Hangman's Revenge by Chantelle Atkins and Sim Alec Sansford (Fortune's Well #1)

Synopsis:

In the town of Fortune’s Well a dangerous storm is brewing, and two unsuspecting teenagers are standing right at the heart of it.

For JJ Carson, life has not been easy. His father is dead, his mother arrested for the murder, and he has been forced to live on the farm with his alcoholic uncle, Henry. Just when things could not get any worse, JJ discovers his living situation is not the only thing that makes him different from the other kids. A dark, swirling mist has made itself at home inside him and it is slowly changing him from the inside out.

Enter Darcie Duffield. Beautiful, popular, and incredibly misunderstood. Darcie is sick of the status quo and wants to make a difference. After a chance meeting with a strange boy at the river she becomes tangled in a web of lies and deceit as she tries to help save him from the darkness lurking within.

Why is this happening?

Where has it come from?

And why is Darcie the only one who can see it?

Review:

First book in Fortune’s Well series and a great start what I feel will be a fab YA/supernatural world series. I still love reading stories aimed at a young audience, especially those that combine the world of magic and mystery with reality of the challenging world of growing young adults.

Darcey grew up with a wealthy family, has trendy friends and seem to have it all. Underneath, she is hurt, fragile, struggling to fit in anywhere in the world since the death of her favourite Aunt Jenna. On top of that she is dealing with an eating disorder.

Until her life clashes with the boy from the river – in comes JJ Carson. Mysterious boy always sketching on his pad, bullied by all the locals. The boy, whose mum murdered his father in cold blood. JJ lives with his father’s brother Henry, who himself struggles with alcohol, running a farm and looking into the eye of a boy that reminds him too much of his brother’s killer. And most of all, Henry worries, JJ will end up like his crazy mother.

And amongst all of this we have the mysteries grey fog, Hangman’s Cottage with it’s own dark secrets and a whole world of weird that JJ and Darcey unwillingly enter when they meet and it’s up to them to figure a way out and quickly.

Fab start, cannot wait to read the next book.

Thank you to TBConFB and the author for access to this book.

Rating: 4/5

Available from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Among the Ruins by James Magnus (Corsa Moran #2)

Synopsis:

Global warming has reshaped Britain, with most of the larger cities drowned in a catastrophic flood. In the remaining ruins, survivors must adjust to a harsh new society where freedom has become a luxury few can afford, rights are an indulgence, and the State sees all.

When a body is discovered at an abandoned transit camp, Detective Corsa Moran is troubled by two key questions. Why can the victim not be identified when everyone in the post-flood surveillance society is registered and recorded? And why does such a well-dressed body bear the scars of a poor and violent past?

In the face of official indifference and hostility, Corsa pursues the killer even as she faces deepening crises in her personal life. The trail leads her through the homes of those without status to the door of a powerful and dangerous enemy.

Corsa knows that she is uncovering the truth of something much deeper than a brutal murder. She knows that to continue the investigation could end her career, and put her life in danger.

But she does not know how to stop.

The Corsa Moran series is set in a ruined Britain where people scrape out a living and society is only just holding together. It is Corsa's story, seen entirely from her perspective creating a vivid picture of life in an all-too-plausible future.

Review:

Second book in the series and Senior Detective Corsa Moran is finding herself in the hot seat again. Finding a body of a young man in an empty immigration building sets of a series of event that change the way Corsa looks upon the new world system.

From knife fighters to underhand child adoptions, Corsa faces it all, but this time she seems to have a little team, willing to help and be ready for anything.

I love Corsa Moran as a character. She is rude, ruthless and always on the side of what is right and she is not afraid to step on toes to get to the truth even when it means losing something she treasures. And whilst reporters dig into her personal life and put the man she loves in danger, she faces an enemy much bigger than she ever expected – she just has to work out how to take them down.

I enjoyed this second book even more than the first as it delved deeper into the schematics of the new world, created after the floods. It’s a fascinating read with flashes of future that is no so unbelievable as we might like to think!

Thank you to TBConFB and the author for access to this book.

Rating: 5/5

Available to order from:

AmazonUK

AmazonUS

After the Flood by James Magnus (Corsa Moran #1)

Synopsis:

It happened. Global warming, the melting ice caps the rising sea levels that swallowed up most of the big cities, it all happened. The world reached a 'tipping point' and the waters rose and rose till the flood barriers failed and the sea took it all. Now the trick is to keep going, just to keep going in a world that is on the edge of falling apart.

In Britain, people fled to the high ground. New cities and towns were thrown up by the Mass Migration schemes. Now regimented lines of concrete tower blocks, the Stacks, march along the re-shaped coastline occupied by the fortunate. Those less fortunate, those who lost everything, their identity, their money and their homes, they must live on the fringes, in sprawling shanty towns of 'illegals' where life is hard and often short.

The State is everywhere, surveillance a way of life, rights and freedoms a luxury washed away by the rising water. Now it is just a continual struggle to survive - after the flood. For those who break the rules there is quick justice by Tribunal, if they live, there are Treatment Centres which 're-educate' bad citizens, and labour camps for the rest.

Life is grim, but things keep getting worse. Violence is normal, everyone is suspect, and 'being a good citizen' seems to be more difficult every day. Someone has to police this mess, someone has to try to keep the lid on, and Senior Detective Corsa Moran is on the front line. But Corsa wants to do more than just crowd control, she wants to investigate crimes and bring criminals to justice, she wants to make a difference, improve things, she wants to bring some hope.

Attitudes like that attract attention and can get a person, and those close to her, into trouble. Then Corsa's own family is targeted and no-one seems to want to uncover what really happened and what is really going on. Everyone seems to want her to shut up, they want her to accept the 'official version' of events, but she is not convinced and she can't let it go, that isn't possible, not for Corsa Moran.

If she is going to get to the truth, she is going to have to fight her colleagues, Military Intelligence and even the government. But Corsa can't stop, no matter what the price might be to her, and to those around her, she only knows one way to go, and that road is leading her into deep waters.

Review:

First book in a new series and first book I have read by this author. This is a provoking, dystopian novel that seem all too familiar with regards to the environmental issues already facing our planet and global warming that has been changing our lives for years. This book seems to come as a warning.

Corsa Moran is an admirable woman, a Senior Detective, in a society where woman’s place seems to be back at home, having children and cooking healthy meals. The society is driven by fear, greed for power and Military Intelligence who seem to overall all. Once they have you, you might never resurface.

But Corsa isn’t admired. Her own family shuns her, her mother always picking fights and her own colleagues do not hide their dislike for her. And then the bombings start and Corsa losing everything. She can only rely on her on instincts and they lead her straight into some dangerous waters.

I love Corsa – she is like a female version of Eddie Collins (look up Andrew Barrett’s books). She is raw, rude and ruthless in her pursuit of the truth even if it means she puts her own life in danger.

Thank you to TBConFB and the author for access to this book.

Rating: 4/5

Available to pro-order from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US