quippe | Recent Entries

The Blurb On The Back:

The body of a young woman is found on the streets of East London, in the shadow of the City’s gleaming towers. No ID on her, just hard-earned cash. But there is no doubting the ferocity of the attack.

DI Simon Fenchurch takes charge but, as his team tries to identify her and piece together her murder, they’re faced with cruel indifference at every turn – nobody cares about yet another dead prostitute. To Fenchurch, however, she could just as easily be Chloe, his daughter still missing after ten years, whose memory still haunts his days and nights, his burning obsession having killed his marriage.

When a second body is discovered, Fenchurch must peel back the grimy layers shrouding the London sex trade, confronting his own traumatic past while racing to undo a scheme larger, more complex and more evil than anything he could possibly have imagined.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Ed James’s police procedural crime novel (the first in a series) is a so-so affair that offers up another tortured male police officer devoted to his job and to finding out what happened to his daughter but with little emotional intelligence and whose interesting plot is spoilt by an overblown finale that was too overdone to be believable such that while I kept turning the pages, I don’t think I’ll continue with the series.

The Blurb On The Back:

Old spooks carry the memory of tradecraft in their bones, and when Solomon Dortmund sees an envelope being passed from one pair of hands to another in a Marylebone cafe, he knows he's witnessed more than an innocent encounter. But in relaying his suspicions to John Bachelor, who babysits retired spies like Solly, he sets in train events which will alter lives. Bachelor himself, a hair's breadth away from sleeping in his car, is clawing his way back to stability; Hannah Weiss, the double agent whose recruitment was his only success, is starting to enjoy the secrets and lies her role demands; and Lech Wicinski, an Intelligence Service analyst, finds that a simple favour for an old acquaintance might derail his career. Meanwhile, Lady Di Taverner is trying to keep the Service on an even keel, and if that means throwing the odd crew member overboard, well: collateral damage is her speciality.

A drop, in spook parlance, is the passing on of secret information.

It's also what happens just before you hit the ground.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Mick Herron’s latest addition to THE SLOUGH HOUSE SERIES is a tightly written short story that picks up where THE LIST left off with Herron’s customary wit and fast pacing but while it’s enjoyable, it’s more of an episode in a side series than a story in its own right and expensive for what it is. Unless you’re a hard core fan, my advice would be to wait for these novellas to be amalgamated into a collection rather than buying them separately.

THE DROP was released in the United Kingdom on 1st November 2018. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Following a brutal attack by her ex-boyfriend, Kate Priddy makes an uncharacteristically bold decision after her cousin, Corbin Dell, suggests a temporary apartment swap – and she moves from London to Boston.

But soon after her arrival Kate makes a shocking discovery: Corbin’s next-door neighbour, a young woman named Audrey Marshall, has been murdered. When the police begin asking questions about Corbin’s relationship with Audrey, and his neighbours come forward with their own suspicions, a shaken Kate has few answers, and many questions of her own.

Jetlagged and emotionally unstable, her imagination playing out her every fear, Kate can barely trust herself, so how can she trust any of the strangers she’s just met?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Peter Swanson’s standalone psychological thriller is a hackneyed affair that’s driven by hackneyed coincidence, implausible characters, a deeply misguided romance with a peeping tom and a deeply silly plot that nods at STRANGERS ON A TRAIN and although I believed in the main character’s anxiety (which is well depicted), she’s very much a victim all the way through the plot, which made it impossible for me to empathise with her.

The Blurb On The Back:

Everyone’s going to remember where they were when the taps ran dry.

The drought – or the tap-out, as everyone calls it – has been going on for a while. Life has become an endless list of don’ts: don’t water the lawn, don’t take long showers, don’t panic. But now there’s no water left at all.

Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation and violence. When her parents go missing, she and her younger brother must team up with an unlikely group in search of water. Each of them will need to make impossible choices to survive.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Neal and Jarrod Shusterman’s near-future YA apocalyptic novel is a timely story that draws on a real-life, on-going water crisis and features some interesting characters (notably Jacqui, the hard-boiled borderline psychopath and Henry, a self-absorbed opportunist) and challenging situations but the plot strains at times while also being oddly cliché and I found the deus ex machina ending disappointing.

DRY was released in the United Kingdom on 4th October 2018. Thanks to Walker Books for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

They sought the truth.
They found a nightmare.

A TV crew arrives at the Grand Canyon led by Nolan Moore, amateur archaeologist and host of The Anomaly Files. Following the trail of a turn of the century explorer, the team seek proof of a hidden cave within the canyon, filled with ancient treasures.

At first, it seems that, once again, the crew will be returning to LA empty-handed. But then their luck turns. They find a cave – and artefacts beyond their wildest imaginations. But quickly the team’s elation descends into a nightmare as they become trapped within the cavern’s dark passages with little possibility of escape.

Then events take an even more terrifying turn.

For not all secrets are meant to be found …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

THE X FILES meets THE DESCENT in this entertaining horror thriller by Michael Rutger (aka award winning speculative writer Michael Marshall Smith), and while I was left with questions about the plot, the story is riddled with a wry, dry humour and throws a knowing wink at the conspiracy subculture that dominates certain aspects of the internet, which kept me engaged from beginning to end.

THE ANOMALY was released in the United Kingdom on 23rd August 2018. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

When Jordan Bishop sets himself on fire at school he triggered a nationwide crackdown on internet bullying. New laws empower teachers to become cyber snoops.

But this is not what Jordan would have wanted.

For Eli Bennett, too, the laws put fundamental freedoms at risk. So he joined a group of guerrilla hackers who are out to get justice for Jordan, Jordan-style.

What starts as a bit of fun soon spirals out of control.

Could revenge on bullies be classed as bullying itself? By avenging Jordan’s life are they risking the lives of others?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Erin Lange’s contemporary YA novel is a thoughtful story about peer pressure, bullying, the flaws in social media and surveillance culture and personal responsibility and although I didn’t completely buy into the ending I think that there’s a lot here that the target readership can relate to through Eli’s experiences.

THE CHAOS OF NOW was released in the United Kingdom on 2nd October 2018. Thanks to Faber & Faber for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

On the Baltic Sea, no one can hear you scream …

Tonight, twelve hundred expectant passengers have joined the booze-cruise between Sweden and Finland. The creaking old ship travels this same route, back and forth, every day of the year.

But this trip is going to be different.

In the middle of the night the ferry is suddenly cut off from the outside world. There is nowhere to escape. There is no way to contact the mainland. And no one knows who they can trust.

Relationships are about to be tested. Ordinary people are forced to become heroes. But what happens this night may also bring out the worst in people …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Mats Strandberg’s vampire horror thriller is an entertaining mix of THE POSEIDEN ADVENTURE meets 30 DAYS OF NIGHT and although the wide cast is broadly drawn there’s enough on the page to care about what happens to the central characters and the fun comes from seeing who deservedly (or undeservedly) dies or survives and although there’s nothing terribly original here I would nevertheless definitely check out Standberg’s other work.

BLOOD CRUISE was released in the United Kingdom on 12th July 2018. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

”Cross my heart and hope to die …”

Promises only last if you trust each other, but what if one of you is hiding something? A secret no one could ever guess.

Someone is living a lie.

Is it Lisa? Maybe it’s her daughter, Ava. Or could it be her best friend, Marilyn?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

It is difficult to review Sarah Pinborough’s psychological thriller without spoiling it but this is a well-executed, pacey read that centres on the relationship between the 3 women while taking on board physical and emotional abuse, intense friendships and a horrific crime that the media will never let people forgive or forget but I did find the antagonist to veer close to being two-dimensional and I wished the ending had been a little braver.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

From the refugee camps of Greece to the mountains of Macedonia, a thirteen-year-old boy is making his way to Germany and safety. Codenamed ‘Firefly’, he holds vital intelligence about a vicious ISIS terror cell and its plans to strike at the heart of Europe. But the terrorists are hot on his trail.

When MI6 becomes aware of Firefly and what he knows, Luc Samson, ex-MI6 agent and expert at finding missing persons, is recruited to locate Firefly and get him to safety before the terrorists find him and kill him.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Henry Porter’s standalone spy thriller is a timely affair set against the backdrop of the European migration crisis and taking on board the horrors perpetrated by ISIS during the Syrian civil war. However although Porter has clearly done his research, the characters here (with the exception of Naji) have a stock feel to them and the plot is predictable, so that while I did keep turning the pages, I wasn’t as gripped as I wanted to be.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

In the ancient town of Cordes, an elderly tailor is found tortured and murdered.

He leaves behind a cryptic message with his granddaughter and her son – one that puts them in immediate danger.

Forced to go on the run, they find themselves hunted across France, on a journey that will take them into the heart of Europe’s violent past.

As they begin to unravel a dark truth, can the enigmatic Solomon Creed save them before it’s too late.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The second in Simon Toyne’s SOLOMON CREED SERIES is another page-turning thriller with supernatural elements that advances Solomon’s backstory while simultaneously introducing further mysteries and has a fast-paced, well-plotted central mystery that neatly combines France’s current populist political fringe with its World War II past and sets up a third book, which I will definitely be checking out.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

September 1939. For years now Britain has been rudderless, divided and grievously unequal. Successive governments have floundered as they struggled to cope with economic misery at home and machinations abroad. Many of the country’s citizens are seduced by fascism; others are simply left alienated by leaders who seem unwilling or unable to take the decisive action that is so desperately needed.

When war breaks out the imperilled nation achieves the unity and purpose that has eluded it for more than a decade. It is a time of heroism and sacrifice, in which many thousands of soldiers and civilians give their lives. But some Britons choose a different path, renegades who will fight for the Third Reich until its gruesome collapse in 1945. The Traitors tells the stories of four such men: the chaotic, tragic John Amery; the idealistic but hate-filled William Joyce; the cynical, murderous conman Harold Cole; and Eric Pleasants, an iron-willed pacifist and bodybuilder who wants no part in this war.

Drawing on recently declassified MI6 files, as well as diaries, letters and memoirs, The Traitors is a book about disordered lives in turbulent times; idealism twisted out of shape; of torn consciences and abandoned loyalties; of murder, deceit, temptation and loss. It shows how a man might come to desert his country’s cause, and the tragic consequences that treachery brings in its wake.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Josh Ireland’s engaging but ultimately superficial look at the lives of the notorious World War II traitors William Joyce, John Amery, Harold Cole and Eric Pleasants never quite hits its aim of showing how or why each man decided to desert Britain for Germany as the scope is too broad to really focus on each man’s main drivers but it’s nevertheless an interesting read with frightening parallels to modern times.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

This is a fact: Ryan Summers walked into Three Rivers College and killed twelve women, then himself.

But no one can say why.

The question is one that cries out to be answered – by Ryan’s mother, Moira; by Ishbel, the mother of Abigail, the first victim; and by DI Helen Birch, put in charge of the case on the first day at her new job. But as the tabloids and the media swarm, as the families’ secrets come out, as the world searches for someone to blame … the truth seems to vanish.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Claire Askew’s debut crime novel is a well-observed, melancholy affair revolving around 3 women whose lives are forever changed by a crime played out in the tabloid crucible (which is slightly over-salted but nevertheless rings true) and although there are a couple of strained plot points that I didn’t quite buy, this is a very human book that shows how difficult it is to ever really know why people do awful things.

ALL THE HIDDEN TRUTHS was released in the United Kingdom on 9th August 2018. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

A city torn apart.

Glasgow, 1969. In the grip of the worst winter for years, the city is brought to its knees by a killer whose name fills the streets with fear: the Quaker. He takes his next victim – the third woman from the same nightclub – and dumps her in the street like rubbish.

A detective with everything to prove.

The police are left chasing a ghost, with no new leads and no hope of catching their prey. DI McCormack, a talented young detective from the Highlands, is ordered to join the investigation. But his arrival is met with anger from a group of officers on the brink of despair. Soon he learns just how difficult life can be for an outsider.

A killer who hunts in the shadows.

When another woman is found murdered in a tenement flat, it’s clear the case is by no means over. From ruined backstreets to the dark heart of Glasgow, McCormack follows a trail of secrets that will change the city – and his life – forever …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Liam McIlvanney’s historical crime thriller novel (inspired by the real life unsolved Bible John case) is a slow-burn read that’s rich in period and geographical detail and evocative of the criminal underworld while having an interesting main detective who I would be interested to read more of, but I felt that the antagonist was under-developed in a way that left me with more questions than answers, specifically regarding their motivation.

THE QUAKER was released in the United Kingdom on 28th June 2018. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

”I seen a kid killed … He strangled it, up by the horse.”

When Billy, a troubled young man, comes to private eye Cormoran Strike’s office to ask for his help investigating a crime he thinks he witnessed as a child, Strike is left deeply unsettled. While Billy is obviously mentally distressed, and cannot remember many concrete details, there is something sincere about him, and his story. But before Strike can question him further, Billy bolts in a panic.

Trying to get to the bottom of Billy’s story, Strike and Robin Ellacott – once his assistant, now a partner in the agency – set off on a twisting trail that leads them through the backstreets of London, into a secretive inner sanctum within Parliament, and to a beautiful but sinister manor house deep in the countryside.

And during this labyrinthine investigation, Strike’s own life is far from straightforward: his newfound fame as a private eye means he can no longer operate behind the scenes as he once did. Plus, his relationship with his former assistant is more fraught than it ever has been – Robin is now invaluable to Strike in the business, but their personal relationship is much, much more tricky than that …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The fourth in Robert Galbraith’s (aka J K Rowling) CORMORAN STRIKE SERIES is a gripping read that expertly runs two separate yet intertwining mysteries while also developing the relationship between Strike and Robin (although I could have done without the romantic undertones) and showing the impact that unwanted celebrity can have and the attention it brings.

The Blurb On The Back:

A plane crashes in the Arizona desert.

When Solomon Creed emerges from the wreckage he remembers just one thing: that he must save a man in danger.

A death that can’t be explained.

In the nearby town of Redemption, Holly Cornado buries her young husband. A terrible accident, or something more sinister?

Only one man can expose the truth.

When Solomon finds Holly, his search becomes a quest for the truth – and a race to expose a terrifying secret, hidden for generations, that could silence a town forever.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Simon Toyne’s supernatural thriller (the first in a series) is a pacey, action-packed affair that makes great use of multiple viewpoints to slowly unpick the secrets in Redemption while establishing a central mystery around Solomon that promises much for later books such that while there are a couple of hokey and predictable scenes, I found it an entertaining read and finished it wanting to know what happens next.

The Blurb On The Back:

Somebody’s going to be murdered at the ball tonight. It won’t appear to be a murder and so the murderer won’t be caught. Rectify that injustice and I’ll show you the way out.

It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed.

But Evelyn will not die just once. Until Aiden – one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party – can solve her murder, the day will repeat itself, over and over again. Every time ending with the fateful pistol shot.

The only way to break this cycle is to identify her killer. But each time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is desperate to stop him ever escaping Blackheath …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Stuart Turton’s ingenious speculative, high-concept thriller couples QUANTUM LEAP and GROUNDHOG DAY with an Agatha Christie twist that carried me along in an entertaining whirlwind that kept me turning the pages from beginning to end with its clever use of clues and red herrings such that while it’s not a flawless read, it’s nevertheless one of the best books I’ve read in 2018 and I kept thinking about it long after I’d finished.

The Blurb On The Back:

Live in the saddle.
Die on the hog.

Jackal is proud to be a Grey Bastard, member of a sworn brotherhood of half-orcs. Unloved and unwanted in civilized society, the Bastards eke out a hard life in the desolate no-man’s-land called the Lots, protecting frail and noble human civilisation from invading bands of vicious full-blooded orcs.

But as Jackal is soon to learn, his pride may be misplaced. Because a dark secret lies at the heart of the Bastards’ existence – one that reveals a horrifying truth behind humanity’s tenuous please with the orcs and exposes a grave danger on the horizon.

On the heels of the ultimate betrayal, Jackal must scramble to stop a devastating invasion – even as he wonders where his true loyalties lie.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Jonathan French’s epic fantasy novel (the first in a series) has solid worldbuilding (albeit based on the cliched medieval trope) and I enjoyed the half-orcs and their society and way of thinking (especially the war pigs) but the plot strains at times, Fetch is the only female character who isn’t a whore or a mother and I’m a little over the whole ‘evil from the east’ thing, although this wouldn’t stop me reading the sequel.

THE GREY BASTARDS was released in the United Kingdom on 21st June 2018. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

While the soldiers are fighting on the Front, Angélique has her own battle to fight.

1916: When news arrives of her father’s death on a distant battlefield, 14-year-old Angélique Lacroix makes herself a promise: she will keep the family farm running until her brother returns from the war.

But she doesn’t realise that to keep her promise she will have to embark on a long and arduous journey across France, accompanied by a flock of magnificent Toulouse geese.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Rowena House’s debut YA historical novel is an interesting affair that looks at civilian life in France during World War I (something that gets little attention in the UK and which offers an original perspective on a well-worn subject, including the requisitions, wildcat strikes and profiteering) but the story itself is fairly predictable and I didn’t buy into Angélique’s naiveite while the ending disappointed me given the absence of Pascal.

Thanks to Walker Books for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

After having travelled west for weeks, the party of pioneers comes to a crossroads. It is time for their leader, George Donner, to make a choice. They face two diverging paths which lead to the same destination. One is well-documented – the other untested, but rumoured to be short. His decision will shape the lives of everyone travelling with him

The searing heat of the desert gives way to biting winds and a bitter cold that freezes the cattle where they stand. Driven to the brink of madness, the ill-fated group struggles to survive and minor disagreements turn into violent confrontations. Then the children begin to disappear. As the survivors turn against each other, a few begin to realise that the threat they face reaches beyond the fury of the elements to something more primal, and far more deadly …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Alma Katsu uses the real-life tragedy of the Donner Party and adds a supernatural twist to form an engaging horror novel that creates a real sense of dread and foreboding (but also sadness and pity) while at the same time making full-use of the actual horrors that the pioneers encountered although the large cast of characters means that at times the horror is spread too thinly to be as effective as it could be.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Catherine Helstone’s missionary brother, Laon, has disappeared while bringing the Gospels to the Dark Continent – not Africa, but Arcadia, legendary land of the magical fae.

Desperate for news of him, she makes the perilous journey to that extraordinary land, but once there, she finds herself alone and isolated in the sinister house of Gethsemane. At last there comes news: her beloved brother is riding to be reunited with her – but the Queen of the Fae and her insane court are hard on his heels.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Jeanette Ng’s debut alternate universe historical fantasy novel (the first in a trilogy) is a diligently researched, very literary book that knowingly nods at Charlotte and Emily Brontë and has interesting points to make on colonialism, religion and the role of women and makes innovative use of its fae setting but there is precious little plot here (that only really gets going in the final quarter) and the incest theme may deter some readers.

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I Read, Therefore I Blog

A Book Review Blog Belonging to Caroline Hooton

Recent Entries

The Hope That Kills by Ed James

The Drop by Mick Herron

Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson

Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

The Anomaly by Michael Rutger

The Chaos Of Now by Erin Lange

Blood Cruise by Mats Strandberg

Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough

Firefly by Henry Porter

The Boy Who Saw by Simon Toyne

The Traitors: A True Story Of Blood, Betrayal And Deceit by Josh Ireland

All The Hidden Truths by Claire Askew

The Quaker by Liam McIlvanney

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

Solomon Creed by Simon Toyne

The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French

The Goose Road by Rowena House

The Hunger by Alma Katsu

Under The Pendulum Sun by Jeanette Ng