Wednesday, 20 April 2022

by Sulari Gentill

Pub Date 07 June 2022

Publisher Poisoned Pen Press

"The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquility is shattered by a woman's terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who'd happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning—it just happens that one is a murderer" ....

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this advanced copy

The plot? yes, well, it's complicated!

First up we have Hannah, a fictional Australian author writing a novel set in the city of Boston, USA.  Hannah has a fan/beta reader by the name of Leo, he actually lives in Boston, they have not met as Hannah remains in Australia, they communicate solely by email

Next we have Freddie, who is the star of Hannah's novel, Freddie lives in Boston , there is also a Leo in Freddie's life. 

Freddie seeks inspiration for her novel in the reading room of the Boston Public Library, she discreetly studies the four strangers at her table and, in the way of a fiction writer, creates new names and characters for each of them.

Little does she know that one blood curdling scream echoing through the library will connect these strangers to her and to each other in a most unusual fashion!

Meanwhile, back in Australia, Hannah continues to receive both compliments and faint criticism from Leo. Over time Leo's emails get somewhat demanding, he becomes annoyed when his advice and suggestions go unheeded, he also gets downright creepy.

In Boston Freddie is caught up in a series of events that will leave you turning those pages as fast as you can!

I really enjoyed this book except for the ending, it wrapped up a bit too quickly, I felt I was left hanging over the outcome of a certain character. Maybe it's just me and other more perceptive readers will have worked it out.

Now that I've discovered  Sulari Gentill I will be looking out for her other works

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Thursday, 3 March 2022

 Author Dervla McTiernan

Publication Date 4th May 2022

Publisher: Harper Collins Australia 

"For fans of the compulsive psychological suspense of Ruth Ware and Tana French, a mother daughter story—one running from a horrible truth, and the other fighting to reveal it—that twists and turns in shocking ways, from the internationally bestselling author of The Scholar and The Ruin.

First Rule: Make them like you.

Second Rule: Make them need you.

Third Rule: Make them pay.

They think I’m a young, idealistic law student, that I’m passionate about reforming a corrupt and brutal system.
They think I’m working hard to impress them.
They think I’m here to save an innocent man on death row.
They're wrong. I’m going to bury him" .......

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers Australia for advanced copy

I looked forward to reading this book because I am such a huge fan of the author, I knew this "standalone" would be a departure from her usual police procedurals, unfortunately I never much cared for legal thrillers and this book is just that. It's not the authors fault that this reader was too daft to work out that this book is just that, legal, and American legal at that!

I guess the "death row" mention should have clued me in!

This, of course, makes it very difficult to rate a book from a genre one usually avoids when forced to use the star system, I suppose it is best to just state what one disliked, that way, someone who does enjoy all the legal aspects will happily buy it!

I found it a slow start, mainly because it was hard for me to get interested in such an unlikeable character as Hannah. I won't add too much to the publishers summary other than that Hannah, through deceit and cunning manages to inveigle herself into the Innocence Project, this is when her devious work begins in earnest.

The story is told over two timelines, her mothers past, told through her old diary, and Hannah's present day, this adds some interest.

However, the the further I progressed the more outlandish the US law and legal procedurals seemed to become, I realise they are quite different to ours in many ways but surely, that courtroom scene, the one with the students seemingly running the show, could that really happen? I don't know, but then, I'm not American!

The author does a marvellous job of creating characters who are very nasty pieces of work!

I really wanted to enjoy this book so much more than I did but I hope anyone reading this will get just why I didn't enjoy it

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Published January 4th 2022 by Ballantine Books

Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.

Public library edition

there was quite a queue at my library and as everyone seems to be raving about it, once it arrived I couldn't wait to get stuck in.
Sad to say but for me it did not live up to the hype. Molly behaves in pretty much the same way as any other FICTIONAL neurodivergent with all the expected quirks of character, except that there's something else about Molly, something unsettling.
It's a difficult book to review without spoilers so, all I will say is this, for me it was spoiled by two glaring clues which made the outcome a little obvious

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