R: The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan #a-zchallenge

Posted on April 21, 2020 by Jennifer Jones

The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan – Cormac Reilly #1

The Ruin (Cormac Reilly, #1)

Summary

It’s been twenty years since Cormac Reilly discovered the body of Hilaria Blake in her crumbling Georgian home. But he’s never forgotten the two children she left behind…

When Aisling Conroy’s boyfriend Jack is found in the freezing black waters of the river Corrib, the police tell her it was suicide. A surgical resident, she throws herself into study and work, trying to forget – until Jack’s sister Maude shows up. Maude suspects foul play, and she is determined to prove it.

DI Cormac Reilly is the detective assigned with the re-investigation of an ‘accidental’ overdose twenty years ago – of Jack and Maude’s drug- and alcohol-addled mother. Cormac is under increasing pressure to charge Maude for murder when his colleague Danny uncovers a piece of evidence that will change everything…

This unsettling crime debut draws us deep into the dark heart of Ireland and asks who will protect you when the authorities can’t – or won’t. Perfect for fans of Tana French and Jane Casey. – blurb

My thoughts

Set in Ireland, this is an excellent and fast paced crime novel. I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, the characters and the twists and turns along the way. I read this book very quickly, over just a couple of days, as I couldn’t put it down. Lovers of mystery and crime, I’m sure would enjoy this book.

This is a debut novel, which looks to become an excellent series.

Recommendations

“The Ruin is the kind of book you will inevitably find yourself recommending to every person you know, and probably also that lovely person who makes your coffee. It’s blisteringly good.” – Readings

“Dervla McTiernan gives us a gripping mystery set in Galway. It’s a complicated, page turning story, that touches on corruption, clandestine cover ups and criminal conspiracy. As moving as it is fast paced.” – Val McDermid

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

About the Author

Dervla McTiernan

Internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed writer, Dervla McTiernan is the author of The Ruin, The Scholar and The Good Turn. The Ruin was published in 2018 and is the first in the detective Cormac Reilly series. The Ruin was a top ten bestseller and an Amazon Best Book of July 2018. Dervla was a New Blood Panellist at Harrogate Festival. The Scholar was published in 2019 and was a top five bestseller. The Good Turn will be published in 2020. The Ruin has been optioned for TV by Hopscotch Features.

Published 2018 by Penguin Books. Paperback, 380 pages

To keep up with the latest book reviews, please pop your email address in the box on the sidebar. This will ensure you are notified of updates.

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

Images and author information: Goodreads and Booktopia

Q: Quick by Steve Worland #atozchallenge

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Jennifer Jones

The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is for bloggers who wish to participate by publishing a blog post every day in April except for Sundays. Each blog post will focus on a letter of the alphabet. For example April 1 will be A, April 2 will be B and on it goes. By the end of April, a blog post for every letter of the alphabet will have been posted

Quick by Steve Worland
Audiobook read by Sean Mangan

Summary

Melbourne, Australia: Round One of the Formula One World Championship. Billy Hotchkiss no longer races a v* Supercar, but that doesn’t mean he’s lost the need for speed. When the young cop uncovers a diamond heist in progress, he leaps into action and almost captures the thieves.

Lyon, France: Interpol are convinced the thieves are connected to Formula One. And they think this Australia ex race driver is just the guy to stop them.

Sent undercover with an unwilling French partner, Billy is thrust into the glamorous world of international motor racing as the diamond heists continue. But as Billy closes in on the thieves, a far more sinister threat is revealed.

With the fate of a city, and the lives of half a million people in the balance, Billy will need to drive like never before to stop the worst act of terror since 9/11 – blurb

My Thoughts

Definitely, fast paced and action packed, this novel took me on a roller coaster ride. I was exhausting reading about the exploits of the main character, Billy. I found myself immersed and wanting to know more about the fast paced world of big money, fast cars and Formula 1. A great action ‘boys own’ type adventure, which is an easy, fast read, with lots of comedy. I enjoyed the characters and their banter also.

The lower star rating is due to action, adventure not being my genre of choice. Fans of these type of books may give a higher rating.

Recommendation

“Hands down, one of the best action adventure novels, I’ve ever read” – Steve Waugh

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

About the Author

Steve Worland has worked extensively in film and television in Australia and the USA. He has written scripts for Working Title and Icon Productions, worked in script development for James Cameron’s Lightstorm and wrote Fox Searchlight’s Bootmen, which won five Australian Film Institute awards.

Steve also wrote the action-comedy telemovie Hard Knox, the bible and episodes of the television series Big Sky and the Saturn award-winning Farscape. The family film Paper Planes, which he co-wrote, will be released worldwide in 2015. His novelisation of the screenplay will be released at the same time.

He is the author of the action-adventure novels Velocity, Combustion and Quick and is currently writing his fourth book.

Published 2014 by Michael Joseph: Penguin Australia
Audiobook 11 hours 47minutes

To keep up with the latest book reviews, please pop your email address in the box on the sidebar. This will ensure you are notified of updates.

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

Images and author information: Goodreads and Booktopia

The Inn by James Patterson & Candice Fox #AtoZChallenge

Posted on April 10, 2020 by Jennifer Jones

The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is for bloggers who wish to participate by publishing a blog post every day in April except for Sundays. Each blog post will focus on a letter of the alphabet. For example April 1 will be A, April 2 will be B and on it goes. By the end of April, a blog post for every letter of the alphabet will have been posted.

The Inn by James Patterson and Candice Fox

Summary

The Inn at Gloucester stands alone on the rocky New England shoreline. Its seclusion suits former Boston police detective Bill Robinson, novice owner and innkeeper. As long as the dozen residents pay their rent, Robinson doesn’t ask any questions.

Yet all too soon Robinson discovers that leaving the city is no escape from dangers he left behind. A new crew of deadly criminals move into the small town, bringing drugs and violence to the front door of the inn.

Robinson feels the weight of responsibility on his shoulders. His sense of duty compels him to fight off the threat to his town. But he can’t do it alone. Before time runs out, the residents of the inn will face a choice. – from the blurb

My Thoughts

Candice Fox really gives a fresh feel to James Patterson’s style of writing. As usual with Patterson/Fox collaborations there is a great storyline and cast of unique characters. You could even say quirky characters in some cases.

Even though parts of this story were predictable, I found this novel to be a page turner, with many twists and turns which kept me guessing until the end. I really enjoyed the short chapters, which I think work well in a crime novel. building the tension.

Star Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

About the Authors

James Patterson is the world’s bestselling author and most trusted storyteller. He has created more enduring fictional characters than any other novelist writing today, with his Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Women’s Murder Club, Private, NYPD Red, Daniel X, Maximum Ride, and Middle School series. He has sold over 380 million books worldwide and currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers. – Goodreads

Candice Fox is the middle child of a large, eccentric family from Sydney’s western suburbs composed of half-, adopted and pseudo siblings. The daughter of a parole officer and an enthusiastic foster-carer, Candice spent her childhood listening around corners to tales of violence, madness and evil as her father relayed his work stories to her mother and older brothers.
As a cynical and trouble-making teenager, her crime and gothic fiction writing was an escape from the calamity of her home life. She was constantly in trouble for reading Anne Rice in church and scaring her friends with tales from Australia’s wealth of true crime writers. Bankstown born and bred, she failed to conform to military life in a brief stint as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy at age eighteen. At twenty, she turned her hand to academia, and taught high school through two undergraduate and two postgraduate degrees. Candice lectures in writing at the University of Notre Dame, Sydney, while undertaking a PhD in literary censorship and terrorism. – Goodreads

Published 08 august 2019, by Century. 384 pages.

To keep up with the latest book reviews, please pop your email address in the box on the sidebar. This will ensure you are notified of updates.

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

Images and author information: Goodreads

All books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library, unless otherwise stated.

#2020 Aussie Author Challenge

You can find my other blogs here:
Next Phase In Fitness & Life and Tracking Down The Family

The Dry by Jane Harper #Atozchallenge #2020aussieauthors

Posted on April 4, 2020 by Jennifer Jones

The Dry by Jane Harper

Summary

Who really killed the Hadler family?
It hasn’t rained in Kiewarra for two years. Tensions in the farming commmunity become unbearable when three members of the Hadler family are discovered shot to death on their property. Everyone assumes Luke Hadler committed suicideafter slaughtering his wife and six year old son.

Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk returns to his hometown for the funerals and is unwillingly drawn into the investigation. As suspicion spreads through the town, Falk is forced to confront the community that rejected him twenty years earlier. Because Falk and his childhood friend Luke Hadler shared a secret, one which Luke’s death threatens to unearth….. – blurb

My Thoughts

I’ve said before that crime is not one of my favourite genres, but I really did enjoy this book. I took the advice of the comment on the back cover from the Daily Telegraph and read it in one sitting. It’s a very, quick and easy read but such a good plot with a few twists and turns, well rounded characters, and a really great sense of place. I enjoyed reading about the secrets that were being held in this small town and the events that occurred because of them.

This book has been sitting on my bookshelf since I bought it when it was a new release.I was drawn to it because the author is a journalist from Melbourne, that I knew of from her previous work. The Dry is her debut novel. There was a lot of media coverage at the time, and I’m usually not keen to read those books that are well hyped up. Eventually, I decided to give it a go, and I’m really pleased that I did.

Recommendations

“This is a story about heroism, the sins of the past, and the struggle to atone. But let’s not forget the redbacks, the huntsmen, the rabbit scourge and all that makes this a quintessential Australian story beautifully told.” – The Age

“Try to set aside one sitting to indulge in journalist Jane Harper’s page turning debut novel. The pace never falters.” – Daily Telegraph

Star Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

About the Author

Jane Harper is the international bestselling author of The Dry, Force of Nature and The Lost Man.
Jane is a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, and has won numerous top awards including the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year, the Australian Indie Awards Book of the Year, the CWA Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel, and the British Book Awards Crime and Thriller Book of the Year.
Her books are published in more than 36 territories worldwide, with The Dry in production as a major motion picture starring Eric Bana.
Jane worked as a print journalist for thirteen years both in Australia and the UK, and now lives in Melbourne.

Published in 2016, by Pan McMillan
Paperback, 342 pages

To keep up with the latest book reviews, please pop your email address in the box on the sidebar. This will ensure you are notified of updates.

All books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library, unless otherwise stated.

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

Images and author information: Goodreads

#2020 Aussie Author Challenge

You can find my other blogs here: Next Phase In Fitness & Life
and Tracking Down The Family

Book Review: The Good Cop by Justine Ford #aussieauthor20

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Jennifer Jones

Summary

In an incredible twenty-five year career as a homicide detective, Ron Iddles’ conviction rate was 99%. Yet that only partly explains why Iddles is known to cops and crims alike as ‘The Great Man’.

Tough, inventive and incorruptible, stoic in the face of senseless horror yet unafraid to shed tears for a victim, Ron has applied his country cunning and city savvy to over 320 homicide cases – some of them the most infamous, compelling and controversial crimes in the nation’s history. To the victims of crime, Ron is both a shoulder to cry on and an avenging angel.

Ron Iddles never gave up on a ‘lost’ cause. He became a regular on the nightly news – the dogged face of Australian justice. Working long hours, dodging bullets, chasing leads and outwitting killers, Ron would tell his teams: ‘The answer is just one call away’. And in 2015, that belief saw him crack Victoria’s oldest unsolved homicide, yet another remarkable feat in a life devoted to keeping the public safe.

This is the extraordinary inside story of a real crime crusader. Ron Iddles. The Good Cop.

My Thoughts

I had been looking forward to reading this book since I heard about it’s publication. After watching Ron Iddles on TV, for many years and recently listening to him on various podcasts, I felt as though I knew him. On reading this book, I found that there was so much more to him than I had seen from snippets on the TV news. Ron Iddles is much more than the top Homicide cop we know him as.

From the very first page this book had me hooked. The first crime discussed was a case that I was very familiar with. The second case involved people that I knew. And on it went. Exposing behind the scenes information and what it took for Ron Iddles to solve the many homicides that occured in Victoria.

I have always been interested in true crime and have watched the progress of local cases in the press. I loved the back story to these cases that is presented in this book.

As well as Ron Iddles, Victoria’s top cop, we also get to meet Ron Iddles, the person. I would Recommend this book to anyone interested in true crime and how these crimes are solved. I would describe The Good Cop as part biography and part true crime.
– Goodreads

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

About the author: Justine Ford is a TV producer and journalist with a background in news and current affairs. She was a presenter on the top rating crime series, Australia’s Most Wanted. Her producing credits include the hot shows Missing Persons Unit, Border Security, RPA and Random Acts of Kindness. Justine has also worked as a radio producer/presenter and as a magazine features writer.

Published on 26 July 2016, by McMillan Australia. Paperback 368 pages

The tribute below to Ron Iddles was recently painted on the wall of a lane way in his home town, Rochester – artist, Tim Bowtell, Samaria, Victoria.

Have you read The Good Cop? If so, I’d love to hear if you enjoyed it as much as I did. I love it when we have a conversation and promise to reply to all comments.

To keep up with the latest book reviews, please pop your email address in the box on the sidebar. This will ensure you are notified of updates.

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

Images and author information: Goodreads

This review is linked to lovelyaudiobooks

#2020 Aussie Author Challenge

The First Lady by James Patterson & Brendan Dubois

Posted on July 26, 2019 by Jennifer Jones

The First Lady

Summary

American President Harrison Tucker has been caught out in a scandal, and the media is all over it, sending shockwaves through his Presidential Campaign. It is probable that the will lose everything that he has worked for, unless his wife, Grace Tucker, the First Lady, stands by his side, and shows her support.

For years Grace has put up with her husband’s deception, broken promises and betrayal. But this time she refuses to give in to his demands to stand by him. GraceTucker disappears and is nowhere to be found.

But there are doubts about her disappearance. Did she run away? Or is she in grave danger?

My Thoughts

This story is fast paced and filled with political intrigue and mystery. There were many twists and turns, which kept me guessing right up until the ending, which caught me by surprise. I enjoyed the strong female characters that were the backbone of this novel.

This collaboration between two succesful crime writers really is a good read, and I look forward very much to their next project. A quick read with short chapters and enough mystery and action to keep me well and truly engaged.

I listened to The First Lady as an audio book. The only criticism I would have, is that of the narrator’s pronunciation. I can only imagine that it must have driven American’s nuts to hear the way some of their place names were butchered. Even this Aussie picked up on it.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

About the Authors

James Patterson

James Patterson is the world’s bestselling author and most trusted storyteller. He has created more enduring fictional characters than any other novelist writing today, with his Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Women’s Murder Club, Private, NYPD Red, Daniel X, Maximum Ride, and Middle School series. He has sold over 380 million books worldwide and currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers. In addition to writing the thriller novels for which he is best known, among them The President Is Missing with President Bill Clinton, Patterson also writes fiction for young readers of all ages, including the Max Einstein series, produced in partnership with the Albert Einstein Estate. He is also the first author to have #1 new titles simultaneously on the New York Times adult and children’s bestseller lists. – https://www.goodreads.com

Brendan DuBois

Brendan DuBois of New Hampshire is the award-winning author of twenty novels and more than 150 short stories. His novel, “Resurrection Day,” won the Sidewise Award for Best Alternative History Novel of the Year. In addition to his thrillers, Brendan DuBois is the author of the Lewis Cole mystery series. https://www.goodreads.com

Published in December 2018 by Century.

Have you read this book? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts. I promise to always reply to your comments made in the section below.

To keep up with the latest book reviews, please pop your email address in the box on the sidebar. This will ensure you are notified of updates.

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

#AtoZChallenge Y: You by Caroline Kepnes

Posted on April 29, 2019 by Jennifer Jones

#AtoZChallenge 2019 Tenth Anniversary blogging from A to Z challenge letter

Summary

This is the debut novel, by Caroline Kepnes. Guinevere Beck, an aspiring writer, wanders into a book store. Soon, she is having a friendly conversation with Joe Goldberg, who is working in the store. Joe googles her name from her credit card, to find out all he can about her. He checks out her public Facebook page, and her Twitter feed, where he gets a huge amount of general information about her and about her life.

When she posts on Twitter that she will be at a particular bar that night, Joe makes sure that he is there for a ‘chance’ meeting. From there, he makes sure he has her under his control to the point that he takes over her life.

On the surface Joe is her perfect man. However, things are not as they seem. Joe is controlling her and stalking her. This is a story about the modern age of communications and living life online. You demonstrates how vulnerable we all are in the digital age, to stalking and being manipulated, without even being aware.

My Thoughts

You has been compared to Psycho, Gone Girl and even Stephen King’s Misery. I loved all of those books, but unfortunately I can’t say the same about You. Everything that happened seemed to me to be too easy for Joe. But perhaps that’s the way the world is today, in this digital age. The story line seemed to me to be very contrived and convenient.

For me, You was a difficult read, as I didn’t really care too much about the characters and could have put the book down. and decided not to finish it, at any time. I definitely didn’t feel it was a page turner, though going by some of the reviews, it appears that I am in the minority. I also should state. that I’m not a huge fan of crime or psychological thrillers, so am probably not the best person to comment on this book.

About The Author

Caroline Kepnes

Caroline Kepnes was born and lives in the U.S, dividing her time between California, Cape Cod, and Massachusetts.

My Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️

First published in 2014 by Simon & Schuster
Paperback 424 pages

Have you read this book? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Did you enjoy it? I promise to always reply to comments made in the section below.

To keep up with the latest book reviews, please pop your email into the box in the side bar. This will ensure you are notified of all updates.

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

*Images: Goodreads

#AtoZChallenge X is for X by Sue Grafton

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Jennifer Jones

#AtoZChallenge 2019 Tenth Anniversary blogging from A to Z challenge letter

Summary

A Kinsey Milhone mystery

This is the 24th novel in Sue Grafton’s series of novels that are named after each letter of the alphabet. Investigator Kinsey Milhone, known by regular readers of this author, is based in a fictional city in Los Angeles and ready to solve the latest mystery.

A glamorous redhead hires Milhone to find her long lost adopted son. This should have been a quick easy job for an investigator but the mystery quickly builds when Milhone finds that she was paid with notes that were marked. It becomes clear very quickly that this client has something to hide.

My Thoughts

I’m not a regular reader of the crime genre but I did enjoy this suspenseful mystery, with it’s very well rounded characters. As this is the 24th book in this ‘alphabet’ series, I can help but wonder if Grafton’s books are written to an obvious winning formula. I will definitely be reading another of her books, and expect to be able to form an opinion after that reading.

Recommendation

“Kinsey Milhorne is up there with the giants of the private-eye genre, as magnetic as Marlowe, as insouciant as Spenser…….Exhilarating” – Times Library Supplement

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

About The Author

Sue Grafton was a Number One International Bestselling and very prolific author of mystery and detective novels. Her books have been published in many languages and have appeared on The New York Times Bestseller lists many times and for many weeks each time. She passed away in 2017 before Z for Zero was published and so the alphabet series ends at Y.

Published by Random House publishing in 2015

Have you read any of Sue Grafton’s novels. I’d be very interested to hear what you think and promise to reply to all comments

To keep up with the latest book reviews, please pop your email into the box in the side bar. This will ensure you are notified of all updates.

img_7712-1

*Images: Goodreads and Wikipedia