The Widow by Fiona Barton

The Widow by Fiona Barton
Genre: Crime Thriller, Mystery & Suspense, General Fiction, Adult

Publisher: Random House UK, Transworld Publishers/Bantam Press (Jan, 2016)
Source: Publisher/NetGalley
Pages: 320

Rating:

Synopsis:

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER. "The ultimate psychological thriller". (Lisa Gardner). We've all seen him: the man - the monster - staring from the front page of every newspaper, accused of a terrible crime. But what about her: the woman who grips his arm on the courtroom stairs - the wife who stands by him? Jean Taylor's life was blissfully ordinary. Nice house, nice husband. Glen was all she'd ever wanted: her Prince Charming. Until he became that man accused, that monster on the front page. Jean was married to a man everyone thought capable of unimaginable evil. But now Glen is dead and she's alone for the first time, free to tell her story on her own terms. Jean Taylor is going to tell us what she knows. Du Maurier's REBECCA meets WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN and GONE GIRL in this intimate tale of a terrible crime. "My book of the year so far". (C. L. Taylor, author of THE LIE).

My Thoughts:
The Widow the debut offering from Fiona Barton is an 'easy-read' crime suspense thriller about the abduction of a little girl from her own front garden. Set in Hampshire, (United Kingdom) it also visits other locations such as Southampton, Portsmouth, Fareham and Gosport during the course of the book. Originating from the Portsmouth area myself, I found it intriguing to read a novel set in and around places I know pretty well.

The sole narrative written in the first person is that of the widow, which sets her apart from the other characters giving her focus and a sense of alienation from everyone else.  The rest of the narratives are all in the third person and include that of, the detective, the reporter, the mother and the husband. They have their own space in the form of short individual chapters so there's no confusion of who's speaking or losing your place.

Told through these narratives in a shifting of time, back and forwards The Widow commences with the death of 'the husband' and during the course of the book the truth tantalisingly seeps out, but not without several nice twists and turns along the way. The tension held throughout and I didn't feel cheated by a 'meh' ending which I feared it might have, and even when the fate of the little girl is divulged I eagerly continued turning the pages as fast as I could to get the conclusion.

I am not sure if I was supposed to find any of the characters likeable or feel sympathetic toward them, but for me only 'the detective' had any real sense of humanity or likeable traits, but what I did do was find myself questioning the whole media and police detection processes and how the general public view victims and suspects and apportioning blame and guilt. The Widow certainly made me feel a little uncomfortable about certain areas of our lives, especially our relationships via social media.

I had only intended to do a quick skim of the pages for recommendation purposes at our bookstore but I couldn't stop reading it.  A pleasant surprise after hearing that it would be 'another', 'the next' 'The Girl on the Train' or 'Gone Girl', which it isn't. It's different apart from its simplicity of its narrative style. However it may well be the next 'The Girl on The Train' in terms of success, I have no doubt.

It is important to mention, due to the subject matter, that there are no graphic scenes of violence or abuse and safe for readers who are uncomfortable with such descriptions. The Widow is an entertaining thought provoking, compelling read which I highly recommended.

Disclaimer: A complementary copy of The Widow by Fiona Barton was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest unbiased review.

The Girl on the Train, By Paula Hawkins

The Girl on the Train

Paula Hawkins

Random House UK, Transworld Publishers

Doubleday

Published: 15/1/15 (Hardback)

ISBN: 9780857522313

Rachel travels everyday on the same commuter train. The train always waits at a particular signal stop overlooking the back gardens of a row of houses where she once lived. Rachel invents a perfect life for the perfect couple she  compulsively watches during these stops.  There is, however, one garden she cannot bear to look at. It reminds her that her life is not perfect like 'Jess' & Jason's'.  Until one day everything changes.

What did Rachel see ?

Hitchcock's 'Rear Window' meets SJ Watson's 'Gone Girl' !

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN is narrated in the first person by its three main, 'strong', characters; Rachel, Megan (Jess) & Anna.  Fabulously flawed, and pretty unlikeable, but utterly compelling they each give us their personal account of the events as they unfold.

I thoroughly enjoyed this gripping and compulsive debut psychological thriller from Paula Hawkins. It had several twists and surprises which kept me reading well into the early hours.

I highly recommend 'The Girl on the Train'.  A gripping, psychological thriller that will hold you captive until the end.

I have had great pleasure in recommending this title to customers visiting the bookstore and look forward to doing the same when released in paperback later in the year.

Disclosure: Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy for an unbiased, honest review.

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I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

'I AM PILGRIM' AMAZON LINK

Title: I Am Pilgrim

Author: Terry Hayes

Pages: 704

Publish Date: 18 July 2013

Publisher: Random House UK, Transworld Publishers / Bantam Press

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Source: (e-copy)Publisher via NetGalley

& (Hard Back) BBC Radio 2 Drive Time with Simon Mayo

ISBN: 9780593064948

Rating: 5 out of 5

Book Synopsis:

Can you commit the perfect crime?

Pilgrim is the codename for a man who doesn’t exist. The adopted son of a wealthy American family, he once headed up a secret espionage unit for US intelligence. Before he disappeared into anonymous retirement, he wrote the definitive book on forensic criminal investigation.

But that book will come back to haunt him. It will help NYPD detective Ben Bradley track him down. And it will take him to a rundown New York hotel room where the body of a woman is found facedown in a bath of acid, her features erased, her teeth missing, her fingerprints gone. It is a textbook murder – and Pilgrim wrote the book.

What begins as an unusual and challenging investigation will become a terrifying race-against-time to save America from oblivion. Pilgrim will have to make a journey from a public beheading in Mecca to a deserted ruins on the Turkish coast via a Nazi death camp in Alsace and the barren wilderness of the Hindu Kush in search of the faceless man who would commit an appalling act of mass murder in the name of his God.

My Thoughts:

'I Am Pilgrim' by Terry Hayes is an outstanding, exceptional piece of work.

It opens in a hotel room in New York, at the scene of a rather gruesome murder of a woman found in a bathtub.

Pilgrim is the codename of a man who doesn’t exist, but here he is at the request of a friend to attend and help him with the investigation.

Whilst surveying the crime scene it becomes evident that the perpetrator may have used a criminal forensic investigation book as a reference to  assist with the a murder. Intreagingly a book  that just happens to have been written by Pilgrim.

'I Am Pilgrim' by Terry Hayes is an outstanding, exceptional piece of work.

I didn't know anything about the book before I read it and don't want to spoil it for other readers but suffice to say that the reader is in for a tremendous fast paced, action packed thriller.  Hayes takes us on an exciting journey from London, Paris, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia to the Hindu Kush, on an international manhunt to find the killer and to thwart a plot to bring down the House of Saad, the Saudi Arabian Royal family, and destruction of the USA.  

Pilgrim is a witty, intelligent, quiet unassuming character that I liked very much.  I found all the characters intensely interesting.  Hayes’ style of writing is slick, taut and intense and at times pretty gruesome.  Some scenes are incredibly emotive and you find yourself believing in and caring about the  characters.  During one section set in Jeddah I was really moved, and horrified as the scene unfolded, and by the emotional destruction of those affected. The transitions between character to character and their associated stories is seamless and flawlessly managed.

This is the first spy thriller I have read, but in the post 9/11,  Iraq and Afganistan world we live in, I, as  are many other people,  am a little more aware that governments and intelligence agencies are working in the background to seek and intercept acts of terrorism.   Having also lived in Saudi Arabia, with an interest, and a little understanding of the politics of that country,  I find this a credible and frighteningly plausible tale.

The 700 pages just flew by and I never lost interest, even slightly.  'I Am Pilgrim' is my absolute favourite read this year and I would certainly recommend it to family, friends and any thriller enthusiast or novice as in my case, without reservation.

This is Hayes debut novel and I will definitely keep a look out for more by him including the film !
I absolutely loved it !

Thank you to Transworld Publishers, NetGalley and BBC Radio 2 'Drive Time' for the opportunity to review this amazing title.

The Postman This Week

Books courtesy of:

BBC Radio 2 Drive Time with Simon Mayo &

Transworld Publishers,

A Random House Group Company

I was so excited to see what the Postman had brought me today. I was not disappointed.

I received a telephone call on Tuesday from the BBC Radio 2 programme 'Drive Time' with Simon Mayo, to ask me if I  would like to review their book of the month for August. I jumped at the chance and eagerly waited for the post to come. Today, Thursday, the book came and it was one of my choices to read next.  I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes.

Needless to say that I am thrilled.

The book will be reviewed on air with the author, Terry Hayes, on Monday 5th August. Therefore, I'd better get on reading it.

***   ***

Also in the post, I received a fantastic opportunity to review Sandakan A Harrowing True Story of the Borneo Death Marches 1945-5 by Paul Hamm.

Thank you so much September. I know that I'll have to fight off my husband to read this one.

Just thought I'd share ...

I just wanted to share this.

I received an email from September Withers, Digital Publicity Executive at Transworld  Publications, to thank me for my review on, 'The Watchers' by Jon Steele. 

As a thank you September popped a copy of the sequel, 'Angel City' into the post for me. I read it and loved it just as much, and can't wait for the final in the series of which there is no publication date as yet.

This was totally unexpected but so appreciated to be recognised for the time and effort that goes into writing up a review and then posting it out there on the web.  I love reading and reviewing and so glad there is an outlet for my passion.

Angel City by Jon Steele

Amazon UK Link

Title: Angel City (Book 2 of The Angelus Trilogy)

Author: Jon Steele

Pages: 496

Price: £18.99

Release Date: 12th September 2013

Publisher: Bantam Press

Random House UK, Transworld Publishers

Genre: Sci Fi, Fantasy

Source: The Publishers/NetGalley

ISBN: 9780593068663

Rating: 4 out of 5

Prologue: The 13th Century, a Holy War between the Cathars and Crusaders in Montsegur, French Pyrenees is being fought. Or ... the followers of another religious faith including women, children and infants are being slaughtered in most horrific and torturous ways. 

We are then launched  into current times, 3 years on from the cataclysmic events in Lausanne, with a terrorist attack in Paris. Harper becomes involved and an extremely profound and evocative scene is played out with a child clinging to her mortally wounded father,  and Harper's internal struggle to comply with orders or to help comfort a dying soul.  Does he do the right thing?...  What is the right thing ?

Katherine, is unknowingly being medicated with tea potions to control her memories as an overload of remembering would render her insane.  She is living in Oregon, a 'safe town' with her 2 year old son Max, and Officer Anne Jannsen her designated personal Swiss guard. Oh and nearly forgot, Monsieur Booty !

Harper has had various assignments in many human bodies over the millennia and has been mind wiped, once again, for his current assignment.  His actions result in endangering him in his mortal and immortal forms. How much time does he have left to save 'Paradise' from apocalyptic prophesy? How will he deal with the haunted memories surfacing from his body's former soul ?

Is Angel City as good as The Watchers? Definitely ! It has a different style to The Watchers which had a slower pace, haunting, ethereal with a blast of action.  Angel City's plot has more complexity and darkness, and is pretty much more action based with strong horrific scenes of modern day terrorism being played out between the forces of good and evil.  It also brings into play a lot more mythology which maybe a teaser for more of what's to come in the final instalment.

We are introduced to some new characters.  I found the horribly scarred Astruc  addictively mysterious.  Who is he, and what does he want ? The same goes for his companion, an odd looking boy called Goose.

Although The Watchers could be read as a stand alone, Angel City cannot without the reader becoming confused and have no idea what s going on.  Angel City does not end neatly but on a cliff hanger making it essential to read the trilogy in order of sequence.

I eagerly await 'The Way of Sorrows', and am pretty sure Jon Steele will deliver another magical masterpiece.  The only drawback will be in this being the end to this trilogy. 

Jon Steele writes with such causality and depth with the exceptionally compassionate vibe of one who has seen far more than one should and remain mentally intact.  I also believe he has something to say within his novels but I don't want to dwell on that here. You either feel it or you don't.  Either way Angel City is an exciting, suspenseful, fast paced read incorporating mythology,  history and faith.

Whilst 'googling' Jon Steele I found several you tube videos with him introducing both novels and an interview conducted by blogger, 'For winter nights - A bookish blog'.

Link here: http://forwinternights.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/my-interview-with-jon-steele-–-author-of-the-watchers/

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, with special thanks to September for giving me the opportunity to review this book.