his wife Debbie in Southend-on-Sea.

You can find Mark on Twitter @MARKHARDIECRIME

On his GoodReads page https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8452087.Mark_Hardie

Thank you once again to Little, Brown publishers for inviting me to take part in this blog tour, I’ve had a really great time doing it! Why not check out the other posts today from my fellow bloggers? Burned And Broken has been released in e-book format and is due to be released in paperback in May 2017.

bb5