Nicki's book blog

  The In-Laws by Laura Wolfe-  psychological thriller Oh wow! One stunner of a read- sit down and hold on for the ride! Abigail and her fiance Pete have taken their parents on a three night trip into the wilderness, camping. The idea is to bond the parents as the one time they met before didn't go too well. The parents are worlds apart but should have the couples best interests at heart, right? Pete isn't that close to his folks, as they doted on his younger brother Trent who has various issues so Pete has grown up rather independently. Over the campfire and walks, more comes out about each of them and Abigail herself is holding a rather large secret. Can they all survive both the knowledge and the trip? OMG! I turned and I turned and I turned some more. Laura has brilliantly built a wonderful tension between the pages and a very well thought out carefully crafted plot which had me reeling along the way. The characters are well rounded (or not in some cases- read it and you’l

  CHAOS ON THE ISLAND by Stewart Giles - Crime Oh wow! Chaos is defined as “ complete disorder and confusion”. Organised Chaos , well you know what It means and this is precisely that. When the fab four cause several bomb explosions and a few robberies to boot, chaos is what ensues. DI O’Reilly and team soon work out that the former are to take resources away from the latter, however when more explosions occur and no robberies something is not quite as it first appears. What is the motive and who on earth are the real fab four? This is so cleverly put together with the Beatles references woven in. I guess Stewart is also good at cryptic crosswords- or at least he should be! A real rollercoaster of a read with twists and turns to very much keep the pages turning. I loved it and didn't want it to en d , it’s an exciting read. . There’s a personal theme running through with O’Reilly which is only briefly touched on in this one. An explosive ending and I very much look forward to the

  A Love To Last A Lifetime by Clare Swatman - Women’s fiction This is set in two timelines- present day and when Erin was younger, each chapter being headed by a song of Erin’s past. In present day Erin is married to Greg and they are going through a tough time due to Greg’s gambling debts. Greg however is the rock, the steady, reliable one until he shattered Erin’s stability with the number of debts. When out shopping she hears a voice that transports her to the past- a man called Adam- someone she hasn’t heard from in eighteen years. Younger Erin meets Adam at a party where he knows no-one having recently changed schools. Erin finds herself feeling like she has never felt before and she is only talking to this person. Adam has lit a flame that flickers on and off over the next few years. Is fate now telling Erin something or should she stay with the man who stood by her for almost the last two decades? Clare has an amazing talent with words. I found myself quickly invested in Erin

  The Defendant- Colin Mayo- Crime/courtroom drama                Richard Andrew Turner , known as Rat to his friends, leads a very simple life. He has a girlfriend Debbie who has a young son and he works in an untaxing job with an understanding boss. One evening when Debbie is away he goes out with the boys, who are on the pull, and meets Ann-Marie. He doesn't really want to be unfaithful to Debbie but Ann-Marie soon has Richard in her grip and one thing leads to another at her flat. When making coffee that evening he spied an envelope full of cash which raised his suspicions. When later he saw white powder in the bathroom he quickly decided that Ann-Marie wasn't all that she first appeared, especially as he was sure they were followed back from the nightclub by a minicab. Richard leaves her flat in the early hours but the temptation of the money is too much as he has debts and would like to treat Debbie so he takes it. Very soon later the police arrive at his door. Ann-Marie

  Amazing Grace Adams- Fran Littlewood - Women's Literary fiction Grace is all over the place. Her daughter is living with her about-to-be ex-husband, her jobs (both of them) are precarious to say the least and life is just all over the place. In a traffic jam to pick up a cake for her daughter which she hopes will begin to mend some fences, Grace loses it and walks away from her car. Occasional chapters take us to two additional timelines- one when she met her husband twenty years ago and another a few months ago before it all went pear shaped. Very easy to follow. Of course the journey from the car to the cake shop isn't straightforward and as for the £200 cake….  I enjoyed this, it made me smile and sympathise and think about my own life in parts. I think many of us have been in that horrible situation where everything is just too complex and we would like to walk away from it all. Grace however walks towards it not away. Like most of us she is determined and her heart is in

  Through her eyes- NJ Moss - psychological thriller Jess lives in a motorhome and likes to watch people. She has enough money to sustain her current way of living and loves what she does. She has had her own rough time of things and when she sees Anna being abused by her husband Patrick, Jess hatches a plan. Jess befriends Luka to get involved in this. However seeing parts of lives through snatched glances isn’t always the full story….. Knowing Nathan's other books, I knew I wouldn't be in for a straightforward domestic drama type read. There was quickly something about Jess that resonated, something more than just someone with a pair of binoculars gazing at other peoples lives. I won’t spoil anything other than to say hang on for the ride and when I finished my first thought was “ what the heck just happened?”. I’d felt as if I had been picked up, flung around and shaken up and down for good measure. Then……….. I read Nathan afterword piece and like the very last part of a com

  In Ice- Dave Sivers- Crime A group of young people break into a house and find more than the emptiness they were after. They swore to close ranks but one of the girls couldn't live with what they’d found and so made an anonymous 999 call. When the police investigate further they find five bodies in locked freezers and from the marks on the inside lids it looks like the victims were alive when they went in. Where is the house owner who seems to have either gone abroad or disappeared and who on earth would be doing this and covering their tracks so well? A novel I quickly got into and stayed there and a new author for me- one I wouldn't hesitate to read again. This is the second book in the series and happily stands alone- I hadn't read the first one. There’s a good tension and depth to this along with a clever premise. Nate and Izzy come across very well and make a good team both having different facets of skill adding to the investigation and keeping the interest of the

  The Engagement  by Samantha Hayes psychological thriller Belle is on holiday in France supposedly on a language programme and has suddenly announced that she is engaged. Her family are rather surprised as this has obviously been a whirlwind romance for marriage to be so soon on the horizon. When she arrives with Jack no-one is more surprised than her mother Hannah who recognises her new fiancé. Hannah has a secret, one she has not told even her husband Rob about her past. Jack clearly has an agenda and both Hannah and Belle look like they are part of it. Can Hannah and Rob persuade Belle that Jack isn't a good idea and can Hannah keep her secret? Oh wow! What a premise and how cleverly executed. This reeled me in and very much kept the pages turning. This is the second book by this author I’ve had the pleasure of reading and would highly recommend her if you like a cliff hanging book. I liked Hannah. Belle came across as the rather naive young woman which is probably true of many

  The Neighbour by Gemma Rogers-psychological thriller Shelly has just moved house with her ten-year-old daughter Lauren and their dog Teddy. Shelly’s mother died a few weeks ago whom they were looking after and so have gone into a rented house before buying one of their own. Teddy accidentally relieves himself on a neighbour's verge, Shelly is quick to both apologise and clear up however Valerie the neighbour is scathing. A few days later poor Teddy is ill and Shelly finds a half-eaten chocolate bar in the garden- it being poisonous to dogs. Shelly meets Valerie's son Remy who tells her she has early stages of dementia, something Shelly's mother had so she understands well but still feels there is more than they are letting on. She also discovers that both the woman and dog who lived there before have both gone missing and there is a strange message scraped on a wall. What is going on in the close and are they safe? Ooh! This is one of those wonderful page turner reads w

  The Stay-at-Home Mother by Nicole Trope- psychological thriller Andrea has just moved house with her husband and young son. She is expecting their second child in a matter of weeks, the house move being forced by her husband.  Gabby across the road welcomes her into the fold, her own son now being a teenager she is happy to have young Jack around as her husband Richard spends much time away, currently being in the states. When Jack is looked after by Gabby one afternoon so Andrea can sleep, she wakes late to find her rather dodgy husband home and Gabby and Jack are nowhere to be found.  This is set in Australia and is a fast pace page turner of a read. I found myself more than once thinking          “ just one more chapter” however I  had worked out the premise ( I do read a lot of psychological thrillers that said) . It's one to keep the pages turning with well developed characters. A mystery, red herrings and clues along the way. A well written book and an intriguing one.  For