Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (4292)

Content

Think of Me

Frances Liardet

10.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

A heartbreaking new novel of grief, family and the enduring power of love from the author of We Must...

World War 2 North Africa Historical fiction Post war Britain

Billie Wichkan (118 KP) rated Conviction in Books

May 22, 2019

From 'the woman who may be Britains finest living crime novelist' (Daily Telegraph), Conviction stars a strong female protagonist who is obsessed by true-crime podcasts and decides, one day, to investigate one of the unsolved crimes herself.
Its just a normal morning for Anna McDonald. Gym kits, packed lunches, getting everyone up and ready. Until she opens the front door to her best friend, Estelle. Anna turns to see her own husband at the top of the stairs, suitcase in hand. Theyre leaving together and theyre taking Annas two daughters with them.
Left alone in the big, dark house, Anna cant think, she cant take it in. With her safe, predictable world shattered, she distracts herself with a story: a true-crime podcast. Theres a sunken yacht in the Mediterranean, multiple murders and a hint of power and corruption. Then Anna realises she knew one of the victims in another life. She is convinced she knows what happened. Her past, so carefully hidden until now, will no longer stay silent.
This is a murder she cant ignore, and she throws herself into investigating the case. But little does she know, her past and present lives are about to collide, sending everything she has worked so hard to achieve into freefall.

This is my first read by Denise Mina and it won't be my last.
What a brilliant read this was. Wow what an opening this had with it.
This definitely psychological thriller and very chilling.
Loved the writing style and the plot of this story.
Really enjoyed the characters and couldn't stop reading til finished as I just had to know.
Recommend reading!

My thanks to Random House U.K. Vintage Publishing for an eARC via NetGalley and this is my honest voluntary review.

Kudos

Hazel (1853 KP) rated Captive in Books

Dec 14, 2018

This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Captive is the debut young adult thriller by British author A. J. Grainger. Set in contemporary Britain, sixteen-year-old Robyn, the daughter of the Prime Minister, is kidnapped and held hostage by three animal rights activists. Until the government agrees to release the person accused of the attempted assassination of the PM four month previously, they refuse to free Robyn from captivity. It soon becomes clear that a lot of lies and cover-ups have been occurring and it is difficult to know whom to trust.

The novel gets off to a great start with a lot of action as Robyn and her family is ambushed on their way to visit grandparents. The first half of the book is really exciting as the reader slowly gets to grips with what is going on.

Grainger writes really well with great use of descriptive words and phrases. To keep the reader engaged and to lengthen the story she includes other interesting details that are educational in a way – for example, knowledge about birds.

Unfortunately the second half of the book is not as exciting as the first. A relationship starts developing between Robyn and one of the captors, which is rather unoriginal and predictable.

One thing that I particularly liked about this novel was Robyn’s character. Naturally people may expect daughters of prime ministers to be snobbish and spoilt but Robyn was the complete opposite. She did not care about where her clothes came from or whether or not she went to parties. Robyn was the representation of the average teenage girl preparing for her GCSEs.

Despite the clichéd captor/hostage situation Captive is a very enjoyable novel with a few exhilarating twists in the plot.

Kudos

MaryAnn (14 KP) rated Shadow Among Sheaves in Books

Nov 4, 2019

A Timeless, Beautiful Allegory of the Biblical Love Story of Ruth and Boaz The Great Rebellion of 1857 was a remarkably bloody business. At a time when Britains imperial influence in India was sparking brutal clashes on both sides, no one could have expected Rena, an Indian woman, to marry a British officernor do they understand her decision to follow her mother-in-law to England after her husbands tragic death. Once the two widows are in Abbotsville, the stern yet compassionate Lord Barric attempts to help them despite his better judgment. Soon he is torn between the demands of reputation and his increasing desire to capture Renas heart for his own.

My Thoughts: In this novel, we learn about Britain's history of "The Great Rebellion" and how it affected the lives of both the British and of those whose homeland is India. The author brings the reader back to the customs of that era and of each nationality. It gives the reader focus on how the characters may feel and react in the story.

I really love the book of Ruth in the Bible and enjoyed how this novel mirrored that book. The author has done an incredible job of bringing this novel into perspective with the Biblical story of Ruth. The author has done an incredible amount of research to bring us a novel that shows the reader what it may feel like to be cast out, to be in a foreign land with different customs and to successfully parallel it to a biblical book in the Bible.

This is a book about redemption, love, and trusting in God. I truly enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it.