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Donna C (199 KP) rated Sleeping with a Psychopath in Books

Jun 2, 2021

Sleeping with a Psychopath

Carolyn Woods | 2021 | Art, Photography & Fashion, Biography, Crime

7.5

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

Fast paced true story

Contains spoilers, click to show

So this is a biography of a woman who was completely fooled by a fraudster called Mark Acklom. She was happily living alone in a rented cottage, looking for a house to buy after selling her previous home. She worked in an upmarket clothes shop and had £850,000 from the house sale.
One day a handsome charming man comes in to the shop and sweeps her off her feet, claiming to be a millionaire with property, planes and a job in MI6 which is top secret. Within a couple of days he is promising her the world but claims that he cannot be a proper couple for 18 months until he can complete his current contract. He tells her he is involved in goings on in Syria, claims to have been shot, the stories get wilder and wilder! In the meantime he also has a "cashflow problem" and asks her to pay for everything and he will pay her back.
You do start off thinking "how did she fall for all this blather? It's so totally untrue." But she is not a stupid person. Her friends and family don't like him, but she has fallen head over heels and won't listen.
It is a fast paced book, and I really wanted to know how she got out of the situation.
You really don't know what is going on in other peoples' lives do you???

(Disclaimer: I won a free copy of this book from ReadersFirst for an honest review)

Kudos

Sarah (7800 KP) rated You Will Be Safe Here in Books

Jul 10, 2019

You Will Be Safe Here

Damian Barr | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry

9.5

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

Moving and thought provoking

I can’t lie, history isn’t a strong subject of mine so I knew very little about the South African concentration camps and these New Dawn Type camps when i first started this book. So for me, the events detailed and unfolding in this book are a disturbing revelation. It might be fiction, but it’s based on historical true events so I know it’s not far from the truth. It’s shocking and immensely moving, reading about the plight of a number of characters from 1901 to the present date. At first I didn’t understand why this started off in 1901 and worked it’s way through different characters to the almost present day, but it all makes sense and intertwines in a way as the book goes on and it’s a great way to tell a story. This is wonderfully written, bringing out a number of reactions and the emotions in the reader as it goes on and I felt a mixture of sheer anger and frustration and sadness reading this. The characters are all well developed, with their own flaws and traits that make them both intriguing and sometimes frustrating (but in a good way) to read. My only criticism would be that the ending seemed a little rushed in comparison to the rest of the book, and I wouldn’t have minded a slightly longer book at the benefit of a less rushed ending.

This isn’t a book I would have ordinarily thought of reading, but I’m glad I did and would highly recommend reading it!

Kudos

ClareR (6247 KP) Jul 10, 2019

I’m so glad you liked it - this is one of my top books so far this year!😊

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2589 KP) rated The Murder of Twelve in Books

May 28, 2020

Weddings are Murder

With a record setting blizzard on the way to Cabot Cove, Maine, Jessica Fletcher is planning to hunker down in her temporary home – the Hill House hotel. Before she can do that, she joins Sheriff Metzger when he gets a call about a man found in his car on the edge of town. What at first looks like a tragic accident is indeed murder. On arriving at the hotel, Jessica learns she will be joined for the weekend by a wedding party. But with the bride and groom missing, tempers begin to flair. Then a dead body appears. Are they trapped with a killer? Is it connected to the man outside of town?

This is another fast-moving mystery that obviously pays homage to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. I felt it was a bit more of a thriller (minus the language and violence) than a true cozy, but I’m not complaining since I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out what was going to happen next. Much of the book features Jessica and those trapped in the hotel with her, and they are all strong enough characters to carry the story. Unfortunately, the little bit we did see of the recurring characters fell into predictable patterns, although I still enjoyed spending time with them. The writing was so vivid, I felt the cold as I was reading. Any complaints are minor, and I’m happy I picked up this fast-paced book.