Sunday, 29 December 2019

Blood Rights

The fourth in the excellent DCI Jack le Claire murder mysteries set on beautiful Jersey. 


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Book description

DCI Jack Le Claire is investigating the death of a high-profile resident on the Island of Jersey. But the killing has only just begun.

Kurt Englebrook has it all. He’s a hedge fund tycoon with a gorgeous younger wife, two grown sons and a loyal team around him. But Kurt has a secret; somebody knows what it is and is determined to make him suffer. Meanwhile, an argument rages over an ancient right-of-way and a historic tower.
Kurt’s sister-in-law, Chloe Marsden, is grateful to inhabit his world of privilege and plenty. But what Chloe cares most about can’t be bought.
They've killed once and crossed a line. Now there's no going back.
A brutal death reveals the widening cracks that threaten to break apart the Englebrooks and those connected to them.
A killer is on the rampage, but what do they want?
As the deaths mount up, Le Claire must trap a vicious killer, although he has numerous suspects and very few leads.

My review 
A resident of the island of Jersey is found dead. He’s got enemies and it’s going to be a tough job for DCI Jack Le Claire to sort out the truth. Life on an idyllic island isn’t all it seems. Kelly Clayton is excellent at building tension and throwing in red herrings so that you don’t find out right to the end what has really gone on. I think this could be read alone, but if you’ve read the other three in the series you’ll appreciate the background. You’ll also have some idea what Le Claire has looming in his own past. It’s a very good story and will leave you wanting the next.


About the author

Kelly Clayton has lived in the Channel Island of Jersey for most of her life. An avid reader, Kelly has been writing for as long as she can remember but decided to get serious a few years back. The reason why is a story in itself and there is a TV clip that can be accessed through Kelly's Facebook page that explains what lay behind her motivation to get that first book published.

Kelly's first novel, Blood In The Sand, was published in 2015, followed by Blood Ties and Blood On The Rock. The three books are part of The Jack Le Claire Mystery series, mainly set in Jersey but venturing to other locations as well. They can be read as part of the series or as stand-alones.

In 2018, Kelly co-authored Cyber Sisters, about 4 women, online crime and whether you choose to fall down or fight back. The co-author is her husband, Grant Collins.

Kelly has also published a historical romance/murder-mystery, Fortune's Hostage, under the pen-name of Julia Hardy.

Kelly also has a busy day job, working in the finance industry. Although she loves what she does, Kelly adores the escapism of writing, of crafting stories and characters and putting them into and, hopefully, getting them out of peril.

Kelly, her husband and their three cats live in a home overlooking the sea.

~~~
Just a thought
Some stories have to be written because no one would believe the absurdity of it all
― Shannon L. Alder

The Lost Children

I'm a new reader to Theresa Talbot's work but I really enjoyed this book.


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Book description 

Investigative journalist Oonagh O'Neil's instincts tell her when a story is worth pursuing. And the death of an elderly priest on the altar of his Glasgow church, just as she is about to expose the shocking truth behind the closure of an infamous Magdalene Institution, tells her a sinister cover up is in play.
DI Alec Davies is appointed to investigate the priest's death. He and Oonagh go way back. But now they're united in uncovering not only what happened to the lost babies secretly born in the Institution, but what happened to the young women that survived by vowing loyalty to one another... forever.
The doors of the Magdalene laundries hid the most harrowing secrets from the world – secrets Oonagh is determined to reveal, whatever the price...
'The Lost Children is Theresa's debut crime novel.

My review 

Oonagh O’Neil, the main character in the book, is an Irish-born investigative journalist living in Glasgow. The book is a long one but covers so many threads which the author cleverly weaves together so it seems to fly by. She is investigating the stories of the Magdalene Houses where young girls were sent to have their illegitimate babies. They were effectively prisoners and those who put them in that condition were, in some cases, those who should have been their protectors. Oonagh becomes embroiled in the story to her own detriment and the denouement is exciting. I was completely in thrall to this book and heartily recommend it.


About the author

Theresa Talbot is a freelance writer, journalist and radio presenter, perhaps best known as the voice of Traffic and Travel on BBC Radio Scotland and as the host of The Beechgrove Potting Shed. Prior to working with the BBC she was with Radio Clyde and the AA Roadwatch team. Theresa worked in various roles before entering the media as an assistant in children's homes, a Pepsi Challenge girl and a library assistant. She ended up at the BBC because of an eavesdropped conversation on a no.66 bus in Glasgow. Her passions include rescuing chickens, gardening, music and yoga.

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Just a thought

A book is more than the sum of its materials. It is an artifact of the human mind and hand -
 Geraldine Brooks




Monday, 16 December 2019

The Assistant

I love The Ice Twins by S K Tremayne, and when offered the chance to review this, I leapt!


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Book description

What would you do if your home assistant turned evil?
She’s in your house. She controls your life. Now she’s going to destroy it.
She watches you constantly.
Newly divorced Jo is delighted to move into her best friend’s spare room almost rent-free. The high-tech luxury Camden flat is managed by a meticulous Home Assistant, called Electra, that takes care of the heating, the lights – and sometimes Jo even turns to her for company.

She knows all your secrets.
Until, late one night, Electra says one sentence that rips Jo’s fragile world in two: ‘I know what you did.’ And Jo is horrified. Because in her past she did do something terrible. Something unforgivable.

Now she wants to destroy you.
Only two other people in the whole world know Jo’s secret. And they would never tell anyone. Would they? As a fierce winter brings London to a standstill, Jo begins to understand that the Assistant on the shelf doesn’t just want to control Jo; it wants to destroy her.

My review
I was engaged by the concept that electronic Assistants in the home (this one’s Electra) may work with a sinister purpose. I was blown away by the execution of the story. There was a relentless feel to the way it evolved and I couldn’t see a way out for poor Jo. It’s a fear many of us have, that we don’t want to put our life in the hands of a piece of technology. In a way, Jo has had no option as she’s living in a friend’s flat and these things are part of the deal. The last part of the book is very exciting. I read the ending breathlessly and I wholeheartedly recommend this book to you.

About the author

Sean Thomas is the real name of thriller author S K Tremayne. Sean writes books where real places becoming menacing, and where ordinary people experience something extraordinary.

Born in Devon, Sean now lives in London, but he travels a lot in his second job as a journalist, sometimes visiting places which inspire the books. His first S K Tremayne thriller, THE ICE TWINS, was a number one Sunday Times bestseller. The S K Tremayne novels have been translated into thirty languages, and have been bestsellers around the globe.

~~~

Just a thought

A good book should leave you....slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it.
― William Styron

Monday, 9 December 2019

Silent Winter

Maggie James gives a real insight into the results of sensory deprivation in this new psychological thriller.


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Book description

On an icy November night, Drew Blackmore is beaten unconscious, then abducted.  He awakes to find himself in total darkness, naked and chained to the floor.  Fed just enough to keep him alive, Drew is unable to identify his captor, or the reason for his incarceration. As reality fades, hallucinations take over. Can Drew escape his prison before madness claims him?
Meanwhile Drew's wife, Holly, despairing of ever seeing him again, turns to his brother for comfort. As the worst winter in decades sweeps the UK, she learns of Drew's tragic past. Could his disappearance be connected with that of a prostitute years before? 

My review

Drew is abducted and kept in a dark place for four months, chained to the floor and with very low food and water. Maggie James brilliantly describes the psychological effects of this and the hallucinations it brings on. At home, his wife, brother and sister-in-law struggle to cope too. Drew is released, in a very bad way both physically and mentally, presumably by one of his abductors. His imprisonment takes up the first part of the book and the ensuing changes in his mental and physical health and the family relationships take up the rest. It’s a very good read and throws up some surprises towards the end.


About the author

Maggie James is a British author who lives near Newcastle. She writes psychological suspense novels.

Before turning her hand to writing, Maggie worked mainly as an accountant, with a diversion into practising as a nutritional therapist. Diet and health remain high on her list of interests, along with travel. Accountancy does not, but then it never did. The urge to pack a bag and go off travelling is always lurking in the background! When not writing, going to the gym, practising yoga or travelling, Maggie can be found seeking new four-legged friends to pet; animals are a lifelong love

~~~

Just a thought

What is reading but silent conversation ― Walter Savage Landor

Monday, 2 December 2019

The Penmaker's Wife

This is a bit of a departure for Steve Robinson and I really enjoyed the way my view of a character changed as the story progressed.


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Book description

In Victorian England, a mother is on the run from her past—and the truth about what she did.

Birmingham, 1880. Angelica Chastain has fled from London with her young son, William. She promises him a better life, far away from the terrors they left behind.

Securing a job as a governess, Angelica captures the attention of wealthy widower Stanley Hampton. Soon they marry and the successful future Angelica envisaged for William starts to fall into place.

But the past will not let Angelica go. As the people in her husband’s circle, once captivated by her charm, begin to question her motives, it becomes clear that forgetting where she came from—and who she ran from—is impossible.

When tragedy threatens to expose her and destroy everything she’s built for herself and William, how far will she go to keep her secrets safe? And when does the love for one’s child tip over into dangerous obsession?

Alias Grace meets Peaky Blinders in this tale of obsession, ambition and murder in Victorian England.
 


My review - 

This stand-alone novel from Steve Robinson, hitherto known for his Jefferson Tayte genealogical series, is a real eye opener. I mean I read it with my eyes opening wider as the story progressed. In the Victorian era, Angelica and her small son William really evoked my sympathy at the dramatic opening of the book. She embarks upon a new life which she determines to be all for the good of William. As the story unfolds and the lies begin to turn back on her it becomes very exciting and I really enjoyed it. Some of the twists and turns had a great impact, I felt. It’s a bit of a shocker in places. Strap yourself in for a wild ride.


About the author

Steve Robinson is a London-based crime writer. He was sixteen when his first magazine article was published and he’s been writing ever since. A love for genealogy inspired his first bestselling series, the Jefferson Tayte Genealogical Mysteries, and with The Penmaker's Wife he is now expanding his writing to historical crime, another area he is passionate about. He can be contacted via his website, www.steve-robinson.me, or his Facebook page, www.facebook.com/SteveRobinsonAuthor, where you can also keep up to date with his latest news.


Just a thought -

~~~

When we are collecting books, we are collecting happiness ― Vincent Starrett

Wednesday, 27 November 2019

Bone Snow

Another great horror tale from David Haynes.


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Book description

When the snowstorm falls and the power fails, Leo Newman’s humble store acts as shelter
for a desperate group of people, all trapped there waiting for the dawn.

As tensions rise among the teenage kids, neighbors, street thugs and an undercover cop,
Leo barely has time to consider the most harmless and innocent ones. The strangers in his
basement – the young girl and her baby.

From the folk tales of Japanese myths, something insatiable has come to stalk the modern
world. The freezing snow rising inside Leo’s store is far hungrier and deadlier than anything
out in the dark.


My review 

In a down-at-heel area in an American town, where gang culture is rife, a power failure in a snow storm traps a group of people together in a failing store. One of them, a vulnerable-seeming young woman with her baby, is not who she seems.

I found this a really claustrophobic story. There was no way anyone could escape from the others, trapped as they were by the elements and the failure of the store’s electric security shutters. There’s a creeping feeling that things are going bad. People lose their tempers and don’t understand why they feel like this. People die – horribly. I always enjoy the author’s books and it’s often the element of ancient myth that pulls me in tight. This one did. A really creepy chiller of a read.

About the author

David Haynes is a horror fan and has been since he picked up a copy of Salem's Lot by Stephen King.

He loves reading books in the horror genre as well as in other genres but he always comes back to horror.

He writes books in the genre he loves and he hopes the readers enjoy them as much as he enjoyed writing them.

He lives in the UK with his wife, son and dog.

~~~

Just a thought

Books fall open, you fall in ― David McCord

Saturday, 16 November 2019

The Snow Killer

There are some authors who you know will give you a good read. Ross Greenwood is one of those and The Snow Killer's fantastic.


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Book description

‘Fear the north wind. Because no one will hear you scream…’

A family is gunned down in the snow but one of the children survives. Three years on, that child takes revenge and the Snow Killer is born. But then, nothing - no further crimes are committed, and the case goes cold.
Fifty years later, has the urge to kill been reawakened? As murder follows murder, the detective team tasked with solving the crimes struggle with the lack of leads. It’s a race against time and the weather – each time it snows another person dies.
As an exhausted and grizzled DI Barton and his team scrabble to put the pieces of the puzzle together, the killer is hiding in plain sight. Meanwhile, the murders continue…
My review 
Wrap up warm and read this!
Part of the story is in the words of a killer and part is a third person telling of the team trying to solve the murders. It’s only when a cold case of fifty years ago comes to light that detectives start to make connections. This looks like the beginning of a good series. Interesting characters and guess what? The DI is happily married and has kids. It’s a long time since I read a crime or police procedural that didn’t feature a maverick with an alcohol problem. Ross Greenwood doesn’t write clichés. What he has written here is a fast-paced, action-filled puzzle of a story with believable characters and spiced with a lot of humour. I want to meet Barton and Strange again!

About the author

I was born in 1973 in Peterborough and lived there until I was 20, attending The King's School in the city. I then began a rather nomadic existence, living and working all over the country and various parts of the world.

I found myself returning to Peterborough many times over the years, usually when things had gone wrong. It was on one of these occasions that I met my partner about 100 metres from my back door whilst walking a dog. Two children swiftly followed. I'm still a little stunned by the pace of it now.

Fifty Years of Fear book was started a long time ago but parenthood and then after working in sales management all my life, i randomly spent four years as a prison officer. Ironically it was the four a.m. feed which gave me the opportunity to finish the book as unable to get back to sleep I completed it in the early morning hours.

I've now written five further books. My second book, The Boy Inside, was picked up by a publisher, and Lazy Blood is also out. All my books are thought provoking, and told with a sense of humour. Reading the reviews has been great.

~~~

Just a thought

Get books, sit yourself down anywhere, and go to reading them yourself
― Abraham Lincoln

Thursday, 7 November 2019

A Long Way from Home

This Private Investigator story by Brian Caves is totally gripping. Set in Georgia in the early 1960s, it's a memorable story.



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Book description

Set in Southern Georgia during President Kennedy's term in office, this novel centres around an ex Chicago homicide detective, Tom Bale, who is struggling to come to terms with his past. Six years ago, his wife was killed in a hit-and-run, the driver never found. Bale has slowly crawled his way back up from an alcoholic slide into depression and one day receives a phone call that turns his world upside down. He owes a debt to a friend and cannot refuse.

Bale travels a 1000 miles south to the sleepy town of Paradise Creek, Georgia, to find a missing girl. He is immediately at odds in a racially divided town where strangers are not welcome and secrets are kept hidden.

His investigations take him deep into the swamps to find the missing girl. She has been beaten, raped, left for dead. Bale delves further into the case and finds himself immersed in a web of corruption and lies that lead back to events spanning 15 years. Court trials have been manipulated, other girls have gone missing, never found, and innocent people have lost their lives. And it's down to Bale to stop history from repeating itself, even if it costs him his life.


My review - 


What a powerful novel this is, set in the early 1960s in the small town of Paradise Creek, Georgia. It stands against the background of the Civil Rights speeches of Martin Luther King, who stirred up the demand for equality amongst the black Americans. This, naturally, threatened the perceived superiority of the whites, who enjoyed wielding the power and the money. I found it a gripping read. Tom Bale is an incoming PI from Chicago who is searching for a missing black girl. It’s a real story of small town corruption, covered up by those with something to lose. It’s horrifying, exciting and a very good read.

About the author

Engineering, sales, marketing and operations, business consultancy, project management, procurement management. Ageing rock god with a three-piece blues/rock/funk band. And writer. Always a musician, always a writer.

~~~

Just a thought

You want to remember that while you're judging the book, the book is also judging you 
― Stephen King

Thursday, 31 October 2019

The Lost Ones

This is the first book I've read by Anita Frank and it's a quality read for this time of year.


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Book description

Some houses are never at peace.
England, 1917
Reeling from the death of her fiancé, Stella Marcham welcomes the opportunity to stay with her pregnant sister, Madeleine, at her imposing country mansion, Greyswick – but she arrives to discover a house of unease and her sister gripped by fear and suspicion.
Before long, strange incidents begin to trouble Stella – sobbing in the night, little footsteps on the stairs – and as events escalate, she finds herself drawn to the tragic history of the house.
Aided by a wounded war veteran, Stella sets about uncovering Greyswick’s dark and terrible secrets – secrets the dead whisper from the other side…
My review 
One of the best ghost stories I’ve ever read and how fitting that it’s due for publication on Halloween. Stella a VAD in the first world war, loses her fiancé. In fact he dies in the field hospital where she was stationed. She’s deemed to be unstable, even months after his death and her return to her parents’ home. She visits her pregnant sister, now staying at her in-laws’ residence, taking her strange little maid Annie.

Something awful had happened in that house. Little by little, we discover the possibilities then finally the reality. The tension mounts and little incidents from Stella Annie’s past become more important. I found this occasionally almost claustrophobic in its intensity and beautifully written. I’d recommend this book wholeheartedly.


About the author

Born in Shropshire, Anita studied English and American History at the University of East Anglia. She now lives in Berkshire with her husband and three children.

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Just a thought
Never put off till tomorrow the book you can read today ― Holbrook Jackson


Monday, 28 October 2019

Maureen's (Not So Great) British Cake Off

Another in the Maureen series, but you can read it as a stand-alone. It's short but funny. How do they keep getting better?


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Book description

The smash hit comedy character returns in a brand new novella.

Maureen finally has her new garden and she sees the perfect chance to show it off by hosting a cake-baking contest for her friends.

Unfortunately, the guests (both invited and uninvited) seem determined not to allow the event to pass smoothly…

My review 

I’m a great fan of Maureen’s and in my opinion these stories are getting better each time. Mo has a new gardener and the place has never looked so good. It seems a shame to waste it. She decides to hold a garden party to include a baking contest. Picture the tent, the steely gaze of Paul Hollywood, the critical but kind observations of Pru Leith. Well, it’s nothing like that. A pleasant dream becomes a nightmare and her friends Louisa and Tim, surprisingly, still help her out of her self-inflicted problems. Read it – it’s a laugh.

Author details

Jonathan Hill is an author from Manchester, UK.

His work isn't confined to one genre, but he has already published a number of gay literary fiction books to high critical acclaim. His debut novel 'FAG', a hard-hitting story set in an English boarding school in the 1930s, was named as the overall winner in the Self-Published and Small Press 2014 Book Awards.

He has also penned the hit comedy series of Maureen books, in addition to numerous short stories and 100-word drabbles. Jonathan firmly believes that writing should not only entertain but also enhance and change the way readers view the world.

When he's not writing and working as a pharmacist, he enjoys painting, photography and going to the theatre.

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Just a thought 

When we are collecting books, we are collecting happiness ― Vincent Starrett




Sunday, 20 October 2019

Savage Children

Third in a cracking Thriller/Adventure/Crime series by Peter Boland. The characters just spark off one another.

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Book description 

Children are disappearing from London parks. Caught on CCTV, they go in but never come out again…

Days after each disappearance, the distraught parents receive a hand-drawn picture of their child as an angel. A sign they’ll never see them again. The police have no clues or leads. All they have is a nickname for the abductor – the Archangel.
When Savage’s neighbour’s ten-year-old son Callum becomes a victim, he vows to find him, and catch this Archangel. Savage has his headstrong friend Tannaz to help him. This time it’s going to take more than her brilliant computer skills to find the truth. They’ll have to enlist the help of some new friends – and some old enemies.

As more children go missing, Savage realises the Archangel is a formidable adversary. Clever, elusive and terrifying. Savage also has the police on his back, watching his every move. The deeper Savage becomes involved, the more he realises all is not what it seems…



My review - 

Savage and his side-kick, the computer-whiz Tannaz, are on the search for someone kidnapping children. None have been returned and there are real fears for their lives. They become involved because the lad who lives next door to Savage is abducted. Police arrest him under suspicion as he often played football with the lad after school. This is a great story – Savage’s SAS training means he doesn’t back down even with a gang, and Tannaz is an expert hacker. She finds evidence but they can’t pass it to the police as she shouldn’t have it! It’s a rollicking good crime story and very exciting. I love this series.

About the author

After studying to be an architect, Pete realised he wasn't very good at it. He liked designing buildings he just couldn't make them stand up, which is a bit of a handicap in an industry that likes to keep things upright. So he switched to advertising, writing ads for everything from cruise lines to zombie video games.

After becoming disillusioned with working in ad agencies, he switched to writing thriller novels (or was it because he just wanted to work at home in his pyjamas?). He soon realised there's no magic formula. You just have to put one word in front of the other (and keep doing that for about a year). It also helps if you can resist the lure of surfing, playing Nintendo Switch with his son, watching America's Next Top Model with his daughter and drinking beer in a garden chair.


~~~

Just a thought 

A book read by a thousand different people is a thousand different books
― Andrei Tarkovsky

Saturday, 19 October 2019

The Scent of Guilt

Second in the DI Bliss series, this one really kept me turning the pages.


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Book description

Twelve years after he left Peterborough under a cloud, DI Bliss returns to the city and the major crimes team. Having spent years policing organised crime, Bliss is plunged straight into the heart of a serial murder investigation.
Meanwhile, Penny Chandler has been promoted to DS and has been working in
London on the Met’s sexual crimes team. But when two rapes are reported on her old patch in Peterborough, Chandler volunteers to interview the victims.
Chandler joins the hunt for the attacker and soon notices a possible link between the rapes and Bliss’s murder investigation. Could the same man be responsible?
Just as both cases seem to stall, a call comes in from an ex-policeman who knows of unsolved cases in the USA with a similar MO. Bliss finds himself travelling to California to hunt for a killer whose reach may have stretched further than anyone could possibly imagine.
But in order to catch the murderer, Bliss must discover the killer’s motive. A motive which should have remained buried in the past…
My review -
This is the second book featuring DI Jimmy Bliss. His sidekick from the first book, DS Penny Chandler, is on secondment but returns to pursue her own case. Naturally, they end up working together and it involves a trip to the States. The link is that the victims report a strong and vile body odour from their attacker. The characters are believable and the banter between them is good. The tension was well built and the red herrings had me fooled. A very enjoyable read.
About the author
Tony J Forder is the author of the critically acclaimed and best-selling crime thriller series featuring detectives Jimmy Bliss and Penny Chandler. The first four books, Bad to the Bone, The Scent of Guilt, If Fear Wins, and The Reach of Shadows, were followed by The Death of Justice on 9 September 2019.

Tony's dark, psychological crime thriller, Degrees of Darkness, featuring ex-detective Frank Rogers, was also published by Bloodhound Books. This is a stand-alone novel, and delves into the mind of a serial-killer.

Scream Blue Murder was published in November 2017, and received praise from many, including fellow authors Mason Cross, Matt Hilton and Anita Waller. A sequel, Cold Winter Sun, was released in November 2018.

Tony is now a full-time writer and lives with his wife in Peterborough, UK.
~~~
Just a thought

The library is like a candy store where everything is free ― Jamie Ford,


Thursday, 10 October 2019

The Grace Year

My first novel from Kim Liggett, The Grace Year, is a thundering good read.



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Book description

No one speaks of the grace year.
It's forbidden.
We're told we have the power to lure grown men from their beds, make boys lose their minds, and drive the wives mad with jealousy. That's why we're banished for our sixteenth year, to release our magic into the wild before we're allowed to return to civilization.
But I don't feel powerful.
I don't feel magical.

Tierney James lives in an isolated village where girls are banished at sixteen to the northern forest to brave the wilderness - and each other - for a year. They must rid themselves of their dangerous magic before returning purified and ready to marry - if they're lucky.

It is forbidden to speak of the grace year, but even so every girl knows that the coming year will change them - if they survive it...

The Grace Year is The Handmaid's Tale meets Lord of the Flies - a page-turning feminist dystopia about a young woman trapped in an oppressive society, fighting to take control of her own life.


My review


I absolutely love this book. I can see people drawing comparisons with Golding’s Lord of the Flies but the boys were cast up on their island by accident. In The Grace Year, all girls in their teens spend a year as a deliberately isolated group in order to ‘rid them of their magic’. There are poachers in the vicinity to pick off those girls who don’t make it back – often a high number. I enjoyed the way the women were portrayed, both before and after the Grace Year in question. It wasn’t simply the way they were downtrodden, but the underlying conspiracy of women and their hidden strengths. It was easy to engage with the characters, to take sides and to root for those you fell in love with. Tierney, the star of the book, is determined to be herself. The way she does it is exciting and marvellous. I became totally absorbed in this world and I highly recommend the book.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read it before publication.

About the author

Kim Liggett, originally from the rural midwest, moved to New York City to pursue a career in the arts. She's the author of Blood and Salt, Heart of Ash, The Last Harvest (Bram Stoker Award Winner), The Unfortunates, and The Grace Year. Kim spends her free time studying tarot and scouring Manhattan for rare vials of perfume and the perfect egg white cocktail.

~~~

Just a thought

You want to remember that while you're judging the book, the book is also judging you 
― Stephen King,