The Lace Reader By Brunonia Barry

So I am reading like a crazy person and LOVING IT! I started this book last night and just finished. WOW! This book has sat on my shelf for about 2 years and I kept overlooking it, I’m not sure why.

In this book we follow Towner (Or Sophya) as she returns to her home town of Salem following the disappearance of her Great Aunt Eva. It has been 15 years since Towner ran from Salem following a glimpse into her future, a future without her twin sister Lydley. What waits for Towner makes her question her past and whether she misread the lace all those years ago.

This book is awesome. I know I say that a lot because well I love my imagination! I was totally lost in this world of witches and magic. Towner is an awesome character with lots of questions about her past. In her teens she underwent shock therapy and parts of her memory are missing. Shes sure shes worked through the haze and fitted the pieces back together but when the truth hits you at the end its awesome. There is a quote on the back of the book from ‘The Guardian’ that says “Clairvoyance, abuse, religion and an ending that makes you look back at the entire novel with fresh eyes” and honestly it doesn’t get more right that that. The ending changes everything but at the same time brings everything together. My sister in law has been looking for a book to read and this is it. If you see this book buy it! You won’t regret it.

 

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

WOW, I started his book yesterday just after lunch and finished it a couple of hours later! I couldn’t put it down, I have to be honest and say I’m completely heartbroken but it was an emotional roller coaster that I would do again! I have been waiting for this book to come back into the local library and it’s come at a time where the subject of cancer is a tough one for me but I had to read it. 

In the book we follow Hazel a 16 year old terminal cancer patient who is being kept alive due to miracle drug trials. Its been a few years since she stopped going to school and her mum forces her to attend a support group to help her meet other people in her situation, Hazel never wants to go but then one night at support group Augustus Waters appears and Hazels world is turned upside down. We follow them through highs and lows to the end.

If you don’t read this book without crying what is wrong with you? I read the final 2 pages with tears streaming down my face. This is a beautiful story and will hold you to the end, my only advice would be do NOT read in public! I made that mistake once with ‘The Time Travelers Wife’ its not pretty trust me! 

I would say happy reading, but its more like heartbreaking reading. Have the tissues at the ready!

 

The Appeal & The Street Lawyer by John Grisham

So I have never even picked up a John Grisham book before this! I know shocking! I have definitely been inspired to read more I love legal fiction so both of these book were perfect for me!

So this book starts with the verdict of a case against Krane Chemical. A company dumping cancer causing chemicals into a small Mississippi towns water supply. Its an amazing win for the families of the town who have lost or are losing loved ones due to Krane’s disregard for their health. Unfortunately the billionaire owner of Krane Chemical decides no victim will receive a dollar of his money and sets in motion a plan to fix the appeal and save his company and of course become richer in the process.

It’s hard to explain this book in a paragraph and the majority of people who love legal fiction will already have enjoyed this book. I love the way its written and even though at the end you feel a little cheated at the way it works out it still holds you and you still enjoy this book. Peoples eyes are opened to the damage that big businesses can do if they are not held accountable and you feel like the future in this county might be on the up after all!

I really enjoyed this book. This was my favorite of the two.

We follow Michael Brock a lawyer on the fast track to partner at his firm ‘Drake and Sweeney’ until one day an almost fatal encounter with ‘Mister’ a homeless man brings it all crashing down around him.

Mister was furious at the firm, and Michael wants to find out why. What he discovers makes him give it all up to do the right thing and bring ‘Drake and Sweeney’ to justice. He starts working as a street lawyer and in the process looses his house, wife and all his savings, but Michael doesn’t care hes a man on a mission to do the right thing, and along the way help anyone who asks for it.

I loved this book because of the whole idea that bad things are happening right under your nose and its not until you almost lose your life you realize what you have and your ability to help others. Michael is a great character and in the end his conscience helps him on his way. Its nice to believe that not everyone is all bad!

I have a couple of other John Grisham books to read on the shelf and I can’t wait!

Hold Tight by Harlan Coben

So its been so long since I picked up a book, we been having a few family emergencies lately and I’m taking the time to review these books before we run off again. So this book was one I picked up for a couple of dollars and I loved it!

We follow Tia and Mike Baye as they struggle with their parenting decisions regarding their 16 year old son Adam. After Adams close friend Spencer commits suicide they install spy ware software of his computer and get pulled into a world they don’t understand. Adam goes missing and as they unravel the trail to find him they discover a secret that could place both father and son behind bars.

So this is just a quick review but one of the reasons I enjoyed this is because the book follows 4 or 5 different stories all the way through and keeps you guessing at how they’ll all join up. The last big reveal in the book was a little silly but I still loved it. It kept me interested and kept my mind sane in the hospital so I would definitely recommend.

Never Forget By Lisa Cutts

The Burnt House By Faye Kellerman

There are so many books by Faye Kellerman in my local library and I struggled to work out whether they go in any order. So I picked three at random and this was the first. Again I have never read any of Kellerman’s books before but I enjoyed it.

In this book we follow Lieutenant peter Decker. A plane carrying 47 passengers crashes into an apartment block in LA killing anyone close to the blaze. They think its all under control but 46 days later they receive a call from parents claiming although their daughter is on the list of the dead she wasn’t on that doomed flight.

Just as they discover the last female body from the wreckage Decker thinks its all cleared up but this body’s been dead for over 30 years, so with 2 homicides on his plate its going to be hard work to find out the truth.

This book was good and in a way a bit different at the end of a story like this we normally get closure by discovering the killer and a boatload of evidence to keep him locked up for years. We didn’t really get that here but Kellerman gives you a great high note (full of closure for the characters) to end on. Loved it can’t wait to start the next one!

Almost Dead By Lisa Jackson

I really enjoyed this book, I’ve never read anything by Lisa Jackson before, but this got me interested! 

In this book we follow Cissy Cahill, her marriage is ending in divorce, her estranged mother has just escaped from prison and now members of her family are turning up dead!

Cissy begins to rely on her Ex Jack for support and as they rekindle their relationship their son is taken. With no ransom call and the police sure that (the still missing) Cissy’s mother is behind the murders they have to move quick before they lose the one thing worth living for.

This books pulls you around and totally throws you off balance. Very clever writing, which isn’t that surprising when you discover Lisa Jackson has written over 70 books! Definitely worth a read.

Birthdays For The Dead By Stuart Macbride

So this is a book separate from the Logan Mcrae series. I have to be honest and say I didn’t like the characters as much, but that didn’t ruin it for me.

DC Ash Henderson lost his daughter 5 years ago, his ex wife and peers believe she ran away but Ash knows different as every year on her birthday he receives another card. Another card with an image of his daughter being tortured and killed. 

There have been other girls 1 each year for 9 years, he takes them just before their 13th birthdays and sends cards every year afterwards. (CREEPY)

But now ‘the birthday boy’ has taken 2 victims in the same year and instead or waiting a year to send the first card hes sending cards the next day. He’s spiraling out of control and with Ash’s other daughter Katie planning her 13th birthday party he needs to catch this guy and quick! 

Ash needs to get himself together he owes some bad people a LOT of money, he lives in a condemned council house and lives with the burden of knowing what happened to his eldest daughter. 

This book is great, it threw me at the end because for once it wasn’t a ‘happy ending’ as such. Ash is seriously messed up, not very likable at all and his sidekick nicknamed Dr McFruitloop by Ash is just plain odd, just a little too quirky to enjoy.

This book is extremely gritty and I wouldn’t suggest reading it unless you’ve read McBride’s other books and enjoyed them. 

 

Stuart Macbride

So I’m going to run through these in one post because I have now finished the lot! 

‘There’s a rapist stalking the cold granite streets, leaving behind him a string of battered, tortured women. But that’s not DS Logan McRae’s case: on top of everything else he has to deal with, Logan’s been lumbered with the blood-drenched body of an unidentified male, dumped outside Accident and Emergency.’

In this book we get to know DI Steel better and honestly now shes one of my favorite characters, shes still a bit of a screw up but now I can enjoy that about her!

Flesh house has to be my favorite one of this series I think. I realized what was going on just as it was revealed. Brilliant writing and a seriously messed up murderer make for an awesome read.

‘When an offshore container turns up at Aberdeen Harbour full of human meat, it kicks off the largest manhunt in the Granite City’s history.

Twenty years ago ‘The Flesher’ was butchering people all over the UK – turning his victims into oven-ready joints – until Grampian’s finest put him away. But eleven years later he was out on appeal. Now he’s missing and people are dying again.’

If you only read one of these books make it this one!

(There is one missing here called ‘Blind Eye’ which I’m still waiting to be returned so I can read it, it did throw me off a little bit as during this book he meets a new girl and also helps a lesbian couple get pregnant! But when id got my head around that I got there!)

‘Richard Knox has served his time, so why shouldn’t he be allowed to live wherever he wants? Yes, he was convicted of the brutal rape and abduction of a sixty-eight-year-old man, but he’s seen the error of his ways. Found God. Wants to leave his dark past in Newcastle and make a new start.

Or so he says.

Detective Sergeant Logan McRae isn’t exactly thrilled to be part of the team helping Knox settle into his new Aberdeen home. He’s even less thrilled to be stuck with DSI Danby from Northumbria Police – the man who put Knox behind bars for ten years – supposedly here to ‘keep an eye on things’.

Only things are about to go very, very wrong.’

This was interesting, a different story as a murderer wasn’t center stage. I think that made me like it even more. The crimes were still as terrible and Logans drama never lets up so Macbride held me until the end like always. Good read.

So I said Flesh house was my favourite but this has to be a close 2nd!

”You will raise money for the safe return of Alison and Jenny McGregor. If you raise enough money within fourteen days they will be released. If not, Jenny will be killed.’

Alison and Jenny McGregor – Aberdeen’s own mother-daughter singing sensation – are through to the semi-finals of TV smash-hit Britain’s Next Big Star. They’re in all the gossip magazines, they’ve got millions of YouTube hits, everyone loves them.

But their reality-TV dream has turned into a real-life nightmare. The ransom demand appears in all the papers, on the TV, and the internet, telling the nation to dig deep if they want to keep Alison and Jenny alive.’

This was interesting and very clever. Again a different view rather than a serial killer we had kidnappers. 

There is one more book in this series called ‘Close to the bone’ So I need to head to the library and convince them to make this their next purchase! 

Stuart Macbride is brilliant, I have loved reading this series and I cannot wait to see more. I hope you’ll decide to try him out, you wont regret it!

(All book descriptions in this post were taking from http://www.stuartmacbride.com)

Dying Light By Stuart Macbride

The 2nd book in this series following DS Logan McRae. Again I love this guy, the writing is brilliant and holds you until the last page. 

So, there’s a dead prostitute lying on the streets of Aberdeen and DS McRae is stuck working with DI Steel in the screw up squad. Steel has her own way of doing things and Logan worries that with her taking the spotlight and using his ideas he might never get back to where hes supposed to be. 

Meanwhile someones going around burning down houses and watching families burn. Logan jumps at the chance to help his old DI solve the case and gain back his position, all the while struggling to hold the lid on his new relationship with WPC Jackie Watson. But with Steel barking orders and his career and love life in the balance can Logan crack the case before its too late??

So good! I finished work at 6pm today with half a book to go and its now 9.30pm and I’m writing this counting down the hours until 9am tomorrow when the library opens so I can go get more!

So happy I discovered this author, honestly you have to go check him out. Brilliant.