Noah Jake

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Blog Tour – Never Be Broken (DI Marnie Rome #6) – Sarah Hilary

Published May 22, 2019 by bibliobeth

What’s it all about?:

Children are dying on London’s streets. Frankie Reece, stabbed through the heart, outside a corner shop. Others recruited from care homes, picked up and exploited; passed like gifts between gangs. They are London’s lost.

Then Raphaela Belsham is killed. She’s thirteen years old, her father is a man of influence, from a smart part of town. And she’s white. Suddenly, the establishment is taking notice.

DS Noah Jake is determined to handle Raphaela’s case and Frankie’s too. But he’s facing his own turmoil, and it’s becoming an obsession. DI Marnie Rome is worried, and she needs Noah on side. Because more children are disappearing, more are being killed by the day and the swelling tide of violence needs to be stemmed before it’s too late.

NEVER BE BROKEN is a stunning, intelligent and gripping novel which explores how the act of witness alters us, and reveals what lies beneath the veneer of a glittering city.

What did I think?:

First of all, thank you so much to Anne Cater for inviting me to take part in this blog tour and to Headline Books for providing me with a complimentary hardback in exchange for an honest review. I have to admit, when the email first came through from Anne, I practically bit her hand off for the chance to be involved in this tour. The DI Marnie Rome series remains one of my absolute favourites in crime fiction and unlike series from different authors in the past (where I’ve sadly lost interest as the series continued) in my opinion, these books just keep getting stronger and stronger. Like my other favourite crime author Cara Hunter, Sarah Hilary dives into the heart and soul of her fascinating characters and as each book continues, you really start to believe not only that these characters exist but that you understand and care about them on a much more intimate level.

Sarah Hilary, author of Never Be Broken, the sixth novel in the DI Marnie Rome series. 

I would urge anyone reading this review with an interest in contemporary UK crime fiction to seek out and devour these novels right from the beginning. Although each book could theoretically be read as a stand-alone, you will understand much more about our protagonists’ pasts, hopes, dreams and fears from enjoying it from the start. There are a few particular threads I’m thinking of involving Marnie and her colleague Noah, specifically their individual family situations that just HAVE to be experienced from Someone Else’s Skin onwards. Although it may feel overwhelming to catch up on seven books in a series, I can confidently confirm that it will be worth every single page you read. Sarah Hilary manages to capture not only the authenticity of her characters as I’ve mentioned previously, but the current situation in London today. I found this particularly poignant in Never Be Broken as topics explored included Brexit, the tragedy of Grenfell Tower and violent crime amongst young people.

The devastation of the fire at Grenfell Tower, mentioned in Never Be Broken.

DI Marnie Rome and her sidekick, DS Noah Jake are our two main protagonists in the series and the author has chosen to explore their lives intricately through previous books in the series. In Never Be Broken, the main focus is on Noah which I was delighted by as I have a particular soft spot for him as a character. Well – I wasn’t expecting joy and happiness in a novel that mentions “broken” within the very title but I seriously wasn’t prepared for how much drama, heart-break and havoc I would be facing as a reader. Sarah Hilary expertly merges the exploration of her characters personalities with tense, gut-wrenching moments of action. The result is that you get a story with slower, beautiful and more thought-provoking passages combined with parts that literally kept me on the edge of my seat as I continued to read. As I alluded to before, because the author spends so much time letting us get to know the characters on a personal level, you champion and root for them even more so because you feel that special connection.

I’m thrilled to confirm another stellar outing from Sarah Hilary with Never Be Broken but I never expected any less, to be honest. She is truly becoming a “must read” author in the crime fiction genre that everyone should be aware of if they aren’t already familiar with her. I’m so excited to see where she’s going to take our characters next!

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

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AUTHOR INFORMATION

Sarah Hilary’s debut, Someone Else’s Skin, won Theakstons Crime Novel of the
Year 2015 and was a World Book Night selection for 2016. The Observer’s
Book of the Month (‘superbly disturbing’) and a Richard & Judy Book Club
bestseller, it has been published worldwide. No Other Darkness, the second in the
series was shortlisted for a Barry Award in the US. Her DI Marnie Rome series
continued with Tastes Like Fear, Quieter Than Killing and Come And Find Me.

Find Sarah on Goodreads at: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3418841.Sarah_Hilary

on her website at: http://sarah-crawl-space.blogspot.co.uk/

on Twitter at: @sarah_hilary

Thank you so much once again to Anne Cater and Headline Books for inviting me to take part in this blog tour, I’ve had a wonderful time doing it. Never Be Broken was published on 16th May 2019 and will be available as a hardback and a digital e-book. If you fancy more information don’t forget to check out the rest of the stops on this blog tour for some amazing reviews!

Link to Never Be Broken on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43527422-never-be-broken

Link to Never Be Broken on Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Never-Broken-D-I-Marnie-Rome/dp/1472249003/ref=sr_1_1?crid=GIZKJVZ5ODE9&keywords=never+be+broken&qid=1558464618&s=gateway&sprefix=never+be+broken%2Caps%2C135&sr=8-1

Quieter Than Killing (DI Marnie Rome #4) – Sarah Hilary

Published June 30, 2017 by bibliobeth

What’s it all about?:

It’s winter, the nights are dark and freezing, and a series of seemingly random assaults is pulling DI Marnie Rome and DS Noah Jake out onto streets of London. When Marnie’s family home is ransacked, there are signs that the burglary can have only been committed by someone who knows her. Then a child goes missing, yet no-one has reported it. Suddenly, events seem connected, and it’s personal.

Someone out there is playing games. It is time for both Marnie and Noah to face the truth about the creeping, chilling reaches of a troubled upbringing. Keeping quiet can be a means of survival, but the effects can be as terrible as killing.

What did I think?:

If you’re a crime fiction lover and haven’t read any Sarah Hilary can I just ask why on earth not? With the fourth offering in the author’s DI Marnie Rome series that began with Someone Else’s Skin, and continued with No Other Darkness and Tastes Like Fear, Sarah Hilary has cemented herself in my eyes as the queen of British crime and with each successive novel, her writing, characters and plot just keep getting better and better. Thank you so much to Headline publishers via NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. In Marnie Rome’s London, the seedy and grittier side of our capital city is brought to life in an explosion of colour but grounded so deeply within reality that you could almost imagine that you were reading about the neighbours next door rather than fictional characters.

Marnie Rome and her wonderful sidekick Noah Jake are back and have a new case to solve. Horrific assaults are happening all over London but the strange thing about these vicious attacks is that the victim in each case has a criminal record themselves or a record of having wronged someone in their past. Marnie and her team immediately hit on the idea of a vigilante attempting to dole out justice for past crimes in the strangest and most brutal way possible. There are a few very important alternative threads to this story however. A ten year old boy has been kidnapped and is being held hostage at an unknown address by an unknown perpetrator. Furthermore, Marnie’s childhood home has been burgled with the tenants living there at the time subjected to a nasty beating, leading to them being hospitalised. In this convoluted plot and intricate web of secrets, violence and manipulation how are all these threads linked and why is Marnie and her personal life being dragged into the battle?

If I had to compare this book to the previous two novels in the Marnie Rome series I would say that Quieter Than Killing is slightly slower in pace but this is in no way, shape or form an insult to the writing. In fact, I loved that we got to learn so much more about our characters as individuals, with their own problematic families and personal lives. This novel exudes more of a quiet menace that is simply delicious to experience and although it could easily be read as a stand alone, I highly recommend reading the series from the beginning to get the full flavour of our character’s back stories which is hugely important for the plot. Once again, I adored the relationship between Marnie and Noah (please don’t ever break them up Sarah!) and just feel these characters keep getting stronger, more “real,” and infinitely more intriguing where I just keep wanting more. I’m eagerly anticipating the fifth book in the series which I’m certain will be another belter and I can’t wait to become immersed in Marnie’s world once more.

To read my interview with the wonderful Sarah Hilary, please see my post HERE.

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

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Tastes Like Fear (DI Marnie Rome #3) – Sarah Hilary

Published March 12, 2017 by bibliobeth

What’s it all about?:

Sarah Hilary won the 2015 Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year with her debut, the 2014 Richard and Judy pick SOMEONE ELSE’S SKIN. She followed up with NO OTHER DARKNESS, proclaimed as ‘riveting’ by Lisa Gardner and ‘truly mesmerising’ by David Mark. Now D.I. Marnie Rome returns in her third novel.

Home is where Harm lies…

The young girl who causes the fatal car crash disappears from the scene.
A runaway who doesn’t want to be found, she only wants to go home.
To the one man who understands her.
Gives her shelter.
Just as he gives shelter to the other lost girls who live in his house.
He’s the head of her new family.
He’s Harm.
And when Harm’s family is threatened, Marnie Rome is about to find out that everything tastes like fear…

What did I think?:

Sarah Hilary is hands down one of my favourite crime fiction authors writing today. I was lucky enough to do an interview with the lovely lady just after the release of her second book in the Marnie Rome series, No Other Darkness. If you fancy seeing what she had to say, please see my post HERE. I highly recommend both books in the series and from the first fantastic novel, Someone Else’s Skin, to this phenomenal third novel, Tastes Like Fear (which I have waited WAY too long to read!), she is an author that I will automatically buy, regardless of what she writes. A huge thank you to the lovely people at Headline for sending me a copy of Sarah’s third novel and apologies that I’m only getting round to reviewing it now.

In Tastes Like Fear, Marnie and her sidekick Noah Jake have a new, frightening case to manage and solve. A young girl walks out into the path of a car one night causing a horrific accident. In the aftermath, she disappears and cannot be found. The driver of the car that crashed into another as he swerved to avoid the girl gives an interesting witness statement. He is certain that the girl was half-clothed, dishevelled, clearly not on this planet, with marks all over her body (which later is discovered to be writing). After further findings, the case turns out to be much more complex than Marnie could have imagined. It involves a house filled with homeless young girls that have been specifically chosen to live in the house and be kept “safe.” Although the perpetrator’s idea of safety is very different from what you and I might envisage. Especially when one of the girls turns up dead. Marnie and her team must hurry to discover exactly what’s going on, why and by whom if they are going to save any more vulnerable girls.

Once again, Sarah Hilary has pulled me into the amazing, twisted world of Marnie Rome with a strong female lead that has demons of her own but fights desperately to ensure that no else should suffer. Again, it was wonderful to see her teaming up with Noah Jake, one of my favourite characters and it was also lovely to get an insight into his personal life with his partner, Dan and his troubled kid brother Sol. Of course, Marnie is also given a good chunk of time which is fantastic and I enjoyed her ongoing struggle with the person who is serving time for killing both of her parents. From certain things that happened throughout the novel, it’s certainly set up some tense proceedings for the next few books in the series I’m sure and I cannot wait to see how it all pans out! I can safely say that Marnie Rome is my favourite female detective of all time and Sarah Hilary’s plots and character development just keep going from strength to strength. The fourth book in the series, A Quieter Killing was released on the 9th March 2017 and I’m very excited to say that I’ve been approved to read it on NetGalley. (Thank you again Headline!) One thing is for sure, I won’t be waiting so long to read it this time!

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

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No Other Darkness (DI Marnie Rome #2) – Sarah Hilary

Published July 6, 2015 by bibliobeth

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What’s it all about?:

From the Richard and Judy bestselling author Sarah Hilary. The phenomenal Marnie Rome returns in the outstanding follow up to the critically acclaimed SOMEONE ELSE’S SKIN.

Two young boys.
Trapped underground in a bunker.
Unable to understand why they are there.
Desperate for someone to find them.
Slowly realising that no-one will…

Five years later, the boys’ bodies are found and the most difficult case of DI Marnie Rome’s career begins.

Her only focus is the boys. She has to find out who they are and what happened to them.

For Marnie, there is no other darkness than this…

What did I think?:

I became a fan of Sarah Hilary’s after her amazing debut novel Someone Else’s Skin which was a Richard and Judy book club choice and a fantastic read which left me in no doubt that this was a series and an author that I was definitely going to follow. Sarah’s second novel featuring Detective Inspector Marnie Rome came out in April and I was lucky enough to get an advanced reading copy from Headline publishers and Book Bridgr in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to them! Well, I was hooked from the very beginning with an instantly intriguing and disturbing prologue featuring two young boys trapped in an underground bunker with no hope or means of escape. Five years later the bodies are found and DI Marnie Rome’s team must try to discover who the boys are and why on earth they came to such a horrific end.

I’m finding it difficult to review this book without giving away any spoilers as, like her debut, there are multiple layers to this story and in the end it turns out to be a hell of a lot more then just a “child abduction,” which is instantly suspected as the main motive for the killing. The author delves into some difficult and controversial areas and her main character Marnie is so determined to figure out the puzzle behind the two boys in the bunker that she risks endangering herself in the process. We also learn a lot more about Marnie’s wonderful sidekick, DS Noah Jake in relation to his childhood and more specifically, his relationship with his brother. The case has affected the team so deeply that they all begin to re-evaluate their ties with their loved ones and I really enjoyed learning more about both Marnie and Noah, two characters that have such an interesting back story and I just know more secrets are going to pop out as the author continues the series!

Once again, the ending was pure magic and such a roller-coaster ride of tension that I was certain I was going to leave finger indents on the book where I was gripping it so tightly. Sarah Hilary has a talent for turning up the pressure notch by notch, very slowly to a point where it almost becomes unbearable (this is all in a good way, of course!). This has the effect of making you feel on the edge of your seat at all times and putting the book down is practically impossible. The dramatic plot, tension and brilliant, relatable and readable characters all combine to make Sarah Hilary one of the best new voices in crime fiction currently writing today. She is also one of the authors that makes me rub my hands together in glee when anticipating a new book from them and I highly recommend starting with Someone Else’s Skin if you haven’t read this author before. All I want to know now is when is the third book coming out again?

Come back tomorrow for my interview with the lady herself when I ask the question we all want to know… does she dog-ear her books?!

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

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Someone Else’s Skin – Sarah Hilary

Published November 27, 2014 by bibliobeth

Someone Else's Skin

What’s it all about?:

Some secrets keep you safe, others will destroy you…

Detective Inspector Marnie Rome. Dependable; fierce; brilliant at her job; a rising star in the ranks. Everyone knows how Marnie fought to come back from the murder of her parents, but very few know what is going on below the surface. Because Marnie has secrets she won’t share with anyone.

But then so does everyone. Certainly those in the women’s shelter Marnie and Detective Sergeant Noah Jake visit on that fateful day. The day when they arrive to interview a resident, only to find one of the women’s husbands, who shouldn’t have been there, lying stabbed on the floor.

As Marnie and Noah investigate the crime further, events begin to spiral and the violence escalates. Everyone is keeping secrets, some for survival and some, they suspect, to disguise who they really are under their skin.

Now, if Marnie is going to find the truth she will have to face her own demons head on. Because the time has come for secrets to be revealed…

What did I think?:

I first came across this book on the Richard and Judy Autumn Book Club list and as I’m a religious follower of the novels they pick, I was looking forward to giving it a go. What I wasn’t expecting was exactly how much I enjoyed it. Our main character is Detective Inspector Marnie Rome who may be excelling in her day-to-day work but underneath is suffering from a great personal tragedy, the murder of her parents. She is, as many of us attempt to do, trying to keep her personal life separate from her work life and is succeeding for the most part, yet still waters run deep and Marnie is dealing with her grief in quite a unique manner. From time to time, she visits the murderer of her parents in prison believing that eventually she will be able to get some answers as to why this person so brutally took the life of her parents.

Throwing herself into work, Marnie and her colleague Detective Sergeant Noah Jake visit a woman’s refuge as they are attempting to persuade a young woman to give evidence against her brothers for a savage attack they perpetuated on her. Unfortunately, things don’t quite go to plan as when they arrive at the refuge, all hell has broken loose. A man lies on the floor, halfway between life and death, stabbed by his wife, who had been staying at the refuge at the time. This is just the beginning of an intriguing and baffling case for the officers involved with a plot which is overflowing with suspense and excitement. There are also a lot of sub-plots going on involving multiple characters which I loved as it held my interest and curiosity. I’m not going to say too much more about the plot as I really don’t want to spoil things for those who haven’t read the book, but believe me you are not going to want to put this book down.

The characterisation in this novel was fantastic. I have to admit, Marnie was a character that kind of grew on me throughout the book, but by the end I loved her. Noah Jake is also another ball of surprises. His sexuality leads to him suffering from discrimination and prejudice (sadly, from his own colleagues) but his partnership with Marnie is a match made in heaven and they bounce off each other perfectly. And as for the plot? What can I say? Intricate, thrilling, compelling, with multiple twists and turns that both tease and delight. For a debut novel, it’s such an accomplishment and has Sarah Hilary sitting up the top with the best of the crime/thriller fiction writers. I’m so excited to hear that there will be more DI Marnie books and I can’t wait until I can get my hands on the next one!

For another perspective on Someone Else’s Skin, please see Cleopatra Loves Books fabulous review HERE.

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

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