Review ~ Crimson Lake by Candice Fox

Arrow
May 2017

What's it all about...

12.46: 13-year-old Claire Bingley stands alone at a bus stop

12.47: Ted Conkaffey parks his car beside her

12.52: The girl is missing . . .Six minutes - that’s all it took to ruin Detective Ted Conkaffey’s life. Accused but not convicted of Claire’s abduction, he escapes north, to the steamy, croc-infested wetlands of Crimson Lake.

What did I think about it..

Detective Ted Conkaffey's life is turned upside down after being accused, but not convicted, of the abduction of thirteen year old Claire Bingley. With both his personal and professional life in turmoil Ted escapes to Cairns and to the remote wetlands and crocodile infested waters of Crimson Lake. Burdened by a life that is altered beyond recognition, Ted finds that the gloom of his surroundings matches his mood, and his taciturn demeanour does not win him friends or supporters very easily.

However, a chance meeting with private detective, Amanda Pharrell, another social misfit whose life is complicated by her own brand of demons, encourages Ted to become involved in the disappearance of local author, Jake Scully. What then follows is a tense and tightly packed thriller which uses the bleakness of its location to highlight the covert nature of a complicated investigation, and also emphasises the mistrustful way in which the local community perceive these two social misfits.

I really enjoyed this author's style of writing. The story was consistent and the plot never faltered and I soon became immersed in the unfolding narrative. I enjoyed observing the volatile dynamics between Ted and Amanda, and became curious to see how their unorthodox relationship would survive within the wider framework of the story.

I hope that Crimson Lake is the start of a new detective series as I would like to see Conkaffey and Pharrell return in a future investigation.

Best read with...copious glasses of smoky Bourbon..


About the Author

Candice Fox is an award-winning author and commercial success in her native Australia. Her first novel, Hades, won the 2014 Ned Kelly Award for best debut crime novel, with the sequel, Eden, winning the 2015 Ned Kelly Award for best crime novel. Candice is also the author of the critically acclaimed Fall, and co-writer of the James Patterson blockbuster Never Never.

Website 
Twitter @candicefoxbooks

Crimson Lake was published on the 6th April 2017 

An Arrow Paperback Original & eBook, £6.99

My thanks to Gemma at Penguin Random House for my review copy of Crimson Lake.

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Review ~ Bangk! by Mark Wesley

Hornet Books
2016

What's it all about..

JAMES STACK: Ex-captain Special Forces, a tough, intelligent, risk taker, figured out that if you want to rob the Bank of England you don’t go through the front door guns blazing. You don’t tunnel up through the floor either. You don’t climb through windows; lower yourself on a harness; screw around with the computers; fix the security cameras or play Twister with invisible Laser beams. You don’t do any of that stuff because it won’t work. That’s why gold has never been stolen from the vaults of the Bank of England. They’ve got every angle covered....Except one.

What did I think about it..

James Stack, ex-British Forces is the brains behind the operation, he's a likeable rogue with enough intelligence to always be one step ahead of the game and who controls his merry little group of robbers with his own special brand of tough love. There's something a bit 'gung-ho' about this improbable band of bank robbers but you can't help but warm to them, even though at times you are left wondering if they are ever going to get to grips with the 'big  job' that they are planning, which is to rob the Bank of England.

It's a real boys own adventure with lots of wheeling and dealing on the side and a plot that seems too good to be true. However, with warmth and wit, the author propels the gang through a criminal minefield riddled with problems until the dramatic conclusion which is every bit as exciting as you hoped it would be.

In many ways it reminded me of a James Bond movie. There's a handsome leading man, a pretty femme fatale, hapless police detectives, glorious gangsters and excitable criminals.

What's not to like? 

Best Read With.. pizza from the box and beer straight from the bottle..

About the author

The author, Mark Wesley, has been, at various times in his career, copy writer, jingle-maker, song writer and record producer but is best known as the legendary Radio Luxembourg DJ.

BANGK! is published by Hornet Books and is available as a paperback (£8.99) and ebook (£4.95).

My thanks to David at  Hornet Books for the opportunity to read BANGK!

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Blog Tour ~ Obsession by Amanda Robson

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to host today's stop on the Obsession Blog Tour

What's Obsession all about ...

One evening, a wife asks her husband a question: who else would you go for, if you could?

It is a simple question – a little game – that will destroy her life.

Carly and Rob are a perfect couple. They share happy lives with their children and their close friends Craig and Jenny. They’re lucky. But beneath the surface, no relationship is simple: can another woman’s husband and another man’s wife ever just be good friends?

Little by little, Carly’s question sends her life spiralling out of control, as she begins to doubt everything she thought was true. Who can she trust? The man she has promised to stick by forever, or the best friend she has known for years? And is Carly being entirely honest with either of them?

Obsession is a dark, twisting thriller about how quickly our lives can fall apart when we act on our desires.

I am delighted to be able to share this tantalising extract from Obsession...

Avon
Published in ebook 4 May 2017
Paperback 1 June 2017

‘Can I get you a drink?’ I say dutifully.

‘When we’ve found Matt.’

‘Found him? I thought he was with you.’

‘He was, Mummy, but when I went down the wiggly slide, I thought he was behind me but he never arrived.’

‘He’s probably just in another part of the slide complex. Let’s go and ask the staff.’

Holding John’s hand, I venture through a yellow and blue doorway, into a world where toddlers tumble and twist through nets and tubes, thundering towards me at frightening velocities. But it’s only me that is intimidated, not the toddlers. They are laughing and smiling as their chubby bodies slide and bounce. At the bottom of every tube or net there is a substantial amount of blue matting and a Snakes and Ladders guard; a young adult wearing a canary yellow sweat shirt. I approach the nearest guard, clinging tightly to John’s hand to keep him with me.

‘Excuse me,’ I say to him, a boy of about sixteen. A boy with a pulpy face, a rash of spots on his right cheek. ‘I can’t find my other son.’

‘What’s he wearing? I’ll look out for him.’

I hesitate.

‘Black jeans and a T-shirt,’ John replies before I can remember.

‘And his name?’

‘Matthew Burton. Matt for short,’ I reply.

‘Tell me a bit more about what he looks like.’

‘He looks about five – but he’s only three and a half. And his hair is blond, like his brother’s.’

‘That’s me,’ John proudly informs the pimply youth.

‘Wait in the café, I’ll go looking for him and bring him to you as soon as possible,’ he replies, a little sharply. He is looking at me critically, but I ignore him.

By the time he has finished his sentence John has freed himself from my hand and is climbing up a purple net. Before I have returned through the plastic door to the café for another cup of coffee, John is already halfway up the giant play frame.

Half an hour later, a man wearing a suit and an earpiece is standing in front of me holding John’s hand. Attached to his shirt is a plastic badge telling me that he is the manager of Snakes and Ladders. Only his badge and his earpiece prevent him from looking like a funeral director, so low are his eyes, so dark his grimace.

‘I’m sorry to say we can’t find your son Matt on the main play frame,’ he announces.

My stomach tightens in annoyance.

‘He went in. He must be there,’ I reply.

‘We’ve checked every camera for twenty-five minutes.’ There is a pause. ‘Is it possible he ran past you and went outside?’

‘I wouldn’t have thought he would have done that.’

‘Is it possible?’

‘I fell asleep. So it’s possible. Unlikely, but possible.’

‘We have another play complex outside. Maybe he went there.’

‘Why would he do that without telling anyone? He’s never been there before.’

John starts to cry. ‘I want my baby brother.’

I lift him into my arms.

‘We’ll find him. He can’t have gone far,’ I tell him.

We follow the manager out of the Snakes and Ladders indoor arena, across the car park towards a large wooden climbing frame built in the shape of a fortress with boardwalk walls. The castle teems with children racing around the walls. I stand next to the manager, clinging on to John who is still crying, and a fist of panic suddenly squeezes me inside. Where is my son? Where has he gone? 

What’s happened to him?

More about the Author...

After graduating, Amanda Robson worked in medical research at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and at the Poisons Unit at Guy’s Hospital where she became a co-author of a book on cyanide poisoning.

Amanda attended the Faber novel writing course and writes full-time. Obsession is her debut novel.

You can visit Amanda on Facebook
Follow on Twitter @LadySion

Here's what I thought about Obsession..

When Carly, on a family holiday, asks her husband Rob a fateful question "who else would you go for, if you could?” ...little does she realise the chain of events which are about to be unleashed and which, in consequence have a devastating effect, not just on her and Rob's marriage, but also on the, marriage of their close friends, Craig and Jenni.

Both families are in close contact, their children run freely together, and the families share days out and happy times. However, piece by jagged piece, a sorry tale of infidelity starts to emerge and the darkness and volatility of toxic relationships begins to overshadow everything that was once normal. In separate chapters each of the main characters share their own devastating story which strikes at the very heart of family life.

And that is really all I can say without giving anything of the plot away...

It's a clever author who can keep you reading a story when none of the main characters are remotely likeable. I looked and looked for snippets of redeeming qualities in any of the major players and found nothing to elicit an ounce of sympathy from me. In truth, and I won't reveal any spoilers, I was quite relieved when the story ended ,and with no with disrespect intended to the author, I'd just about had enough of all the whole sorry lot of them!

Clever, twisty, and suspenseful, Obsession is one of those books that keeps you turning the page long into the night just to see what on earth is going to happen next.

Best Read with ..Big Mac, chips and a super sized coffee..

My thanks to Helena at Harper Collins for the kind invitation to be part of this blog tour and for the opportunity to share this extract from Obsession with you.

Follow the Blog Tour on Twitter #Obsession until the 24th May for more exciting content.

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Blog Tour ~ The Other Us by Fiona Harper

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be on the The Other Us Blog Tour

Published by HQ
4 May 2017

What's it all about..

If you could turn back time, would you choose a different life?

Forty-something Maggie is facing some hard truths. Her only child has flown the nest for university and, without her daughter in the house, she’s realising her life, and her marriage to Dan, is more than a little stale.

When she spots an announcement on Facebook about a uni reunion, she can’t help wondering what happened to Jude Hanson. The same night Dan proposed, Jude asked Maggie to run away with him, and she starts to wonder how different her life might have been if she’d broken Dan’s heart and taken Jude up on his offer.

Wondering turns into fantasising, and then one morning fantasising turns into reality. Maggie wakes up and discovers she’s back in 1992 and twenty-one again. Is she brave enough to choose the future she really wants, and if she is, will the grass be any greener on the other side of the fence?

Two men. Two very different possible futures. But is there only once chance at happiness?

I am delighted to share the author's own What ifs moments...

When reading the book you can’t help thinking of the ‘Sliding Doors’ moments I’ve had in my life. Is there one that sticks out for you? What was the decision? And did you pick the right path?!

There are definitely some things I’d wondered ‘what if?’ – particularly when it comes to career choices. I was keen on art and English and performing arts when I was at school, and it was a bit of a toss-up between whether I went to do a degree in dance or graphic design. I ended up choosing dance, which I loved, but there weren’t many jobs around when I left university, just as the recession of the early 90s hit. I’m not sure if I’d have been happier going the other path, but I definitely would have made more money! But then, if I’d chosen design, would I have ended up as a writer? Maybe not. And that would have been awful, because I love my job so much.

Even knowing this is the right career choice for me, there are other ‘what if’s’: I didn’t start writing novels until I was 35. Should I have tried when I was younger? If I had, maybe I’d have a very different career by now but, then again, I have a feeling I wasn’t ready to write a book in my twenties, so maybe I’d have crashed and burned, got disheartened and never given it another go.

We all have hundreds of these moments every day, probably without being aware of it. However, second-guessing every decision and pining for the path not travelled will probably not only send you quietly insane but is ultimately useless. No one can go back and undo the past; all we can do is use what we’ve learned along the journey we’ve already taken and step boldly into the future.

What did I think about The Other Us..

I am sure that we all have those 'what if'' moments where we wonder just what would have happened if we had turned the other corner or made a very different life choice. And that's just what happens to Maggie who wakes to find herself in a very different place. Instead of a being a forty something mum, married to Dan, on the eve of her University reunion, Maggie wakes to find that she is back at University, but as a twenty-one year old, with her best friend Becca, and with all her life ahead of her.

What then follows is a cleverly put together time travel/alternative life story which looks at all the opportunities of going in a different direction, and unlikely as the sliding door theory of life is, there is nothing more fascinating than wondering just what would happen if, in a parallel past life, things could change in a heartbeat.

The story flows well and the author does a really good job of threading together all the different strands. I had to concentrate at times, because sometimes Maggie’s life changes quickly, but I found each individual story interesting and I hoped that Maggie would make the right choices. What those choices are, I’m not going to reveal as I’m sure you would like to find out for yourself.

Warm and witty, wise and serious, The Other Us would make an ideal holiday read.

Best Read With...A glass of lukewarm Lambrusco and some cheesey nibbles..



More about Fiona...

Coming from two generations of journalists, writing was in Fiona Harper’s genes. As a child she was constantly teased for having her nose in a book and living in a dream world. Things haven't changed much since then, but at least in writing she's found a use for her runaway imagination! She loves dancing, cooking, reading and watching a good romance. Fiona lives in London with her family.

Visit her website

Twitter @FiHarper_Author

 Follow the Book #TheOtherUs

My thanks to the author for her guest post today and also to Rebekah at Midas for the invitation to be part of this Blog Tour.

Do visit the other stops on the tour for more fun content.

 Follow the Book #TheOtherUs

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😻 It's our Sixth Blogoversary 😻

Six years ago I took a leap of faith and decided that, with Jaffa's help, I would start to record, on my own website, my thoughts about the books I was reading. I was already an active reviewer on Goodreads and Amazon and also reviewed books for Newbooks Magazine, Love Reading and Real Readers, so reviewing wasn't new to me, however, blogging was a completely different way of sharing my thoughts, both on my blog and also on social media. Social media was something of an enigma and when I started to blog, I didn't use either Facebook or Twitter, so getting to be familiar with both was a huge learning curve, and something I needed to get the hang of quickly if I wanted Jaffareadstoo to survive in a huge pool of blogs and bloggers.

A few of my online friends had already started to blog, some using Wordpress and others using Blogger to host their sites. And whilst I looked at both options, I decided that I rather liked the look of Blogger and its easy way of adding posts and pictures - so I decided to give it a try. My 'blogging' friends were a big help in the early days of Jaffareadstoo and they continue to be a huge support and an endless source of both help and inspiration. I am indebted to the excellent bloggers who continue to support my endeavors and who are always around to share nuggets of wisdom, and of course, their love of books and reading. 

Once I had the basic design, the blog needed a name, and some time previously my daughter had taken a photograph of, the then, kittenish, Jaffa, perched on my knee reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and she made the comment .." Jaffa reads too, and of course, there it was, my magical name, and thus, Jaffareadstoo was born.

Six years, and nearly 2000 blog posts later, Jaffareadstoo continues to survive and thrive in a world where book bloggers sometimes get a hard time. The notion that we get paid for reviewing books rears its ugly head time after time. To put the record straight - I DON'T get paid to review any of the books I share on my blog. I buy just as many books as I get for free and I spend hours and hours online making sure that Jaffareadstoo is both informative and fun.

As long as my love of books survives then so will Jaffareadstoo. Thanks for being with us over the last six years - we couldn't do this without the people who read and support us every day. Nor could we survive without all the wonderful authors and publishers who grace our pages and who make this blogging experience so much FUN 😊

As a  I have six lovely books to giveaway to new homes

Entry is really simple - just leave a nice comment on here, or on our Jaffareadstoo Facebook page.

Tell us which book you fancy reading and Jaffa will add ALL the names into his sorting hat on the 15th May - 😻

If by chance, you have read all these lovely books then opt for a mystery prize which Jaffa has put together in secret...

  

    

Just a few points:

Please be kind and follow our blog if you do not already do so or follow us on Twitter @jaffareadstoo or like us on Facebook

Leave a comment either on here or on our Facebook page and don't forget to tell us which book... or  mystery prize !

And leave us some contact details - either an email or Twitter username

We will post within UK and Europe 

👇You've just a week to add your lovely comments 👇

Good Luck.

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Sunday WW1 Remembered...

When I first started this WW1 commemoration back in 2014 I mainly featured poetry.

This month I will share my favourite poems

My Boy Jack 

by

Rudyard Kipling

(1865-1935)

“Have you news of my boy Jack?”

Not this tide.

“When d’you think that he’ll come back?”

Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

“Has any one else had word of him?”

Not this tide.

For what is sunk will hardly swim,

Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

“Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?”

None this tide,

Nor any tide,

Except he did not shame his kind —

Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.

Then hold your head up all the more,

This tide,

And every tide;

Because he was the son you bore,

And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!

Rudyard Kipling was an English novelist and poet. He wrote My Boy Jack after the loss of his beloved son at the Battle of Loos in 1915.

Kipling is best remembered for his short stories and children's tales.

Listen Here

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Close to Home... Amanda Brooke

As a book reviewer I have made contact with authors from all across the globe and feel immensely privileged to be able to share some amazing work. However, there is always something rather special when a book comes to my attention which has been written by an author in my part of the North of England. So with this in mind I have great pleasure in featuring some of those authors who are literally close to my home. Over the next few Saturdays, and hopefully beyond, I will be sharing the work of a very talented bunch of Northern authors and discovering just what being a Northerner means to them both in terms of inspiration and also in their writing.   

Please welcome North West Writer

Amanda Brooke

Hi Amanda, welcome to Jaffareadstoo and thank you for spending time with us today and for sharing your love of the North West with us..

Tell us a little about yourself and what got you started as an author?

I’ve lived in Liverpool all my life, and although I was an avid reader growing up, I was more inclined to write computer programs on my Sinclair Spectrum than I was stories. It wasn’t until I was in my late thirties that I took an interest in writing, and it was at a time when I desperately needed some way to channel my emotions. My son Nathan was twenty one months old when he was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2004, and I found writing poetry and keeping a journal helped me remain strong for both my son and his older sister Jessica. When he died in 2006, writing was a way for me to process my grief and at first I wrote about my son, but once all of those precious memories were committed to paper, I found I wanted to carry on writing. Yesterday’s Sun was my first attempt at women’s fiction and was inspired by my experiences of motherhood. The manuscript not only secured my first book deal, but it was also selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club in 2012. I’m slightly stunned to have seven novels published so far with more to come, all because of one little boy who has left such an amazing legacy.

Your books are written in the North West – how have the people and its landscape shaped your stories?

It’s hard not to be influenced by the region I know so well, and four of my books have been based in and around Liverpool. I like sharing some of the city’s highlights that might not be so well known to my readers, and it’s an added bonus that I don’t have to travel too far if I need to research a particular location. In the Child’s Secret, I based much of the story in and around Calderstones Park in Liverpool, and the focal point was the thousand year old tree known as The Allerton Oak.

There are times, however, when I prefer to use a completely fictional setting and two of my books are set in a town called Sedgefield nestled ‘somewhere,’ in the Cheshire countryside. I first created the town when I was writing Where I Found You because central to the story was a public park that had become so fixed in my imagination that I couldn’t find a real park that quite matched the scenes I’d been developing in my mind. More recently in The Affair, I chose to use Sedgefield because it involves a scandal and a schoolgirl, I didn’t want to implicate a real school.

   

As for the people, I tend to develop my characters based on their circumstances rather than the setting, although I suppose I must give my characters certain traits that root them in the North West even if it’s not deliberate. One scene that comes to mind is in The Goodbye Gift where one of my characters is on the bus going home and starts chatting to an older lady who attempts to set her up with her newly divorced son. I can easily imagine that happening in my home town, but wonder if it could happen so easily in other parts of the country.

In your research for your books, do you visit any of the places you write about and which have made a lasting impression?

In Another Way to Fall, I feature St Luke’s Church in Liverpool, which is more commonly known as the Bombed Out Church. I had driven past it countless times on my way to and from work, but never thought to go inside until I started writing the book.

The church is at the top of Bold Street in the city centre and was a parish church up until it was bombed during the blitz. An incendiary device landed at one end of the church and the fire swept through the entire building, completely destroying the roof and interior as well as bringing some of St Luke’s famous bells crashing to the ground. Amazingly, the stone façade survived unscathed and that’s what makes it such an iconic building. The sandstone tower and ornate pinnacles still look perfect today, and at first glance you may not even notice that the roof and the windows are missing. 

In Another Way to Fall, my main character Emma is dying from a brain tumour and decides to write another version of her life in her last months. She wants to get married in St Luke’s, and although the ruined church isn’t licensed for wedding ceremonies, this is her dream wedding and anything is possible. The church is a desolate ruin with charred timbers and fragments of stained glass windows, and yet you can’t help but look at the building and see its strength and magnificence, and I couldn’t think of a more poignant setting for my heroine.

 If you were pitching the North West as an ideal place to live, work and write – how would you sell it and what makes it so special?

It’s only when asked a question like this that I realise how fortunate I am to be in the North West. The region stretches from the Cheshire plains up to the Lakes, with the Irish Sea on one side and the Pennines on the other. The landscape has a rich tapestry that should appeal to every taste, from metropolitan cities and historic towns to dramatic countryside and coastlines. It’s a place that has nurtured home-grown talent right across the creative arts and has the potential to inspire so much more.

As a writer based in the North West, does this present any problems in terms of marketing and promoting your books and if so, how do you overcome them?

My publisher and agent are both based in London, but it helps having a good train network that allows me to get there in two hours. Technology helps too although it’s much harder to develop personal relationships by email and telephone, but the advent of social media has meant I can still network to some degree.

Personal appearances at festivals and libraries are a little more difficult and I’ve tended to focus my tours around the North West. You would think that would make life easier, but not always. I’ve had some brilliant receptions at libraries around Greater Manchester but there are times when the M60 seems more like a moat than a motorway. My worst experience was travelling to Alkrington library in Rochdale in 30 degree heat. The one hour journey took three hours and I was mortified to be 20 minutes late – and I hate being late or letting people down. The upside was that the audience were so warm and forgiving, and I had the best time once I was there!

Writing is a solitary business - how do you interact with other authors?

Yes, it is a solitary business, and as someone who has only recently given up the day job to write full time, I’m keen to nurture the friendships I’ve developed with other writers. The easiest and most accessible route is through social media, and I can always turn to Twitter for support when I’m having one of those moments of self-doubt, and more often than not, I’ll find someone else there who’s feeling exactly the same. 

I’m fortunate in that I write for a large publisher and HarperCollins hold annual events for their authors where I get to meet some of the people I’ve been connecting with on social media. More locally, I try to go to book events where I can to give support to other local authors and to make new friends.

How supportive are local communities to your writing, and are there ever any opportunities for book shops, local reading groups, or libraries to be involved in promoting/ your work?

I did a rather intensive stint of library talks a couple of years ago based around the North West. It was hard going because I was working full time as well, but I loved doing it. It’s quite humbling to have readers take time out to meet me, and I always try to keep my talks relaxed and informal. I probably reveal far too much about myself than I should, but people in the North West have a reputation for being warm and welcoming and the audiences have always put me at my ease. I don’t think people realise how much it means to an author to have local support. Publishing is a tough business and while I can put all my efforts into marketing, what really counts is the readers who pass on recommendations or leave reviews.

Of all your books to date, have you a favourite, and why?

My first book, Yesterday’s Sun will always have a special place in my heart. Not only was it the book that secured my first book deal, but of all my books, it was the one I felt compelled to write. I constructed a story where my main character Holly is able to sacrifice her own life for that of her child. 

Writing those crucial scenes was intensely emotional and in some ways cathartic. Through my character, I was able to do what I couldn’t in real life, but I suppose that sums up what writing and reading books is all about.

To discover more about Amanda and her writing, please visit her website  

Visit her on Facebook

Follow on Twitter @AmandaBrooke AB

Amazon

Huge thanks to Amanda for being such a lovely guest today and for sharing her love of  Liverpool and the North West with us 

I hope that you have enjoyed this Close to Home Feature

Coming next week : Caroline Wallace




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