Too Close by Gayle Curtis

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Cecelia and Sebastian have a connection like no other - more than just brother and sister; they'll go to any lengths to protect each other. Growing up in a bleak old farmhouse, their mother gone and their father violent and abusive, the twins have only each other to keep them alive.

But when the secrets of their mother's disappearance start to emerge, and truth and lies are thrown into question, events take a terrifying turn . . .

As Cecelia tries to break away from the ties that bind her to her brother, Sebastian is determined that the twins should be together - whatever the costs.

My review:

I can honestly say I don’t know how I feel about this book. I have given it 4 stars because it left me with some emotions and the story did make it interesting enough to follow through and finish the book. But I just can’t make my mind up on whether I liked it or not and I think this is the first time I am so torn over a book – on the other hand that is not really a reflection on how well the book was written, hence the score.

The story has enough twist and suggestion to keep the reader going and the bond between the twins is certainly very well portrayed. It also proves how much of an influence your parents have on your future life and on how a person develops as a human being.

Why I am torn is because there were no likable characters in the book. I felt sorry for Cecelia and Sebastian due to the amount of abuse they received from their own father and the fact that their mother disappeared, but it was their own relationship and their own actions that made me dislike them both so much. I found them both selfish and greedy and extremely self-centred characters with no thinking about anyone else that their action could have an impact on.

Saying all that I would still recommend this book to anyone who likes a bit of crime, mystery, psychological thriller sort of thing, because I feel that this book would make a great talking point – just to see if anyone else is left feeling like I am feeling right now. It also wouldn’t stop me picking up another book from this author.

So all I can say is: read it and let me know what you think!

Thank you to the Twenty7 for access to this book in return for an honest review.

My rating: 4/5

Published in paperback form 01 December 2016 by Twenty7 (also available on Kindle) and available from:

Amazon UK

Bedlam by B.A. Morton

Synopsis from Goodreads:

If you lost the love of your life, how far would you go to get them back? 

Joe loves Kit. Everyone thinks she’s dead. Joe knows she’s not. Detective Joe McNeil would do absolutely anything. When Joe breathes life into a crime scene victim, he discovers what anything really means. Nell will use whatever is necessary to ensure she survives, including Joe. Is she really a victim, or merely the weapon being wielded by a much more cunning foe?

Against the background of a multiple murder investigation, Joe struggles between his love for missing Kit and his growing obsession with the enigmatic Nell. Plunged headlong into a spiralling nightmare of kidnap, murder, and betrayal, his relentless search for the truth jeopardizes his career, his sanity, and his life. But for Nell, the risk is even greater. A haunting tale of obsessive love, ultimate sacrifice, and deadly consequences.

My review:

This book is fabulous. If you like crime and mystery then this book is for you. I loved it and it is up there with my top favourite books of this year. There is also a hint of supernatural elements throughout the book which only add to the novel’s mystifying storyline.

The book goes straight into the thick of the plot without any unnecessary fluffiness and the ball is rolling from page one. We meet Joe McNeil, the fallen-from-grace detective, who is lost in his own world of grieve after the disappearance of his girlfriend Kit, never giving up hope of finding her.

And then he meets Nell, the strange girl that seems to have power over him; the girl that seems to whisper in his ear without being close. Nell, who thinks he can save her, from whatever danger she can see coming. And somehow he knows she is connected to Kit and that without Nell, he will never find out what has happened to the love of his life.

This is a novel of suspense. It’s fast paced, with great developed characters and plenty of mystery to keep the reader going right until the end. There are plenty of very clever twists and turns and I can honestly say this book kept me guessing right until the end.

Thank you to Babs Morton and TBConFB for access to this great book in return for an honest review.

My rating: 5/5

Book is available from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The Easy Way Out by Steven Amsterdam

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Evan's job is to help people die. 

Evan is a nurse - a suicide assistant. His job is legal - just. He's the one at the hospital who hands out the last drink to those who ask for it.

Evan's friends don't know what he does during the day. His mother, Viv, doesn't know what he's up to at night. And his supervisor suspects there may be trouble ahead.

As he helps one patient after another die, Evan pushes against the limits of the law - and his own morality. And with Viv increasingly unwell, his love life complicated, to say the least, Evan begins to wonder who might be there for him, when the time comes.

My review:

I have finished this book three days ago and I still don’t really know what I think. I know I enjoyed it, but it’s the subject that has my head spinning.

Euthanasia is a brave subject for any author and I feel that this book does it justice by covering all emotional and physical sides to assisted death. Evan moves in to the department as an assistant and realises quickly that he in his eyes there is not such think as a silent witness. When he makes a snap decision to lend a helping hand to one of his patients rather than stand quietly in the corner, he is forced to leave the department and look for work satisfaction elsewhere.

Evan’s experience then changes to assisting patients that would not qualify for euthanasia in the legal way and that’s where he sees the ugly side to death.

Amongst all this, his own mother Viv’s health deteriorates until he is faced with a decision that would most certainly change his life forever. 

I had real sympathy for Evan. He was alone at times nobody should be alone. In three way relationship with an established couple, he never feels like he could truly admit his line of work. His own mother pushes him away and Evan kind of looks like a spare wheel throughout the book.

It’s an interesting one. This novel opens up questions in your mind about your own morals and thoughts on how you would like to be treated when it’s your time. It does bring a question anyone other than you is entitled to decide how and when you die.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for access to this great book in return for an honest review.

My rating: 4/5

Book is available from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Blakemort - A Psychic Surveys Christmas Novella by Shani Struthers

Synopsis from Goodreads:

After her parents’ divorce, five-year old Corinna Greer moves into Blakemort with her mother and brother. Set on the edge of the village of Whitesmith, the only thing attractive about it is the rent. A ‘sensitive’, Corinna is aware from the start that something is wrong with the house. Very wrong. 

Christmas is coming but at Blakemort that’s not something to get excited about. A house that sits and broods, that calculates and considers, it’s then that it lashes out – the attacks endured over five years becoming worse. There are also the spirits, some willing residents, others not. Amongst them a boy, a beautiful, spiteful boy… 

Who are they? What do they want? And is Corinna right when she suspects it’s not just the dead the house traps but the living too?

My review:

This is a second book by Shani Struthers that I have read and again she did not disappoint. This book is scary, bone-chilling and spine-tingling – basically all the things you would expect from a ghost story based on true events. Blakemort is part of the Psychic Surveys series, but can be read as a stand-alone book.

Told from the point of you of a little girl, Corinna, moving into the house called Blakemort at the age of five with her brother Ethan and their mum; the story quickly unravels and takes you on a journey of the area’s dark past that history tries to forget. Unfortunately the dead have no such choice and their evil takes over the house and its occupants, tearing the family apart, trying to destroy the love they have for each other. It feeds on fear and hate and turns the family upside-down.

The writing is brilliant, the story fast paced. It chilled me to the bone and as usual I forgot that I shouldn’t read Shani’s books in the dark at the dead of night as I freak myself out too much, but her writing is so good, you just can’t put the books down.

I recommend this to anyone looking for a spooky story with depth of characters, whether they are dead or alive. It’s a solid four stars from me as I would have probably liked a little more history on the house itself.

Thank you to Shani and TBConFB for access to this great book in return for an honest review.

My rating: 4/5

Book is available from:

Amazon UK

Amazon US