Greenwich Park - Katherine Faulkner

I've been looking forward to quite a few new titles coming out in 2022. Katherine Faulkner's debut novel, Greenwich Park, has been at the top of the list. And if you enjoy twisty suspense that will keep you guessing, you need to put this book on your must read list.

Helen, her husband Daniel, her brother Rory and his wife Serena all went to University together. They lead the enviable lives of the wealthy. And now Helen and her sister-in-law are each expecting their first child. For Helen it's a frightening time as she's had many miscarriages. So, she is off work and ordered to take it easy. Helen ends up solo at her prenatal classes and meets Rachel - a young woman who is also pregnant. Rachel is loud, flamboyant and doesn't seem to read social cues. She's the opposite of Helen, but still, she is drawn to Rachel. Perhaps it's because she's lonely....

Uh huh - you can see where this is going can't you? Or can you? Is Rachel what and who she says she is? Or does she have another reason for befriending Helen? Faulkner puts her own twist - or I should say twists - on the idea of a stranger insinuating themselves into someone's life.  

Helen is the perfect unsuspecting, unreliable lead character. She's afraid to offend anyone, wants to do the 'right' thing and seems to not want to address the cracks in her own life. The supporting cast provide many choices for the 'whodunit'. None of them are truly likeable and each seems to be harboring their own secrets. Some of those supporting players are given their own voice, giving the reader more clues as to what is going on - and why.

I thought I had things all figured out - I was happily proven wrong. I love being surprised by a author. And just when I thought things were all neatly tied up, Faulkner changes the endgame - again. Bravo!

A binge worthy debut and I look forward to Faulkner's next book. See for yourself - read an excerpt of Greenwich Park.

One By One - Ruth Ware

I read Ruth Ware's In a Dark, Dark Wood back in 2015. It was a 'closed room' mystery. A group of friends gathers at a remote cabin. And you guessed it - there are deaths....I loved it and have eagerly awaited each of Ware's new releases.

That 'closed room' format is one of my favorite premises. Ware takes us there again in her latest release, One By One. Ten employees are sent on a corporate retreat to an isolated chalet high in the French Alps. With the two chalet employes on site, that makes twelve. (Yes, there are comparisons) Tensions are running high within the corporate group. When an avalanche snows them in, things turn deadly - and the body count begins.

Oh, One by One was such an excellent read for me! Each and every one of the characters has a secret, an agenda, a scheme. They're all very disparate personalities with the corporate crew decidedly unlikable. The reader won't have a problem remembering who is who, even with such a large cast. The about us page at the beginning of the book lays the groundwork on who's who.

The group of ten are all employees of Snoop - a music app that lets the user see in real time what others they follow are listening to. Very current and very real. (Watch the Snoop stats at the beginning of every chapter.)

Ware drops lots of clues along the way to the final whodunit. The book is told from the viewpoint of two of the characters in a back and forth narrative. I did have my suspicions (and was right), but this in no way detracted from my enjoyment of the book. Honestly, I couldn't put the book down. We find out who the killer is, but there's a good eighty pages after that. The tension. does. not. stop. Those last pages detail a delicious cat and mouse game.

Ware's writing is so easy to get caught up in. Either way - if you've read Ware before or this is a new to you author - you're going to enjoy One By One.

The Magnificent Mrs. Mayhew - Milly Johnson

The Magnificent Mrs. Mayhew is a first read of Milly Johnson for me - but it won't be my last!

Sophie has been brought up to stifle her emotions and 'do her duty'. That duty doesn't include herself. Instead she is to support her husband, a politician who has a good shot of being Prime Minister. She has always done what is necessary to help his career. After all, he loves her - doesn't he?

Until....Doorstepgate.....the day that Trophy Sophie has had enough. Enough of her husband, their families and not enough of herself. She runs away to the only place she truly remembers being herself - and being happy. To a small village by the sea. (Who doesn't want to live in a village by the sea?!

The first few chapters have a lot of political machinations and descriptions - not my favorite. But it does give us an idea of what Sophie is living with and shy she rebels. (In fine fashion!)

The real treat is when she lands in the village. The village is home to many quaint shops, kind and generous villagers - and a handsome vicar and his son.... Uh huh, there is most definitely some attraction there.

I loved Milly as a lead character - the reader can't help but feel outraged at how her family and husband treat her. (And they are quite despicably well depicted) And hope that that little spark inside her can grow. The supporting cast in the village is simply wonderful - you can't help but wish you lived there! Johnson develops the Sophie romantic sub plot at the just the right speed - as friends with no agenda. There are also some other relationships in the village that need repair and these too are well depicted. There's a wee touch of magic in an old house as well that makes you wonder.....

And although the book builds towards it and the reader has an inkling of what it might be, the ending is simply perfect! I wonder if there could be more stories from this Yorkshire village?

Jenny Colgan is one of my go-to's for feel good reading. I've added Milly Johnson to that list as well! See for yourself - here's an excerpt of The Magnificent Mrs. Mayhew.

The Summer Guests - Mary Alice Monroe

Looking for a summer beach read? Look no further than Mary Alice Monroe's new novel - The Summer Guests!

A hurricane is set to strike the Florida and North Carolina coasts. Grace Phillips lives inland and has offered a number of her diverse group of friends to take refuge at her inland farm. The one thing they have in common? Horses.

The weather mirrors the lives of the large character cast. As the hurricane threatens, the lives of the characters are facing stormy times. When the storm hits, lives change and as the storm eases up, new paths are set for almost everyone over the course of ten days. (And a lot happens!)

All types of relationships are explored - friendship, mother/daughter, romantic, working - and horses. I am completely in the dark about equine matters and I learned quite a bit from Monroe's descriptions and settings. Again, much of the equine situations mirror what's going on in the lives of the group.

It is a diverse group and readers will gravitate towards some players (I really liked Moira and her mother Grace - maybe we'll see them in a future book?). And dislike others. With so many characters, the narrative changed often and I felt like I didn't really get to 'know' them as much as I would have liked.

The Summer Guests takes inspiration from Munroe's own life and experiences through an evacuation, her knowledge of the horse community and of course, the Southern settings.

This was a first read of Mary Alice Monroe for me. The Summer Guests engaged me, the story was entertaining and it just seemed right for beach reading. See for  yourself - here's an excerpt of The Summer Guests.

"Mary Alice Monroe is the New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including the Beach House series: The Beach House, Beach House Memories, Swimming Lessons, Beach House for Rent, and Beach House Reunion. She is a 2018 Inductee into the South Carolina Academy of Authors’ Hall of Fame, and her books have received numerous awards, including the 2008 South Carolina Center for the Book Award for Writing, the 2014 South Carolina Award for Literary Excellence, the 2015 SW Florida Author of Distinction Award, the RT Lifetime Achievement Award, the International Book Award for Green Fiction, and the 2017 Southern Book Prize for Fiction. Her bestselling novel The Beach House is also a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. An active conservationist, she lives in the lowcountry of South Carolina." Visit her at her website and like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Are You Sleeping - Kathleen Barber

I'm going to use the publisher's description to introduce you to Kathleen Barber's wonderful debut novel novel - Are You Sleeping.

"Serial meets Ruth Ware’s In A Dark, Dark Wood in this inventive and twisty psychological thriller about a mega-hit podcast that reopens a murder case - and threatens to unravel the carefully constructed life of the victim’s daughter."

Uh huh - it definitely caught my eye - 'twisty' and 'psychological' always do! Would Are You Sleeping live up to this blurb? Yes it did - Barber delivers as promised - this was a wonderfully addicting read!

Father murdered, next door neighbour convicted on her sister's testimony, mother running off and joining a cult. It's no wonder Josie left home as soon as she was able. But with the death of her mother, she reluctantly returns home for the funeral. She has created a life for herself with the man she loves. But she's lied to him about everything. The podcast opens not just the case, but the wounds and secrets in this family.

Past and present are explored through Josie's narrative. Those memories, the tumultuous present and that podcast raise nothing but questions for Josie. I really liked Josie as a main character. And I disliked her sister Lainie just as much. The dynamic between the two is quite complicated and underlines how much our younger years affect the present. There's something 'off' about a number of supporting characters and I had suspicions about many of them.

I thought Barber's format was an inventive premise. I loved the inclusion of tweets, news articles, transcripts, blog comments and more. The podcast as a driving part of the plot is so very current - as is the public's fascination with such cases. The 'right of the public to know' and invasion of people's lives in the name of news also speaks to today's society. The investigative reporter - Poppy - is a perfect caricature of this style of reporting.

Are You Sleeping is a commentary on society, an exploration of familial relationships and a really good whodunnit. (Yes, it's a twisty ending!) I really enjoyed it and will be looking for Barber's next book. Read an excerpt of Are You Sleeping.

You can connect with Kathleen Barber on her website, like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Close Enough to Touch - Colleen Oakley

Close Enough to Touch is Colleen Oakley's newest novel.

Our protagonist is Jubilee Jenkins who suffers from a rare condition - she is deathly allergic to other people. Being touched by them specifically. Understandably, Jubilee has retreated from the world. But when her mother dies, financial straits drive her out into the world.

I quite liked the character of Jubilee - she's quirky with a great sense of humour. But what clinched the deal was her love of books. She manages to secure a job as a library assistant. Here, Oakley had me nodding uh huh and laughing out loud. You see, I work in a public library as well. Warning someone about viewing questionable material (okay let's just say it - porn) in a public space, amorous patrons in the stacks, toilet paper thievery and more. I loved this (very true) line: " The job is really only about sixty percent books. The other forty percent is community service. Mostly mental health."

Okay, I digress. Now that she's managed to get out in the world, Jubilee is of course going to be in contact with people. Not necessarily physical. She meets Eric and his son Aja at the library. Eric and Aja both are 'wounded' as well. Eric is divorced and his daughter won't speak to him. Aja's birth parents are dead and he and Eric are still trying to figure things out.

I enjoyed Jubilee's rediscovery of the world, her forays into friendship and her hopes for what might be. Aja was also a favourite. His view of the world and his coping mechanisms were heart-breaking. It's no wonder that he and Jubilee bond. But here's where I had a hard time. I just didn't like Eric. I found him insensitive, self-centered and self serving. Yes, he is trying to reconnect with his daughter - through texts as she won't speak to him, but he isn't really seeing the child in front of him. And even after he learns of Jubilee's condition, he still wants to reach out and touch her. I just couldn't buy the 'so enamoured I can't help myself.'

Close Enough to Touch is one of those books that you can't predict where its going to go. And as the end drew near, I grew quite happy with the turn things took. And then Oakley changed the direction of the ending. Abruptly. And this reader didn't like it. In an effort to remain spoiler free, I won't go into details. But if you've read the book, I'd love to know what you thought about the ending. Read an excerpt of Close Enough to Touch.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things By Iain Reid

Iain Reid is the author of two award winning non-fiction titles. (I really enjoyed One Bird's Choice - my review) I'm Thinking of Ending Things is his fiction debut.

Rather than try to paraphrase the plot, I'm simply going to quote from the publisher....

"You will be scared. But you won't know why....

In this deeply suspenseful and irresistibly unnerving debut novel, a man and is girlfriend are on their way to a secluded farm. What follows is a twisted unraveling and an unforgettable ending that will haunt you long after the last page is turned."

True, true, true! Oh, this was such an unsettling, disturbing, addicting little read. (I literally read it straight through in one sitting - it's 224 pages)

Jake and his unnamed girlfriend are travelling in the car. There seems to be a serious disconnect between the two looking in from the outside. Jake is quiet, intellectual, but a bit off in some way. The girlfriend is torn - they have been happy, maybe they still could be, but maybe it's just not working. She's thinking of ending things.

"I’m thinking of ending things. Once this thought arrives, it stays. It sticks. It lingers. It’s always there. Always."

There's some weird stuff in her own life, a stranger that keeps phoning her over and over with the same message. Things get odder when they reach their destination and downright terrifying when they leave. My thoughts and feelings about each character changed many times over the course of the book.

Interspersed are comments after a death takes place. No name is ever uttered, but there are clues in these remarks.

I kept turning pages, getting closer to the end, but not feeling sure of anything that was happening. I was frightened, horrified and quite shocked and surprised by the time I read the last pages. Enough so, that I had to go back to the beginning and take a second look at how Reid adroitly manipulated me. A second read is not out of the question, now that I know what I know. Events, actions, thoughts and dialogue would take on a whole different tenor. Read an excerpt of I'm Thinking of Ending Things.

You can connect with Iain Reid on his Website and follow him on Twitter.

Giveaway - Losing Faith - Adam Mitzner

Who writes great legal thrillers? Lawyers do! Adam Mitzner's third book, Losing Faith, releases tomorrow - and I have a copy to giveaway, courtesy of Gallery Books.

From the publisher:

"Aaron Littman is the premier lawyer of his generation and the chairman of Cromwell Altman, the most powerful law firm in New York City, when a high-profile new client threatens all that he’s achieved—and more. Nicolai Garkov is currently the most reviled figure in America, accused of laundering funds for the Russian Mafia and financing a terrorist bombing in Red Square that killed twenty-six people, including three American students.

Garkov is completely unrepentant, admitting his guilt to Aaron, but with a plan for exoneration that includes blackmailing the presiding judge, the Honorable Faith Nichols. If the judge won’t do his bidding, Garkov promises to go public with irrefutable evidence of an affair between Aaron and Faith—the consequences of which would not only destroy their reputations but quite possibly end their careers.

Garkov has made his move. Now it’s Aaron and Faith’s turn. And in an ever-shocking psychological game of power, ethics, lies, and justice, they could never have predicted where those moves will take them—or what they are prepared to do to protect the truth." Read an excerpt of Losing Faith.

Or you might want to have a listen to the audio verson. 
      

Adam Mitzner, a lawyer by day, is also the author of A Case of Redemption and A Conflict of Interest. He lives in New York City, with his wife and children." "Adam Mitzner’s critically acclaimed legal thrillers have “more loops and flips than Coney Island’s Cyclone” (Kirkus Reviews) and “more twists than a California cloverleaf interchange” (Bookreporter). His latest, a captivating examination of justice and ethics, will leave you guessing until the last page."

Sound like a book you'd like to read? I have one copy to giveaway away. Open to US and Canada, no PO boxes please. Enter using the Rafflecopter form below. Ends May 2/15.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Troop - Nick Cutter

Right off the top, I have to say - I had this review written and then discovered they had changed the cover from the original - which was much better in my opinion. But what's inside is good, no matter what the cover looks like.

Nick Cutter is a pseudonym for a Canadian author Craig Davidson. His latest novel is The Troop. Remember last week I said I liked scary stories? Well, this one filled the bill - and more.

Five Scouts from Troop Fifty Two set off with Scoutmaster Tim for a weekend camp on isolated Falstaff Island, Prince Edward Island.

Their first night there, a gaunt, skeletal man appears and begs to be fed - he's so very, very hungry. The reader alone is privy to his thoughts..."Would they come for him? He was their failure - a human blooper reel - but also the keeper of their secret. And he was so. so toxic. At least, that's what he overheard them say."

Okay, great set-up eh? Isolated island, scary, weird guy showing up and five fourteen year old boys left to face whatever has come to camp on Falstaff Island with them.

"And so when adults find themselves in a situation where that nimbleness (of mind) is needed ..well they can't summon it. So they fall to pieces: go insane, panic, suffer heart attacks and aneurysms brought on by fright. Why?" They simply don't believe it could be happening. That's what's different about kids: they believe everything  can happen, and fully expect it to."

But, there's dissension among the troop as well. Cutter has given us five protagonists - all with their own strengths and weakness. A bit predictable - there is a smart one, a fat one, a psycho one, etc. But Cutter does an excellent job at fleshing them all out and making them quite believable.

The infection process is squeamishly nasty - I found myself doing the book version of covering your eyes with a pillow whilst watching a scary move - I started skimming the visceral, detailed descriptions. It's not something I usually do, but Cutter had me squirming.

While the boys are trying to figure what's going on, Cutter employs a good tactic to let us, the reader, know the truth. Newspaper articles, police reports and classified documents are interspersed throughout the scenes on the island. (As I noted the locations used in the book, I realized I had visited many of them!)

The Troop is classified as a horror book - not my usual genre. But it was undeniably addicting. The cause of the contagion/virus/mutation is revealed by the final page. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry - it's an excellent social comment on human behaviour.

Fans of Stephen King would love this book. (And King himself says The Troop scared the hell out of me, and I couldn’t put it down. This is old-school horror at its best."

 Think Lord of the Flies paired with Scott Smith's The Ruins. And just for fun - here's the original cover.