Lost Girls by Angela Marsons

Bookouture (Nov. 6 2015)
442 pages

Everything seemed promising, from the story really that intrigued and horrified me, I must said - what would I do in such a situation? - to the cover, worrying at will.

I did not know this English author who seems to know a growing success (her books are very popular on GoodReads) and I wasn't against the idea of ​​reading a story with a female cop... written by a woman (yep... the last female characters I've read were written by men!)

So what dit I think of it?


I found that some stuff annoyed me:

- Sometimes I didn't understand what the author meant, either because Kim was telling something that she alone had to understand or that only she and her team had to understand... but not us. I don't know but I got the impression that I was put aside. I read the text several times to try to understand, could not do it, I tried to translate the text... it didn't make sense either... which hinders the flow of reading.

- The somewhat gratuitous violence bothers me. I'm not against it (in books !!) but I don't care for unnecessary violence. In Lost Girls, a man is particularly cruel and one can understand it in a few lines. He is evil incarnate and Marsons was great at making that clear. But it was not enough for Marsons who adds to the cruelty up to include a completely useless and violent scene with a young gay. It's only so-so in my opinion.

- Kim... Yes, I know, it's a shame as she's the main character! But I admit that her rudeness towards others tired me. She obviously has a very heavy past and something horrible happened in her childhood (which may have been explained in the previous two books) but that does not excuse the fact of treating people like shit.

Otherwise the story is good, the plot well done, the outcome well brought. The tension between the families is very realistic, the secrets revealed are very clichés but the reactions to these truths are very well written. Marsons know how to describe the relationships between people and the reactions of people facing various situations.

The author also knows how to play with our nerves and the more we advance in the plot, the more there is concern for the little girls, I feared for their lives and at a time, I wished that Kim and Bryant would accelerate. The end is great, Kim is no superhero but eventually becomes more human.

The blurb

Two girls go missing. Only one will return.

The couple that offers the highest amount will see their daughter again. The losing couple will not. Make no mistake. One child will die.

When nine-year-old best friends Charlie and Amy disappear, two families are plunged into a living nightmare. A text message confirms the unthinkable; that the girls are the victims of a terrifying kidnapping.

And when a second text message pits the two families against each other for the life of their children, the clock starts ticking for D.I. Kim Stone and the squad.

Seemingly outwitted at every turn, as they uncover a trail of bodies, Stone realises that these ruthless killers might be the most deadly she has ever faced. And that their chances of bringing the girls home alive, are getting smaller by the hour…

Untangling a dark web of secrets from the families’ past might hold the key to solving this case. But can Kim stay alive long enough to do so? Or will someone’s child pay the ultimate price?

In a nutshell
The story is good but sometimes too violent, the main character is not always friendly, it's a 3/5 for me.

Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.

Written in the Blood by Stephen Lloyd Jones

Mulholland Books (May 26 2015)

488 pages

Just to make a change from all these bloody and violent thrillers... I let myself be tempted by Written in the Blood, a fantasy story in a "vampire", hemoglobin and horror fashion (well, that's a real change !)

Good to know, this book is the sequel of another book - The String Diaries (not read yet). So yes, there are references to what happened before, but the explanations are enough to understand the context and allow us to read the story without feeling too much lost.


So, I'm not used to this kind of story but I found it to be a pleasant reading. The characters are well written, they are very well thought and one takes a liking for Leah who tries to save her world and her mother who's trying to protect her as well. Small note for moms who'll read this book: moms have the spotlight in this novel between Hannah, the mother, who cares for her daughter who takes risks to help her people and mothers who sacrifice themselves for their children.

The world imagined by Stephen Lloyd is very well done and change from usual vampires stories. In fact, there is relatively little interaction with the "human" and Lloyd never mentions a constant need to drink blood to stay alive. We're not talking about immortal beings, since they can die but beings with longevity and exceptional life, not really vampires in the traditional sense. Lloyd created a hierarchy among the "eternal", a past, a "police", the eternal hunter, a disappearance of their kind... One has the impression of being on the other side of the mirror, the side that allows us to understand the way eternals live.

Written in the Blood isn't just a story of a chase but also a story of struggle against the inexorable, struggle for power, love-hate, revenge, consequence of past histories. All that told with some talent. So, admittedly, the terms were not always easy to understand and the fact that I had not read the first book hadn't help neither but if you start this book by seeking something different, you won't be disappointed! Written in the Blood makes Twilight look like a story from the Care Bears world! Here, no schoolgirl love story but a girl who wants to save her clan from extinction, no schoolyard quarrels but politicized groups fighting against each other and mortal enemies.

The blurb

See the girl. Leah Wilde is twenty-four, a runaway on a black motorbike, hunting for answers while changing her identity with each new Central European town.

See the man, having come of age in extraordinary suffering and tragedy in nineteenth-century Budapest; witness to horror, to love, to death, and the wrath of a true monster. Izsák still lives in the present day, impossibly middle-aged. He’s driven not only to hunt this immortal evil but to find his daughter, stolen from an Arctic cabin and grown into the thing Izsák has sworn to kill.

See the monster, a beautiful, seemingly young woman who stalks the American West, seeking the young and the strong to feed upon, desperate to return to Europe where her coven calls.

In a nutshell

A really different vampire novel, a well-conducted plot, it's a 4/5 for me.

Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.

Broken Promise by Linwood Barclay

Publisher: Doubleday Canada (July 28 2015)

Sold by: Random House Canada, Incorp.

Linwood! A great author of our country (but where's your country, would you ask, you who love to read!) (Well in Canada of course!) And yeah, one can be a "New York Times Bestselling Author" and Canadian...

I had already read Never Saw it Coming, which I had found very good. And Linwood has an unblemished reputation in crime fiction, so the risk was not great to read his latest novel Broken Promise.

What I like about Linwood is that he knows quickly and perfectly how to plant an atmosphere, characters and a context. Here, the story is about David, a widower, who returns to his hometown after a series of bad luck and who will end up in the heart of a investigation that touches his own family.

I liked David and his family, good people. His parents are a lovely couple and they take good care of their grand-son. I liked Marla, his cousin, who suffered the unthinkable and remained marked.

I liked the family secrets, revealed bit by bit. We can see how secrets poison a family and that their consequences are often devastating. In Never Saw it Coming, Linwood already made us think and led us to ask the question of what we should have done instead of Keisha. Here he leads us to think about the weight of secrets... or family lies. Is parents' love always benevolent? Does they always do the best for their children? There's a lot of stuff to think about in this novel!

As for the plot, or rather the intrigues, they take place in a logical and progressive way, with some dramatic turns and one begins to devour the pages with ease, for it's Linwood's power: his writing is really flowing with well placed touches of humour.

The blurb

After his wife’s death and the collapse of his newspaper, David Harwood has no choice but to uproot his nine-year-old son and move back into his childhood home in Promise Falls, New York. David believes his life is in free fall, and he can’t find a way to stop his descent.

Then he comes across a family secret of epic proportions. A year after a devastating miscarriage, David’s cousin Marla has continued to struggle. But when David’s mother asks him to check on her, he’s horrified to discover that she’s been secretly raising a child who is not her own—a baby she claims was a gift from an “angel” left on her porch.

When the baby’s real mother is found murdered, David can’t help wanting to piece together what happened—even if it means proving his own cousin’s guilt. But as he uncovers each piece of evidence, David realizes that Marla’s mysterious child is just the tip of the iceberg.

Other strange things are happening. Animals are found ritually slaughtered. An ominous abandoned Ferris wheel seems to stand as a warning that something dark has infected Promise Falls. And someone has decided that the entire town must pay for the sins of its past…in blood.

In a nutshell

One is never wrong with a book by Linwood. The characters are very well written and engaging, the story is well put together, well brought outcome. It is a 4/5 for me.

Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.

The Hanging Girl by Jussi-Adler Olsen

PENGUIN GROUP Dutton


I read Jussi Adler-Olsen's first novel, The Keeper of the Lost Causes, in French, I loved it and read it in one sitting between Québec and New York. What I like about this book, was that even if I quickly guessed the culprit, Morck / Assad dynamic duo gave a lot of plus in that book.

The Hanging Girl, the sixth book in the Department Q series is now released, in English. So I was really happy to read this book, even though I have not read all the books between the first and last one.

The first point is, clearly, a lot happened between the first and the sixth volume. Two people have joined the team and I don't have a clue why or how but there's a lot going on between them. So it is certainly not a big deal and it doesn't unhinge the reading but it adds to the fact that I enjoyed this book less than the other.

I do not know if it's the English translation but I struggled to immerse myself in the story. Among others, I haven't found the funny, ironic or cynical tone that made Morck laziness enjoyable. Same way as in the first book, you'll very too quickly know who did it and even why, except that if in the first book the two "partner in crime", the ambiance and the unwinding stress added much to the story, this time no. They just trample, Morck is annoying what with his spinelessness and not wanting to do anything, the culprit keep killing in piece and quiet while Morck and Assad are investigating an old murder. In short, because I know the author, I was expecting for the plot to become more and more stressful, a bit of exciting stuff, some fun exchanges between the two but it happened too late in the book.

For the plus part of the book, the story is set in a sect but Adler avoids clichés and gives us a culprit whose motives are very human. And that, I admit I enjoyed. People in this sect do not seem all illuminated and they are free of their movement. In the end, it's all about good old motives of love, hatred and jealousy. Adler also shows very well that people who want to believe - in something or someone - know how not to see the truth in front of them, leaving the field open for a malicious person.

The blurb

In the middle of his usual hard-won morning nap in the basement of police headquarters, Carl Mørck, head of Department Q, receives a call from a colleague working on the Danish island of Bornholm. Carl is dismissive when he realizes that a new case is being foisted on him, but a few hours later, he receives some shocking news that leaves his headstrong assistant Rose more furious than usual. Carl has no choice but to lead Department Q into the tragic cold case of a vivacious seventeen-year-old girl who vanished from school, only to be found dead hanging high up in a tree. The investigation will take them from the remote island of Bornholm to a strange sun worshipping cult, where Carl, Assad, Rose, and newcomer Gordon attempt to stop a string of new murders and a skilled manipulator who refuses to let anything—or anyone—get in the way.

In a nutshell

The end of the story is better and it gets more interesting but I'm overall a little disappointed by this book. It is a 3/5 for me.


Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.

Enzan : The Far Moutain by John Donohue

A Connor Burke Martial Arts Thriller
Published July 7th 2014 by YMAA Publication Center
296 pages




By choosing this book, I told myself that it was not a big risk, as this is the fifth book in the series... As... if the first 4 had not been good, the series would not have been so far! I also liked the cover that goes very well with the Japanese martial arts theme.

So, inevitably, when you begin a series in the 5th volume, there is always the concern of whether you'll feel like you've missed some important things to better understand the book. About that book, I can tell: yes, but not... Because yes, there are some allusions to past adventures, some understanding that regular readers will appreciate, but for novices like me, it goes very well anyway!

I enjoyed learning more about martial arts, you'll understand very quickly that the author really knows them and knows how to explain the concepts and context of his art while making it interesting. I never felt like reading an essay on Japanese martial art but rather found that the explanations about the "way of the warrior" brought a very zen touch to a very violent history. It's a contrast that makes a special note to this book.

The characters, mostly Burke and his Sensei, are very well written, we can feel the respect of the student to the master and the amused tenderness of Yamashita for his pupil. I appreciated that there are in this book no superheroes or nor villains able to get up after eating a hail of bullets, it's more realistic.

And the story? Burke is investigating alone, with no means at hand and sometimes with a few sleazy accomplices, which does not always bring happy results but have the merit of making a well-paced story. We follow him from adventure to misadventure in a sometimes Zen atmosphere and sometimes rock n'roll one.

The blurb

Chie Miyazaki is wild and spoiled—the pampered child of a cadet line of the imperial House of Japan. When she disappears in the United States accompanied by a slick Korean boyfriend, it sets off alarm bells among people in Japan’s security apparatus.

The Japanese want the problem solved quietly. They seek out Connor Burke, pupil of the master swordsman Yamashita. But the rescue operation soon turns deadly. Burke suspects that he's being used, but he accepts the assignment out of honor for his revered sensei.

A covert search and rescue operation turns into a confrontation with a North Korean sleeper cell. Burke finally discovers the secret that drove Yamashita from Japan so many years ago and now pulls them both into deadly danger.

In a nutshell

A good book, well written, a well-paced story, a sometimes troubled zen. In a nutshell, a book that reads quickly, entertaining and that'll make you want to go treading along a tatami. It is a 4/5 for me.

Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.

Tom Savage's interview!

Today I'm hosting Tom Savage who's book Mrs John Doe came out on the 6th of October ! I'll just say that I've read his book and it's really great! There's spying, humour, a great female character, a sense of family and lots of adventure!

---------------------------------

Hi Vanessa. Thanks for having me on your blog.

Tom
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The culprit

Tom Savage is the author of six suspense novels: Precipice, Valentine, The Inheritance, Scavenger, A Penny for the Hangman, and Mrs. John Doe. He wrote two detective novels under the name T. J. Phillips, Dance of the Mongoose and Woman in the Dark. His short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and anthologies edited by Lawrence Block, Harlan Coben, and Michael Connelly. His short story, “The Method In Her Madness,” was nominated for the Barry Award. His bestselling novel, Valentine, was made into a Warner Bros. film. In his younger days he was a professional actor, and he also wrote a Broadway show, Musical Chairs.

Tom was born in New York and raised in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. He attended Point Park College and Hofstra University, majoring in drama and minoring in English. After acting and writing plays, he worked for many years at Murder Ink®, the world’s first mystery bookstore. He’s a member of Actors Equity Association, ASCAP, the Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, the International Association of Crime Writers, and International Thriller Writers. He has served as a director on the national board of MWA, and he’s served several times on the Best Novel committees for MWA (Edgar® Awards) and IACW (Hammett Prize). He is a founding member of MWA’s Mentor Program, assessing and encouraging new mystery writers. He lives in New York City.

He spills the beans…

Will you tell us a little bit about your book Mrs. John Doe?
An American actress in Europe stumbles on a deadly plot, and now she's running for her life. This is my eighth published novel, but it's my first spy novel. I love stories about espionage and international chases. I grew up reading Helen MacInnes, John le Carré, and Robert Ludlum, among others, and Alfred Hitchcock is my favorite filmmaker--particularly The 39 Steps, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and my all-time favorite movie, North By Northwest. I decided to try my hand at writing a story like that. I made my protagonist, Nora Baron, and actor because I was a professional actor before I began writing. I used my own theatrical knowledge to give Nora an edge, a defense against her enemies. She's up against some very dangerous people who will stop at nothing to get what they want, and she's an American on the run in two foreign countries--England and France--so she can use all the help she can get. I loved writing about Nora Baron because she's so resourceful, and I modeled my plot on my favorite classic spy thrillers. I hope readers have as much fun reading Mrs. John Doe as I had writing it!

Do you still need to work? If yes, how do you manage to combine work and writing (and mentoring and blogging...)
I still need to work, but unfortunately, I can’t. I was an actor and theatrical composer, and for twenty years I was a bookseller at Murder Ink®. I have no other marketable skills! I’m too old to get back in the theater, and there aren’t many bookstores left. I wouldn’t be able to find a job anywhere at this point, so I’m hoping people buy my books. They’re my only source of income now. Mentoring and blogging are my hobbies, so I make time for them. I love talking about mystery books, and now that I’m no longer in a bookstore every day, blogging is the next best thing. And the Mystery Writers of America’s Mentor Program is a wonderful way to meet and encourage the new generation of mystery writers.

As a man, you write clever and powerful female characters (I’m thinking about Nora Baron in Mrs. John Doe or Karen Tyler in A Penny for the Hangman). Is it thanks to your aunt, Lesley, who seems to have been such a strong and exceptional woman? 

I never called her Aunt Lesley--she was just Mom. Mom was an actor, director, and producer in the theater, and later she owned a shopping center and a real estate company in the Virgin Islands. She was a protofeminist, demanding equality for women long before the movement officially started. Nora Baron is partially based on her. All the female characters in my stories are strong because all the women I know are strong. I’m not interested in reading about weak people, male or female, so I don’t write about them.

Which events will you attend in the next months?
I have no plans to attend anything for a while. I’m writing two new stories, so no events.

What are you reading now?
THE ASSASSINS by Gayle Lynds. It’s a terrific international thriller.

What do you look for in a good book? Is there anything that will make you put a book down, unfinished?
I look for good writing, of course. That’s first and foremost on my list of ingredients. I look to be transported, to not think about the mechanics of the piece while enjoying the ride. It’s often difficult for writers to read other writers, especially mystery and suspense writers, because we all know the same tricks. My favorite mystery writers are the ones who can consistently make me forget I’m a writer while I’m reading. What makes me put a book down, unfinished? Predictability, preaching, pornography--let’s call them the Three Ps, shall we? Anything that demeans or diminishes the human spirit--I will never understand this whole SHADES OF GREY thing. What woman in her right mind would tune in to the disgusting idea that women secretly want to be dominated by any man, let alone a dull rich one? And dystopian stories: We’ve been inundated with dreary end-of-the-world scenarios lately, and they’re all the same scenario. It’s enough to send sensible readers back to BRAVE NEW WORLD and ON THE BEACH (which wouldn’t be a bad thing). I hope those trends are soon over.

If you could experience one book again for the first time, which one would it be?
That’s a dead tie, the two books I read back-to-back when I was fifteen that made me want to become a writer: GREAT EXPECTATIONS and REBECCA.

What's next for you?
Those two stories I mentioned. One is about American con artists in Europe, and the other involves a deadly impersonation. And I already have ideas for several more novels, so I should be busy for quite a while.

Why so serious questions
If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?
An actor. My other talent, and my other great love.

Worst writer’s habit?
Procrastination. Well, unless the writer in question is a drunk or drug addict, something like that--then I’d say controlled substances. For me it’s procrastination.

If you were a fictional hero?
Oh gosh, I’d love to be Frodo Baggins. Or James Bond. One or the other, depending on my mood. Frodo is brave and capable and loyal, the best friend you could ever have. James Bond is all that, plus everybody wants to have sex with him.

Favourite swear word while writing?
Darn. (I’m not a big swearer.)

Any question you want to ask your hero?
If you mean Nora Baron, I’d ask how those designer boots are working out for her. I had to dress her for a lot of running and action in various types of weather, and she wouldn’t have many opportunities to change clothes. At the same time, she’s a fiftyish university teacher who’s ostensibly in mourning, so I figured sweatsuits and Nikes were out. What do women wear when they want to look good and move freely at the same time? I’m a guy, so I had no idea, right? I consulted some physically active professional women I know, and they recommended pantsuits, an all-purpose trench coat, and boots. I’m sure they were right, but I worried about her in those boots.

Most ridiculous way to die in a book?
I read a mystery once where the vic was knocked unconscious while seated at a dinner table, and his face fell into a cup of coffee. Or maybe it was a bowl of soup. I forget. But imagine drowning like that! And the poor perp--he only meant to knock the guy out, and now he’s a murderer! That’s what I call bad karma.

Your main character’s favourite meal?
Considering her plight, I’d say anything she can grab quickly and wolf down while running in designer boots (see above). Sandwiches would be a good idea.

About the Book
Title: Mrs. John Doe
Author: Tom Savage
Genre: Thriller

In the adrenaline-laced new novel of suspense from Tom Savage—hailed by Michael Connelly as “a master of the high-speed thriller”—an American actress in Europe races to find the truth behind her husband’s mysterious accident. What she uncovers makes her the target of a shocking conspiracy.

Nora Baron’s life is perfect. She lives on Long Island Sound, teaches acting at a local university, and has a loving family. Then one phone call changes everything. She’s informed that her husband, Jeff, has died in a car crash while on a business trip in England. Nora flies to London to identify the body, which the police have listed as a “John Doe.” When she leaves the morgue, a man tries to steal her purse containing Jeff’s personal effects. Clearly, all is not as it seems.

At her hotel, Nora receives a cryptic message that leaves her with more questions than answers. She follows the message’s instructions to France, where a fatal encounter transforms her into a fugitive. Wanted for murder, on the run in a shadowy landscape of lies, secrets, and sudden violence, Mrs. “John Doe” must play the role of a lifetime to stay one step ahead of a ruthless enemy with deadly plans for her—and for the world.

You can follow Tom here: His Website or On Facebook

You'll find his book on Goodreads too!

And you can (should) buy the Book here:
Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Books-a-Million

Google Play

iBooks

Penguin Random House

Mrs John Doe by Tom Savage

Random House Publishing Group - Alibi
Pub Date Oct 6, 2015


I had read and enjoyed Tom previous book, A Penny for the Hangman, some time ago. Tom is an author who knows how to use the art of narrative and writing sympathetic characters.

He manages once again to make us have a good time in the company of Nora, an intelligent woman full of resources (in here you'll find Tom's interview who explains, among others things, where does his inspiration for his female characters come from).

This book is a mix of espionage, suspense, chase with well written characters, rogues to perfection, liars or conversely straightforward and friendly. But as you should never trust appearances, Nora will understand that in this spy game, you should be wary of all...

One leaves the United States, arrives in England, ends up in France... and each time the country is well represented and it makes you want to go there. The author also knows to sprinkle its plot with culture and good food, avoiding a too dark novel. Result ? We spend a very pleasant time with a story that does not weaken, a plot that fire a few well-chosen twists away.

The blurb

Nora Baron's life is perfect. She lives on Long Island Sound, teaches acting at a local university, and has a loving family. Then one phone call changes everything. She's informed that her husband, Jeff, has died in a car crash while on a business trip in England. Nora flies to London to identify the body, which the police have listed as a “John Doe.” When she leaves the morgue, a man tries to steal her purse containing Jeff's personal effects. Clearly, all is not as it seems.

At her hotel, Nora receives a cryptic message that leaves her with more questions than answers. She follows the message's instructions to France, where a fatal encounter transforms her into a fugitive. Wanted for murder, on the run in a shadowy landscape of lies, secrets, and sudden violence, Mrs. “John Doe” must play the role of a lifetime to stay one step ahead of a ruthless enemy with deadly plans for her—and for the world.

In a nutshell

Great time spent at the speed of a chase, it's a 4/5 for me.

Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.