Blog Tour : The Man Who Died by Antti Tuomainen

The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to be part of the blog tour for The Man Who Died by Antti Tuomainen.  With thanks to Karen and Anne at Orenda Books for involving me and providing me with an early edition.

Published by : Orenda Books

10 October 2017 

Copy : Ebook - Received from Publisher

The Blurb

A successful entrepreneur in the mushroom industry, Jaakko Kaunismaa is a man in his prime. At just 37 years of age, he is shocked when his doctor tells him that he’s dying. What is more, the cause is discovered to be prolonged exposure to toxins; in other words, someone has slowly but surely been poisoning him. Determined to find out who wants him dead, Jaakko embarks on a suspenseful rollercoaster journey full of unusual characters, bizarre situations and unexpected twists. With a nod to Fargo and the best elements of the Scandinavian noir tradition, The Man Who Died is a page-turning thriller brimming with the blackest comedy surrounding life and death, and love and betrayal, marking a stunning new departure for the King of Helsinki Noir.

The Very Pink Notebook Review

Although dark in topic, a man discovers he has days to live due to being slowly poisoned over the course of some time, Tuomainen has written this novel with a comedic punch and I thoroughly enjoyed that.  Providing us with a likeable and amusing protagonist, Jaakko, we are taken on his journey as he races against time to find the culprit of his eventual murder and also and very importantly how he comes to terms emotionally with his own impending death.

Written and interpreted flawlessly, this pacey novel will keep you glued to it.  I finished it in two sittings, after the first two chapters completely hooked me.  So much happens in them that you are kind of left with mouth gaping.  In only a few pages your mind is swimming with questions and suspicion.  And naturally things just get worse.  As well as trying to work out who wants him dead he has a nasty competitor for his business leap up on his doorstep who provide plenty of extra trouble.

With twists and turns a plenty Antti Tuomainen has penned a cracking noir novel.  This isn't the first book by this author I have read, so I had high hopes, but I have to say it is my favourite.  In this book he has found a unique balance for the reader in taking very dark matter and lightening it up without taking away the intrigue or integrity.

I could not recommend this book highly enough.

About the Author

Finnish Antti Tuomainen (b. 1971) was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author. The critically acclaimed My Brother’s Keeper was published two years later. In 2011 Tuomainen’s third novel, The Healer, was awarded the Clue Award for ‘Best Finnish Crime Novel of 2011’ and was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award. The Finnish press labelled The Healer – the story of a writer desperately searching for his missing wife in a post-apocalyptic Helsinki – ‘unputdownable’. Two years later in 2013 they crowned Tuomainen ‘The King of Helsinki Noir’ when Dark as My Heart was published. The Mine, published in 2016, was an international bestseller. All of his books have been optioned for TV/film. With his piercing and evocative style, Tuomainen is one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime genre formula, and The Man Who Died sees him at his literary best.

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Tour and Review : Exquisite by Sarah Stovell

The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to showcase the new psychological thriller by Sarah Stovell

Exquisite

With thanks to Orenda Books for involving me in the tour and an early copy of the book.

Published by : Orenda Books

15 June 2017

Copy : Paperback Received from Publisher

The Blurb

Bo Luxton has it all—a loving family, a beautiful home in the Lake District, and a clutch of bestselling books to her name. Enter Alice Dark, an aspiring writer who is drifting through life, with a series of dead-end jobs and a freeloading boyfriend. When they meet at a writers’ retreat, the chemistry is instant, and a sinister relationship develops. Or does it?

The Very Pink Notebook Review

Meet Bo, writer - talented and successful.  Meet Alice, writer - unpublished and unconfident.  These are the two fascinating female leads in this well crafted, beautifully written psychological thriller, Exquisite, by Sarah Stovell.

A story with many rich themes; obsession, love, passion, revenge, betrayal, fear to name but a few, we follow the lives of these two damaged women who's paths cross with devastating consequences.

It is always difficult to review a good psychological thriller without committing the cardinal sin of letting out plot spoilers.  This particular thriller isn't typical in the massive twists and turns sense.  You know what is going on but you never sure just how far it is going to go.  It doesn't have moments where it points the finger at every character that comes into contact with the protagonist leaving you thinking - what if?  What it has is two fantastically unreliable narrators leaving you thinking what the hell is going to happen next...

Neither Bo nor Alice are massively likable, but I found that only added to heightening the tension as I wasn't quite sure who I wanted to root for, at least for two thirds of the book, then it became glaringly obvious.  It is a very claustrophobic atmosphere that is created by Madeline, cleverly developed along with the intensity of the relationship between the two characters.

The author has used environment and setting to its absolute max in this novel.  Bo is set in the vast, but isolating and quiet Lake District.  A place that can have such beauty but also can hold grave danger.  Bo, we gather, has experienced severe trauma in her lifetime and she longs for an ordinary life, a content life where she can keep everything in her hornet's nest buried deep.  She loves being a mother but has vowed to never be like her own.

Vibrant and chaotic Brighton is the home of Alice.  The girl who experienced a terrible childhood with her mother also but had the luck to be placed with a good foster family who encouraged her to go to University where she discovered her creative side, and is seeking an environment to flourish in.  Being taken on my Bo, from her writing perspective is all she could wish for.

Of course for anyone who reads this who is also a writer at heart this book is doubly enthralling.  It is interesting to see the story of the successful and the aspiring.  With the two different view points I particularly liked the way this tied in in the last third of the novel.

This book has great pace, writing and structure.  It is a real page-turner with dare I say it - exquisite - use of imagery regarding the Lake District.  And the ending - just ... chilling...

Exquisite by Sarah Stovell receives a Very Pink Notebook review of :

About the Author

Sarah Stovell was born in 1977 and spent most of her life in the Home Counties before a season working in a remote North Yorkshire youth hostel made her realise she was a northerner at heart.  She now lives in Northumberland with her partner and two children and is a lecturer in Creative Writing at Lincoln University.  Her debut psychological thriller, Exquisite, is set in the Lake District.

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Tour & Giveaway - Reconciliation for the Dead by Paul E. Hardisty

Book Giveaway

To celebrate the upcoming publication of

Reconciliation for the Dead (Claymore Straker Series 3) by Paul E. Hardisty (Orenda Books) 

The Very Pink Notebook is hosting a giveaway!

To get your hands on a copy of this gritty thriller click on this link and retweet the pinned tweet - Simple!  A winner will be selected at random on publication day (30 May 2017) and notified via twitter.

Published by : Orenda Books

30 May 2017

Copy for Competition : Provided by Publisher

The Blurb

Fresh from events in Yemen and Cyprus, vigilante justice-seeker Claymore Straker returns to South Africa, seeking absolution for the sins of his past. Over four days, he testifies to Desmond Tutu’s newly established Truth and Reconciliation Commission, recounting the shattering events that led to his dishonourable discharge and exile, fifteen years earlier. It was 1980. The height of the Cold War. Clay is a young paratrooper in the South African Army, fighting in Angola against the Communist insurgency that threatens to topple the White Apartheid regime. On a patrol deep inside Angola, Clay, and his best friend, Eben Barstow, find themselves enmeshed in a tangled conspiracy that threatens everything they have been taught to believe about war, and the sacrifices that they, and their brothers in arms, are expected to make. Witness and unwitting accomplice to an act of shocking brutality, Clay changes allegiance and finds himself labelled a deserter and accused of high treason, setting him on a journey into the dark, twisted heart of institutionalised hatred, from which no one will emerge unscathed. Exploring true events from one of the most hateful chapters in South African history, Reconciliation for the Dead is a shocking, explosive and gripping thriller from one finest writers in contemporary crime fiction.

Praise for Paul E. Hardisty

‘A solid, meaty thriller – Hardisty is a fine writer and Straker is a great lead character’ Lee Child

‘A trenchant and engaging thriller that unravels this mysterious land in cool, precise sentences’ Stav Sherez, Catholic Herald

‘Just occasionally, a book comes along to restore your faith in a genre – and Paul Hardisty does this in spades’ Sharon Wheeler, Crime Review

This is a remarkably well-written, sophisticated novel in which the people and places, as well as frequent scenes of violent action, all come alive on the page...’ Literary Review

‘Hardisty doesn’t put a foot wrong in this forceful, evocative thriller … the author’s deep knowledge of the settings never slows down the non-stop action, with distant echoes of a more-moral minded Jack Reacher or Jason Bourne’ Maxim Jakubowski

About the Author

Canadian Paul E Hardisty has spent 25 years working all over the world as an engineer, hydrologist and environmental scientist.  He has roughnecked on oil rigs in Texas, explored for gold in the Arctic, mapped geology in Eastern Turkey (where he was befriended by PKK rebels), and rehabilitated water wells in the wilds of Africa.  He was Ethiopia in 1991 as the Mengistu regime fell, and was bumped from one of the last flights out of Addis Ababa by bureaucrats and their families fleeing the rebels.  In 1993 he survived a bomb blast in a café in Sana's.  Paul is a university professor, visiting professor at Imperial College, London, and Director of Australia's national land, water, ecosystems and climate adaption research programmes.  His debut thriller was shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger and Telegraph thriller of the year.  He lives in Western Australia.

Tour and Review - Faithless by Kjell Ola Dahl

The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to be part of the tour for
Kjell Ola Dahl's, Nordic Noir, Faithless. 
With thanks to Karen and Anne at Orenda Books
for involving me in the tour and for an advance copy of the book.

Published by Orenda Books

15 May 2017

Copy - Received from publisher as part of Blog Tour

The Blurb

Oslo detectives Gunnarstranda and Frølich are back and this time, it’s personal… When the body of a woman turns up in a dumpster, scalded and wrapped in plastic, Inspector Frank Frølich is shocked to discover that he knows her and their recent meetings may hold the clue to her murder. As he ponders the tragic events surrounding her death, Frølich’s colleague Gunnarstranda investigates a disturbingly similar cold case involving the murder of a young girl in northern Norway and Frølich is forced to look into his own past to find the answers – and the killer – before he strikes again. 

The Very Pink Notebook Review

Although the blurb notes that the characters are 'back' and this novel is one in a series, it is perfectly readable as a stand-alone book.  I have been lucky enough to read quite a lot of Nordic Noir this year so when Faithless came onto the radar I was looking forward to reading it.

I have to say, I did struggle a little bit to actually get into it initially.  I found there were a lot of characters and story-lines and it all seemed a little disjointed to me.  I did find I had to go back and re-read parts on several occasions, but this is a slow burn book and gradually things did come together and I realised just what a complex plot the author has written.

The tone of the book - as you can gather from the synopsis - is very dark, however, Dahl has written in some absolute gems of cutting humour via the characters interaction and dialogue when in the police station / work environment setting.  For me, it made the characters very real and relatable.  Everyone knows the sort of characters you get at work and how annoying some of their habits can be and the author has tapped these into the story really well, lightening up what could be a rather grim read.

As I said, I did have to re-read a few sections and for me the writing didn't flow quite as easily as I like, but still it is confident and powerful writing with particularly nice use of imagery of Norway and

use of the weather to really add to the atmosphere building within the plot.  This book gives a very good lesson in showing and not telling.

If you like a gritty, complicated, police procedural novel to sink your teeth into then Faithless is a must read for you.

Faithless (Oslo Detectives) by Kjell Ola Dahl receives a Very Pink Notebook Rating of :

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About the Author

One of the fathers of the Nordic Noir genre, Kjell Ola Dahl was born in 1958 in Gjovik, Norway.  He made his debut in 1993 and has since published fifteen novels, the most prominent of which is a series of police procedurals cum psychological thrillers featuring investigators Gunnarstranda and Frolich.  In 2000 he won the Riverton Prize for The Last Fix and he has also been awarded both the prestigious Brage and Riverton Prizes for The Courier in 2015.  His work has been published in fourteen countries.  He lives in Oslo.

About the Translator

Don Barlett lives with his family in a village in Norfolk.  He completed an MA in Literary Translation at the University of East Anglia in 2000 and has since worked with a wide variety of Danish and Norwegian authors, including Jo Nesbo and Karl Ove Knausgard.  He has previously translated The Consorts of Death, Cold Hearts, We Shall Inherit the Wind and Where Roses Never Die in Gunner Staalesen's Varg Veum series.

Tour and Review : Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski

The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to be part of the blog tour for the new book by Matt Wesolowski, Six Stories.  With thanks to Karen Sullivan at Orenda Books for involving me in the tour and for an early copy of the book.

Published by : Orenda Books

30 March 2017 (Print)

Copy : Paperback - Received from publisher

The Blurb

1997. Scarclaw Fell. The body of teenager Tom Jeffries is found at an outward bound centre. Verdict? Misadventure. But not everyone is convinced. And the truth of what happened in the beautiful but eerie fell is locked in the memories of the tight-knit group of friends who took that fateful trip, and the flimsy testimony of those living nearby.

2017. Enter elusive investigative journalist Scott King, whose podcast examinations of complicated cases have rivalled the success of Serial, with his concealed identity making him a cult internet figure.

In a series of six interviews, King attempts to work out how the dynamics of a group of idle teenagers conspired with the sinister legends surrounding the fell to result in Jeffries' mysterious death. And who's to blame… As every interview unveils a new revelation, you'll be forced to work out for yourself how Tom Jeffries died, and who is telling the truth. A chilling, unpredictable and startling thriller, Six Stories is also a classic murder mystery with a modern twist, and a devastating ending.

The Very Pink Notebook Review

The first thing that caught my eye with this book was the artwork.  At first glance I thought I was looking at the scratchings of an audio recording, but on closer inspection it transpires to be a wide angle shot of very tall trees and their reflection, but this is all very deliberate and once you read this book you discover why.

Just from the blurb the setting, Scarclaw Fell, made my skin crawl.  The author instantly creates such a chilling atmosphere I actually felt physically cold while I was tucked up under my duvet reading.  The great outdoors of the Fell - it's brooding darkness and wildness, it temperamental and ever-changing mood is the perfect environmental setting.  For me, the place entirely matched the themes of this book.

The body of a teenage boy, Tom Jefferies, is discovered a year after he went missing on a trip to Scarclaw Fell.  What follows is a case of discovery, but in a fairly unique way.  The reader is not taken on the journey via the police investigation, which by the time we enter the story is already done and dusted.  It is not the story of Tom's family trying to find out what happened to their son.  It is not a journalist, the story and its potential sensation has already been put to bed.

Instead it is a pod-caster, Scott King, who just enjoys pulling together information of mysterious events of cases that have been closed.  What the reader is then presented with are the facts of the night - through the eyes of people involved and or close to the deceased.  Meaning - extremely unreliable narration - which is the for the reader, or listener should I say, to decide how much is accurate when almost everyone closely involved had an agenda and at the time was an angst ridden teenager.  But don't get me wrong this isn't one of those frustrating novels that you can't find an anchor point to cling on to because we have the neutral insight of Scott King himself.  The voice of King summarises the facts giving opinions from both sides of the coin, always leaving the reader / listener to draw their own conclusion.

The unusual penmanship of the novel with its original structure and style, I didn't know if I would get on with at first.  Could I read a book in the style of a script of a pod-cast?  Would it get annoying?  The answer no, I quickly realised it didn't matter.  What you have is a really good story, told really well.  With the multiple viewpoints the script is kept varied and pacey even though it is the same story told by six different voices and always moving the plot forward.  I enjoyed the summary sections at the beginning and the end of each pod-cast by King and being taken to the present day with Scarclaw Fells owner and body finder Harry. 

For me this novel reminded me of The Blair Witch project, where things not happening and dark issues being alluded to but not shown in graphic detail are actually more frightening than anything else.

I loved the ending of this novel and felt it stayed true to the author's intent.  Six stories is a distressing tale looking at extreme ends of teenage group dynamics and parenting issues to name but a few of the things it touches on, whilst telling the story of what happened to Tom Jefferies on that fateful night in 1996.

Six Stories get a highly recommend to read Very Pink Notebook Rating of :

  

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Author Guest Post : Past or Present Tense? By Thomas Enger

The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to be hosting a guest post from Cursed author, Thomas Enger, discussing why the fourth instalment in the Henning Juul collection is a little different from the rest...

Past or present tense?

If you have made it to Cursed, having read the first three novels in my Henning Juul series (Burned, Pierced, Scarred) you may have noticed a change in the fourth instalment in the series.

Know what it is?

No?

Well, let me tell you.

I'm always looking for ways to improve as an author, and that means experimenting a whole lot. The very first draft of Burned, the first book, was written in first person perspective, but my editor wanted me to change that, so I did. They made me change a bunch of other things as well, but that's another story.

Burned is written in the present tense, and the reason for that is that I just liked it when I first started writing the story. So it stuck with me until I was finished. And because I had written the first novel that way, it wrote the second and third one that way, too. I liked how close you get to the story when you're reading something that sort of takes place right then and there. That's certainly how it feels, right, when you read it? You are part of the journey somehow, you're sitting on the shoulder of the narrator, experiencing things that very second, with the characters in the story.

A little side note here: After I wrote the first three Henning Juul novels, I had a bit of time before the deadline for the fourth one was due, so I decided to finish another project I had been working on for quite some time, a dark fantasy young adult thriller called The Evil Legacy. That one I wrote in the first person present tense, and I had so much fun going back to that kind of narrative, so when the time came to go back to Cursed, I felt like having some more fun, to experiment some more. Besides, I had four novels under my belt. I knew a bit more about storytelling at that point.

So I decided to change again.  To the third person past tense perspective this time. Again, I was trying to improve, to push myself, and that meant getting out of my comfort zone.

It took me a while to get used to that way of telling a story, but I found the exercise helpful and rewarding in the sense that I felt more like a storyteller doing it that way, with the bird's eye view on everything. I'm in complete control, and you, as a reader, just have to go along for the ride and let me guide you through the story. I disclose to you just the details I want you to know at that particular point in the story.

Writers usually stick to the way they're most comfortable with, which is perfectly fine, of course. But isn't it funny how some readers just can't read a story that's told in the present tense, while others absolutely adore it? I actually had one editor assigned to me who was so opposed to stories told in the first tense that he couldn't bring himself to work with me in the end.

Books.

What a wonderful invention.

What it comes down to, I guess, is just taste. There are no "best ways" to write, or "best ways" to read, we just pick and choose what we like the most.

Me?

I like all kinds. I'm in love with stories, whether they are told in the first or the third person, whether they are told in the past or the present tense, whether they feature a male or a female protagonist, whether it's set in Oslo or Orlando, or if it's raining or scorching hot, as long as the narrative makes me feel something, and think. That's most the important thing. To me.

What are your preferences, and why? Would love to hear your thoughts. 

T : @EngerThomas

About the Author

Thomas Enger (b. 1973) is a former journalist.  He made his debut with the crime novel Burned in 2010, which became an international sensation before publication.  Burned is the first in a series of 5 books about the journalist Henning Juul, which delves into the depths of Oslo's underbelly, skewering the corridors of dirty politics and nailing the fast-moving world of 24-hour news.  Rights to the series have been sold to 26 countries to date.  In 2013 Enger published his first book for young adults, a dark fantasy thriller called The Evil Legacy, for which he won the U-prize (best book Young Adult).  Enger also composes music and he lives in Oslo.

W : http://www.thomasenger.net/about-thomas/

T : @EngerThomas

Tour and Review : Cursed by Thomas Enger

The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to be part of Thomas Enger's, CURSED, blog tour this week.  With much thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for involving me in the tour and for a copy of the book.

Published by : Orenda Books

1 March 2017
Translated by Kari Dickson

Copy : Paperback received from publisher

The Blurb

What secret would you kill to protect? When Hedda Hellberg fails to return from a retreat in Italy, where she has been grieving for her recently dead father, her husband discovers that his wife’s life is tangled in mystery. Hedda never left Oslo, the retreat has no record of her and, what’s more, she appears to be connected to the death of an old man, gunned down on the first day of the hunting season in the depths of the Swedish forests. Henning Juul becomes involved in the case when his ex-wife joins in the search for the missing woman, and the estranged pair find themselves enmeshed both in the murky secrets of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families, and in the painful truths surrounding the death of their own son. With the loss of his son to deal with, as well as threats to his own life and to that of his ex-wife, Juul is prepared to risk everything to uncover a sinister maze of secrets that ultimately leads to the dark heart of European history.

The Very Pink Notebook Review

This is the first 'Henning Juul' novel I have read and now I understand why everyone wanted to get their hands on a copy of this book.  It is utterly brilliant.  The plot is so intricate it is almost mind boggling, but the author sets it out within such a superb structure I did not get lost once or have to re-read a single thing.

Through two main protagonists, ex husband and wife, Henning and Nora we are taken on a complex journey to discover two different mysteries; What happened to Hedda Hellberg and who set fire to Henning Juul's apartment causing the death of Nora and Henning's son Jonas.  With the plot criss-crossing and twisting and turning all the time it really is a rollercoaster ride for the reader and believe me, you will not be able to put this book down.

Enger has written in third person narrative, but has an amazing ability to really keep the psychic distance close and powerful, making for a compelling and nail-biting read.  By swapping between Henning and Nora as narrators the pace is non-stop and not one chapter is superfluous to the plot.  As well as being gripping it is gritty without being horrifying, as it could so easily have been when dark underworlds are explored by novelists. 

The novel is not one of those who only teases with snippets of information throughout only to have a weak and disappointing ending.  You are constantly discovering meaty pieces of the plot which the author spends the last quarter of the book seamlessly weaving together to produce a clever and well thought out ending, which I did not see coming, I also suspect that Henning Juul is far from done investigating either...

All of the characters in this book seemed very real, there were no pantomime good or bad ones.  They are complex and I felt the author has a very deep understanding of them, which is obviously why the novel made for such good reading - the passion of plot and exemplary writing was never going to provide anything less.

I can not recommend this book highly enough.  Cursed receives a Very Pink Notebook rating of :

About the Author

Thomas Enger (b. 1973) is a former journalist.  He made his debut with the crime novel Burned in 2010, which became an international sensation before publication.  Burned is the first in a series of 5 books about the journalist Henning Juul, which delves into the depths of Oslo's underbelly, skewering the corridors of dirty politics and nailing the fast-moving world of 24-hour news.  Rights to the series have been sold to 26 countries to date.  In 2013 Enger published his first book for young adults, a dark fantasy thriller called The Evil Legacy, for which he won the U-prize (best book Young Adult).  Enger also composes music and he lives in Oslo.

W : http://www.thomasenger.net/about-thomas/

T : @EngerThomas

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Blog Tour and Review : Rupture by Ragnar Jonasson

The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to be part of Ragnar Jonasson's, Rupture, blog tour this week.  With much thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for involving me in the tour and for a copy of the book.

Published by : Orenda Books

24 December (ebook) - 15 February (print)

Copy : Paperback - Received from publisher as part of blog tour

The Blurb

1955. Two young couples move to the uninhabited, isolated fjord of Hedinsfjörður. Their stay ends abruptly when one of the women meets her death in mysterious circumstances. The case is never solved. Fifty years later an old photograph comes to light, and it becomes clear that the couples may not have been alone on the fjord after all…

In nearby Siglufjörður, young policeman Ari Thór tries to piece together what really happened that fateful night, in a town where no one wants to know, where secrets are a way of life. He’s assisted by Ísrún, a news reporter in Reykjavik, who is investigating an increasingly chilling case of her own. Things take a sinister turn when a child goes missing in broad daylight. With a stalker on the loose, and the town of Siglufjörður in quarantine, the past might just come back to haunt them.

Haunting, frightening and complex, Rupture is a dark and atmospheric thriller from one of Iceland’s foremost crime writers.

The Very Pink Notebook Review

This book has been discussed wildly on social media, alongside comments that it is as brilliant as Ragnar Jonasson's previous deliveries.  Well, this is the first of this author's novels I have read and the fact that other reviews are right, it is brilliant, gives a good indication his others will be too. 

This is one of those books that makes you feel like there is not quite enough oxygen in the room.  Jonasson creates a deeply atmospheric, almost claustrophobic environment for his characters.  For Ari Thor, our protagonist, he is living in a town under the threat of a highly contagious killer virus, which is landed it in quarantine.  This means as the local police officer, he has time on his hands and decides to use it to look into an old case of a mysterious death on an isolated fjord.  The case Ari Thor realises, presents itself in similar surroundings to his current one.  Its location is remote, unfriendly, unwelcoming to visitors, a little spooky.  The inhabitants are alone, isolated and fighting a relentless and bitter winter. 

Then we have a second main character and concurrent storyline in Isrun, investigative television journalist, who has her own chilling cases in the present day on the go.  Even so, she still finds time to assist Ari Thor, always wanting to keep police contacts on side and both storylines ultimately hold the same moral point.

Jonasson's vivid imagery of Iceland and his ability to convey this through engaging all of your senses through his flawless, easy and elegant writing is one of the best parts about this book for me. 

Another brilliantly translated Nordic Noir offering from a very clever author.

Ragnor Jonassons 'Rupture' receives a highly recommended Very Pink Notebook Review of :

Review : Deep Down Dead by Steph Broadribb

Published by : Orenda Books

15 January 2017

Copy : Paperback - Received from publisher

The Blurb

Lori Anderson is as tough as they come, managing to keep her career as a fearless Florida bounty hunter separate from her role as single mother to nine-year-old Dakota, who suffers from leukaemia. But when the hospital bills start to rack up, she has no choice but to take her daughter along on a job that will make her a fast buck. And that’s when things start to go wrong. The fugitive she’s assigned to haul back to court is none other than JT, Lori’s former mentor – the man who taught her everything she knows … the man who also knows the secrets of her murky past.

Not only is JT fighting a child exploitation racket operating out of one of Florida’s biggest theme parks, Winter Wonderland, a place where ‘bad things never happen’, but he’s also mixed up with the powerful Miami Mob. With two fearsome foes on their tails, just three days to get JT back to Florida, and her daughter to protect, Lori has her work cut out for her. When they’re ambushed at a gas station, the stakes go from high to stratospheric, and things become personal.

The Very Pink Notebook Review

At first glance this book may seem like it is just going to be an action packed, chase thriller but once you start reading you quickly realise it is going to go so much deeper than that.  It is a book that has so many levels it is difficult to know where to begin the review.

So, I will start with the glaringly obvious, the action.  Quite simple it is written so perfectly, the instant I started reading I had a movie playing out in my head.  I am not always one for reading 'action' but this novel had me engaged from the very first line and kept me so for several reasons.

The first reason : the protagonist.  I think Lori Anderson has become one of my most favourite protagonists.  She is stunningly brilliant.  Tough with a capital 'T' - a female bounty hunter and a single mother - she has to be.   Even changing her name to leave behind the women she once was, to be the women she has become.  Of course, you can never fully leave behind who you are and Steph Broadribb has woven her history and her fragile side in so carefully and seamlessly you are left with a beautifully developed, complex and truly likable character who you can't help but fall in love with and deeply root for.

Broadribb has continued her brilliance in character development with the rest of the cast, particularly those who mean something to Lori, her daughter Dakota and her old mentor / ex lover JT.  The author presents the relationships between the three with such realism and sensitivity you find yourself wanting to know more about the 'normal' mother / daughter life Lori is desperately trying to make for them and likewise you yearn to be given as much information as possible about the, very deep and complicated, history between Lori and JT.

Along with all the action and the softer relationship side of the story you then get the mystery.  Our protagonist goes to do a simple 'pick up' job and winds up in a web of horror.  Just as it seems she makes a huge discovery and you think she might have untangled herself from the spiders web, you realise she has actually only taken herself further in. 

Although the book is over three hundred pages long it is only the tip of the iceberg of this women's story and I can not wait for Deep Blue Trouble, book number two in the Lori Anderson series, to be realised so I can absorbed myself back into the troubled, but exciting world of Ms Anderson.  

Deep Down Dead by Steph Broadribb gets a definite :

About the Author

Steph Broadribb was born in Birmingham and grew up in Buckinghamshire.  Most of her working life has been spent between the UK and USA.  As her alter ego - Crime Thriller Girl - she indulges her love of all things crime fiction by blogging at www.crimethrillergirl.com, where she interviews authors and reviews the latest releases.

Steph is an alumni of the MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) at City University London, and she trained as a bounty hunter in California.  She lives in Buckinghamshire surrounded by horses, cow and chickens.  Deep Down Dead is her debut novel. 

Twitter : @CrimeThrillGirl

Facebook : /CrimeThrillerGirl

Website : www.crimethrillergirl.com

The Finnish Invasion Blog Tour and Review - The Mine by Antti Tuomainen

The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to be part of Antti Tuomainen's, The Mine, Finnish Invasion blog tour this week.  With much thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for involving me in the tour and for a copy of the book.

Published by : Orenda Books

15 November 2016

Copy : Paperback - received from publisher as part of Blog Tour

The Blurb

A hitman. A journalist. A family torn apart. Can he uncover the truth before it’s too late?

In the dead of winter, investigative reporter Janne Vuori sets out to uncover the truth about a mining company, whose illegal activities have created an environmental disaster in a small town in Northern Finland. When the company’s executives begin to die in a string of mysterious accidents, and Janne’s personal life starts to unravel, past meets present in a catastrophic series of events that could cost him his life.

The Very Pink Notebook Review

Dark, emotive, complex and utterly brilliant, Antti Tuomainen's The Mine is crime mystery at it's best.

Set in the harsh winter months of Finland, Tuomainen's flawless and honed descriptions of places and environment literally had me shivering in my seat.  With the main protagonist being a highly driven but flawed young male, I was thrilled when we discover that not only are we going on a journey with Janne on his quest for the truth about what is going on at The Mine, but also and equally as important, his personal one.

Janne wants to be the best journalist he can possibly be, that is the highly driven part of him, the flawed part lies with his other roles in life; husband and father.  Also mixed up within the plot are his emotions about his own parents, particularly his father, who left when Janne was just a year old.  Tuomainen has created very real and believable characters and I particularly devoured the dialogue between Janne and his wife, Pauliina.

The novel is complex and I can only assume that the author must have retired to bed with a confused and aching head on more than one occasion to thrash out just how he was going to carefully and plainly breakdown the threads of the plot to one easily digestible book.  But achieve that he has and hat's off to him.

The pace is fast and not one chapter passes without a significant piece of detail coming to light, which I loved.  Written in both first and third person narratives, I also liked that the perspective and investigation came from somewhere other than the police line.  Janne isn't out to uncover the crime per se, but moreover the truth - but boy, a lot of crimes take place throughout the duration of the story.

This novel reminded me of Erin Brockovich, but with much more testosterone and bloodshed.  A certain page turner until the very end.

The Mine receives a Very Pink Notebook rating of :

 

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The Finnish Invasion Blog Tour and Review - The Exiled by Kati Hiekkapelto

The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to be part of Kati Hiekkapelto's, The Exiled, Finnish Invasion blog tour this week.  With much thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for involving me in the tour and for a copy of the book.

Published by : Orenda Books

15 November 2016

Copy : Paperback - Received from publisher as part of Blog Tour

The Blurb

Murder. Corruption. Dark secrets. A titanic wave of refugees. Can Anna solve a terrifying case that’s become personal?  

Anna Fekete returns to the Balkan village of her birth for a relaxing summer holiday. But when her purse is stolen and the thief is found dead on the banks of the river, Anna is pulled into a murder case. Her investigation leads straight to her own family, to closely guarded secrets concealing a horrendous travesty of justice that threatens them all. As layer after layer of corruption, deceit and guilt are revealed, Anna is caught up in the refugee crisis spreading like wildfire across Europe. How long will it take before everything explodes?

The Very Pink Notebook Review

Kati Hiekkapelto has brought alive a fantastic character in protagonist Anna Fekete.  I love her single-minded, tunnel vision of herself - crime fighting police officer, workaholic, because if she is that person, she doesn't need to worry about a personal life and finding out who she really is.  Only, in the case she finds herself embroiled when she takes a trip back 'home' she is forced to face up to some reality about her past.  Full of twists and turns and a plethora of unreliable and corrupt characters it is impossible to know who is telling the truth, who is noble, who is not.  I couldn't even attempt to second guess what was going to happen thus making this novel a real page turner. 

Hiekkapelto has chosen a subject matter particularly prevalent at the moment to address in this novel, one of immigration.  She uses a cross section of characters to voice the many, many opinions that can be heard far and wide about the issue and I felt she put down a very equal measure of a very real situation within her book.  The use of well thought out imagery of the Balkans by the author helps to darken and lighten the tone of the story and with the writing as sharp as the character the plot moves along at a good steady pace.  The balance of police investigation to Anna's private affairs was well proportioned and the author made me feel as if I got to know the inner workings of Anna's mind quite intimately, which helped me understand, as the reader, why she makes the decisions she does. 

I particularly liked the relationship between Anna and her mother, complex and highly emotional although in an indirect way rather than direct way it helped to explain how Anna can force herself to be seemingly so emotionless towards anything or anyone other than work. 

Although this is a fairly dark crime novel, it is written with a poetic feeling about it, with the descriptions about the Tisza, the mayfly hatching that makes the river blossom, the festival that all the inhabitants of the town are literally waiting for so they can celebrate.  It is a bright light of hope, in a novel who's subject matter is really quite bleak.

If you enjoy a good cat and mouse hunt then you will enjoy the translated version of Kati Hiekkapelto's The Exiled.

Follow the Tour

Find out what others thought of The Exiled by following the tour.  Tomorrow I hand over to Blooming Brilliant Books :

 

Review : A Suitable Lie by Michael J Malone

The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to be part of Michael J Malone's exciting new psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie, blog tour this week.  With much thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for involving me in the tour and for a copy of the book, in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher : Orenda Books

15 September 2016 (paperback)

Copy : Paperback - Received from publisher as part of tour for honest review

The Blurb

Some secrets should never be kept…

Andy Boyd thinks he is the luckiest man alive. Widowed with a young child, after his wife dies in childbirth, he is certain that he will never again experience true love. Then he meets Anna. Feisty, fun and beautiful, she’s his perfect match … and she loves his son like he is her own.  When Andy ends up in the hospital on his wedding night, he receives his first clue that Anna is not all that she seems. Desperate for that happy-ever-after, he ignores it. A dangerous mistake that could cost him everything.

The Very Pink Notebook Review

Dark, a touch sadistic but utterly brilliant and heart-wrenching at the same time, Michael J Malone's psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie, kept me gripped and page turning until the very end.

So much goes on within this plot it is quite exhausting, but it is so well written I flew through this book in two sittings.  Dealing with the subject of domestic violence can be difficult to read about but it seemed even more intense somehow because the stereotypical roles have been reversed, which was refreshing and a mark of genius by the author.

The subplots run alongside the main fantastically and enhances the involvement of the reader into the mind set of the main character, Andy.  Through the characters of Sheila and Malcolm, who are dealing with their own trauma's in life, Andy is able to glean strength from them. 

I was surprised at how perfectly the author cast and developed every character within this novel, from the main ones of Andy and Anna, to those mentioned in passing, for example, Malcolm's father.  As a reader I felt the author had known these people a long time.

At times when reading, I found myself clutching at my heart or head, thinking 'No!'  I wanted to jump into the page to stop or change what was happening I got so engrossed.

This book deserves the same kind of huge recognition as the likes of The Girl on the Train and I hope and expect to see it on a best-sellers list.  I can also easily envisage it as a very good three part drama or even film, it kept playing out that way in my head.

With this book shooting straight into my Top 5 of the year so far I can do nothing less that award it the highest rating and enthuse to everyone who loves a brilliant, dark, psychological thriller to get a copy of this book immediately.

I am thankful and honoured to have been part of the blog tour for this brilliant book.  Great work Michael.

Follow the Tour

Check out other reviews of A Suitable Lie by following the tour.

COMING SOON : Blog Tour - A Suitable Lie by Michael J Malone

Blog Tour : The Bird Tribunal by Agnes Ravatn

The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to be part of Agnes Ravatn's exciting new novel, The Bird Tribunal, blog tour this week.  With much thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for involving me in the tour and for a copy of the book, in exchange for an honest review.

Published by : Orenda Books

1 September 2016

Copy : Paperback - Received from publisher as part of tour and for honest review

The Blurb

Two people in exile. Two secrets. As the past tightens its grip, there may be no escape… TV presenter Allis Hagtorn leaves her partner and her job to take voluntary exile in a remote house on an isolated fjord. But her new job as housekeeper and gardener is not all that it seems, and her silent, surly employer, 44-year-old Sigurd Bagge, is not the old man she expected. As they await the return of his wife from her travels, their silent, uneasy encounters develop into a chilling, obsessive relationship, and it becomes clear that atonement for past sins may not be enough… Haunting, consuming and powerful, The Bird Tribunal is a taut, exquisitely written psychological thriller that builds to a shocking, dramatic crescendo that will leave you breathless. 

The Very Pink Notebook Review

For the first few pages of this book I was really unsure how I would fare with it, I struggled a little with the style.  However, once I relaxed into it and let the narration take over, unhindered, I quickly became intrigued.

Although not a great deal of 'action' happens at the beginning, the two (and only) characters, Allis and Bagge, are such complex and intense people you want to find out how the simplest of things are processed in their very strange minds.  Just the day to day dance between the two is deeply immersive to the reader.  In a sense I felt I was intruding on an exceptionally long term of foreplay, even through the most mundane of day to day tasks.

Alongside this is the yearning to know the history of the characters.  We quickly ascertain Allis, a well known TV personality, has fled from the disgrace of infidelity (on her part).  It is more difficult to find out what is going on with Bagge however, because we only ever see his story through the eyes of Allis.  Allis is given glimpses of a dark side of Bagge, his mood swings, his strange dreams of The Bird Tribunal, the sly comments from the old women at the local store, but Allis only wants to believe in the gentle side she sees emerge.

I was intrigued what the title of the novel would relate to and when I did discover it I thought it was absolutely fascinating.

I also loved learning the story of Balder, which is punctuated throughout the novel and thought it was very cleverly interwoven to help enhance the story of Allis and Bagge.

If you asked me in which era this book is set I would struggle to identify it.  I felt as if it should be much older than what it is, given Allis is a TV personality and Bagge makes a comment regarding the house being over 100 years old built in 1890's, this steers it to be quite recent.  To be honest though it could probably be set at any time because both characters have chosen to remove themselves from the outside world, to create their own.

With its unusual writing style, I was inclined to use the words intriguing and fascinating a lot in the review and in summary these are the two I would use again, along with unnerving and enthralling.

This beautifully translated (Rosie Hedger) English Pen Award winning book receives :

About the Author

Agnes Ravatn (b. 1983) is a Norwegian author and columnist.  She made her literary debut with the novel Week 53 in 2007.  Since then she has written three critically acclaimed and award-winning essay collections: Standing, Popular Reading and Operation Self-discipline, in which she recounts her experience with social media addiction, and how she overcame it.  The Bird Tribunal won the cultural radio P2's listener's prize for this novel, a popular and important prize in Norway, in addition to The Youth Critic's Prize.  The Bird Tribunal was also made into a successful play, which premiered in Oslo in 2015.

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Read other reviews of The Bird Tribunal by following the tour:

 

COMING SOON : Blog Tour - The Bird Tribunal by Agnes Ravatn