The First Cut

 

by Ali Knight

Ali Knight’s books create a great sense for the reader of not knowing quite what’s happening or where the narrative is going. When I reviewed her last novel, ‘Wink Murder’, I commented that it had kept me guessing all the way through. 

The same is true of ‘The First Cut’ although the way the story is told is very different. In ‘Wink Murder’ we had a first person narrative, whereas in this latest book we have a third person narrative from more than one perspective. So the tension and the disconcerting sense of not being sure what is real and what isn’t is created in a different, but equally effective way.

The book opens with main character Nicky discovering the murdered body of her best friend Grace. This life-changing event spirals a sequence of events that lead Nicky into deeper and deeper danger.

Nicky consequently marries Grace’s husband Greg, a decision that she may live to regret, and then gets tangled up with the young and good-looking Adam. But can she trust either of them? And who is it who’s really out to get her?

Fast-paced and genuinely scary in places, the plot will keep you guessing as AIi Knight teases out more and more strands of a complex story which takes in the colourful character’s of both Greg’s and Adam’s families and some dark events from the past that won’t let go of the present.

With this book you’ll feel the fear and almost believe you can feel the pain as Nicky undergoes both mental, emotional and physical trials, all of which are vividly portrayed.

A very enjoyable read.

Many thanks to the publisher for a review copy of this book.

Unsinkable by Dan James

 

 

 

Unsinkable by Dan James

Everyone knows what happened to the Titanic.  We’ve all seen Leornardo DiCaprio dancing with Kate Winslet, just as we’ve seen the documentaries about the lost treasures that may or may not lie at the bottom of the North Atlantic.  We all know that the pride of the White Star Line sailed into an iceberg on her maiden voyage to New York; we all know that she carried only half the number of lifeboats she needed to accommodate all the passengers. We think we all know why it happened - the lookout saw the iceberg too late for the ship to avoid it.  What Dan James’ novel, ‘Unsinkable’, asks is - what if something else distracted that lookout’s attention?

The story begins in London. Special Branch policeman Arthur Beck survives two disastrous attempts to capture a gang of anarchists who have already committed cold-blooded murders in the capital. Beck’s fellow officers lie dead, shot by a notorious Latvian terrorist, Peter Piatkow. Recovered from his own physical injuries but racked with guilt, Beck returns to work only to make a wrong decision that costs more innocent lives.  Beck can take no more; he decides to leave the UK and start a new life in America.  He buys himself a first class ticket on the Titanic.

Martha Heaton, an American journalist, also boards the ship.  She has been sent by her paper to report on the rich and famous amongst the passengers, but she is desperate to prove herself a serious writer - she needs a big story to impress her editor.  

James’ third character is Sten-Ake Gustafson, an old Swedish sailor travelling to the US to see his grandchildren before his cancer kills him.

Beck, Martha and Sten-Ake have little in common, but they are brought together when Beck spots a man who could be Piatkow boarding the ship at Cherbourg.  Martha wants the story; Beck wants Piatkow; Gustafson just wants a quiet life, but they will all be drawn into Piatkow’s attempts to escape justice.

Dan James has written a novel that manages seamlessly to combine fact and fiction.  The well-known details of the ship’s voyage - her departure from Southampton, the arrogant pride of her owners, the riches of the wealthy, the hope of the emigrants in steerage - are all here, but interspersed are little gems of information that bring the story to life - the Jesuit trainee priest who takes photos of the ship before he disembarks at Queenstown (Father Francis Browne’s photos provide some of the last surviving records of Titanic), the novelty of the Marconigrams that allow passengers to send messages to family and friends.  The characters of J Bruce Ismay, Managing Director of the White Star Line, and his captain, Edward Smith - the former self-confident and ultimately self-serving, the latter serious and hard working - are as well drawn as those of Martha and Beck - she reckless, determined, an independent woman making her way in a new age, he equally determined but past caring about his own survival, a man embittered by his past and the loss of his colleagues. James’ writing makes it as easy for us to identify with Martha’s joie de vivre as with Beck’s cynicism; we find ourselves rooting for both of them.

As the ship sails into dangerous waters, Gustafson, the old sailor, opens a porthole; experience tells him that ice is all around, so why is Titanic gaining speed?  Meanwhile Beck finally tracks Piatkow down - but will he be able to apprehend him?  It is late at night on 14th April 1912; Beck chases his prey onto the bridge.  What follows next may or may not have changed the course of history.

‘Unsinkable’ is an exciting, well-told, story that never drags.  James (the pseudonym of Dan Waddell) is an experienced journalist and writer, who knows how to keep us turning the pages.  He has done his research, and the details of life on board the most opulent liner in the world, and her disastrous end, are fascinating - but there are never too many; unlike some novels, Unsinkable avoids reading like a history lesson. The Houndsditch Murders and the Siege of Sidney Street did, of course, really happen, but I for one knew little about them before reading this novel.  The only thing I didn’t like about this book was the cover, which reminded my daughter of ‘20,000 Leagues Under The Sea’ and me of Jacques Cousteau.

An excellent read, and one that brings the events of that ‘night to remember’ alive for a new generation.

Reviewed by Rosemary Kaye

Nowhere To Hide

The ‘Nowhere To Hide’ blog tour is over. It's been great fun, and if you've missed any of the posts you can find them by following the links below.

The first post in the blog tour, an interview with Marie Donovan, can be found on Leigh Russell's blog. 

The second post in the blog tour, an interview with Jack Brennan, can be found on Sally Quilford's blog. 

The third post in the blog tour, an interview with Lizzie Carter, can be found on Womagwriter's blog. 

The fourth post in the blog tour, an interview with Hugh Salter, can be found on Cally Taylor's blog. 

The fifth post in the blog tour, an interview with Keith Welsby, can be found on Debs Carr's blog.  

And now you can read a special bonus post on the author's own blog. An interview with Liam, who's been sadly overlooked so far. Make sure you read the comments on this one. Looks like Liam (and Marie) have good reason to be worried.

‘Nowhere To Hide’ is published by Avon HarperCollins, and you can buy it here.  

And if you want to read Marie's debut appearance, you can find that in Trust No One, which you can buy here. 

Thanks so much to all our blog hosts, everyone who read and commented on the posts, and everyone who bought the book. 

Stop Dead

By Leigh Russell

‘Stop Dead’ is the fifth book in the Geraldine Steel series from Leigh Russell. I’ve enjoyed all the books in the series so far, and was really pleased to be sent a copy of this one by the publishers.

The last book in the series saw Geraldine move from a provincial police force in Kent to London to join the Met. Now, in book five, she is settling in to her new job and her new life, making new friends and working out her place in the new professional structure in which she finds herself.

I was delighted though, that we get the added bonus of some welcome glimpses of her former life and colleagues in this story, in particular an appearance from Ian, Geraldine’s former sergeant and a popular character in the earlier books.

This book wastes no time getting into the action of the plot. A successful businessman is brutally murdered, and at first the police suspect his glamorous wife and her young lover may have something to do with it. But when his business partner is also murdered it becomes clear there is more to it than meets the eye.

Bafflingly, the only clues in the case lead in a direction that seems impossible - to two women: one dead, the other in prison. It is left to Geraldine and her colleagues to attempt to find out who is doing it and why before more people die.

Like the books that came earlier in the series, this one doesn’t flinch from exploring dark themes, but as ever it is done in a way which throws light on the plot and on the motives of the murderer.

Leigh Russell has kept Geraldine’s story fresh by moving her to a new place, but in any case there seems no danger of the Geraldine Steel series growing stale. This book did feel different from the others in many ways – it’s hard to say much more than that without giving away too much about the plot. If you want to know what I mean, you’ll have to read it! For fans of Geraldine there is enough here that feels familiar and recognisably a DI Steel story, but equally plenty to intrigue and move things in a different direction.

As always, the balance of criminal investigation and storyline about Geraldine’s own life is spot on. As this series goes on we find out more about Geraldine’s personal life and that has become an intriguing conundrum in itself. I look forward to another instalment of this in the next book.

For lovers of crime fiction and strong female protagonists this is a brilliant, not to be missed, novel. I couldn’t put it down and read it very quickly in a couple of sittings, so keen was I to know what was going on and what the outcome would be.

Many thanks to the publisher for a review copy of this book.

The Final Post ...

... in the Nowhere To Hide blog tour is an interview with Keith Welsby.

You can read it here.

The Secret Life of William Shakespeare by Jude Morgan

 

 A guest review from Stephen Shieber

      The Secret Life of William Shakespeare  

   

 by Jude Morgan

It's always difficult to come fresh to a book about such a famous character.  We bring our preconceptions to it and have to try to move beyond them to accept the writer's portrayal of their character. Jude Morgan makes this easy for us.  Her characterisation gets to the heart of the great man's inner life, while holding us at the distance we'd expect in someone who spends the majority of their life make-believing. 

This is a rich, dense book. Morgan's language is poetic and measured, evoking the age without attempting a slavish reproduction of it.  Her Shakespeare does have a secret life, but so does every one of the characters who take a turn in the narration: John Shakespeare, Anne Hathaway and Ben Jonson.  The story switches easily between Stratford and London, yet Morgan makes it clear that Shakespeare is never truly at home in either.  His home is in his words and, ultimately, they speak for him. 

This is a book that probably holds few surprises for those who know something of Shakespeare's life, but it is a book that will haunt you with images long after you have turned over the last page.  This is historical fiction at its very best, able to enunciate the unchanging constants of the human condition, just as the playwright himself did in his plays.

Many thanks to Stephen for this review. 

Stephen Shieber is the author of Being Normal.

Thanks to the publishers for the review copy of this book.

For anyone following the 'Nowhere To Hide' blog tour, the fourth post is now up on Cally Taylor's blog here. You'll be able to read the fifth and final post on Debs Carr's blog next Wednesday.

An Interview With Lizzie

In case anyone hasn't seen it yet, you can now read the third post in the 'Nowhere To Hide' blog tour on Womagwriter's blog.

An interview with Lizzie Carter is here.

Some great comments as well - people seem to like the idea of character interviews!