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Louise (64 KP) rated The Unseeing in Books

Jul 2, 2018  
TU
The Unseeing
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I am a lover of Historical fiction especially Victorian London so when I read the synopsis of ‘The Unseeing’ I knew I had to read it. This is Anna Mazzola’s debut novel and I can tell you it certainly delivered.

The year is 1837 and Sarah Gale is sentenced to be hung, she is believed to have aid and abet James Greenacre in the death of Hannah Brown. Sarah Gale was having an on/off relationship with Greenacre and living with him in his home until he met Hannah. Hannah Brown was a spinster with a bit of money and business’s in her possession,until her body parts were found randomly around London.Greenacre a conniving man that he is only wanted Hannah for her money and threw Sarah out a few days before Christmas. A few days after Christmas Hannah Brown is gone and Sarah Gale is back in Greenacre’s bed. Sarah is adamant that she knows nothing about the disappearance or death of Hannah Brown, but no-one believes her.

Sarah Gale and a Women’s institute have requested Sarah to be pardoned as she is to be hung but is adamant she knows nothing. Edmund Fleetwood has been assigned the case, his job is to see if she will talk or if there is any new evidence. This is one of the most spoken about cases of the time and this could be the career break that Edmund needs, however Sarah Gale is still adamant that she knows nothing. Can this meek, pale women really be involved in a murder?

This book was amazing, I felt like I had been transported to London in 1837. The writing was so atmospheric, the descriptions of the sounds, the streets and the way the characters spoke just blew me away, and it was consistent throughout the book. The Unseeing is a slow burn book that drip feeds you information slowly and you start piecing it together like a jigsaw puzzle. I was definitely hooked and needed to know how Hannah had come to be in pieces around London and what was going to happen to Sarah. There is a twist and I didn’t see it coming whatsoever and was left shocked for some time.

This book is based on a true crime that happened in 1837 and is known as the Edgeware Murder. Sarah Gale and John Greenacre are the names of the actual people involved and the court scripts can be seen at the Old Bailey website. You can definitely tell that the Mazzola had knowledge of the justice system as it was very well researched. I loved that Mazzola managed to make a fictional book out of a true crime and it makes it even more intriguing to read. It does make you think of how the justice system failed a lot of people back in Victorian times.

I will definitely be reading anything else Anna Mazzola release and recommend this book you are interested true crime and historical fiction.

I rated this 4 out of 5 stars
  
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Sarah (7799 KP) rated The Outsider in Books

Jul 13, 2018  
The Outsider
The Outsider
Stephen King | 2018 | Thriller
9
8.7 (31 Ratings)
Book Rating
King does it again
My main worry about this book was that it didn't sound enough like King - on paper it almost sounded like a bog standard crime thriller. Fortunately though that wasn't the case!

This is yet another brilliantly written King novel, filled with intrigue, suspense and a lot of fairly gruesome horror. The characters are, as always, well written and the story centres mainly around the lovable detective Ralph Anderson (although chapters centred around other characters offer some nice variety). The central supernatural plot is one that I've seen/read before in other works of fiction, but it definitely doesn't get boring seeing it from King's point of view. There are some unexpected links to some other of King's stories - one obvious and direct, but another link for me was more of a similarity to a previous character - neither of which is a bad thing.

My only criticisms of this book are fairly minor. The first is that the ending seems fairly rushed in comparison with the slow build of the rest of the book. And the second is that although it is a very good and enthralling read, it doesn't quite have the impact of some of his older epic novels (The Dark Tower series, The Stand, Needful Things etc).
  
Crime Travel
Crime Travel
Barb Goffman | 2019 | Mystery, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Great Short Story Collection to Read Any Time
This short story collection features 15 stories from various authors that combine time travel and crime fiction. The stories are very creative, involving a variety of methods of time travel from people who build machines to those who stumble upon strange ways to get back in time. The periods range from people traveling to the present, to those traveling to Shakespeare’s England, a New Jersey beach town in the 1970’s, and a couple trips to the 1960’s to name a few. Meanwhile, we get a couple capers, a locked room mystery, and a hard-boiled PI among other great stories.

This is a very strong collection of stories. While a couple weren’t quite to my taste, I can see how others would love them and it was a very minor point. I laughed at a few of the stories, another couple made me cry, in a good way. Most importantly, I had fun. There are so many great stories in this collection, you’ll be glad you picked it up. And if you don’t get it now, you just might have to come back in time and yell at yourself for putting it off and depriving yourself of the joys of reading these stories right away.