Author: Books Technica

Good Samaritans by Will Carver

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Rating: 5 out of 5.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Samaritans-Will-Carver/dp/1912374374

I recently read Good Samaritans by Will Carver as I had previously enjoyed Nothing Important Happened Today which in true BooksTechnica fashion was the second book in the Detective Sergeant Pace series and had to read the first installment of the series as well.

Although, in my opinion you could read the series out of order (at least with the first two books) I strongly recommend you start with the first one because it’s so good. I always enjoyed noir novels so I had a feeling that I would enjoy Carver novels too.

From the start of the book Good Samaritans establishes itself as a novel that will stick with you even after you finish it and have moved on to your next read. Carver uses the need of humans to connect with other humans to set up this noir thriller brilliantly.

Carver is one of the best Noir authors out there. His writing is enticing, making you crave more.

Told from mainly three points of view, we follow Seth Beauman who has trouble sleeping on the path of trying to connect with people over the phone. When he reaches a suicidal Hadley Serf, his late-night hobby turns into something more vicious. The use of the points of view is strong and captivating, giving the novel a level of complexity that many writers aspire to reach but at which Carver seems to be a natural.

The characters and their development is as well flawlessly executed and although I tried to scream at my book trying to make a character or the other to just see sense and don’t walk on the path Carver has set them on, the motivation of characters is very well blended in with the choices they are taking and every step or direction they are set on makes complete sense. Although there is some strong language, I’ve never felt like the word choice took anything away from the book; in fact making it better and more thrilling.

The title of the novel might sound innocent and a light read but it is nothing of the sort. Carver is one of the best Noir authors out there and his writing is so enticing that it makes you crave more. Structurally executed in quick and snappy chapters, the book is not easy to put down. And the twists will blow your mind.

On my Jo Nesbo scale, I would say that Carver needs his own because he is just that good. I even considered replacing my Jo Nesbo Scale into the Will Carver Scale. Carver is automatically an instant buy for me now regardless what he will publish in the future because of his writing style and structural brillince. For any writers that aspire to get a Noir published I would highly recommend Carver’s work to understand and dissect how a noir novel should be constructed and what the standard in my opinion should be.

Good Samaritans has been published by Orenda Books on the 15th of November 2018 and is available over on Amazon, Kobo, Waterstones and anywhere else good books are sold (hopefully). If it isn’t make sure that this book will be in stock where you purchase your books because it deserves to be.

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once in a while, I get the opportunity to read amazing fantasy and something inside me just blooms. I consider myself an avid reader now. But if you would’ve met me five years ago, I would have probably said that I read about five books a year.

I arrived very late at the party, discovering the joys of reading in my mid twenties. And once I got there, I had the feeling that I had missed so many amazing novels and somehow felt compelled to make up the time lost.

I think that every time I pick up a fantasy novel, especially the ones that are either recommended to me or put in front of me by my friends with a ‘you-will-thoroughly-enjoy-this’ label on them, I start to get skeptical. Not because I don’t trust them, but because I know that a part of me had wished that I had read it when I was younger. When I was the target audience for the book.

Tracy Deonn weaves a well-known legend with her unique ideas perfectly, trapping reader in an original tale of magic and secret societies.

Nonetheless, Legendborn is one of the novels that I wished had come out when I was in my teens. It is a modern, Arthurian Legend inspired fantasy novel with elements of RootCraft (magic drawn from the roots of plants). Tracy Deonn conjures a world that feels new and fresh and in my opinion like anything that I had read in recent fantasies.

There were so many aspects of this novel that I enjoyed, and some that I enjoyed a bit less.

Let me start by just giving a few examples of the things that I enjoyed in this novel. The characters are amazing. With some very few exceptions (which I will go into later in this review) are fleshed out from head to toe. I particularly enjoyed the attention with which Deonn creates side characters, that although (and I presume) won’t come to the forefront until maybe later on in the series, making them feel important throughout the novel even though they appear for one scene or two in the whole book.

Bree, the protagonist of the story and the main POV from which we see the events of the novel being played out is one of the strongest main characters I’ve read in a while in a YA Novel. She came off as loveable but at the same time not overly characterized to me, jumping straight off the page and by the end I felt like I had acquired a new friend rather than reading the events that happened to a stranger.

One of the things that came off to me as clunky was the characterization of Selwyn Kane. I know what Tracy Deonn wanted to achieve with this character but to be honest it didn’t work for me. There is more to be redeemed in the character before I can actually believe that he is trustworthy and wondered why Bree changed her demeanour around him so quickly. All in all he comes off as ‘too much’.

However I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I would gladly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys retellings of classical stories but also enjoy a good twist. Legendborn is a series that I will definitely will keep my eye on.

Best of January 2021

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BooksTechnica is now a month old. I’m so happy with the fact that I took the decision to invest time in a blog, to share my opinions of the books I read and try to share the love of reading books.

January was a bumpy start to the year. In retrospect I believe that I’ve never read as much as I did this January. Nonetheless this permitted me to make a top three of the best books I read in January, across all genres.

Without further ado, here are my top 3 novels I read in January 2021.

Third Place – THE INSTITUTE by Stephen King

This was my first ever thriller by Stephen King and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The story is complex, the characters are amazing, the idea behind the whole novel is mind blowing. King’s writing is so beloved by everyone for a reason and I can’t say I didn’t expect to be impressed by his way with words but to a certain degree I didn’t expect him to be this good.

The setting, the tone, everything is on point. There was not one crack in the whole novel that I could see and even though it was a farfetched idea and concept, by the end of the book I found myself believing everything I had just read and panicked thinking that this might be real. And might be happening without us knowing.

Second Place – DEAR CHILD by Romy Hausmann

This second place is very well deserved in my opinion. I think the only reason why I didn’t award Romy Hausmann with the first place wasn’t of the writers fault but because I had read a better thriller this month in my opinion.

I loved this. As I mentioned in the review of this book, I hope Quercus decides to publish, Hausmann’s debut as well. There is nothing I would change about the way this book has been executed. Translation is on point and makes sense although I know multiple people found it a bit clunky.

If you want a thriller that will make you want to go double check if you locked the door, pick Dear Child up and immerse yourself in this beauty.

First Place – THE SILENT SUSPECT by Nell Pattison

EVERYBODY. NEEDS. TO. READ. THIS. BOOK.

When I received an Advance Readers Copy of this I’m not going to lie, I was skeptical. I thought that maybe I won’t like it. I thought that maybe I would get bored after a few pages in.

I was sooooooo wrong. After reading THE SILENT SUSPECT I am a Nell Pattison stan. This series is amazing. From the character development to the execution and how we are being through this heart pounding novel.

Read this series. Now. You’ll thank me later.

I can’t wait to see what amazing books I will discover in February. I surely have my eyes set on a few novels that have been published in the first days of February and if they will be as good as the reads in January, then I’m not ready. Picking this top 3 was difficult for different reasons but I stand by my decision. All these books deserve to be checked out and I hope that you will and share your thoughts with me over on Twitter or via e-mail.

Whisper Island by Carissa Ann Lynch

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An Arc was sent to us by the publisher in exchange for an honest review of this book. Thank you to One More Chapter Publicity team for allowing us to read this and review it.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Whisper-Island-absolutely-gripping-thriller-ebook/dp/B08KSNFGB5

What would you do if all your friends invite you to go for a trip on a secluded island? Would you give in to the peer pressure and accept to go? Why wouldn’t you since you can live there rent free, since one of your friends friend owns the place. After all you don’t know yet that soon one of your friends will end up dead…

Whisper Island by Carissa Ann Lynch was thoroughly enjoyable. The writing is snappy, the chapters are short, the viewpoints are plentiful and the premise is promising.

I admit it, I was some what sceptical when I started reading it. Something about the story didn’t add up and felt at times that this might be a book in a series, as there were references to characters pasts that wouldn’t be revealed until later on. After realising that it was a writing style choice, of hinting at something obivous in the characters pasts that would later on come in to play, I understood that I was overthinking it.

Carissa Ann Lynch is a master at tone and setting, placing the right words in the right place.

Whisper Island has a straightforward plot. Friends gather on an island to stay there rent-free for how long they want to, to work on their art. Then suddenly one of them ends up dead. Something about the plot felt very Agatha Christie-esque to me and I couldn’t help but make the connection to ‘And then there were none’.

Although it reads as a cozy mystery at times, Whisper Island tackles the theme of revenge and I think that it does so well enough to be enjoyable. Carissa Ann Lynch is in my mind a prolific author, having published over nine mystery novels, finished two series and contributed to two anthologies. Because of this, I was expecting a bit more. The story is fairly linear and we follow the POV of different characters—which added a layer of complexity to the story but left me craving for more.

I have enjoyed reading Whisper Island but I also think that it would have been a 5 star rating if we could have seen Mia’s past rather then be told about it as it would increased the tension and the stakes in the story. In conjunction with this same would be applicable to Riley’s background. It would have added a layer of ‘i-wonder-what-will-happen-next’ that I found the story was lacking towards the end.

The pacing is great, as it should be for a thriller. Characters were defined and fleshed out enough to know who was who from the start however would have loved the conflict in between the characters to be introduced earlier on so that when we get to the middle of the novel the reader can anticipate something wrong will happen rather than rely fully on the tone and setting.

Speaking of tone and setting, I think Carissa Ann Lynch is doing an amazing job of choosing her words carefully adding a layer of flair in her tonality and characters voice. She crafts setting with ease, in a few sentences, without going to much into unnecessary details and strikes a perfect balance between underwriting and overwriting.

Whisper Island is perfect for anyone looking for a quickly paced thriller that can be read in one sitting with a good premise, good tone and setting and a great twist at the end. I would recommend it to newer people to the genre that want to see what a mystery thriller is and how enjoyable it can be.

Whisper Island is coming out 5th of February 2021 from One More Chapter in the UK which with this new addition are setting themselves up as an engrossing, thrilling and definitely to watch out for Imprint in the thriller genre.

Q by Christina Dalcher

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Rating: 5 out of 5.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Christina-Dalcher-Book-2/dp/0008303347

For the first review of February, I went out of my comfort zone.

I went through a phase recently where I was desperate for a good dystopian fiction novel. It came around after I had just remembered and reread Margret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and I remembered I had read a brilliant novel from Christina Dalcher called Vox.

I was so glad to find that she had published another dystopian novel. And let me tell you, I loved Q probably more than I did Vox.

Something with the story resonated with me. The premise of the world that Dalcher constructs in Q was realistic to me. Coming from a background where the societal pressure I lived in was more focused on what degree and what marks I had achieved more than what I was able to actually do crawled out of me just after I understood that the world of Q was based on this.

A world where you are basically marked by what a test that is done on you as an infant tells you, you are able to do. Not what you can actually do. Not your aspiration. Not the work that you put in. But a test that benchmarks you in one of the classes predefined by the authoritarian government.

An instant favourite. Dalcher is a master at setting up her characters to succeed.

The main character through which the story is told is Elena Fairchild. Elena is a mother of two and she is in fact classified as being part of the upper class in the society. She is a teacher in one of the new elite schools that her two daughters attend. Elena’s children, Anne and Freddie are exactly like she is. Ambitious and hard working to achieve the standard that her mother but also the society holds of them.

We follow Elena on a journey of discovery but also understanding that the danger was always closer to home. Her husband does work for the government and when a recent mandate asks that all children are periodically checked for their quotient (for short Q), Elena’s dark past and secrete come to the surface.

I thoroughly enjoyed the journey Elena goes through. Emotionally she’s one of the most stable characters I have read in a long while. She makes sacrifices through out the book that made sense and didn’t needed to be explained by long paragraph’s because Dalcher worked on setting up her characters for what was to come.

Q is a standalone novel that will become an instant favorite for everyone who reads it. I’m thoroughly excited of what Christina Dalcher will publish next and if she can keep raising the bar in her novels.

The Kingdom by Jo Nesbo

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingdom-thriller-bestselling-author-Harry-ebook/dp/B084Q8YRBP/

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Jo Nesbo, for me, is one of the best scandinavian writers up there with Ragnar Jonasson. There is just something about his Harry Hole series, besides the amazing plot and characters, that draws me in instantly when I see that there is another book being translated and published.

However The Kingdom has somehow managed to sneak past me and was surprised after Christmas to find that the book had been published and is available to be bought. So I didn’t linger too long on the Waterstone’s webpage and acquired it.

Now, to a certain degree, because it carried his name, I went into this book with a certain expectation. Expectations that usually Nesbo manages to match if not exceed. Yet after finishing The Kingdom I found myself longing for something more. Something that I couldn’t place my finger on.

Jo Nesbo does thriller well because he understand his readers.

I believe that once you publish as many books and carry the success that Nesbo has carried, something needs to be changed from time to time. You can’t simply carry on without challenging yourself as a writer, whether that means changing the genre in which you’re writing or by telling different stories from the ones that brought your success. I liked this about his books. I like that he doesn’t stick with a pattern and tries new things that probably excite him as a writer.

However as a reader, there is a reason why I return to Nesbo. Whether it is for the flawed characters (which The Kingdom has plenty of) or whether it is for the actioned packed plot, you return because you liked what you read. Right? There is something that appeals to you. It can be anything.

I mentioned in a previous post that Harry Hole for me is the stable for crime thrillers however I should have probably looked into the book more. Maybe then I wouldn’t have been disappointed to find a domestic thriller about two brothers that have had a difficult childhood and now that they are grown up they find themselves pushed with their backs against the wall when a cold case from when they were children gains the attention of the current police detective.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed The Kingdom however it isn’t what I expected when it came to a Jo Nesbo novel. It is definitely a more character driven novel than a plot driven novel than his Harry Hole series. There is a clear path set out for the protagonist from the beginning. You as the reader discover things from his perspective and understand why he is the way he is. Because of this the protagonist (if he can even be called a protagonist…) is the most striking feature that is still with me now that I read the book.

Nesbo does thriller well because he understands his readers. He understands that every promise he makes in the first part of the novel requires to have a reveal and a pay off (regardless if the reader agrees with it or not) towards the end of the novel. I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone who has enjoyed Nesbo in the past but also to new readers to the Nordic Noir genre who want to be gripped by a beautiful, pristine setting. I also would recommend this novel to aspiring authors who want to read and understand how a flawed character should be written.

I Know What I Saw by S K Sharp

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An Arc was sent to us by the publisher in exchange for an honest review of this book. Thank you to Cornerstone Random House Publicity team for allowing us to read this and review it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Know-What-Saw-perfect-memory-ebook/dp/B08665LTVK/

Rating: 4 out of 5.

What would you do if you had a perfect memory? A perfect memory that would force you to relieve all your memories? Would you try to control it so that you would remember only the good? Or would you accept it as it is and relieve the best and the worst?

But would you remember the things that mattered like they happened?

These are just some of the questions that I found myself asking myself whilst reading the book. I Know What I Saw had a very strong start in my opinion. We follow the protagonist (which I loved that for once we have a protagonist in her fifties) as she navigates a missing case from her youth in the 80ies after a body is being discovered underneath of what is now a park.

S K Sharp brings an unexpectedly strong protagonist to the table that is well fleshed out.

Nicola, the protagonist has a perfect memory of her 80ies and not only. She remembers everything that happened to her and can recall things in detail. From the way people were dressed to what cars were and weren’t on the street. S K Sharp fleshes the character well through out the book. In fact all characters seem to come to live while reading this novel.

This book is more of a mystery than a thriller. I’m saying this because the pacing is definitely a bit slower than what you would normally expect from a thriller. But don’t fret because it picks up. The author had made a conscious decision of putting the mystery to the forefront in the first part of the novel and the thriller aspect in the second half of the novel.

Now was the mystery enough to keep me going until the end? Yes and no. Yes – because I had no inkling of who the antagonist was. No – because after a quarter into the book I found the recalling a bit repetitive, not necessarily because it was badly written but because there was no layer to Nicola’s ability of recalling the memories. They were all there and she could pluck them from her mind and felt like a there was no actual barrier in preventing her from that.

I would have enjoyed if there would have been a twist regarding her memories early on. Nonetheless it was still enjoyable to navigate Nicola’s present and past. How her life evolved from ambitious and day dreaming teenager to a middle aged woman that had a failed marriage and working as a librarian.

Overall I Know What I Saw is a good read for everyone who enjoys mystery filled novels, with a unexpectedly strong lead that for a change isn’t in their early thirties.

Dear Child by Romy Hausmann

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An Arc was sent to us by the publisher in exchange for an honest review of this book. Thank you to Quercus Books Publicity team for allowing us to read this and review it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dear-Child-Romy-Hausmann/dp/1529401445/.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

What if you were a parent and your child would be missing for thirteen years? What would you do? Would you give up hope? Or would you try to convince everyone around you that your child is still alive?

What if you were a child and all you knew of a family are the two parents that live with you? Would you find it odd that it is always only your mother that is still there? Would you ask yourself if you didn’t know anything else if your parents are happy? Or would you cling the normality you’ve been brought up with?

What if you were kidnapped and would be forced to live your life in a cabin? Would you try to escape even though you are locked inside, and there are no windows? What about the two children that are with you? If you managed to escape would you take them with you? Or would you leave them behind?

Dear Child by Romy Hausmann tackles these questions head-on. The story is masterfully structured with fragments of the story given at the right time and the right place. Throughout reading the book, I realised more and more just how brilliant Hausmann pieced together everything for me, the reader. It was like seeing a puzzle being built in front of my eyes. Clinging to every word that she had set on paper, trying to see underneath it, to make sure there were no clues buried underneath. Although this is Hausmann’s debut on the English market, this is her second novel, her debut being Marta schläft (trans. Marta sleeps).

Romy Hausmann’s writing will wrap you and pull you in a story that would leave you brathless and wondering until the very end.

Originally published in Germany and topping the charts, Dear Child is the perfect psychological thriller for new readers to the genre that are looking to see what a good and well-written novel can do. Still, it also pleases the readers that love the genre because it hits all the right notes.

Translated by Jamie Bulloch, I believe that credit needs to be given where credit is due. Bulloch captures perfectly the tone set by Hausmann and conveys it in English perfectly. Although the dialogue, to native English speakers, might sound off (or would require some adjusting to) I would remind them that the tonality and the structure are linked to it being a foreign book and needs to read as such.

I think—having studied German and living there—that Bulloch does amazingly and manages to make this translation make sense without sacrificing the german flair in which people would normally talk. This is noticeable, in my opinion in the way Matthias interacts with Gerd. Gerd being in the position of police officer there is an undertone of respect (even though Matthias disagrees strongly with the actions undertaken by the Police in the case of his missing daughter) when speaking with him.

But I digress. Dear Child is an instant favourite, which many will enjoy. The book is out with Quercus Books in the UK. Under normal circumstances, I would say that this book would be perfect for a holiday by the pool with the sun shining down on you. Still, regardless of where you are, Romy Hausmann’s writing will wrap you and pull you in a story that will leave you breathless and wondering until the very end.

I hope that Quercus will in the near future in translate Romy Hausmann’s debut novel, Marta schläft as well because I’m definitely in desperate need of more of her writing.

The Dinner Party by R.J. Parker

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dinner-Party-addictive-psychological-thriller-ebook/dp/B07Q1KMDJH/

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

What would you do if you were at a party with your best friends and suddenly someone suggest you should play a game where you deepest, darkest secret could be revealed in front of the people you love the most? Would you join in? Why wouldn’t you since everyone else already agreed to do it. If you back down now, then you definitely have something to hide. And you wouldn’t want people to know that would you?

Let me tell you, The Dinner Party by R.J.Parker took me on a journey, my poor heart wasn’t ready for. There wasn’t even a warning to buckle my seat belt. No one told me what I was getting myself into. No one told me to take the day off and cancel all my plans because this book would devour my whole attention.

R.J. Parker is a master pacer, delivering a suspenseful story, without revealing too much, leaving readers wanting more.

Once I read the first chapter, I couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to stop. I had to know what the hell was going on and I think that an amazing thriller does exactly just that. The Dinner Party follows a fairly simple premise. A couple throws a party for their friends. Once everyone has arrived and had a drink or two one of them suggest a game. What can possible go wrong?

There were so many moments in this book where I was happy that I’m and introvert and that I don’t usually go to parties. The idea of being so naked, so exposed in front of people especially from the perspective of the characters in the story who have secrets hidden, made me feel anxious. R.J. Parker develops the story at a very quick pace but without giving anything away. The characters are so morally grey that when the next day they find out that one of their guests had been murdered you expect that any of them could’ve done it.

Throughout the book, which I luckily picked up on a Saturday morning and finished it on the same day, I found myself saying the publishers name without even realizing. Published by One More Chapter (a division of HarperCollins) the book delivers just that. A nail-biting thriller that hits home with every chapter leaving you wanting more. The Dinner Party in my opinion solidifies this publisher as one to watch out for. Especially if you enjoy this genre as much as I do.

The Institute by Stephen King

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Institute-Stephen-King/dp/1529355419

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

I have been hearing about this a lot in the book community on Instagram and YouTube. I haven’t gotten around to read a lot of King’s works but I did enjoy a couple of his stories that he had published under the name of Richard Bachmann. If you haven’t checked out the Running Man I would highly recommend it.

Now, when it comes to stories that King writes, I automatically expect two things: either to be biting off my finger nails or to read a seemingly fiction novel with a few twists of the fantastical.

Although I have managed to get a copy of Misery I’m still trying to bring myself to read it. It isn’t because I’m afraid that King will disappoint. On the contrary. I’m afraid that it would hit all the right notes and keys and will cause me a couple of sleepless nights.

The Institute definitely falls in the later half of the two. The seemingly normal story we are following, at least in the first part of the story is thoughtfully written. We follow an ex-cop that moves, by coincidence to a small town in the south and stays there. Then we are being introduced to what I like to call the actual protagonist of the story, Luke Ellis who is a gifting young man. At the beginning when it was pointed at the fact that Luke is gifted my fight or flight senses kicked in. There were so many stories written about people who possess supernatural abilities that I loved but also that I didn’t enjoy.

King is great at telling you a story and selling it to you, making even the outrageous feel possible.

In King’s case, he played it smartly. Gifted meant that Luke was very smart and he would soon attend university although he was just twelve. Yes. Twelve. I kept wondering while I was reading when the two story lines would intersect. The idea was compelling enough and at times I found myself wondering whether such a place might actually exist. Whilst the reasoning behind why the Institute would exist was a bit of a stretch, the plot and the characters were written with taste and sense that overall I found myself by the end of the book to buy it.

King is a master at plot. Everyone knows that. King is great at telling you a story and selling it to you. The Institute is testament to his abilities and if anyone has thought that his crown would be taken away, in my opinion King is a leading example of how strong writing and a strong idea can create the most magical of places without too many magical elements required.