Bloq - Alan Jones

My thanks go to Alan Jones for allowing me to read a copy of this book.   This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.

I had heard so many good things about this book from my other blogger friends who kept telling me to pick this up and read it.  You won’t be disappointed were the words of one friend, just make sure you can forget about what’s around you whilst you read, and I can honestly say she was right.   The cover makes the book mysterious and I couldn’t wait to start this

The book opens with an illegal burial and has you asking questions from the beginning. 

Bill Ingram is waiting at Glasgow train station for his daughter’s visit at Christmas time from London.  After the last train has pulled in and she still hasn’t got off, he begins to worry.  His daughter Carol is not answering her phone and despite numerous messages being left he cannot contact her.  He begins to ask himself why his daughter has not arrived after promising to be on the train.  What could have possibly happened?  Not wanting to think the worse, he travels to London to see if things are alright.  They aren’t!

What follows is every parent’s worst nightmare, a world that makes him leave his job, and take drastic action. (A search that takes over his life, leads him into the mysterious world of what happens in the London Blog nightclub scene, the way the owners dabble in organised crime and the drug scene.)  A search that takes over his life, leads him into the mysterious world of what happens in the Blog’s nightclub, the way the club dabble in organised crime and the drug scene. 

This book is a tense and gripping story and one that had me wishing for a few more minutes to continue reading, not wanting to put down my kindle as I was glued with each page turn, hooked from page 1, and drawn further and further into the story with each page turn.   Reading a chapter and doing the old cliché of I’ll just read one more and then I’ll stop!   

Alan Jones is a fantastic writer and has certainly grabbed my attention with this book and I can honestly say I am so glad that I have one of his other books in my every increasing TBR pile.  I will certainly be pushing this up towards the top and reading this soon.

The Stepmother - Claire Seeber

The Stepmother - Claire Seeber 

My thanks go to Claire Seeber and the publishers Bookouture via NetGalley for allowing me to read and review a copy of this book.  This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.   

The Stepmother is about Jeanie and her sister Marlena.  They had a difficult childhood and one which affected their adult lives, each had their own secrets and problems.  The story is told from the two sister’s perspective in alternating chapters.

Jeanie has met and married Matthew and is now living in Matthew’s house, trying to create their own family unit, Jeanie with her teenage son and Matthew with his two children.  However Jeanie has a secret!

Marlena is a high flying journalist, always following an important story, and never really having time for her sister apart from a snatch few minutes on a phone every now and again.     

It was a dark and mysterious tale of how step parents have obstacles to overcome by bringing two families together, the impact things can have on their lives.  A psychological thriller that had you wanting to know more.      

I would like to apologise for the delay in writing this review, this has been for two reasons, the first due to family and personal commitments and secondly, because this book has had me thinking of how to write my review.   Don’t get me wrong I liked this book and it kept my interest as I went along, had me turning the pages frantically to see what happened as the story progressed, but I was somehow not drawn into the story immediately. 

I loved the short snappy chapters each told from a sister's point of view, but this took me a while to get my head around and the way the story was being told.  I felt that at the end of some chapters some things were left unanswered and not covered until further along in the story and despite me frantically turning the pages to see what happened next, I felt that the ending of the book had my questioning a few things.

I will say that Bookouture do a fantastic job in designing covers that draw the reader in and this cover is no exception.  It makes the reader wonder what the story will be about, will it or won’t it be a fairy tale.    

The author Claire Seeber certainly knows how to write a story and keep her readers entertained and I have already got one of her other books on my TBR (to be read) pile in readiness for reading shortly.