Review : Close to Me by Amanda Reynolds

Published by : Wildfire (Headline Publishing Group)

27 July 2017

Copy : Paperback - Won in competition run by author

The Blurb

She can't remember the last year. Her husband wants to keep it that way.

When Jo Harding falls down the stairs at home, she wakes up in hospital with partial amnesia-she's lost a whole year of memories. A lot can happen in a year. Was Jo having an affair? Lying to her family? Starting a new life?

She can't remember what she did-or what happened the night she fell. But she's beginning to realise she might not be as good a wife and mother as she thought.

The Very Pink Notebook Review

The premise of this book is domestic noir at its darkest and it feels very claustrophobic.  Jo Harding remembers little of the last 12 months of her life, prior to her fall down the stairs.  But she does remember sending her son off to university, knowing her daughter had gained full time employment following her graduation.  Those are good things.  Things were good - weren't they?  Those are the things she remembers but her instinct, her gut feelings are pushing her to come to other conclusions - but how can she when the ones with the answers to her questions, seem reluctant to share them with her.  Jo finds herself doubting her husband, her children but most of all herself.

Of course truths can't stay buried and we follow Jo on her journey of discovering what twelve mysterious months really are hiding.  Jo is determined in her quest and by some direct digging and inadvertent clues she slowly starts to piece together the mixed up jigsaw of her life.  Unsurprisingly as reality starts to transpire Jo is left wondering if she actually wants to learn truth and she realises that the year was a long one.

This is a deeply complex family story.  Personally I didn't find any of the characters particularly likeable, their actions and reactions are all questionable.  To a degree that did make it a little hard to really bond to the story because I wanted to be rooting for Jo but couldn't.  I also felt that the story could have moved along a little quicker, some of the chapters I felt didn't really move the plot along, but summarised what you already knew.

That said I still enjoyed this book.  I really did want to know what 12 months and the family members, including Jo herself were hiding and I kept reading with gusto.

Close to Me by Amanda Reynolds receives a Very Pink Notebook rating :

Review : Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

Published by : Transworld Publishers (Penguin Random House)

2 May 2017

Copy : Hardback - Reviewer purchase

The Blurb

In the last days before her death, Nel called her sister. Jules didn’t pick up the phone, ignoring her plea for help.

Now Nel is dead. They say she jumped. And Jules has been dragged back to the one place she hoped she had escaped for good, to care for the teenage girl her sister left behind.

But Jules is afraid. So afraid. Of her long-buried memories, of the old Mill House, of knowing that Nel would never have jumped.

And most of all she’s afraid of the water, and the place they call the Drowning Pool . . .

The Very Pink Notebook Review

One of the things that stands out in this book is the sheer amount of characters and not merely secondary ones, they all have their own voice by way of their own chapter.  I have to admit, if I had a break in reading this book sometimes I would have to go through and remind myself of who was who - but each characters is needed, none are superfluous to the plot and it is quite a feat on behalf of the author to have been able to create so many unique voices in one book, ranging from a young teenage girl, to a grieving mother, to a senior gentleman.

Protagonist, Jules, is forced to return to her childhood home following the death - suspected suicide - of her sister Nel.  Nel leaves behind one daughter, a trail of destruction and a lot of loose ends.  Jules find herself needing to tie up those loose ends with explosive consequences.

As I mentioned the book is structured in the hugely popular chapter by character voice and this moves the highly complex plot along at a good pace.  You quickly learn Jules home town is a place full of secrets.  A small town whereby everyone thinks they know everyone else, that there couldn't be anywhere to really hide anything - turns out there are plenty and all the inhabitants have hidden things at some point, either out of fear, stupidity, self protection or trying to protect others.  But a small town can only hold so many secrets before it starts straining at the seams and once the dams burst there is no stopping what happens next.

That is this book.  It sort of unravels slowly starting with the newest information and slowly unpicking the rest.  Recent events start to link to past ones like a connect the dots.  Many authors may have struggled to pull it all together because as well as having an awful lot of characters this novel also has an awful lot of plot.

Hawkins uses 'excerpts' from Nel's contentious research about the history of the towns 'drowning pool' to give the reader the necessary history, it also gives nice little breaks from the narrative of the present day situation.  The Drowning Pool is the central location in the novel and it is nice that it is almost given it's own voice.

With so many threads to pull together it could have easily have been difficult to produce an ending to tie them all up in a satisfactory manner, but this is achieved, the plethora of unanswered questions all get a conclusion.

It was a pleasure to read such a hyped book and not be disappointed.

Review - They All Fall Down by Tammy Cohen

Published by : Transworld

13 July 2017

Copy : Paperback received from publisher

The Blurb

She knows there’s a killer on the loose.But no-one believes her.
Will she be next?

Hannah had a normal life – a loving husband, a good job. Until she did something shocking.

Now she’s in a psychiatric clinic. It should be a safe place. But patients keep dying.

The doctors say it’s suicide. Hannah knows they’re lying.

Can she make anyone believe her before the killer strikes again?

The Very Pink Notebook Review

They All Fall Down has the most intriguing of opening pages - the type I can envisage being used as 'great example of opening chapters' in writing classes.  It is both shocking and sad and leaves so many unanswered questions you cannot wait to turn the page.

Written in chapters by character voices it moves along at great pace and with an abundance of strong and unique viewpoints.  Protagonist, Hannah, is residing in a high suicide risk psych ward.  You don't know what has brought her to this point and do not learn it for sometime.  So along with the 'Is there a killer on the loose?' question you are also exploring the history of Hannah, and just - what did she do?

During this investigation you learn about her husband, mother, sister and their turbulent past and through Hannah's eyes you are taken on a dark and worrying journey into how vulnerable those in hospital can be.  With a host of unreliable narrators, the author nicely drip feeds the plot with red herrings a plenty to keep you guessing.  At one point near the end I thought I was about to suffer the most disappointing of endings, but then comes the final, killer twist and there was certainly not a whiff of disappointment in sight.

A clever and intricate plot, backed up with complex characters and smooth writing makes They All Fall Down a great read.

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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Review : Don't Wake Up by Liz Lawler

Published by Bonnie Zaffre

18 May 2017

Copy : Ebook from Readers First

The Blurb

Alex Taylor wakes up tied to an operating table.

The man who stands over her isn't a doctor.

The offer he makes her is utterly unspeakable.

But when Alex re-awakens, she's unharmed - and no one believes her horrifying story. Ostracised by her colleagues, her family and her partner, she begins to wonder if she really is losing her mind.

And then she meets the next victim.

The Very Pink Notebook Review

This novel has one of the most eerie opening chapters I think I have read.  It takes, what I would assume to be most peoples fear, and lays it bare on a page.  Alex Taylor, hospital doctor, wakes up and finds herself on an operating table - as if that is scary enough on it's own, she finds this isn't an accident, she is there for a reason, someone is very upset with her and wants to make her pay.

Of course, Alex - for reasons unknown to her - is set free from this horror and finds herself being discovered by a search party.  Lucky her.  What is not so lucky is no one believes her story about her abduction and as her world gradually unravels she even starts to question her own sanity.

This is certainly a punchy opener and it would be impossible for the novel to continue in such a explosive way, but it certainly continues at a pace and with the same eerie darkness.  Having said that it is not grotesque or gruesome, it more just plays on common fears and it makes you live out what would be a pretty nasty dream.

Alex quickly realises that although she was freed from her ordeal it is far from over and her abductor has not finished with their work.  What continues is a women, with no support on her theory of what happened, finding herself getting deeper and deeper in a situation she can not control.  A game of cat or mouse where she is most definitely being used as the play thing.

When the big reveal comes I was quite surprised, the author does well to cast reasonable doubt over most of the characters and I was constantly wondering if it was maybe him or her, or if indeed Alex did imagine it all.  If I was being brutally honest, maybe the truth when it came to light was a little on the far fetched side of the radar, but to be honest, I enjoyed the journey of getting to the truth that didn't bother me and I thought the author went to great lengths to try and give the reason for what happens. 

Coble uses common fears to really pump up the heartrate in this novel, which is clever.  I certainly found the use of locations really did put me on edge, the use of hospitals and their maze like nature really helped with the atmosphere of the novel, mirroring the maze of puzzles that work through Alex's mind and therefore the readers. 

If you enjoy a gritty thriller then you will enjoy Liz Lawler's Don't Wake Up and it receives a Very Pink Notebook rating of :

Tour and Review : Troll by D.B. Thorne

The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to be part of the Troll by D. B. Thorne

blog tour.  With thanks to Kate at Atlantic Books (Corvus) for involving me in the tour and for an advance copy of the book.

Published by : Corvus Books

01 June 2017

Copy : Paperback provided by the publisher

The Blurb

Years ago, Fortune gave up on his daughter, Sophie, after a troubled adolescence.  Now she's gone missing, vanished without trace. And after weeks of investigation, the police have given up on her, too.

Driven by guilt, and a determination to atone for his failures as a father, he takes on the search himself. He soon finds that his daughter had been living in fear of a vicious online troll who seemed to know far too much about her. Could Sophie's disappearance be linked to this unknown predator? Fortune is about to discovers that monsters which live online don't always stay there...  

The Very Pink Notebook Review

If you want a psychological thriller of epic proportions then Troll by D. B. Thorne is a must read.

This novel starts unsettling and bit by bit gets darker and more twisted, but in a very real and also moving way.

Told in a two-fold narrative, the story is pinned together by Fortune, a 54 year old successful businessman, but failed father and husband and Sophie, Fortune's daughter who is missing, presumed dead.

It is difficult to try and review this book because I do not want to give anything away, so all I will say is the author has done an amazing job of deconstructing and reconstructing a very intricate and complicated plot in a way that will make it impossible to put down (Case in point - I read this in one day!)  It is so clever and well thought out, I would love to know, from a writers perspective, how the author went about planning and plotting for this one because I am not sure I would have known where to start.

I also said that although dark, this is a moving book.  And it really is.  It looks at the dynamics of dysfunctional families, the relationships between husband and wife, parents and children, in a deep way. 

The novel tackles several difficult themes - again I won't mention specifics because I do not want to hint or reveal anything, but just to say they are handled well, so you can feel the power of them but you are not left with a stomach turned.  Again, this is done through excellent writing by D. B. Thorne.

With it's clear and clever structure, flawless writing, strong characters and excellent use of locations this is definitely one of the best psychological thrillers I have read this year and I will certainly be making a point of picking up the other books by this author.

Troll by D. B. Thorne receives nothing less than a Very Pink Notebook rating of :

About the Author

D. B. Thorne has worked as a writer for the last 15 years, originally in advertising, then in television and radio comedy.  He has written material for many comedians, including Jimmy Carr, Alan Carr, David Mitchell and Bob Mortimer.  He was a major contributor to the BAFTA-winning Armstrong and Miller Show, and has worked on shows including Facejacker, Harry and Paul and Alan Carr : Chatty Man.  Troll is his fourth novel.

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COMING SOON : Monsters who live online... don't always stay there : TROLL

Review : Amnesia by Michael Ridpath

Published by Corvus (Atlantic Books)

04 May 2017

Copy - Paperback from Readers First

The Blurb

Alastair Cunningham wakes up in hospital with almost total amnesia. But he knows that something terrible happened in his past, something that haunts him still. A young family friend, Clémence is called in to help rekindle his memory. Retreating with Alastair to his remote cottage, Clémence finds a peculiar manuscript hidden away from prying eyes. Reading the prologue, she discovers a murder by someone very much like a young Alastair. The victim? Clémence’s grandmother, Sophie. Could this kindly old man truly be a killer? Clémence becomes determined to find out what happened all those years ago, even if she must risk everything to do so…

The Very Pink Notebook Review

This book starts in the thick of the action, immediately drawing you in and encouraging you to read on. Within the first few chapters the author establishes, very confidently and clearly, the two main characters, Clemence and Alastair who develop a clever and sometimes amusing, relationship.

Trying to regain his memory and piece together his life becomes a novel within a novel as the two read a seemingly autobiographic manuscript they find back at the cottage.  The reader is taken back to Alastair's life as a young man at University and the relationships he develops there which result in long reaching consequences.  A truly tangled web of deceit is woven involving love lost, money and murder.

At first it seems clear, the reader is being told the true story via the novel, but several elements do not quite make sense and Clemence is not convinced things are as straightforward as the book suggests, and indeed they aren't, thus you are then taken on a blind excursion of discovery to find out just what piece of vital evidence has been taken away and why and by whom...

The use of the environmental setting, dark and brooding Scotland in winter, seems to be the perfect backdrop for the tone of the novel, as in looks can be deceiving. The beauty of Scotland can draw you in but be lethal if not handled correctly. Well written and paced this novel is gripping and enticing.  I had my suspicions about half way through of what may happen at the end and although it did there was also so much I did not see coming!  I have to say, the final two pages of the novel were brilliant and I loved what the author has done - it certainly made me smile. 

I will most certainly be reading more from Michael Ridpath.

Amnesia receives a must read Very Pink Notebook Rating of :

Tour and Review : Follow Me Down by Sherri Smith

The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to be part of the tour for Sherri Smith's psychological thriller Follow Me Down.  With thanks to Philippa Ward at Titan books for involving me in the tour and for an advance copy of the book.

Published by : Titan Books

21 March 2017

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

The Blurb

THEY SAY ONLY THE GUILTY RUN

Mia never intended to go home again, but has no choice when her twin brother goes missing.  Back to the people she left behind, the person she used to be, and the secrets she thought she'd buried. 

Her brother Lucas, a popular teacher, has disappeared on the same day as the murdered body of one of his students was pulled from the river.  Trying to wrap her head around the rumors of Lucas's affair with the teenager, and unable to reconcile the media's vicious portrayal of Lucas with her own memories of him, Mia is desperate to find another suspect.

All the while, she wonders, if he's innocent, why did he run?

The Very Pink Notebook Review

If you like gritty psychological thrillers combined with the dynamics of messed up families then this is a book for you.  Follow Me Down is a very dark and twisted tale and when I say twisted I mean it, in every possible sense.

The reader is thrown right into the story from the first page, when protagonist Mia, a Chicago based pharmacist, receives a call from the police alerting her to the fact her twin brother Lucas, popular school teacher who still lives in the small minded town they grew up in, is missing.  However, not only is he missing, he is wanted.

Smith has cleverly filtered the story through the mind of Mia, you are in her head and go on the journey of discovery as solely seen through her eyes.  The problem with her eyes is they are often tainted by abuse of prescription drugs and alcohol - unreliable narrator alert.  Obviously Mia is convinced of her brother's innocence, or is she?  Even as an unreliable narrator, the author manages to pass every conceivable idea through Mia's mind, who tries to weigh up the probability of these things happening.  She then starts piecing together parts of the puzzle that is the situation and finds things and people in the small town are not always what they seem.  Slowly, and a little crazily, she starts to form a picture of what was going on right up to the day the body was discovered and her brother went missing. 

As I said, there are so many twists and turns in this book you can get quite dizzy, but that is brilliant because every possibility is really quite feasible and I had absolutely no clue as to where this ride was going to end, and what a well executed ending it was, with all ends tied up, some of them somewhat messily for the characters.

This novel has a host of unlikeable characters and this may be a little controversial, having seen some other reviews, but I actually didn't dislike Mia at all.  I also loved their narcissistic mother Mimi as well.  In fact, in the end I really felt quite sorry for her.

This book has a complex plot that Sherri Smith has managed to deconstruct and deliver in an easy, fast paced and exciting novel.  I would highly recommend it to psychological thriller lovers that like their work on the dark side.

Follow Me Down receives a highly recommend Very Pink Notebook rating of :

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About The Author

Sherri Smith spends time with her family and two rescue dogs, and restores vintage furniture that would otherwise be destined for the dump.  She lives in Winnipeg, Canada, where the long, cold winters nurture her dark side.  Follow Me Down is her first thriller.

Review : What My Body Remembers by Agnete Friis

Published by : Soho Press, Inc. 

17 May 2017

Copy : Paperback - Received from publisher

The Blurb

Ella Nygaard, 27, has been a ward of the state since she was seven years old, the night her father murdered her mother. She doesn't remember anything about that night or her childhood before it but her body remembers. The PTSD-induced panic attacks she now suffers incapacitate her for hours sometimes days at a time and leave her physically and mentally drained.

After one particularly bad episode lands Ella in a psych ward, she discovers her son, Alex, has been taken from her by the state and placed with a foster family. Driven by desperation, Ella kidnaps Alex and flees to the seaside town in northern Denmark where she was born. Her grandmothers abandoned house is in grave disrepair, but she can live there for free until she can figure out how to convince social services that despite everything, she is the best parent for her child.

But being back in the small town forces Ella to confront the demons of her childhood the monsters her memory has tried so hard to obscure. What really happened that night her mother died? Was her grandmother right was Ella's father unjustly convicted? What other secrets were her parents hiding from each other? If Ella can start to remember, maybe her scars will begin to heal or maybe the truth will put her in even greater danger.  

The Very Pink Notebook Review

The opening to this book was a little different to what I was expecting.  Usually you are given an explosive event or shocking revelation, but this opens with a very simple and frank conversation between two neighbours.  Two females.  It is muted, matter of fact and so completely puts you straight into the tone of the book it is very clever.

So, what is the tone of the book?  Well, to be honest, it is pretty bleak.  Written in first person narrative by protagonist Ella, the reader quickly ascertains that Ella and her son Alex live a pretty poor life, both financially and in quality.  Both Ella and Alex suffer from mental health issues, something Ella fights the state about with vengeance.  Ella's general outlook on life and other people is negative, she trusts in very little, but that is hardly surprising given the traumatic and fragmented up bringing she has endured.  When she moves back to where she grew up, she meets people from her past who seem to know more about her than she does; Thomas, her old school friend who obviously hasn't lost the flame he held for her, Baek-Nielson her grandmothers friend, Barbara who swears she will help her no matter how much she protests.  The author presents them well, I was not sure who could be trusted...

Throughout we are taken on Ella's, reluctant, journey of discovery about what really happened in her childhood, particularly the night her mother died.  What I liked was there was no sudden changes in Ella's attitude, she didn't suddenly become an optimistic fighter, or into money.  She is forced to deal with her own past so that it doesn't affect her son's future, but even so, she does it all seriously dragging her feet and with limited means.

In between the current day scenes with Ella, we are taken back to 1994, the year her father allegedly killed her mother.  Told from the viewpoint of both her father, Helgi, and mother, Anna, the reader learns the couple both had secrets and issues over the course of that year.  Using the three viewpoints the plot comes together well and at a steady pace.  Although I did put two and two together, it did not spoil the book for me and I enjoyed the way the author weaved and pulled all the ends together. 

I loved the characters, they were very real and most importantly relevant to the plot.  At first, I did wonder whether some of the language used was a little too much, but actually considering it now, as I review the novel in it's entirety, no it wasn't.  The book is set to the theme of hardship and with that comes gritty realities that sometimes only profanity can truly help describe.  Although some of the characters and language may seem harsh, the overall emotion I got from them was actually compassion, I particularly thought this of Rosa.

What My Body Remembers, for me, was a different kettle of fish to what I was expecting.  It is written through emotion rather than action.  It's themes ran strong and true from beginning right to end and the characters are really well developed and interesting.

What My Body Remembers receives a Very Pink Notebook Rating of :

 

Review : 14 Days to Die by A B Whelan

Published by : Motion Capitol

11 January 2016

Copy : Kindle Edition - Reviewer Purchased

The Blurb

Stay-at-home mom Sarah Johnson has the perfect family—a handsome, hardworking husband and two healthy and beautiful children. At least, that’s what she’s been telling herself for years. After the tragedies in her youth, Sarah deemed living a lie easier than dwelling on the past and facing her everyday failures. To avoid any kind of confrontation at home she doesn’t read her husband’s emails or spy on him like most jealous wives do. She wouldn’t jeopardize her comfortable but dull life for anything.

But Sarah’s world is about to crumble around her when she receives a phone call from a man with a heavy foreign accent telling her that her perfect husband has put a price on her head. She is offered two weeks to come up with a counteroffer or die. Why would her model husband Mike want her dead? Hasn’t she been the perfect wife? Or has her karma finally caught up with her—making her pay for her former transgressions? The final countdown begins and now Sarah has to race against time to find out what went wrong in her marriage and find a way out of this nightmare.

So the game of life or death begins. Secrets are unveiled. Emotions are unleashed. Actions are taken. 

The Very Pink Notebook Review

There is no doubting this book had me hooked by the second paragraph of the blurb.  It was one of those occasions where I hurried to finish what I was reading in order to move onto this.  And it did not disappoint.

I loved the style of writing in this book.  It was fast paced, easy to read and just flowed effortlessly, but the thing I liked the most was the dialogue.  Even with some of the best will in the world, dialogue can sound a bit trite but this just wasn't and my favourite interactions were between Sarah and her husband Mike, it had me laughing out loud at times.

There is no stalling with the action, it starts from the first page and covers a two week timescale, in which a lot of the time the reader is with Sarah in her thoughts, as she rushes through every emotion conceivable while the reality of her situation hits home.  Again, although it is a serious plot, Sarah and her attitude and ideas - after all she is just your run of the mill stay-at-home mum - did make for some comedy reading.  However, you are still given the serious side of her and you soon understand that Sarah, although has been the model wife and mother, has not always been a good human being.

Punctuated throughout the novel are snippets of conversations between friends and neighbours in their police interviews, and although entertaining, I am not sure they were particularly needed or added anything to moving the plot forward.  Having said that, it was a way of anchoring in the police element of involvement without having to flesh out long and unnecessary scenes, because this isn't about the police investigation of what happened.

I wasn't quite sure how the ending was going to pan out, it could have ended in many different ways, and I sort of wish this was one of those books where you could choose varying options!  I did enjoy the authors choice for the most part and it tied up all the loose ends.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.  As such 14 Days to Die receives a Very Pink Notebook rating of :

Review : The Sisters by Claire Douglas

Published by : Harper Collins

13 August 2015

Copy : Paperback - Reviewer purchased

The Blurb

One lied. One died.

When one sister dies, the other must go to desperate lengths to survive. Haunted by her twin sister's death, Abi is making a fresh start in Bath. But when she meets twins Bea and Ben, she is quickly drawn into their privileged and unsettling circle.

When one sister lies, she must protect her secret at all costs. As Abi tries to keep up with the demands of her fickle friends, strange things start to happen - precious letters go missing and threatening messages are left in her room. Is this the work of the beautiful and capricious Bea? Or is Abi willing to go to any lengths to get attention? When the truth outs, will either sister survive?

The Very Pink Notebook Review

I found mixed reviews of The Sisters before reading it so I was interested to see which side of the fence I would fall on, but I have to say it is the positive one.  I flew through this book in two days.  I just could not put it down.

The plot is two-fold, following the lives of two sets of twins (Abi and Lucy, Bea and Ben) who have both experienced tragedy.  When their lives become entangled the plot gets thicker and thicker and with all the main narrators being hugely unreliable it makes you question everything.  I did sort of work out what the big secret was the characters Bea and Ben were trying to keep hidden, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story because I couldn't really work anything else out and had no clue how it was all going to come together at the end.

I wouldn't say any of the characters were particularly likeable, I found them all very selfish and quite shallow, but for me, that worked well.  I didn't see that as a sign of poorly thought out characters, it just made me more wary of them which fed into the psychological thriller element.  I thought they were all capable of being the culprit of the disturbing incidences and all equally of being the victim.

There is a lot going on in this plot, and maybe it could have been scaled back a little as by the end you realise some parts are absolutely as they are laid out right at the start and therefore didn't really need investigating.  Also, sometimes I felt a few of the things that happened were a little too convenient (for example how the two main characters meet).  Having said that, no, it might not happen in real life, but this isn't real life, it is fiction and for the story to work sometimes you need to get over those issues, just read and enjoy as the plot unfolds.

I actually thought the ending for Bea and Ben was the obvious one for them and for Abi it was really good and true to her character, it remained indicative of the trauma she had experienced.

Overall I thought this was a pacey, exciting, well thought out psychological thriller that left no character in the clear.

The Sisters receives a Very Pink Notebook rating of :

  

Review : The Magpies by Mark Edwards

Published by  : Createspace

21 March 2013

Copy : Paperback - Reviewer purchased

The Blurb

When Jamie and Kirsty move into their first home together they are full of optimism. The future, in which they plan to get married and start a family, is bright. The other residents of their building seem friendly too: the horror writer and the middle-aged herbalist who live upstairs, and the Newtons, a married couple who welcome them to the building with open arms.

At first, the two couples get on well. But then strange things start to happen. Dead rats are left on their doorstep. They hear disturbing noises, and much worse, in the night. After Jamie's best friend is injured in a horrific accident, Jamie and Kirsty find themselves targeted by a campaign of terror.

As Jamie and Kirsty are driven to the edge of despair, Jamie vows to fight back – but he has no idea what he is really up against…

The Very Pink Notebook Review

Magpies...They attack the nests of others... This is the premise of the book and Mark Edwards has constructed a brilliantly written, tense and enthralling psychological thriller.

We start, of course, with blue skies.  A happy couple, Kirsty and Jamie.  Young and in love they move into their dream flat.  Then it starts.  The torment.  Starting small with annoying, little things that build slowly but surely to much more sinister goings on.  The perpetrators are clever, cold.  Evil.

I found the telling of this thriller unusual (I won't say why because it will spoil too much) but despite, or because of this actually, I could not guess what was going to happen next, or who the perpetrator was going to transpire to be.  This made for a fantastic and nail biting read which I completed in two sittings.  Assisted by the wonderfully uncomplicated writing and brilliant dialogue which moved along at a punchy pace I thought Edwards produced a group of sound, well developed characters, who drew me in and kept me guessing.  All with different quirks the author used them to their utmost to make you wonder - are they just innocent quirks or is there something more sinister in their meaning.

I could really feel the emotional drainage of Kirsty and Jamie, as their happiness fall from their grasp and desperation leads to a raw and aggressive need for revenge. 

It wasn't until I sat down to write this review that the prologue jumped into my mind and I suddenly had to re-read it.  Then the Oh.My.God. moment happened.  I wonder if it is just me or if a delayed recognition of the significance of it has been common in general for readers and if that was the intention all along by the author.

This is the first book I have read by Mark Edwards and I am certain it will not be the last.

The Magpies by Mark Edwards receives a Very Pink Notebook top rating of :

Review - Everything You Told Me by Lucy Dawson

Published by : Corvus

5 January2017

Copy - ARC received from publisher

The Blurb

You went to bed at home, just like every other night.

You woke up in the back of a taxi, 300 miles away.

You have no memory of the last ten hours.

You have a suicide note in your coat pocket, in your own writing.

You know you weren’t planning to kill yourself.

Your family and friends think you are lying.

Someone knows exactly what happened to you.

But they’re not telling…

The Very Pink Notebook Review

Lucy Dawson has a very distinctive writing style and her new novel, Everything You Told Me, sticks to this successful formula.  Earlier this year I read, The Letter You Sent, and spent my reading time with my heart beating that little bit faster, my eyes scanning the words and paragraphs and pages quickly as I tried to get to the bottom of the complete and utter muddle the protagonist found herself in - and I did exactly the same with this novel.

The protagonist is this novel is Sally.  An exhausted mother of two to Chloe and Theo and wife to Matthew.  Sally is happy with her life but with a pre-schooler and a six month old who refuses to sleep, combined with a stressed-out-with-work husband, sometimes she finds it testing.  However, Sally refuses to believe she tried to kill herself which is where the novel starts.

We are taken on the journey directly through the eyes of Sally via a first person narrative.  Whether she is a reliable narrator or not, is for the reader to decide themselves, but I decided she was, because although everything could been seen as very clear and straight-forward I did believe her version of events and her justifications for certain things.  Again, like the previous novel of Dawson's, events happen over a fairly short timescale and so are quite intense and although there is not a lot of action as such - Sally is just trying to make and keep everything 'normal' for the sake of the children - our protagonist is forced to try and investigate matters herself when no one seems to want to listen to a word she says.

Sally is surrounded by 'helpful' family members, all saying they want the best for her.  Who does really want this is anybody's guess as they all seem to have their own agenda.  Sally finds herself in a complete muddle, as does the reader, and ends up questioning everyone, including herself.  Sometimes I wished more information would come to light sooner, I found a few chapters a little repetitive but, having said that, they were quite helpful in reiterating / clarifying what had happened so far.

I did work out part of the ending fairly early on, but by all means not the entirety and depth of it.  I liked the character of Sally and Matthew, particularly given their stressful and quite common lifestyle, some of the other characters I found a little unrealistic but not so much to the point that it spoiled the book for me. 

If you like a muddling, nail-biter then you will enjoy this latest offering from Lucy Dawson.

The Very Pink Notebook gives Everything You Told Me :

Book Tour and Review : What Alice Knew by T. A. Cotterell

The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to be part of T.A. Cotterell's, What Alice Knew, blog tour this week.  With much thanks to Becky Hunter for involving me in the tour and for a copy of the book.

Publisher : Black Swan

E : 1 December 2016 / Paperback 20 April 2017

Copy : Blogger Edition Paperback received from B.Hunter at Penguin Random House

The Blurb

Alice has a perfect life – a great job, happy kids, a wonderful husband. Until he goes missing one night; she receives a suspicious phone call; things don’t quite add up.

Alice needs to know what’s going on. But when she uncovers the truth she faces a brutal choice. And how can she be sure it is the truth?

Sometimes it’s better not to know.

The Very Pink Notebook Review

The opening line of this book is brilliant.  It wasn't until the end that I realised it's significance to the novel as a whole.  It is a perfect and clever summarisation.

What Alice Knew is a thriller of unusual proportions.  Stepping away from the 'who done it' chase, it instead looks at the grimy aftermath and the damaging and lasting effects on a couple when one has committed a crime.

Thrust into the world of Alice and Ed, one a creative portrait artist with an almost compulsive obsession with searching for the truth in people and pulling out the 'honesty' in them through the art she produces, the latter a highly regarded and decorated obstetrician, who finds himself thoroughly adored by colleagues, friends and family alike we soon find their, almost too perfect life, smashed to pieces by a series of unfortunate events resulting in an untimely death.

We see events through the eyes of Alice.  We are taken on a journey with her through the series of emotions she feels on initial discovery of the incident, her take on events, her feelings about her husband and family, her decisions on what to do with the information she has, the knowledge she has about the type of person her husband is.  But, Alice soon realises, perhaps she doesn't know what she thinks she does and really it becomes a case of what Alice doesn't know rather than what she does.

I have to say, I did not like the character of Ed and suspect he had a touch of the God-complex, a side effect of his job and the constant adoration he received because of it.  His initial remorse too quickly dissipates to almost arrogance - as he is constantly told by Alice -and believes himself, what he adds to life and the community, his impeccable character, his life-saving skills as an obstetrician, his wonderful relationship with their children, are worth more than admitting to something that although he maintains was an accident, would land him in a lot of trouble.  However, as Alice discovers little things that don't add up she finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew about her husband and I wanted to urge her on to keep digging, and of course her natural instinct as a portrait artist (see that first line of the book!) means she does, leaving the couple testing the strength of their marriage and relationship to the max.

Cotterell has used his extensive knowledge of art history and theory a lot throughout this book.  It works in seamlessly well and supports the plot entirely.  The author has written a complex, emotional story from quite a unique perspective and the ending is in complete unison with this.  I thought it was a brilliant and wholly fitting conclusion for Alice, perfect for her character and not as straight-forward as may first seem, just like everything else this novel.

As debut's go, T. A. Cotterell has nailed it with 'What Alice Knew', it is a gripping and meaty book that is a must read for anyone that loves a domestic psychological thriller.

What Alice Knew receives a 'highly recommend' : 

Follow the Tour

Tomorrow I hand over the baton to www.thebookwormsfantasy.wordpress.com. 

Discover what other readers thought of the book by following the tour :

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

Review : I See You by Clare Mackintosh

Published : 28 July 2016

By : Sphere

Copy : Hardback - Reviewer Purchase

The Blurb

When Zoe Walker sees her photo in the classifieds section of a London newspaper, she is determined to find out why it's there. There's no explanation: just a grainy image, a website address and a phone number. She takes it home to her family, who are convinced it's just someone who looks like Zoe. But the next day the advert shows a photo of a different woman, and another the day after that.

Is it a mistake? A coincidence? Or is someone keeping track of every move they make . . .

The Very Pink Notebook Review

Clare Mackintosh gave us a killer debut novel with I Let You Go, so I was thrilled to discover a second book was to follow with relative speed.  As most fans of I Let You Go, I wondered how the author would deal with second book syndrome and I have to say, pretty damn well.

I was lucky enough to be present at an event with the author earlier in the year, where she read us the first chapter of I See You, leaving the audience salivating after just a few minutes.  And that is how I felt at the end of almost every chapter.  It gripped every part of my imagination, it made me feel uneasy - how true our weakness for 'routine' in our lives is and how this can make us so very vulnerable, I could not stop turning the pages. 

Based on main character Zoe, we are entered into a dirty underworld whereby women's identities are literally put up for sale - but not to their knowledge.  When Zoe sees a picture of herself in an advert she has no clue as to why but with steely determination to discover why, we are taken on a journey which puts everyone as a potential suspect in the web she slowly unravels. 

Along with her on this journey is Kelly, a somewhat disgraced Police Officer who has been put on Neighbourhood Policing but is itching to get back into more serious crime.  She comes across Zoe's call by chance and with nothing to go on but gut instinct she also suspects something more sinister is going on than meets the eye.  Eventually she manages to get assigned to the case with DI Rampello and I enjoyed the pairing of the two officers.

Kelly also has an interesting back story of her own, which gave a good interlude to the main plot.  It demonstrates she isn't always inclined to play by the book, which, when everyone else is doubting Zoe and her version of events, Zoe finds she really needs.

Again, what I love about Clare Mackintosh as a writer is she does not bog you down in police procedure, but gives you just enough to keep you engaged and flying along the plot with speed.  It must be one of the hardest things as a writer, to get that balance right. 

For the most part the story is seen from the eyes of Zoe and the police team, but sporadically we hear another voice.  The voice of the perpetrator.  Menacing and cold it sent chills down my spine and I had absolutely no clue who that person was until it was revealed right at the very end.  It left me very unsettled, a sure sign of a good book.

This is another complex novel which Clare Mackintosh has managed to deliver so it is both thrilling and effortless to read.  I couldn't get enough of it and I am already on tenterhooks for book number three!

I See You gets a Very Pink Notebook rating of :

    

Blog Tour and Review : Good Girl Bad Girl by Ann Girdharry

The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to be part of Ann Girdharry's new psychological suspense thriller,

Good Girl Bad Girl, blog tour this week.  With much thanks to Kate Appleton, at Authoright for involving me in the tour and for a copy of the book, in exchange for an honest review.

 

Published by : Create Space and Kindle Direct

Published : 23 August 2016

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

The Blurb

Kal is twenty-eight years old and she’s no fool, though sometimes she might pretend to be, because hiding her strengths is a great way to extract information.

An expert in psychology and skilled in reading other people and their behaviours, she first learnt her craft from her deceased father. He was a man with dark secrets.

When her journalist mother goes missing, Kal investigates. A shadow’s been stalking her family for three generations. Kal will uncover a child trafficking network and to find her mother, she must face her deepest suspicions and a dread she's been avoiding all her life…

The Very Pink Notebook Review

Good Girl Bad Girl is a disturbingly dark, psychological thriller, with a complex, multi-layered plot.  Our protagonist, Kal, returns from her latest photo-journalism assignment to find her investigative journalist mother is missing.  Kal has spent her life being trained, by her late father, in understanding human psychology and her instincts immediately warn her something is very wrong.

Although a little slow to start with once the pace picks up it rarely lets up and the complicated job of unravelling her mothers clues leads Kal, and her loyal friends, into a black underworld of child trafficking.  When I sensed where this plot was going I felt a reluctance to continue chapter after chapter, but Girdharry has crafted an acceptable balance of giving just enough information, so you know what is going on but you do not have to endure any graphic detail.  And knowing what is going on makes you really route for Kal in her quest to rescue the ones most at danger; the children.

What I really liked about this book was the way the author inserted the fascinating details about human psychology, without it ever being out of place in the plot.  Kal, at first glance may seem like a very unrealistic character but as the reader discovers she is not the child of 'average' parents and had a far from normal childhood so she is not going to be your every day citizen. 

It was great to have such a determined female lead protagonist and we discover she comes from a family of these women, but also for her main ally, best friend Marty, to also be a strong - both mentally and physically - female.

Overall this is a well written, pacey, meaty plot.  Teamed with well developed characters it is certainly worth a read, particularly if you like your novels with a more 'noir' flavour.

Good Girl Bad Girl receives :

Follow The Tour

Good Girl Bad Girl is out on 23 August 2016 in paperback and in ebook.  Be sure to check out what other reviewers thought of the book by following the tour :

About The Author

Ann Girdharry

Born and educated in the UK, Ann Girdharry is a trained psychotherapist and has worked as a manager in the not-for-profit sector for many years for agencies working with: carers, vulnerable older people and those with dementia, survivors of abuse, and victims of racism and racial attacks.

Today she lives in Montpellier, France with her husband and two children. As well as her passion for writing, Ann enjoys gardening and is a member of her local roller blading club.

Ann has previously published a series of short stories called Tales of the Unexpected (2015-2016). Her debut novel, and the first in the Kal Medi series, Good Girl Bad Girl by Ann Girdharry (published by CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing 23rd August 2016 RRP£8.99 paperback,£3.99 ebook) is available to purchase from online retailers including  Amazon UK  and to order from all good bookstores.

Website : www.girdharry.com

Twitter : www.twitter.com/GirdharryAnn

Goodreads : www.goodreads.com/AnnGirdharry