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|isbn=0008385068
{{newreview
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|title=The Midnight Feast
|title=The Shanghai Factor
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|author=Lucy Foley
|author=Charles McCarry
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|rating=4.5
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=
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|summary=It's midsummer on the Dorset coast and guests gather at The Manor.  It's their opening weekend and splendid celebrations are promised.  It's all headed up by Francesca Meadows. The Manor was her ancestral home and she's converted it into an impressive retreat for the wealthy and famous.  Her husband, Owen, was the architect and work is still ongoing on parts of the site.  The heat is oppressive and amongst the guests are enemies as well as friends.  Old scores are going to be settled and it won't be long before a body is found.
Our narrator is an American sleeper spy in China whose mission is to improve his Mandarin and attempt to blend as best he can into Shanghai society. A chance meeting results in an intelligent and enigmatic Chinese lover who becomes his perfect teacher even though he is pretty sure she is working for Guoanbu (Chinese Intelligence) and that he is constantly under surveillance. In time he infiltrates known affiliates of the Guoanbu and proves himself very valuable to both the US and Chinese intelligence services, becoming a pawn in a high stakes game of chess between two powerful and paranoid nations.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781855099</amazonuk>
 
 
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|author=Saima Mir
|title=High Rollers
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|title=Vengeance
|author=Jack Bowman
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=Tom Patrick is a far from popular air crash investigator, who is nonetheless the best there is. He has more than ruffled a few feathers and is suspended from working on cases. Despite this the largest case of his career is forced upon him when not one but two Boeing 737 jets encounter catastrophic failures resulting in many fatalities. Tom recognises a possible link between the two and potentially many more airplanes, a link that could uncover a far reaching and very dangerous conspiracy.
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|summary= I was instantly intrigued by the premise of this novel – an organised crime syndicate in the north of England run by a Muslim woman. The fact that it was the second in a series I hadn't read didn't stop me – I've jumped midway into a few series before (on page and screen) and it needn't be a hindrance if it's good enough. And that wasn't a problem here. Vengeance swiftly brings you up to speed, and I never felt lost.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0593070925</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0861541561
 
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|author=David Chadwick
|author=Linda Howard
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|title=Headload of Napalm
|title=Shadow Woman
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|summary=Prelude: the President of the United States and the First Lady are on what is not being called a campaign tour. It is. It is most definitely a re-election campaign; it's just not supposed to be. They retire to their suite for the night, and the protection detail of the Secret Service are looking forward to a shift change at the end of a long day.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749955848</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
 
|author=Claudia Pineiro
 
|title=A Crack in the Wall
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=Pablo Simó is an architect on the verge of a mid life crisis. His work, marriage and general life is governed more by habit and routine than anything, leaving him to ponder over the attractions of his colleague Marta with whom he suspects his boss may be having a relationship. When a young girl enters the office asking if anyone knows a man called Nelson Jara, the three architects deny all knowledge, but they do know him. He was involved in a claim that one of the practice's projects caused a crack in the wall of his apartment and how this was resolved is something all three of them would rather forget.
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|summary= It's September 1973 in Hicks, California. Hicks is a Mojave desert town of a few thousand people with its nearest neighbours of LA and Las Vegas both a significant drive away. Not much happens in Hicks. A silver mine and a defence contractor are the main local employers but otherwise, there's not much of note other than dive bars and Joshua trees. Life is quiet, until....
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908524081</amazonuk>
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|isbn= B0D321VJ76
 
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|isbn=1399613073
|author=Fiona McIntosh
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|title=Moral Injuries
|title=The Lavender Keeper
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|author=Christie Watson
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=Provence 1942: Lavender farmer Luc Bonet joins the Maquis (a rural guerrilla wing of the French Resistance) to avenge the death of his adoptive Jewish familyMeanwhile in London gifted linguist Lisette Forester is recruited by the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a group of trained specialists parachuted into enemy territory to send vital information back to the homelandTheir paths will cross as Lisette is sent into France with the aim of ingratiating herself with Nazi Colonel Markus KilianThe mission is clear cut on paper, but life can be messier than any plan can predict.
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|summary=Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the first day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century.  Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to be a cardiothoracic surgeon.  Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor.  Anjali is the free spirit of the group and she becomes a GPWhen we first meet them they're at a drug and alcohol-fuelled party and it's going to end in tragedy.  We don't know who suffered the tragedy or the consequencesTwenty-five years later there will be an eerily similar event that will impact the three friendsThis time, it's their teenage children who are involved.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749013443</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Sunny Singh
|author=Simon Urban and Katy Derbyshire (Translator)
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|title=Hotel Arcadia
|title=Plan D
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|rating=3.5
|rating=4.5
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|genre=Thrillers
|genre=Crime
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|summary=The Hotel Arcadia is a luxury hotel in an unnamed city that has suddenly been violently taken over by a terrorist groupHiding from the terrorists who are rampaging through, killing everyone on site, there is Sam, a wartime photographer and Abhi, the hotel managerAs Abhi continues to try to care remotely for the residents who are still alive in the hotel, he forms a bond with Sam who refuses to be cowed by events, and keeps on venturing out of her room to try to capture what's happened through her photographyAlthough they only ever talk over the phone, their friendship grows as Abhi tries to help her keep safe and they both wait to see if they will be rescued before they are discovered by the terrorists.
|summary=October 2011 and the Berlin wall is still intactInspector Martin Wegener of the East German People's Police faces another day dividing his mind between thoughts of his luscious ex-lover Karolina and work.  On this particular day 'work' is a body found hanging from the GDR section of gas pipeline that joins Russian to EuropeNot only is he hanging, the deceased has eight knots round his neck and his shoe laces are tied together: a Stasi trademarkWho is he and why are the Stasi killing again?  Martin needs answers and they're sending a West Berlin detective in to help him find them; not the best start to a day.
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|isbn=086154742X
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846556929</amazonuk>
 
 
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|author=Cody Goodfellow
|author=Stephen Lloyd Jones
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|title=Vertical
|title=The String Diaries
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|rating=3.5
|rating=5
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|genre=Thrillers
|genre=Fantasy
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|summary= There's something about tall buildings that just captures my imagination. Who doesn't love a good view from up high, after all? Even the drabbest office building is somewhere I'm intrigued to get inside if it's 40 stories tall. So when I picked up this book – about people who scale tall buildings for fun – I was instantly intrigued.
|summary= Hannah Wilde flees into the Welsh mountains with daughter Leah and husband Nate while the life blood slowly seeps out of him.  They run to escape the evil that has relentlessly haunted Hannah's family for generations. Some people see it as a Hungarian legend but to the Wildes it's real and insatiable and won't forget them. They know what to do: verify everyone, trust no one and, if in any doubt, RUN!  Although one day that may not be enough.
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|isbn= 1803363991
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1472204670</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1804183210
|author=Joseph Clyde
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|title=No Reserve
|title=A State of Fear: Britain After a Dirty Bomb
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|author=Felix Francis
|rating=3.5
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|rating=4
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=A dirty bomb has gone off in the centre of London. Julie's first thought is to reach her daughter, waiting to be collected from school within the danger zone, but when this becomes impossible she must take refuge indoors and await rescue. Forcing her way into a beauty salon she finds herself among a disparate group of strangers, some of whom will soon find their lives interwoven with hers. Also sheltering in the salon are the Russian beauty-salon owner/madam, Mrs Marchusak, Anya, a beautician/call girl and her Chechen client, Safia, a devout Muslim (who rather strangely is in very skimpy western clothing) a Frenchman and an American gentleman. They are soon joined by Kingman, a young male of black Caribbean descent. It seems to be a regular United Nations in the salon. As a Doctor, Julie maintains her calm and does her best her to help, and the American remains a gentleman, displaying a touching act of nobility at one point, but tensions flare in the cramped quarters, especially after Kingman begins to show signs of radiation poisoning. After the event, many of these characters will find their paths crossing again. The other main characters are Julie's estranged husband Martin, a journalist, Tony an obscure MI-5 agent and finally a pair of terrorists connected to the first attack, and planning a second dirty bomb, Amer and Jayson.  
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|summary=Thirty-four-year-old Theo Jennings shouldn't have been on the rostrum when the colt - as yet unnamed - came up for auction, but Peter Radway, the chairman, hadn't arrived, so he continued his session.  To say that he was shocked when the bidding reached three million pounds would be an understatement. A lovely animal - but three million pounds?  Two men had been bidding against each other. Brian Kitman and Elliot 'Mitch' Mitchell were well-known and respected in the racing industry. Jennings was in one of the cubicles in the toilets when the two men came in and their conversation revealed that the horse had been deliberately bid up to that figure. Both were happy that they had insurance in place. The following morning, the horse was dead in its stall.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908096365</amazonuk>
 
 
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|isbn=1405951680
|author=Walter Walker
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|title=The Safe House
|title=Crime of Privilege
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|author=Cameron Ward
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Crime
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|genre=Thrillers
|summary=In March 1996 George Becket was a guest at a party in the Cape Cod home of Senator Gregory, patriarch of America's most loved and influential family. Outwardly everything looked wholesome and fun as the Senator did an impromptu song and dance act with his sister but in the library George was present when Jamie Gregory and Peter Gregory Martin raped a young woman who was too drunk to either assent or protestIt was only George's intervention which prevented the assault becoming more violent.  But for the young woman, Kendrick Powell, the rape was devastating and before long she was dead.  She too was the child of an influential and wealthy family. But the Gregory clan sticks together and no action was taken against Jamie or Peter and it was the senator's influence which secured George Becket a post in the Cape Cod DA's officeIt might seem that the matter was closed - but the Powell family were determined that George would suffer for not having spoken out against the Gregory family.
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|summary=Jess Walker accepted an offer (OK, actually she was gently nudged into it by her friend, Rupert) to caretake a luxury property in the Australian outback for a couple of months. After the problems she'd had at work, it seemed like just the break she neededShe was no longer a data analyst for the Metropolitan police in London: she was Jess who was returning to the country of her birth and in need of the space to get over the traumatic end of her relationship with CharlesA few weeks in the Otway Ranges in Victoria sounded like just the ticket.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0345541537</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1448309743
|author=Bruce Crowther
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|title=The Devil Stone (DCI Christine Caplan)
|title=Penitence
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|author=Caro Ramsay
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Crime
 
|genre=Crime
|summary=Phil Davis is a detective in a small town in Texas and he's intrigued rather than professionally involved when he sees the body of an elderly road accident victim whose back is covered with scars which have obviously been inflicted over years if not decadesThere's no suggestion that the death was anything other than accidental but Davis starts to wonder when he hears of other men with similar scars who have  met an untimely - if seemingly innocent - death recentlyAnd all his investigative instincts are alive when he encounters FBI agent Luis Valdez - seemingly one of the big beasts of the agency who's spending time looking into a murder with which he was incidentally involved as an adolescent some twenty five years earlier. To cap it all, someone was tried for the crime and has been in a mental institution since, so what is Valdez doing?
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|summary=In the village of Cronchie on the West coast of Scotland, five members of a wealthy family are found murderedThe only item missing from the home is the Devil Stone: myth says that if the stone is removed from Otterburn House, death will followThe only suspects are known Satanists but in many ways, that's an easy conclusion given that two of them 'discovered' the body.   The Senior Investigating Office is DCI Bob Oswald but when he disappears, DCI Christine Caplan is pulled in to 'shadow' him.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1479204285</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=B0CCCPJJ5B
|author=Mark Lingane
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|title=The Last Person in the World
|title=Chasing Heart: 1 (Ellen Martin Disasters)
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|author=Matthew Tree
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=Ellen Martin is a driving, ambitious US lawyer, so when her boss sends her to the Colombian town of Barrancabermeja (Barranca for short, mercifully) for a touch of charity work it would be career threatening to protest too strongly. Besides it only amounts to getting someone out of prison. Soon after arriving Ellen realises that there's more than one person who needs rescuing; she can add herself to the listLuckily for her Barranca is also the home of her personal trainer's nephew and, luckier still, he has a housemate called Alex.  Indeed during Ellen's stay Alex is going to be more than useful. Once Barranca really shows its true colours Alex is going to be indispensable.
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|summary=Our narrator was a scholarship day boy at the London-based public school where he met Ralph Finns.  It was an unusual relationship as Ralph was a boarder and had money to throw around on a Rolex watch, vintage wines and a state-of-the-art sound system.   Both were probably quite surprised when they became almost friends and certainly more than acquaintancesFinns had no intention of going on to University, unlike our storyteller who had a place at Wolverton College in Wellingford, the UK's third most prestigious university. Before going up, he took up a loose invitation to visit Ralph at his home, Clouds Manor in West Dorset.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0987478621</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Dean Koontz
|author=Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya
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|title=The House at the End of the World
|title=The Watch
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|rating=4
|rating=5
 
|genre=Literary Fiction
 
|summary= Nizam pushes a barrow up to a fortified US army base in Afghanistan.  What is she doing there?  How will the soldiers react?  What do they believe: their experience, their training, their gut reaction or a young girl amputee in the middle of the desert who may be the last thing they ever see?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099565773</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
 
|author=Lauren Beukes
 
|title=The Shining Girls
 
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=As ''The Shining Girls''’ tagline says, this is a thriller that breaks all the boundaries. It’s a vicious murder plot that’s based on science fiction concepts, a science fiction novel which leaves its central concepts barely, sparely explained. I haven’t read anything like it before, and in a strong and crowded crime fiction field it stands out like a searchlight. But beware. If you’re sitting comfortably as you begin reading ''The Shining Girls'', you won’t be for long. This book sets out to cut you up inside.
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|summary=When you experience overwhelming tragedy and feel that there is no one on your side, you can either suck it up, saddle up and ride on or you can retreat to your own private fortress on an island that sits snugly in a small chain of tiny dots on the map and live out your days in peace and solitude. That's what Katie thought she was doing when she shut down her old life to start afresh on Jacob's Ladder; and all would have been the aforementioned peace and solitude were it not for the pesky US Government occupying Ringrock, the neighbouring island and perpetrating all manner of mischief in the name of science and quite possibly bringing about the end of all mankind.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007464568</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1662453159
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1787636607
|author=Robert Wilton
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|title=The Trap
|title=Traitor's Field
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|author=Catherine Ryan Howard
|rating=5
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|rating=4.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
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|genre=Crime
|summary=It's 1648 and the embers of Charles I's reign start to fade as Britain slowly turns the monotone colour of Oliver Cromwell's CommonwealthHowever, Royalist passion still exists and it's up to Sir Mortimer Shay, the Comptrollerate-General for Scrutiny and Survey, to gather the intelligence, maintain his spy network and fan the embers towards the Royalist victory for which he longsHe's a wily veteran so not easily stopped but among the confusion and brutality that tears Britain in half, former lawyer Cromwell's spymaster John Thurloe is the man charged with the task.
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|summary=It's a scene replicated all too often in the early hours of the morning.  Drunken revellers spilling out of clubs and looking for a way to get home.  Some are lucky and manage to get one of the few taxis available.  Others squash onto the night bus that will only go as far as one of the outlying villages.  The woman all regret the 'taxi problem', particularly in the light of 'the missing women'For one young woman, the final stop on the bus leaves her a long way short of her home.  She had intended to ring someone to come and collect her - but her phone's dead. The bus had driven off before she had the chance to beg the bus driver to let her use his.  There's no option but to start walking - unsuitably clothed and in high-heeled shoes.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848878192</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1529195977
|author=Paula Daly
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|title=None of this is True
|title=Just What Kind of Mother Are You?
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|author=Lisa Jewell
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=Lisa Kallisto is almost the typical Mum.  She's got a husband and three children and she's permanently tiredHer full-time job at the local animal rescue centre frequently spills over into her home life and she's constantly chasing around trying to catch up with what she ought to have doneHusband Joe is a taxi driver and they can only just manage to afford the rent on their cottage in the picturesque lake districtIt's normally pretty crime free but then a young girl - really only a child - is abducted and brutally raped.  Then another girl of about the same age goes missing and Lisa was responsible for her safety.  What do you say, what do you do in that situation?  Lisa is about to find out.
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|summary=On her 45th birthday, Alix Summer celebrated with a crowd of friends in the Landsdown pub on Salisbury Road when she encountered Josie Fair.  She, too, was out celebrating her 45th birthday, only she was just with her husband, Walter.  It turns out that not only are Alix and Josie birthday twins, they were both born in St Mary's hospitalThat's where the similarities end, though: Alix, with her husband, Nathan, are in the midst of a joyful, monied group of friends and whilst they're not ''exactly'' rowdy, they're enjoying themselvesJosie, on the other hand, holds her handbag close to her tummy and you get the sense that Walter's not too happyHe's not used to spending this much money on a meal - but it is Josie's birthday after all.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0593071697</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1803136383
|author=John le Carre
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|title=Tin Soldiers
|title=A Delicate Truth
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|author=David Chadwick
|rating=5
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|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=It's 2008 and Paul is recruited by, apparently, the government to assist in an undercover operation in Gibraltar.  It's perfectly straightforward and its success will impede a cell of Al Qaeda.  Paul performs, is thanked and taken home without complications.  Fast forward to 2011 and Toby Bell is promoted to the role of private secretary for Paul's recruiter, MP Fergus Quinn. Whilst acquainting himself with Quinn's CV, Toby uncovers the story of the mission, discovering not only Quinn's involvement but hints that it may not have been as straightforward as all that.  Quinn also appears to have been connected with an organisation that's not all it seems, unfortunately for a particular pillar of a Cornish community for whom life will never be the same again.
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|summary= Wat Tyler has returned from fighting in Vietnam under something of a cloud. What actually happened out there is gossiped about and nobody is sure exactly what took place, but an act of heroism leading to a rare battlefield commission followed by rank cowardice and disgrace seems to be the consensus. Wat himself is keeping his cards close to his chest, as he always does.  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>067092279X</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=B0C7J9D21B
|author=Gerald Wixey
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|title=A Captive in Algiers (Muhammed Amalfi Mysteries)
|title=4 Bones Sleeping
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|author=A J Lewis
|rating=3.5
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|rating=4.5
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|genre=Historical Fiction
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|summary=When we first meet our hero, his name is Ettore and he lives at The House of Beautiful Swallows.  Idyllic as this might sound, it's a bordello and Ettore's mother died when he was born.  He's not been short of mothers, though - but for someone of his background in late-eighteenth-century Amalfi, it's difficult to obtain decent employment. The stint working with the preparation of anchovies didn't work out and bastards are considered bad luck on fishing boats.  Ettore was nothing if not resourceful - and determined - and it was not long before he had a successful business as a guide for visitors.  He was even saving some money.
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0241996104
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|title=Coming to Find You
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|author=Jane Corry
 +
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=There's quite a contrast between the settings in ''4 Bones Sleeping''.  To begin with there's the time.  Just about everything that happens goes back to the end of the Second World War and just afterwards, when people were coming to terms with having won the war, but not quite  knowing what to do with the peaceThen there's 1980 when we wondered if we'd won the war, but lost the peaceThe places are very different too: the people involved in this story have their being in the seedier parts of London in the post-war years, but what are they all doing in a one-horse town in rural Oxfordshire?  And where did the money come from which allowed Jack to own the local newspaper and make Harry the landlord of the pub?
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|summary=Nancy's mother and step-father were brutally stabbed at their Sussex farmhouse and her step-brother, Martin, has been convicted of their murder.  We first meet Nancy outside the court, after Martin receives a life sentence.  The barrister tells her that she's received a 'silent sentence' - she's not been found guilty of anything but will have to live with what happened for the rest of her lifeOf course, it's made worse because Nancy's rich - she inherited five million pounds from her mother - and the papers are making the most of it''Farmhouse slaughter daughter'' is one favourite epithet and ''rich bitch'' might not be printed but is undoubtedly spoken.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471760596</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1529135389
|author=Eric Van Lustbader
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|title=The Fall
|title=Last Snow (Jack McClure Trilogy)
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|author=Gilly Macmillan
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Thrillers
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|genre=Crime
|summary= Jack McClure, aide and friend to the US president, is back at work after the death of his daughter and the resolved kidnapping of President Carson's own daughter, AlliHowever, Jack hasn't fully recovered; he's still in mourning and full of self-recrimination but the show must go onWhen an American senator is killed in Capri Jack's on hand to investigate, starting a mission that will take him into the Ukraine and the seamier side of power on both sides of the AtlanticApparently not all the President's closest advisors can be trusted and that's not Jack's only complicationAfter Alli's traumatic experiences at the hands of Morgan Herr Jack is the only person she trusts, so she's coming along for the ride, through hell, high water and a few murders.
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|summary=Nicole Booth had spent the morning at the county fair before she returned home.  There was no sign of her husband but opera was playing on the state-of-the-art music system installed in The Glass BarnThey'd not been in the architect-designed house on Lancaut Peninsula for long and were still getting used to all the high-tech systems Tom had insisted uponSome of them fought with each other and didn't work as reliably as they shouldIt had all come about through a ten-million-pound lottery win and they were still getting used to having that sort of money, tooEventually, Nicole found Tom dead in the swimming pool with a wound to his head.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781850771</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Alan Parks
|author=Graham Thomas
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|title=To Die in June
|title=Maria & The Devil
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Fantasy
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|genre=Crime
|summary=''The Devil has ridden out''.
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|summary=What first seems like the unfortunate, accidental death of a homeless man on the streets, suddenly starts to feel like something more sinister as another body is discovered, and then another. This is worrying enough for detective Harry McCoy, but all the more so because his own father is a down and out alcoholic, with no fixed abode, and he has been for years. At the same time as facing these possible murders, Harry is also dealing with a move to a different police station, and the arrival there of a woman who claims her little boy has gone missing, only no record of the boy having existed can be found. Something feels wrong - not just with the woman’s story but also with the other officers where he has been stationed, but can Harry uncover just what is going on?
 
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|isbn=1805300784
Maria's lover is Montana's most feared outlaw. He has left her alone in a secluded cabin deep in the wilderness. Maria is pregnant. Left in solitude, she develops a familiar routine that feels safe. But the isolation is pervasive and Maria's defences against it are crumbling. And while she waits for her lover to return, she is discovered by Rickman Chill, whose gang is tracking the Devil in a relentless quest for revenge. What will happen when Chill discovers Maria's identity? Will the Devil return in time?  
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B00BFEC2NI</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1529382823
|author=Ian Tregillis
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|title=The Last Passenger
|title=The Coldest War (Milkweed Triptych)
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|author=Will Dean
|rating=5
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|rating=4.5
|genre=Science Fiction
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|genre=Thrillers
|summary= England 1963: The war is over, Hitler defeated and the Russians (Britain's ally) retain most of mainland EuropeThe Briton in the street believes that it was Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain that saved the nation but ex-naval intelligence officer Raybould 'Pip' Marsh and his former friend Lord William Beauclerk know differentlyThe nation was saved by warlocks like Lord Will, the same warlocks that are now being murdered.  However, fighting over, Pip and Will are both war-weary and want to be left alone but the Secret Intelligence Service has other ideasFor the Nazi experimental 'willpower' children are now adult and assembling in England, still equipped with the super powers of their childhoodThis means Will and Pip have old scores to settle and greater evils waiting to be faced… Yes… ''those'' greater evils are back.
+
|summary=Caroline Riley (she prefers 'Caz') is middle-aged and has found herself somewhat surprisingly in love with Pete.  They're off on a cruise to New York on ''Atlantica''.  Caz's sister, Gemma, reckons that Pete is going to propose but Caz hasn't spotted a ring-shaped bulge in his suit pocket and she doesn't know whether she's relieved or disappointedThey've not been a couple for that long and the trip will be an excellent opportunity to get to know him a bit betterMeanwhile, Gemma is looking after Caz's cafe as well as their mother who has dementiaIt's going to be good, isn't it?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356501701</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Mark Edwards
|author=Sophie Hannah
+
|title=Keep Her Secret
|title=The Carrier
+
|rating=4.5
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Crime
 
|summary= Due to a delayed flight home, Gaby has to stay overnight in a German hotel with fellow passenger Lauren.  During the night Lauren tells Gaby about a man charged with the murder of his paralysed wife.  At this point two things strike Gaby: 1. Lauren believes him to be innocent.  2. He's Tim Breary, Gaby's former lover with whom she has unfinished business.  Once home Gaby is determined to prove his innocence but that's easier said than done.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340980729</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Justin Huggler
 
|title=Burden of the Desert
 
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|genre=Thrillers
|summary= Journalist Zoe Temple can't believe her luck when she's sent to Iraq to cover the birth of an emerging nation, not thinking that such luck can sometimes run outMahmoud earns his money driving journalists from story to story, sometimes only just escaping intact.  However, the most dangerous thing he will ever do is fall in loveRick Benes is one of the American soldiers on the news, his only ambition being to get his platoon home safely as Iraq's birth pangs are violent and unrelentingAnd then there's Adel, a young Iraqi lad who never dreamt of violence; not until the day that Benes killed his family.
+
|summary= Matthew and Helena are in Iceland, rekindling their university romance some twenty-odd years after they first metThe alien-landscape of the lava fields and black beaches is breath-taking and Helena seems intent on getting the perfect photograph to encapsulate the joy she is feeling in this moment, even if it kills her… which it nearly does when the edge of a ravine gives way and Helena finds herself clinging to the rockface with just the snagged strap of her rucksack between her and a 500 foot drop to certain death belowConvinced she is going to die, Helena must purge herself of the shocking secret she has been keeping and makes a panicked, cryptic declaration to MatthewJust moments later their heroic, and frankly very well prepared, Icelandic tour guide swoops in and hauls Helena to safety and Matthew is left wondering what he just learned about Helena.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1479352047</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=166250893X
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Jenny Lund Madsen and Megan E Turney (translator)
|author=J E Ryder
+
|title=Thirty Days of Darkness
|title=Blood Pool
+
|rating=3.5
|rating=4
+
|genre=Thrillers
|genre=General Fiction
+
|summary=Hannah presents as an unlikeable, bitter woman, an author of failing if well-regarded literary short novels.  Sorry to leave her bottles of red wine behind her for an afternoon at a book fair, she flukes her way into a public argument with the latest hot shot in the world of crime fiction, saying he's populist trash and only writing what anyone could write.  Cue the bet that she cannot live up to that accusationHer publisher duly books her flights from Denmark to Iceland, where she is put up for a wintry month away from it allJust on the point of despairing – about her writing, about the people and the lack of stimulus for her plot, more or less about everything – word comes that the landlady's nephew has been found dead…
|summary=Samantha Shelley was surprised to become the owner of a boatyard when her husband died in a cliff fall.  She had worked in the East Devon boatyard - run it in fact - for quite some time but it's the men of the Shelley 'blood pool' who have always inherited the land for the past two hundred yearsShe was aware of ill-feeling against her in the village, but her priority was to keep the business running as smoothly as possible for herself and for the staff she employedThere was  some support in the village - an old friend, known to one and all as 'the Prof' - had always been there for her and willing to listen to her outpourings or just to chatter as she drank coffee.  Then he disappeared in violent circumstances.
+
|isbn=1914585615
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B00AR0XFX2</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=0861544056
|author=Gillian Flynn
+
|title=Twin Truths
|title=Gone Girl
+
|author=Jacqueline Sutherland
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=There’s a distressing moment in any long-term relationship where you realise that, in practice, happily ever after looks a lot like an eternity of small, snarling arguments about who forgot to buy food, who should take out the rubbish and who is responsible for that mouldering pile of clothes in the corner of the bedroom. Domestic bliss is often more like very polite guerrilla warfare between two people who love each other so much that they want to spend the rest of their lives fighting about it. You and your partner are absolutely in each other’s pockets – but no matter how close you are, there’s always one last barrier you can’t break down. You aren’t them, and they aren’t you, and so you can never truly know what’s really going on inside that well-known head.  
+
|summary=Belle and David's twin daughters are just coming to the end of their first term at university.  Kit's been at Bristol and Jess's in Exeter.  It's not only the first time they've been away from their parents for any length of time - but they've also been apart from each other.  Belle can't wait to have them all to herself for a while.  Then Kit rings up - can she bring her boyfriend home with her?  Belle would prefer that he didn't come but doesn't want to upset Kit. Ivo's apparently 'older': he's twenty-four to Kit's eighteen but Belle figures that she can cope with that. And they'll be sharing a bedroom.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0753827662</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Robert Dugoni
|author=Daniel O'Malley
+
|title=Her Deadly Game
|title=The Rook (The Checquy Files)
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Fantasy
+
|genre=Crime
|summary= A woman wakes up with amnesia surrounded by dead people wearing gloves.  In her pocket she discovers a letter from Myfanwy Thomas, the previous inhabiter of her bodyMyfanwy tells a strange story of working for 'the Checquy', a paranormal version of MI5 which has been permeated by a web of betrayal and dangerThe problem is that Myfanwy never discovered the source before her body changed hands (so to speak).  The amnesiac has a clear choice: to continue Myfanwy's investigation or to do a runner.  It's her decision but Myfanwy's warning is less than encouraging:
+
|summary= Patrick Duggan & Associates has been the life's work of Patsy Duggan – rather charmingly nicknamed 'The Irish Brawler' due to his reputation for no holds barred courtroom performances in defence of his clientsAlong with an indisputable talent for the law, Patsy also has a gift for drinking himself to oblivion and inevitably the latter was beginning to overshadow the formerEnter Keera Duggan, former competitive chess prodigy and proven Seattle Prosecutor who finds herself in the hideous position of asking her father for a job at the family firm because a romantic entanglement with a senior colleague, Miller Ambrose, had gone, rather spectacularly, south.
 
+
|isbn=1662500181
::''Remember they want you dead.''
 
 
 
Something for her to bear in mind along with the fatal, unintended consequences of permitting cheap cheese into the UK.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908800372</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Vanda Symon
|author=Alan Furst
+
|title=Expectant (Detective Sam Shephard)
|title=The Spies of Warsaw
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Crime
 +
|summary=Detective Sam Shepherd is approaching the start of her maternity leave when there is a brutal, shocking murder of an expectant woman in Dunedin.  Suddenly she finds herself embroiled in the hunt for a killer targeting pregnant women, with all the extra pressure that entails being pregnant herself.  Finding herself put on desk duties, which she rails against, she just can't let the case go and she starts to follow every thread to uncover what's actually happening, and the increasingly disturbing worry of just what might happen next.
 +
|isbn=1914585577
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1787301036
 +
|title=What July Knew
 +
|author=Emily Koch
 +
|rating=5
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=The reluctant, recently widowed Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Francois Mercier is military attaché to the French embassy in the Warsaw of 1937Decorated during World War I, Mercier would rather be a field officer than attend endless receptions, parties and debriefing sessions necessary for his unofficial role, handling citizens who are encouraged or coerced to work against the interests of other statesHe watches whilst Poland is squeezed between the Nazis on one side and the increasing profile of Stalin and Russia on the other, convinced that war will not only be inevitable, but soon.  However, no one will listen to him as he gathers evidence and protects those he can from the onslaught to follow.
+
|summary=When we first meet July Hooper on 20 July 1995 she's just ten years old.  She's a careful, meticulous child.  The care has been taught by her father, Mick Hooper, who is not prepared to discuss the death of his wife, July's mother, and any hint that the conversation is heading that way will lead to the necessity of a LessonOther infractions of his requirements also lead to these Lessons and he's not even careful about whether or not the injuries are visibleJuly's teacher is concerned and brings up the possibility of abuse with the head but her worries are dismissed: Mick has been good to the school, has he not?  The playground wouldn't have been resurfaced but for him.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780222203</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Amy McLellan
+
|isbn=0008454493
|title=The Orchid Field
+
|title=All the Dangerous Things
|rating=4
+
|author=Stacy Willingham
|genre=Thrillers
+
|rating=4.5
|summary=In London petroleums expert Catherine Davenport ponders whether a change of employer is going to be to her advantage.  An ill-advised fling with her boss is causing her embarrassment at work, particularly now that he has a new born childAn offer of a job that would take her out to Mexico to do a report on an off-shore oil field is too good an opportunity to miss.  In Mexico Inspector Cortez is languishing in Port Luz in  the back of beyond, sent in disgrace from his post in the cityHe knows that he’s not - and never has been - corrupt but no one else believes him. In fact it’s seen as normalThen a body appears on the beach and the local fishermen point out into the gulf and tell him that it came from there.  When he looks more closely he realises that they mean the oil rigs.
+
|genre=Crime
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B00AWELKJY</amazonuk>
+
|summary=Isabelle Drake hasn't really slept for a year - well, apart from the odd occasion when she lost track of time or drifted off for a momentIt's now a year since her son, Mason, was stolen from his bed in the middle of the night and Izzy is consumed with guilt that she heard nothing and particularly about her relief in the morning when she thought he was sleeping in.  In that year she's done everything she could to raise awareness about the caseShe does interviews and when we meet her, she's just been to TrueCrimeCon where she gave a keynote presentationOn the plane back, she's approached by a podcaster, Waylon Spencer, who points out that she could do a podcast and get to so many more people than she could by giving speeches to a few hundred people at conferences.
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1848458436
|author=R Julian Cox
+
|title=Just the Nicest Couple
|title=Shadow on the Sun
+
|author=Mary Kubica
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=There's always been a quandary for the ethically-minded scientist - what to do when your scientific discoveries can be used for less-than-ethical purposes.  Robert Oppenheimer faced this problem when his work as a theoretical physicist resulted in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Dr Jonathan Anderson faces a similar situation and - unbelievably - the consequences could be even more far reaching than the consequences of Oppenheimer's work.  There's a conflict with his strong religious beliefs as well as with his professional ethics.
+
|summary=''The whole thing has spiralled out of control, turning into someone I'm not.''  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0957322607</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
''Just the Nicest Couple'' is the story of two couples: Christian and Lily Scott, and Nina and Jake HayesThe connection between the two is that Lily and Nina teach in the same school: Nina teaches English and Lily covers high school algebra.  The couples have mixed as a foursome but it's not a regular thing.  Christian is a market research analyst and Jake is a neurosurgeon: they don't have much in common except their wivesLily hasn't said anything yet, but she's pregnant.  She has a lengthy history of miscarriages so she doesn't want to tempt fate by making the knowledge public.
|author=Guy Booth
 
|title=The Arthur Moreau Story
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Horror
 
|summary=You could be forgiven for thinking that Johnny Debrett is an unlikely hero, given his occupation as a seller of second hand books, but he has some illustrious connections, not least to Sir Frederick ApplebySome say that ''he'' runs the country and Appleby's deputy, Peter Tyndale is married to Debrett's sister, Celia. Our tale began many years before with some two hundred mysterious and widely reported deaths on a French island which hadn't elicited a single cry of grief from a relative, but we join the story as Appleby asks Debrett to attend the funeral in France of a former business partner, Arthur MoreauThere are, apparently, some unresolved queries about Moreau and despite Debrett's estrangement from the deceased over recent years he's thought to be the person best able to obtain the answers.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906791740</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Newest Travel Reviews]]
|author=Erin Kelly
 
|title=The Burning Air
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|summary= It's the Macbrides' annual Guy Fawkes' weekend trip to their Devon holiday home but much has changed since the last Bonfire Night.  Their mother Lydia has died, their father Rowan copes only with alcoholic aid and the marriage of Sophie and Will has fireworks of its own.  Some happiness exists though: Tara and partner Matt are deeply in love and Felix is bringing his first serious girlfriend to the gathering.  Her name's Kerry and, by the end of the weekend, she'll have kidnapped Sophie's baby revealing darkest secrets that refuse to remain buried.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444728326</amazonuk>
 
}}
 

Latest revision as of 09:57, 19 June 2024

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Review of

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

It's midsummer on the Dorset coast and guests gather at The Manor. It's their opening weekend and splendid celebrations are promised. It's all headed up by Francesca Meadows. The Manor was her ancestral home and she's converted it into an impressive retreat for the wealthy and famous. Her husband, Owen, was the architect and work is still ongoing on parts of the site. The heat is oppressive and amongst the guests are enemies as well as friends. Old scores are going to be settled and it won't be long before a body is found. Full Review

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Review of

Vengeance by Saima Mir

3.5star.jpg Thrillers

I was instantly intrigued by the premise of this novel – an organised crime syndicate in the north of England run by a Muslim woman. The fact that it was the second in a series I hadn't read didn't stop me – I've jumped midway into a few series before (on page and screen) and it needn't be a hindrance if it's good enough. And that wasn't a problem here. Vengeance swiftly brings you up to speed, and I never felt lost. Full Review

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Review of

Headload of Napalm by David Chadwick

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

It's September 1973 in Hicks, California. Hicks is a Mojave desert town of a few thousand people with its nearest neighbours of LA and Las Vegas both a significant drive away. Not much happens in Hicks. A silver mine and a defence contractor are the main local employers but otherwise, there's not much of note other than dive bars and Joshua trees. Life is quiet, until.... Full Review

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Review of

Moral Injuries by Christie Watson

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the first day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century. Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Anjali is the free spirit of the group and she becomes a GP. When we first meet them they're at a drug and alcohol-fuelled party and it's going to end in tragedy. We don't know who suffered the tragedy or the consequences. Twenty-five years later there will be an eerily similar event that will impact the three friends. This time, it's their teenage children who are involved. Full Review

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Review of

Hotel Arcadia by Sunny Singh

3.5star.jpg Thrillers

The Hotel Arcadia is a luxury hotel in an unnamed city that has suddenly been violently taken over by a terrorist group. Hiding from the terrorists who are rampaging through, killing everyone on site, there is Sam, a wartime photographer and Abhi, the hotel manager. As Abhi continues to try to care remotely for the residents who are still alive in the hotel, he forms a bond with Sam who refuses to be cowed by events, and keeps on venturing out of her room to try to capture what's happened through her photography. Although they only ever talk over the phone, their friendship grows as Abhi tries to help her keep safe and they both wait to see if they will be rescued before they are discovered by the terrorists. Full Review

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Review of

Vertical by Cody Goodfellow

3.5star.jpg Thrillers

There's something about tall buildings that just captures my imagination. Who doesn't love a good view from up high, after all? Even the drabbest office building is somewhere I'm intrigued to get inside if it's 40 stories tall. So when I picked up this book – about people who scale tall buildings for fun – I was instantly intrigued. Full Review

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Review of

No Reserve by Felix Francis

4star.jpg Thrillers

Thirty-four-year-old Theo Jennings shouldn't have been on the rostrum when the colt - as yet unnamed - came up for auction, but Peter Radway, the chairman, hadn't arrived, so he continued his session. To say that he was shocked when the bidding reached three million pounds would be an understatement. A lovely animal - but three million pounds? Two men had been bidding against each other. Brian Kitman and Elliot 'Mitch' Mitchell were well-known and respected in the racing industry. Jennings was in one of the cubicles in the toilets when the two men came in and their conversation revealed that the horse had been deliberately bid up to that figure. Both were happy that they had insurance in place. The following morning, the horse was dead in its stall. Full Review

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Review of

The Safe House by Cameron Ward

4star.jpg Thrillers

Jess Walker accepted an offer (OK, actually she was gently nudged into it by her friend, Rupert) to caretake a luxury property in the Australian outback for a couple of months. After the problems she'd had at work, it seemed like just the break she needed. She was no longer a data analyst for the Metropolitan police in London: she was Jess who was returning to the country of her birth and in need of the space to get over the traumatic end of her relationship with Charles. A few weeks in the Otway Ranges in Victoria sounded like just the ticket. Full Review

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Review of

The Devil Stone (DCI Christine Caplan) by Caro Ramsay

4star.jpg Crime

In the village of Cronchie on the West coast of Scotland, five members of a wealthy family are found murdered. The only item missing from the home is the Devil Stone: myth says that if the stone is removed from Otterburn House, death will follow. The only suspects are known Satanists but in many ways, that's an easy conclusion given that two of them 'discovered' the body. The Senior Investigating Office is DCI Bob Oswald but when he disappears, DCI Christine Caplan is pulled in to 'shadow' him. Full Review

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Review of

The Last Person in the World by Matthew Tree

4star.jpg Thrillers

Our narrator was a scholarship day boy at the London-based public school where he met Ralph Finns. It was an unusual relationship as Ralph was a boarder and had money to throw around on a Rolex watch, vintage wines and a state-of-the-art sound system. Both were probably quite surprised when they became almost friends and certainly more than acquaintances. Finns had no intention of going on to University, unlike our storyteller who had a place at Wolverton College in Wellingford, the UK's third most prestigious university. Before going up, he took up a loose invitation to visit Ralph at his home, Clouds Manor in West Dorset. Full Review

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Review of

The House at the End of the World by Dean Koontz

4star.jpg Thrillers

When you experience overwhelming tragedy and feel that there is no one on your side, you can either suck it up, saddle up and ride on or you can retreat to your own private fortress on an island that sits snugly in a small chain of tiny dots on the map and live out your days in peace and solitude. That's what Katie thought she was doing when she shut down her old life to start afresh on Jacob's Ladder; and all would have been the aforementioned peace and solitude were it not for the pesky US Government occupying Ringrock, the neighbouring island and perpetrating all manner of mischief in the name of science and quite possibly bringing about the end of all mankind. Full Review

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Review of

The Trap by Catherine Ryan Howard

4.5star.jpg Crime

It's a scene replicated all too often in the early hours of the morning. Drunken revellers spilling out of clubs and looking for a way to get home. Some are lucky and manage to get one of the few taxis available. Others squash onto the night bus that will only go as far as one of the outlying villages. The woman all regret the 'taxi problem', particularly in the light of 'the missing women'. For one young woman, the final stop on the bus leaves her a long way short of her home. She had intended to ring someone to come and collect her - but her phone's dead. The bus had driven off before she had the chance to beg the bus driver to let her use his. There's no option but to start walking - unsuitably clothed and in high-heeled shoes. Full Review

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Review of

None of this is True by Lisa Jewell

5star.jpg Thrillers

On her 45th birthday, Alix Summer celebrated with a crowd of friends in the Landsdown pub on Salisbury Road when she encountered Josie Fair. She, too, was out celebrating her 45th birthday, only she was just with her husband, Walter. It turns out that not only are Alix and Josie birthday twins, they were both born in St Mary's hospital. That's where the similarities end, though: Alix, with her husband, Nathan, are in the midst of a joyful, monied group of friends and whilst they're not exactly rowdy, they're enjoying themselves. Josie, on the other hand, holds her handbag close to her tummy and you get the sense that Walter's not too happy. He's not used to spending this much money on a meal - but it is Josie's birthday after all. Full Review

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Review of

Tin Soldiers by David Chadwick

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

Wat Tyler has returned from fighting in Vietnam under something of a cloud. What actually happened out there is gossiped about and nobody is sure exactly what took place, but an act of heroism leading to a rare battlefield commission followed by rank cowardice and disgrace seems to be the consensus. Wat himself is keeping his cards close to his chest, as he always does. Full Review

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Review of

A Captive in Algiers (Muhammed Amalfi Mysteries) by A J Lewis

4.5star.jpg Historical Fiction

When we first meet our hero, his name is Ettore and he lives at The House of Beautiful Swallows. Idyllic as this might sound, it's a bordello and Ettore's mother died when he was born. He's not been short of mothers, though - but for someone of his background in late-eighteenth-century Amalfi, it's difficult to obtain decent employment. The stint working with the preparation of anchovies didn't work out and bastards are considered bad luck on fishing boats. Ettore was nothing if not resourceful - and determined - and it was not long before he had a successful business as a guide for visitors. He was even saving some money. Full Review

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Review of

Coming to Find You by Jane Corry

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

Nancy's mother and step-father were brutally stabbed at their Sussex farmhouse and her step-brother, Martin, has been convicted of their murder. We first meet Nancy outside the court, after Martin receives a life sentence. The barrister tells her that she's received a 'silent sentence' - she's not been found guilty of anything but will have to live with what happened for the rest of her life. Of course, it's made worse because Nancy's rich - she inherited five million pounds from her mother - and the papers are making the most of it. Farmhouse slaughter daughter is one favourite epithet and rich bitch might not be printed but is undoubtedly spoken. Full Review

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Review of

The Fall by Gilly Macmillan

4.5star.jpg Crime

Nicole Booth had spent the morning at the county fair before she returned home. There was no sign of her husband but opera was playing on the state-of-the-art music system installed in The Glass Barn. They'd not been in the architect-designed house on Lancaut Peninsula for long and were still getting used to all the high-tech systems Tom had insisted upon. Some of them fought with each other and didn't work as reliably as they should. It had all come about through a ten-million-pound lottery win and they were still getting used to having that sort of money, too. Eventually, Nicole found Tom dead in the swimming pool with a wound to his head. Full Review

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Review of

To Die in June by Alan Parks

4star.jpg Crime

What first seems like the unfortunate, accidental death of a homeless man on the streets, suddenly starts to feel like something more sinister as another body is discovered, and then another. This is worrying enough for detective Harry McCoy, but all the more so because his own father is a down and out alcoholic, with no fixed abode, and he has been for years. At the same time as facing these possible murders, Harry is also dealing with a move to a different police station, and the arrival there of a woman who claims her little boy has gone missing, only no record of the boy having existed can be found. Something feels wrong - not just with the woman’s story but also with the other officers where he has been stationed, but can Harry uncover just what is going on? Full Review

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Review of

The Last Passenger by Will Dean

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

Caroline Riley (she prefers 'Caz') is middle-aged and has found herself somewhat surprisingly in love with Pete. They're off on a cruise to New York on Atlantica. Caz's sister, Gemma, reckons that Pete is going to propose but Caz hasn't spotted a ring-shaped bulge in his suit pocket and she doesn't know whether she's relieved or disappointed. They've not been a couple for that long and the trip will be an excellent opportunity to get to know him a bit better. Meanwhile, Gemma is looking after Caz's cafe as well as their mother who has dementia. It's going to be good, isn't it? Full Review

166250893X.jpg

Review of

Keep Her Secret by Mark Edwards

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

Matthew and Helena are in Iceland, rekindling their university romance some twenty-odd years after they first met. The alien-landscape of the lava fields and black beaches is breath-taking and Helena seems intent on getting the perfect photograph to encapsulate the joy she is feeling in this moment, even if it kills her… which it nearly does when the edge of a ravine gives way and Helena finds herself clinging to the rockface with just the snagged strap of her rucksack between her and a 500 foot drop to certain death below. Convinced she is going to die, Helena must purge herself of the shocking secret she has been keeping and makes a panicked, cryptic declaration to Matthew. Just moments later their heroic, and frankly very well prepared, Icelandic tour guide swoops in and hauls Helena to safety and Matthew is left wondering what he just learned about Helena. Full Review

1914585615.jpg

Review of

Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen and Megan E Turney (translator)

3.5star.jpg Thrillers

Hannah presents as an unlikeable, bitter woman, an author of failing if well-regarded literary short novels. Sorry to leave her bottles of red wine behind her for an afternoon at a book fair, she flukes her way into a public argument with the latest hot shot in the world of crime fiction, saying he's populist trash and only writing what anyone could write. Cue the bet that she cannot live up to that accusation. Her publisher duly books her flights from Denmark to Iceland, where she is put up for a wintry month away from it all. Just on the point of despairing – about her writing, about the people and the lack of stimulus for her plot, more or less about everything – word comes that the landlady's nephew has been found dead… Full Review

0861544056.jpg

Review of

Twin Truths by Jacqueline Sutherland

5star.jpg Thrillers

Belle and David's twin daughters are just coming to the end of their first term at university. Kit's been at Bristol and Jess's in Exeter. It's not only the first time they've been away from their parents for any length of time - but they've also been apart from each other. Belle can't wait to have them all to herself for a while. Then Kit rings up - can she bring her boyfriend home with her? Belle would prefer that he didn't come but doesn't want to upset Kit. Ivo's apparently 'older': he's twenty-four to Kit's eighteen but Belle figures that she can cope with that. And they'll be sharing a bedroom. Full Review

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Review of

Her Deadly Game by Robert Dugoni

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Patrick Duggan & Associates has been the life's work of Patsy Duggan – rather charmingly nicknamed 'The Irish Brawler' due to his reputation for no holds barred courtroom performances in defence of his clients. Along with an indisputable talent for the law, Patsy also has a gift for drinking himself to oblivion and inevitably the latter was beginning to overshadow the former. Enter Keera Duggan, former competitive chess prodigy and proven Seattle Prosecutor who finds herself in the hideous position of asking her father for a job at the family firm because a romantic entanglement with a senior colleague, Miller Ambrose, had gone, rather spectacularly, south. Full Review

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Review of

Expectant (Detective Sam Shephard) by Vanda Symon

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Detective Sam Shepherd is approaching the start of her maternity leave when there is a brutal, shocking murder of an expectant woman in Dunedin. Suddenly she finds herself embroiled in the hunt for a killer targeting pregnant women, with all the extra pressure that entails being pregnant herself. Finding herself put on desk duties, which she rails against, she just can't let the case go and she starts to follow every thread to uncover what's actually happening, and the increasingly disturbing worry of just what might happen next. Full Review

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Review of

What July Knew by Emily Koch

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When we first meet July Hooper on 20 July 1995 she's just ten years old. She's a careful, meticulous child. The care has been taught by her father, Mick Hooper, who is not prepared to discuss the death of his wife, July's mother, and any hint that the conversation is heading that way will lead to the necessity of a Lesson. Other infractions of his requirements also lead to these Lessons and he's not even careful about whether or not the injuries are visible. July's teacher is concerned and brings up the possibility of abuse with the head but her worries are dismissed: Mick has been good to the school, has he not? The playground wouldn't have been resurfaced but for him. Full Review

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Review of

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

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Isabelle Drake hasn't really slept for a year - well, apart from the odd occasion when she lost track of time or drifted off for a moment. It's now a year since her son, Mason, was stolen from his bed in the middle of the night and Izzy is consumed with guilt that she heard nothing and particularly about her relief in the morning when she thought he was sleeping in. In that year she's done everything she could to raise awareness about the case. She does interviews and when we meet her, she's just been to TrueCrimeCon where she gave a keynote presentation. On the plane back, she's approached by a podcaster, Waylon Spencer, who points out that she could do a podcast and get to so many more people than she could by giving speeches to a few hundred people at conferences. Full Review

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Review of

Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica

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The whole thing has spiralled out of control, turning into someone I'm not.

Just the Nicest Couple is the story of two couples: Christian and Lily Scott, and Nina and Jake Hayes. The connection between the two is that Lily and Nina teach in the same school: Nina teaches English and Lily covers high school algebra. The couples have mixed as a foursome but it's not a regular thing. Christian is a market research analyst and Jake is a neurosurgeon: they don't have much in common except their wives. Lily hasn't said anything yet, but she's pregnant. She has a lengthy history of miscarriages so she doesn't want to tempt fate by making the knowledge public. Full Review

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