BLOG TOUR: 'True North' (True Born Trilogy #2) by L.E. Sterling - SPOILER FREE REVIEW

I really enjoyed 'True Born' and have been dying to get my hands on the sequel, so I was over the moon when I was invited to participate in the 'True North' blog tour (after taking part in the cover reveal too - so much excitement!). I need to say a huge thank you to Entangled Teen and YA Reads Blog Tours for allowing me to be a part of both of these wonderful opportunities.

Abandoned by her family in Plague-ridden Dominion City, eighteen-year-old Lucy Fox has no choice but to rely upon the kindness of the True Borns, a renegade group of genetically enhanced humans, to save her twin sister, Margot. But Nolan Storm, their mysterious leader, has his own agenda. When Storm backtracks on his promise to rescue Margot, Lucy takes her fate into her own hands and sets off for Russia with her True Born bodyguard and maybe-something-more, the lethal yet beautiful Jared Price. In Russie, there's been whispered rumors of Plague Cure.

While Lucy fights her magnetic attraction to Jared, anxious that his loyalty to Storm will hurt her chances of finding her sister, they quickly discover that not all is as it appears... and discovering the secrets contained in the Fox sisters' blood before they wind up dead is just the beginning.

As they say in Dominion, sometimes it's not you... it's your DNA.  

I'm not going to spoil any of the events of 'True North', but if you haven't read 'True Born' you need to look away now!

'Sometimes flesh and bone are as inexplicable as magic.'

At the end of 'True Born', Margot and Lucy Fox were separated. Margot was taken to Russia by their parents, and Lucy was left in Dominion with the True Borns.
When 'True North' starts, Lucy is desperate to be reunited with her sister. She's been helping Nolan Storm, the leader of the True Borns and her stand-in guardian, for the last four months, gathering intel using the charismatic skills she honed as the daughter of one of the most important men in the Upper Circle. Nolan promised her that he'd help her find her sister, but Dominion is on the brink of a civil war so he won't be leaving any time soon.
Lucy takes matters into her own hands. She asks one of the members of a kid gang for help, but when things turn south she's saved by the mysterious Alistair. He agrees to help her find Margot and gets them passage on a cruise liner heading to Europe. Lucy thinks she sneaks away from the True Borns undetected, but within a day of the ship setting sail she realises Jared - her personal bodyguard turned sort of boyfriend - worked out where she was going and is also on board the ship.
As Lucy sails across the ocean, she meets a member of the Gilt: the exclusive group who are even higher than the Upper Circle. It's not until he starts talking about a potential miracle cure rumoured to be found in Russia that Lucy begins to wonder if she's found a map straight to her sister...

'True North' is far slower than 'True Born', so it took me quite a while to read it. Whereas I flew through the first book, I found myself feeling disinclined towards picking this one up, which is a shame: it's very well written and I still love the world L.E. Sterling has crafted, but I was forcing myself through it and I think that's why I didn't like it as much.
I was planning on rereading the first book before I jumped into this one, but I didn't have time. Despite the fact that L.E. Sterling does a great job recapping the events of book one, I still found it hard to get my head back into the world of Dominion, and I struggled to reconnect with the characters who I had previously loved.
That being said, this installment is definitely worth a read. It moves the plot forward exponentially, revealing the answers to questions that I'd had since the first page of 'True Born', but it makes you ask even more - it's impossible to read this book and not want to finish the series.
However, it suffers from middle book slump. Despite the fact that there were a few reveals throughout, it's seems more focused on setting up what I'm sure is going to be an explosive finale. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the third book in the trilogy will pick up the pace and bring back the excitement that thrummed through me with every page of the series opener.
When the third book is released I'm definitely going to reread the two previous novels: this series is perfect for binge-reading. Only four months pass between 'True Born' and 'True North', so it's a very short time between installments! Despite the fact that I could hardly remember what had happened, it didn't feel like long since I'd last walked the Plague-ridden streets of Dominion with Lucy and Jared.
Oh, and talking of Lucy and Jared, if you're a fan of a passionate, tension-filled kissing scene, you're going to love this.

I'm still excited for the third book in the True Born Trilogy. This installment didn't excite me as much as the first novel but I still enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to seeing how everything gets resolved. I have so many unanswered questions still floating through my head!

About the author:

I was a voracious devotee of sci-fi and fantasy novels all through my
childhood, so I suppose it doesn't come as much of a shock that I've
returned to the genre with a vengeance.

For a while I turned my back on the genre in favour of 'high-brow' literary texts. Ironically, it was my doctoral degree that saw me circling back. There's something about the way postmodern literature plays with the arcane that had me utterly fascinated, and it wasn't long until I fell headlong back into my old ways and haven't looked back since.

My first novel, which isn't in the Urban Fantasy or Fantasy genres, isn't high literature, mind you, even if it tangles with some serious statements about politics and the way our western world runs. My editor described it as something between Charles Dickens and 'The Catcher in the Rye'. Serious Fun, in other words.

My second novel, 'Pluto's Gate', is where I've come home to myself: it's a contemporary retelling of the Demeter-Persephone-Pluto story from Greek mythology. Folded into the mix is a Shaman-in-training, a magical book, Underworld Gods, a world covered in ice, a three-headed dog, and one lousy ex-boyfriend. 

But I'll tell you this much: I believe in the power of words and stories to
transform our inner worlds. Whether the characters be vampires or
vagabonds, a good narrative sucker punches so-called reality anyhow. 

You can find L.E. Sterling on her website, Goodreads and Twitter. 

If you've already read 'True Born' and can't wait to get your hands on 'True North', sample the first six chapters or purchase a copy here . If you haven't read 'True Born' yet, what are you waiting for?

GUEST POST: Kelley York and Rowan Altwood (+ review of 'Other Breakable Things')

Welcome to my post on the 'Other Breakable Things' blog tour! I'm stoked to welcome Kelley and Rowan to the blog today, and need to say a huge thank you to both Entangled Teen and Chapter by Chapter Blog Tours for allowing me to be involved.
Before you hear from the writing duo, I've written my review to get you even more excited to read this novel...

According to Japanese legend, folding a thousand paper cranes will grant you healing.

Evelyn Abel will fold two thousand if it will bring Luc back to her. 

Luc Argent has always been intimately acquainted with death. After a car crash got him a second chance at life - via someone else's transplanted heart - he tried to embrace it. He truly did. But he always knew death could be right around the corner again. 

And now it is. 

Sick of hospitals and tired of transplants, Luc is ready to let his failing heart give out, ready to give up. A road trip to Oregon - where death with dignity is legal - is his answer. But along for the ride is his best friend, Evelyn. 

And she's not giving up so easily. 

A thousand miles, a handful of roadside attractions, and one life-altering kiss later, Evelyn's fallen, and Luc's heart is full. But is it enough to save him? Evelyn's betting her heart, her life, that it can be.

Right down to the thousandth paper crane. 

'The rain is coming down in sheets. It has reduced visibility by 50 percent, but damn if it doesn't make for great mood lighting for two people driving down the freeway near midnight with only the glow of the dashboard for company.' 

An appropriately romantic opener, the prologue jumps us to the end of Luc and Evelyn's road trip. Things don't stay this rosy for long, putting you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire novel as you wait to reach this point.

Three years ago, Evelyn Abel had to move to Arizona with her mom and her new boyfriend, Robert. Her mom's relationships normally lasted a couple of months, so three years was a personal best for her, but now they've split up and they're moving back in with Evelyn's grandmother.
Evelyn is nervous to be back. The first thing she does is drive to the home of her childhood best friend - and almost sweetheart - Luc Argent, leaving an origami paper crane on his doorstep. Luc's been unresponsive to her emails, so she's putting the ball in his court: if he wants to see her, he knows where she is.
Luc sees the crane, and can't stop himself for rushing straight to Evelyn's grandmother's house. He's been trying to keep her at arm's length because the week after she left town he had a heart transplant, and the replacement is beginning to fail him. He doesn't want to go through another transplant so he knows he's going to die, and he didn't want to hurt Evelyn by getting close to her but he can't resist the chance to reconnect.
Tensions are high between the pair, because they're both keeping secrets. Evelyn knows Luc's hiding something, and he's not willing to confide in her because he doesn't want to see the pity in her eyes. Evelyn is the only person who treats him like he's not fragile, and it's one of the many things he loves about her.
But when Evelyn's mom and Robert reconcile, Evelyn shares her pain with Luc: Robert was acting inappropriately towards her, and while he didn't physically touch her she's never going to feel comfortable living with him again. She can't tell her mom

"She doesn't need me to be happy. She needs a relationship. When she isn't in love, she's miserable all the time. That's how it's always been. And that's okay, I've come to terms with the fact that I'm second place in her life, but I guess I couldn't stand the possibility of hearing her say that she didn't believe me because Robert was more important to her." 

but she can't go back to Arizona, and she can't think of a way to get out of it.
Luc can. He's been researching the Death With Dignity act, which is legal in Oregon. He'd been planning to travel up there and not return, and while taking Evelyn with him fills him with guilt he has to protect her, and it's the only way he knows how.
Luc's in no rush to meet the end of his life, so he's picked a bunch of tourist locations on the way for them to explore. But as the two of them get closer and the miles stretch behind them, Evelyn uncovers the truth: about Luc's original operation, the rejection, and his interest in euthanasia. Will she support him, or will Evelyn be unable to let the love of her life go?

Luc and Evelyn put the slow in slow burn romance. I'm not a fan of relationships in novels that move this slowly, but I know that aspect will appeal to a lot of people! The 'life-altering kiss' doesn't happen until halfway through the book, and I could feel myself getting bored: there's no point in having a will they won't they relationship if the outcome blatantly spoilered in the synopsis.
As soon as their relationship starts, it gets serious very quickly. Luc proposes to Evelyn and they get married, giving him the peace of mind that she'll be cared for after he dies because she'll get his insurance money.
Evelyn can't bring herself to do anything sexual because it makes her think of Robert, but the second they're married all of her misgivings go out the door. Just because you're married, it doesn't mean you have to have sex. Yes, the tradition calls for you to lose your virginity on your wedding night, but it's not a rule that's set in stone! It would have been better if they'd had a conversation before Luc suggested showering together - just because he assumed it was going to happen, doesn't mean it actually had to!
While I didn't adore the relationship, I really enjoyed the rest of 'Other Breakable Things' (even though it tore my heart out at times). The tourist attractions were brought to life and made me feel as though I'd experienced them myself - particularly the Winchester Mystery House, a place I've always wanted to visit! All of the stops on the trip filled me with an uncontrollable sense of wanderlust, and I don't think it's going to go away any time soon.
The family relationships were also brilliantly explored. The contrast between Luc's smothering parents and Evelyn's self-absorbed mother, the way that their actions caused their children to behave... It's been a long time since I've seen intricate family situations handled delicately and honestly, I just wish we'd been able to see more of the parents before they embarked on their road trip!
The best thing about 'Other Breakable Things' was the way Kelley and Rowan handled illness, which is painfully realistic. They definitely don't make it romantic, showing the harrowing effects that imminent death has on your body. They also show the stress and strain that the relationship experiences without making it over-dramatic. There's no blaming each other or lashing out without reason; all of their arguments and disagreements are because they want the best for each other but they just don't know how to go about it.
You'll have to read for yourself to discover whether Luc decides to go through with his decision to die with dignity, but reading this will make you appreciate your life and your health much more than you already do. I want to make the most of the time I have. I want to see the world and do crazy things (but maybe not as crazy as sleeping in an abandoned army barracks!).

I didn't love the love, but this book has given me a newfound appreciation for life. Make sure you keep the tissues close at hand, because it is a tear-jerker; even the happy bits had me bawling my eyes out!

Because the road trip that Grace and Gabe take is such an integral part of the book, I asked Kelley and Rowan if they could tell me what their ideal road trip would look like: where they'd want to go, and what music they'd want to listen to on the way...

Kelley: I've never gotten to travel much, unfortunately, so there are thousands of places I want to visit. Among my top three, however, are Japan (especially during the winter! The snow there looks so beautiful), Ireland, and the Pacific coast. For someone who grew up in California, there's so much of it I haven't seen. I'm hoping within the next few years, Rowan and I can take a nice, long road trip and hit up places like Disneyland, Monterey, San Jose (Winchester Mystery House, like in the book!), Mare Island, Point Reyes National Seashore (one of our favorite places), Muir Woods, all the way up into Oregon and Washington.

Anytime Rowan and I go on a trip, we have to compromise on music, usually trading off. I prefer a lot of instrumental stuff, like Thomas Bergersun and E.S. Posthumus. Though during our anniversary trip to Point Reyes back in November, I think we listened to a lot of Coldplay and that made me happy. 

Rowan: Haunted road trip! I love abandoned places especially if they're said to be haunted. If I could do a cross-country vacation where we visited places like Waverly Hills and other hospitals, graveyards, and asylums, I'd be happy. For music, I'd load up my iPod with dramatic 70's rock.

Author info:

Kelley York and Rowan Altwood are a wife and wife writing team living in central California with their daughter and way too many cats. Kelley is the author of 'Hushed', 'Made of Stars' and 'Modern Monsters', and 'Other Breakable Things' is Rowan's debut. 

Once again, I'd like to thank Kelley and Rowan for visiting my blog. It's been a pleasure to have them, and I really enjoyed 'Other Breakable Things' (even though it did bring a tear to my eye!).

If you're interested in reading some of the other posts from this blog tour, view the full schedule and visit some of the other hosts. If you'd like to read 'Other Breakable Things', you can purchase a copy here.

Day of No Clutter (celebrating the release of 'Year of No Clutter' by Eve O. Schaub)

Happy Day of No Clutter!

If you're anything like me, your house is messy. I think most bookworms suffer from the same problem: too many books, too little space. I have books from publishers, books that I've purchased for myself, books that I've borrowed from the library... And all of those books add up to make for a very cluttered living space.

(Then consider the fact that I also hoard vinyls and CDs. Yeah, I have no room to move in my house!)

Because of my addiction to stuff, I had to request Eve O. Schaub's memoir, 'Year of No Clutter', when it came up on NetGalley. I'm hoping it's going to give me some good hints and tips to minimise my collection of things, making my home a much tidier place.

I think this book could help quite a few of you, so when I was invited to spotlight the book today - the eve of release day! - of course I had to. 

Everyone eats. Everyone sleeps. Everyone accumulates stuff.

The hilarious author of Year of No Sugar, Eve Schaub, returns with her new memoir, Year of No Clutter, to tackle the issue of 'things'. Specifically, the 576-square-foot room in her house that is overflowing with stuff she can't bring herself to throw away, like her fifth grade report card and pieces of plaster wall stuffed in a box. 

Year of No Clutter is more than a tale of how one woman organized an entire room in her house that had been filled with pointless items, it's a deeply inspiring, and frequently hilarious, examination of why we keep stuff in the first place, and how to let it all go. 

If you think 'Year of No Clutter' sounds like a book you'd love, you can buy a copy on Amazon US or Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble or Book Depository.

You can also sign up to take part in the Week of No Clutter Challenge. If you enter your email, you gets hints, tips and advice on tidying, as well as a sneak preview of 'Year of No Clutter'.

I hope this book helps some of you as much as I'm sure it's going to help me!

GUEST POST: Sarah Mussi

Hello, and welcome to my stop on the 'Here Be Witches' blog tour! 

'Here Be Witches' is the second novel in Sarah's Snowdonia Chronicles - a young adult fantasy series retelling old myths and legends of Wales - continuing the story of Ellie Morgan, the protagonist we were introduced to way back in book one. 

For the post today, I'm going to pass you over to Sarah, who's going to tell you all about how important setting is to a story...

I'm totally thrilled to be with Everything Alyce for my blog tour for book two in The Snowdonia Chronicles: Here be Witches. 

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME EVERYTHING ALYCE!!!!!

During my blog tour I have been interviewing myself on HOW TO WRITE A SEQUEL!

And today...

Sarah continues her interview of Sarah on how to write a sequel in a thrilling and compelling romantic fantasy.

Sarah: Welcome to the world of WRITING A SEQUEL. I am going to use Here be Witches to explain my thinking on how to give it a go.

Sarah: Okay. I'm going to continue to ask Sarah lots of questions to find out all her writing secrets! 

Q. Can you recap on Here be Witches again?

A. Right, Here be Witches is the second story in the series The Snowdonia Chronicles.

Here be Witches

THE SEQUEL TO HERE BE DRAGONS - A PERILOUS ADVENTURE INTO THE MAGICAL AND MURDEROUS REALM OF MYTHICAL SNOWDONIA 

Q. Ummm, mythical Snowdonia eh? So why did you choose Snowdonia as a setting and how did you make it fresh in book two?

A. Choosing a setting is so important, but to tell you the truth, I've always loved the mountains of North Wales ever since I went on family holidays there as a child. So on this occasion I was choosing what I knew and loved. However Snowdonia also has all the right ingredients to make a very special setting for a fantasy YA novel.

Q. Perhaps you can tell us what you think is important to go into a setting?

A. okay, well first let's recap exactly what a setting is and then I can say what I think it does for a story. So a setting sets up the:

• Where
• When
• Genre
• Time (in history) 
• Space (in the universe)
• Atmosphere
• Other people (family/community)
• Sensory details
• Weather
• Context

Well, those are the major things, but it can do more than that. I chose the setting of Snowdonia because I wanted it to do a lot of things, some of which includes using the:

Setting as character:

The setting functions here as a prod to get the hero going. The setting is somehow part of the main character, for instance, Frodo in Lord of the Rings, is very much an extension of his beloved Shire. Or Ratty in Wind in the Willows is very much a part of the riverbank.

In the Snowdonia Chronicles the backdrop of the misty mountains and dangerous chasms and cliffs not only act as a challenge to Ellie, but are also part of her character. She is first and foremost an outdoorsy mountain girl. She prides herself on knowing the mountain. However much she claims to wish to live in an inner-city flat, we know better. We know that she belongs to Snowdonia just as Snowdonia belongs to her. This means she has a lot of attibutes of mountains. Mountains are exciting, mountains can be dangerous, mountains need to be explored, mountains can offer us a view when we get to the top - so all of these characteristics can be found in Ellie.

Q. That's very interesting...

A. There is more...

Setting can act as a metaphor:

When you choose your setting, it can say more about your story on a sub-textual level. For example:

Sunny places are usually happy

Cold places are usually scary

Dark places might be evil etc.

In Here be Witches, the extraordinary beauty and relative inaccessibility of the Welsh mountains acts as a metaphor for all that is magical and unobtainable - like Henry is for Ellie. The deep feeling of awe and beauty inspired by Snowdonia has fostered many myths and a real belief in magic. I was able to harness all of this in Here be Witches.

Setting can as as weather too and weather conveys the mood of both story and character.

Weather is not just part of the scenery. It can be used in the plot. A good example of this is in Narnia where it is always snowy. 

In Here be Witches it is always snowy too and if anyone has ever been to North Wales they know this to be true in reality, after all the mountain range is called Snowdonia.

Setting can be an emotion:

The setting may show a character's emotions. When the character issad it may rain. When the character is angry a storm may brew up. In Here be Witches everywhere is cold and this is how Ellie is feeling without Hentry's presence and the hope of seeing him again. 

Q. I can see why you wanted to write The Snowdonia Chronicles! Can you give us a teeny weeny excerpt to capture the setting - until our next blog post?

A. Sure... It's from the middle second of the story... 

The ponies struggle on. The temperature drops. An Arctic wind springs up and rushes down the slopes of the mountains straight at us. The afternoon sun shines high above. The snowfields glint bright. I pull up my hood, and button my coat tight against my chin. The ponies stick to a trail that I can hardly make out. Their hooves crunch softly into drifted banks of white. In our wake, the punch holes quickly fill again with fresh snowfall. 

Beside sedge and stonewall, lake and hill, we plod on.

But no sooner are we in sight of Cadair, than the breath of the great kind descends. The Brenin Lywdd is on us like a fist. Cold mist smacks out all vision, stinging bare skin, bruising our chests as we struggle to breathe in frozen air.

A spectral breath and a grey mist descend around us. Strands of icy air slice into eyes and assault nostrils; snowflakes whirl.

Instantly we are isolated. Total whiteout. I can't see further than one metre ahead. There just isn't a path. When I do catch a glimpse of it, there's a sheer drop: first on the left, then on the right.

I'm not joking.

One metre from the trail.

Sheer drops.

I actually close my eyes, squeeze them shut. My heart thuds. I feel dizzy. I hang on to Keincaled's mane, grip it, icicles and all and whisper:

Oh my God.

Wow, I have goosebumps right now. That excerpt is so menacing, it sent chills straight down my spine! I'm going to be reading and reviewing 'Here be Dragons' and 'Here be Witches' in March, so keep a eye out for those posts going up soon.

I hope you enjoyed my stop on the 'Here be Witches' blog tour.
Check out Sarah's final post with Maia and a Little More where she'll be interviewing herself about how to deliver a satisfying stand-alone ending without a cliff-hanger as such - inside an on-going series. Not as easy as it looks!

BLOG TOUR: The Saul Marshall series by Richard Davis - SPOILER FREE REVIEWS

Hello, and welcome to my stop on the 'Never Forget' blog tour! 

The wonderful Faye Rogers contacted me at the start of the month and invited me to participate in this tour, and I jumped at the chance. I hadn't heard of the Saul Marshall series before, but I've been reading more crime and thriller books this year than ever before so I was in exactly the right mood for these novels. 

I'm going to be reviewing 'False Prophet' and 'Never Forget' today. Both reviews will be as spoiler free as possible, but the events of the first book do impact upon the second so I will be giving some of the story away.

'Aaron Woolf sat down for breakfast, opened his newspaper, and read his obituary.' 

A guy reading his own obituary? Tell me that's not one of the most gripping first sentences you've ever read. It leaves you feeling instantly unsettled, and makes it impossible to put the book down until you know exactly how that could have come to pass.

A psychotic terrorist has his son. He will do anything to save him.

When a rogue cult turns deadly, the FBI call on former conman Agent Saul Marshall. FALSE PROPHET introduces a gripping new series from thriller writer Richard Davis. 

Marshall is soon drawn into a cat and mouse chase with the leader of the cult, Ivan Drexler. As the scale of Drexler's terrorist ambition becomes ever clearer, news arrives that he has taken Marshall's son hostage. Removed from the line of duty, he must work alone, off-grid.

As the attacks intensify, Saul will stop at nothing to defeat Drexler.

But the FBI are questioning Saul's own part in the carnage. He must work fast to save both his country and his life. Can Saul stop the carnage before it's too late? And can he save his son?

As wave after wave of attacks break, the clock is ticking for Saul.

This was so close to getting four stars, but a couple of things didn't work for me. I can't discuss one of those here, because it's a HUGE spoiler - literally the last chapter of the book - so I'll probably end up writing a spoilery review in a couple of days, because I have a lot of thoughts about that ending that I want to go further into. 

The non-spoilery aspect that made this book an uncomfortable read was the constant info dumping. Richard Davis has obviously done a lot of research, because he knows an insane amount about the inner workings of the FBI and the CIA, but the reader gets told ALL of it. There are pages upon pages of irrelevant information, Saul mentally commenting on the exact make, model and size of cars, guns and planes, but none of it furthers the plot. It shows that Richard has planned every aspect of his story, making it absolutely faultless, but it's not necessary for the reader to know every tiny detail. It doesn't bring it to life, it just makes things clunky.

Other than that I really enjoyed this novel.
It's easy to relate to Saul's plight: because the Order of Babylon have his son, he has to decide whether to put family loyalty above his commitment to the job, and it's an internal struggle that plagues him throughout the story. He had to abandon Samuel before he was born, so he doesn't want to abandon his son again, but as it starts seeming likely that Samuel himself is a cultist which makes Saul's decision even trickier.
At points Saul verges into antihero territory, but that comes with the training: as a member of the FBI he is ruthless and unemotional when it coems to killing, which is harrowing to read when he's supposed to be the good guy. Richard Davis pulls no punches, allowing us to see both the good and bad sides of the law enforcement.
The extended cast of characters are all strong, and it's going to be great to encounter them again in the future. Vann's dry wit brightens up even the most harrowing scene, while Mort's father-like affection towards the man that he arrested shows that criminals deserve love too: he's the only reason Saul got a second chance, and even though he makes mistakes he ultimately saves more lives than he sacrifices.

This is a very quick read. If you're hoping to read a book that grabs you by the throat, stuffed with relentless action and heart-thumping tension throughout, you'll adore the Saul Marshall novels. Despite being disappointed with the ending, I automatically picked up the second book: it's impossible to take a break between these stories, because you're left with so many questions about what can have happened to Saul. 

Now for my thoughts on the sequel, 'Never Forget'. The end of 'False Prophet' does impact upon the events of the second novel, so if you want to avoid anything vaguely spoilery, look away now! 

'Crouching among the dumpsters, her body pressed against the cold brickwork, Juliette Dein contacted the man who'd come to kidnap her sister.'

Okay, Richard Davis has a skill at writing a killer opening line. These two are some of the best that I've encountered. He's certainly not afraid to kick start his novels with a huge dose of adrenaline. 

Saul Marshall is on the run.

As a wave of seemingly random assassinations engulfs California, Marshall finds himself drawn into a situation spiralling out of control.

He soon discovers some of the webs' most secure protocols have been compromised by a rogue team of former Chinese agents. When Marshall realises what they plan, the stakes are raised...

And that's before the Secretary of State gets involved. Can Marshall unravel the deceit and tricks before it's too late? Can he stop the carnage, or will he become part of it? One thing is for certain: either way his enemies will never forget.

This installment uses Saul's past as a conman to its full potential. He's constantly trying to deceive the people who are hunting him, and it's great to see him doing what he does best (and really makes me want a prequel novel of his adventures in con artistry!). It plays up the USP, and for someone who's read a lot of repetitive crime and thriller novels, that was great to see.

I have nothing to complain about when it comes to 'Never Forget'. All of the things I just discussed in regards to 'False Prophet' are irrelevant when it comes to the second novel in the series. The conclusion is satisfactory yet still leaves you wanting more, while the info-dumping is appropriate, as Saul teams up with a civilian called Ellen Kelden and she needs to be caught up. Instead of getting the information thrown at us, we learn with her: it's a more gentle way to introduce some complex theories.  

Despite the fact that Saul's now in California, there are plenty of familiar faces for us to get reacquainted with. I particularly enjoyed the reappearance of Vann, who was one of my favourite members of the supporting cast in book one, and the more central role of background character Scott Brendan. It seems Richard has plans for all of his characters, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to all of them in further volumes in the series. 

I loved the focus on technology: particularly the discussions about hacking, and how even seemingly foolproof methods of concealing your activities on the internet are vulnerable. It's terrifying, particularly when you look at the way the political landscape is at this current moment in time. Anyone could be watching your activity, and you have no way of knowing... *shudders*

My final thoughts about the Saul Marshall series are that it's worth sticking with. It's difficult to talk about in too much detail without giving away major plot points, but if you're unsatisfied with the first novel just try the first few pages of 'Never Forget': it'll grab you, and you'll be halfway through before you realise. It's just that good. 

All of the complaints I had about the first novel became null and void. Richard made a lot of development with his writing between the two, but you can't just start with the second installment. It's imperative that you read the first novel to get the back story and to really understand what's going through Saul's mind: the two plots are separate and could be enjoyed as standalone stories, but the character development is so much better in context. 

I wish the third book was already out, because I was enjoying binge reading these! 

About the author:

Richard Davis graduated from University College London in 2011 and Cambridge University in 2012.
The Saul Marshall series was born from Davis's extensive travels around the United States and his long-standing obsession with thriller fiction.
He lives in North London, UK, with his girlfriend.

Thanks once again to Faye Rogers for inviting me to participate in this blog tour - I hope you enjoyed my stop! Be sure to check out the rest of the posts on the tour: they're all absolutely brilliant. 

BLOG TOUR: 'Lie With Me' by Sabine Durrant - SPOILER FREE

Welcome to my stop on the 'Lie With Me' blog tour! 

In May last year, I received a copy of 'Lie With Me' via bookbridgr, but unfortunately I didn't have the time to read it once it arrived. I was intending on going back to it, but with so many other releases filling my inbox it slipped further and further down my TBR. 

That's why I'm so grateful to Vero Norton for contacting me with this wonderfully exciting opportunity. It gave me a kick up the bum and made me prioritise this book, and I'm so glad that I finally picked it up because it is gripping.

'It struck me in the night that this might have started earlier.' 

I'm not a big fan of instant foreshadowing.
I often find that it's too cliched, giving away a huge part of the plot before the action can progress and before we can learn to care about the characters and what could possibly happen to them. If you know something bad is going to happen to someone, there's no point in wasting your hope that things might turn out okay.
In this instance, however, I thought it worked really well.
Paul Morris wakes up in the middle of the night, ruminating on something that has happened in his life. It's dark and disorienting, throwing you straight into the action. His voice is established within the first few paragraphs - he's a strong character, and you know exactly what motivates him within a couple of pages.

Paul Morris is the definition of a bachelor. He's always on the lookout for his next conquest, which is how he ends up going to the book store in Charing Cross: he sees a young redhead through the window, and decides to try his luck. 

He strikes out. He's embarrassed: how dare she not want him? He looks good for 42. He's a published author, a Cambridge graduate. A catch. 

When he bumps into old school friend Andrew, he's distracted. Andrew asks for his number to arrange a lunch and he gives it to him, wondering if the redhead behind the desk will be surrepititiously writing it down now she knows how successful he is. He doesn't want Andrew to contact him, and decides he'll decline the call when it arrives.

He lets his guard down, though, hoping to hear from a journalism student who wanted to wrack his brains for advice. Next thing he knows he's booked in that lunch date with Andrew and he's travelling across London and back into his past.

Arriving at Andrew's house, he meets Alice. He can't remember, but they've met before: ten years ago, when they were both on holiday in Greece. Alice and Andrew have a yearly pilgrimage back, taking both of their families on holiday to a villa that Alice owns: one that they won't be able to visit again, as developers are tearing up the property to clear the way for a new hotel complex. 

Alice is on a mission. Ten years ago, when they were all in Greece, a young girl named Jasmine vanished. She feels personally involved, as she was there to comfort Jasmine's mother in the hours directly following her disappearance, and she's been campaigning for the last decade to get the Greek police to do more to find Jasmine, who she's convinced must still be alive.

She's too old for Paul, but her drive turns him on. She has a villa in Greece, a huge house... She has a lot of money, and he's about to lose the place he's been living. He decides to seduce her, then when her daughter Phoebe goes to university he's hoping she'll invite him to lodge in the spare room. 

Their romance is a whirlwind one. Alice seems unconvinced to start with, inviting Paul to Greece and then refusing to mention the offer again despite his hints, but he pushes into her affections until he finally seems to have her under his spell. He gets the invitation to Greece, and he's certain he'll be able to move straight in as soon as they get back. Easy. 

But Paul starts to wonder if something's going on between Alice and Andrew. The long, lingering looks between them make him uncomfortable, and when he finds condoms in Andrew's bag he takes them, hoping he can stop the affair in its tracks. Then there's a rape on the island, and Alice and Andrew collude to cover up the potential involvement of Alice's son, bringing them closer and making Paul feel as though he's being pushed out...

Paul just wants her to trust him and open up to him, but she won't. He doesn't think it's fair: he's doing everything he can, granting her every wish, but she still seems to favour Andrew. He feels like he has to lie to her constantly, because she believes he has more money than he does - he wants her to have a high opinion of him, and is afraid that if she knows he's broke she'll no longer be interested. Keeping up with all of the falsehoods he's weaving is exhausting, and she still doesn't seem to care for him as much as he does for her.

Their beautiful getaway isn't really a holiday. Alice is so focused on the Finding Jasmine campaign that she barely has time for him, and tensions are rising between him and Andrew. The teenagers aren't making things easier: Louis is moody and uncooperative, while Phoebe and Daisy are constantly flaunting their bikini bodies.With family drama at the forefront of his mind, Paul can hardly relax at their villa, especially with the constant droning of the diggers working ever closer to Alice's property line.

The first third of the book is achingly slow, but as soon as Paul gets to Greece the tension becomes unbearable. 

I will admit, I almost gave up a few times towards the beginning. Paul is arrogant, and reading the story from the viewpoint of a man with such an inflated ego is exhausting. He thinks he's so clever, lying at every possible opportunity, but that gave me secondhand embarrassment. It was obvious that he was going to get caught out. That's the moral of this story: even the smallest lies catch up with you.

His constant scheming to get invited to Greece is also tiring. If he didn't get to go to Greece their would be no story, so all of the chapters where he's hinting his interest are unnecessary. He's so needy, refusing to outwardly ask if he can go, just desperately trying to manipulate her into wanting him there. I hate men who treat women as though they're less intelligent. Paul is one of those people who only sees women for their bodies, rather than for their minds. He's not attracted to Phoebe, Alice's teenage daughter, because she has badly dyed hair, so when she asks him about journalism he's dismissive and uninterested. 

If you haven't guessed, Paul is a hateful man. That's the point; because you know that bad things are coming to this irritating character, you're eager to see him experience his downfall. That's not to say that you'll celebrate it when it eventually happens, though. Sabine Durrant knows how to manipulate her reader's emotions, meaning that you care for characters you previously hated and despite those you thought you loved.

Bear with it. If you're hoping to read a thriller that is relentless in its intensity then this is not the book for you (but I'm going to be featuring one like that next week, so stay tuned!). Be patient: it pays off. 

Sabine's descriptions of Greece are delightful. It was raining every day I read this book, but I could feel the heat emanating from the pages and warming my soul, making me desperate for summer to hurry up and arrive. This is the perfect holiday read, so if you're going anywhere nice any time soon keep this book in mind. 

After you get through the dragging establishing chapters the book is a very quick read, becoming almost impossible to put down. There are subtle clues sprinkled throughout the story, but until you know exactly what happened it's difficult to pick up on them. As soon as you know everything makes sense - you can feel that last piece of the jigsaw puzzle snap into place, clearing the meaning that has been obscured throughout. 

It takes a very clever writer to create a story like this. The way that everything gets twisted to have a different meaning is mind-blowing, and if it hadn't been for the way that Sabine neatly tied up the loose ends and explained everything that had happened throughout, this would have been an instant reread for me. 

I'm not going to give spoilers, because this isn't a book that would be easy to enjoy if you knew what was going to happen. All I can ask you to do is to give it a chance. If I hadn't been reading this for a blog tour I would have given up, and after seeing how it all ends that would have been a huge mistake. 

I haven't read any of Sabine Durrant's novels before, but after this I'm craving more of her writing. Her characters are very authentic, and the way she weaves her plot is astounding. It's been a long time since I've read a novel with an antihero protagonist, and this is making me want to read books about hateful people - something I normally dislike doing. 

Also, just look at how gorgeous the cover is. How can you resist a book that beautiful?

BLOG TOUR: 'Burned and Broken' by Mark Hardie - SPOILER FREE

Welcome to my stop on the 'Burned and Broken' blog tour! It's taken me a while to get my thoughts about this one in order which is why this post is going up so late in the day, but what I can tell you is that it's a very enjoyable read, and one of the most intriguing crime debuts I've ever picked up. 

'Coming back into consciousness... his senses gradually returning... but they were piecemeal, disjointed... disconnected.'

It's a disorienting way to start the novel, but that's what makes it so damn effective.

The body of DI Sean Carragher is found in a burnt-out car on the seafront. Recently suspended, he was the subject of an internal investigation after an assault allegation was filed by a suspect he'd interviewed. Carragher was part of the team investigating the death of Alicia Goode, a sixteen-year-old who plunged to her death from an overpass, seemingly a drunk accident. But nothing is normally that clear cut, and the team know not to believe in coincidences. Could their deaths be connected?

It's down to DS Frank Pearson and DC Cat Russell of the Essex Major Police Investigation Team to solve the cases before anyone else can get hurt. But Pearson has health problems and family issues to worry about, and Cat has the Professional Standards Department grilling her to find out more information about Sean even before he dies. 

With so much going on, will they be able to find their killer? 

It took me a while to get into 'Burned and Broken'. Mark Hardie has a unique writing style, but it's hard to adjust to.
The first 150 pages were a struggle. There aren't many indentations which means that the paragraphs are long and hard to concentrate on, but the sentences are short, often just one or two words strung together. The juxtaposition confused me. My uncertainty deepened when I realised that some of the chapters were literally two or three pages long, the chapter breaks inserted in places that weren't sensible and interrupted the flow of the story.
However, after I'd gotten to grips with the style I really enjoyed this novel. Don't discount it too quickly, give it a chance! Mark is such a genius storyteller, his plot so tightly woven that there's no chance of peeking through and seeing what's coming before it happens.
Part one is set in the four days preceding Carragher's death, part two dealing with the aftermath and the investigation. We follow all of the characters closely, getting into all of their heads to discover their back stories and the insecurities that plague them. Knowing that this is the first installment in a series (a preview of the sequel, 'Truly Evil', is featured at the end of the book) it makes sense that the focus is heavily skewed towards the people rather than the crime-fighting. The characters interact beautifully, particularly Cat and Frank: they have an almost paternal relationship, and I'm interested to see how their partnership develops in the future.
Personally, I find it difficult to care about the characters in crime novels; I'm always much more focused on speeding to the end and resolving the case. The opposite happened during this story. I found myself losing interest in who had killed Sean Carragher, because I was so absorbed by what was going on with Frank and his ex-wife Ruth, and how Cat was dealing with being one of the only female officers on the team. They're so realistic, and I'm craving more adventures with this team.
I don't want to give too much away about who the culprit was, but I do want to applaud Mark for writing about teenagers in the care system. In the past there have been reports regarding abuse in the care system, but this is a topic that's frequently brushed under the carpet: to have it so directly tackled is refreshing. Pearson and Russell are both compassionate, subverting every 'good cop, bad cop' expectation, and both characters care about getting justice but also doing the right thing. It's a match made in heaven, and there is so much storytelling potential within them.



It's been a while since I last read a British crime novel, but Mark Hardie has revived my love for a genre that I'd lost touch with and I'm extremely grateful for that.
There is some resolution at the end of the story, but a lot of loose ends are left untied. I can't wait to see what happens with the subplots that are laced throughout this novel, and I'll definitely be picking up books by Mark in the future.