Category: Reviews

Bitter Flowers by Gunnar Staalesen

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Thank you to Anne Cater for allowing me to take part in the blog tour. Thank you to Orenda Books for the advance readers copy. All view are my own.

There are books that are being written for the story. There are books that are being written for the characters. There are books that are being written to share a message, to prove a point. I could probably go on and on about the type of books that are being written but Bitter Flowers can’t so easily pushed in one of the before mentioned categories.

I have enjoyed Bitter Flowers over a period of a week, in which I was stressed at work and the only thing that I was looking for every night was to return to this book. And regardless how much I wanted to put the book down, every night I had a fight with myself as the more I read the more invested I was in the setting, the characters, the story, the words.

Not convinced? Then just answer me this. What would you do if a body would turn up in a swimming pool? And what connection has that body to an eight year old missing persons case?

Staalesen puts Bergen on the scandi noir map with a strong sense of place, an amazing cast of characters and a perfectly attentive narrative filled with tone and mood.

Ninth in the series, Bitter Flowers can be easily read as a stand alone. There is not much introduction needed for the main character as we are learning very quickly about his flaws. A staple of the noir novel we learn to love the main character through their flaws, and Varg Velum is no different. We begin with his release from rehab and as he tries to recover he takes a seamless innocent task of house sitting. However from the mood that Staalesen creates through carefully chosen words and topic, we understand that this won’t be a relaxing holiday.

Structurally, Bitter Flowers is built upon deceit but also fits in the category of what I like to refer to as a “fair-game”. Staalesen relays the events through the eyes of Varg that are infused with his character but we get a plethora of clues to be able to follow along and make our own minds up as to who the murderer is. But one mystery remains. What does the body in the swimming pool have to do with a missing persons case from over eight years ago to do with one another? Are they linked or are they two separate cases?

As a fan of the Harry Hole series, I relished the ninth instalment and I am really curious to do a deep dive in the series to see the character progression in the series. Laced with strong narrative and a impactful sense of place, Bitter Flowers is a must-read for Scandinavian noir fans. Bitter Flowers is now out in paperback from Orenda Books, which only highlights the powerhouse of books that the team there have lined up for us.

The Quiet People by Paul Cleave

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Thank you to Anne from Random Things Tours and Orenda Books for allowing me to take part in this amazing blog tour. All views are my own.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Paul Cleave is an author, which much more to my amazement have not heard before reading The Quite People, that has tackled a story many claim to have read before in the thriller genre. A child abduction leads to the parents being suspected of harming the child and trying to cover their tracks by reporting him missing. But that’s just the beauty of the thriller genre and why I return to it. Its multifaceted layers allow authors to explore endless possibilities in a premise. Pair that with a brilliant mind that asks all the right questions in the wrong places and you end up with a recipe for success. That is The Quiet People.

From the outside, this might look like your ordinary psychological thriller. But it isn’t even that. Nothing about The Quiet People was ordinary; from the writing to the characters and structure. A better description of The Quiet People is to think of it as three novels in one. Take Camerons POV and you end up with a brilliant psychological thriller that has at its centre a heartbreaking story of a father that loses everything. Take DI Kent and DI Thompson and you have a deliciously painful police procedural that can be a stand-alone story of its own. And then there is the prologue which although breaks every boundary set on a novel, can be expanded into a full-blown series on how devious antagonists can actually be.

Cleave has managed to find the cure to reading slumps all readers have been seeking for in this melange of convincing psychological thriller and heart racing police procedural.

While reading The Quiet People I did have moments in which I thought that there was no way the story would get any worse for its main protagonist, I was wrong. Cleave takes the ‘what-can-possibly-go-wrong-next’ to the next level with every chapter resulting in a compelling and unputdownable read. Many would see in The Quiet People a character-driven story but to me, it wasn’t exactly that. It was more a life story where equal opportunities were given to both the characters and the story to shine. And how brightly they do.

If I was asked to describe what Cleave has accomplished to do with this novel I would simply say find a remedy for reading slumps. Paced to brilliance, there is no dull moment to be found in The Quiet People. The story flows through the reader’s eyes, invoking emotions from cover to cover. It’s a rollercoaster of a read that will make you appreciate both the psychological aspects of our main narrator but also feel your heart thumping in your throat as those police procedural chapters appear seemingly out of nowhere. Don’t believe me? Go ahead. Read it and tell me I’m wrong.

Reading has started for me as a hobby but now, after reading The Quiet People I feel like I am more appreciative of the novels that are being written. Because they are so good and if they wouldn’t exist I would be so much less than who I am now. Cleave has accomplished what I thought was the impossible. Cleave got me excited to get writing again. And for that, Cleave will forever hold a very dear place in my heart.

The Quiet People is published by Orenda Books on 25/11/2021 and can be preordered here.

Psychopaths Anonymous by Will Carver

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Thank you to Anne Cater and Orenda Books for organising the blog tour and allowing me to be part of it. All views are my own.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

If you have read any of Carver’s books before, you know what he is capable of. At least I thought I knew. But the moment I started reading Psychopaths Anonymous I realised that this book, was nothing like any of the books that I read before.

What makes a reader read another book by an author? Is it the promise that the story they are about to embark on will be worth it? Or is it to find out how and more importantly how much their favourite author evolved?

These questions roamed around my head constantly as I read–no, devoured–Will Carver’s new book. I thought at first that I return to the Carververse because I know that no matter what the story will be about, it will be a bloody good one. This was confirmed to me by The Beresford–a Faustian story about unconventional deals in a house where it seems that there can’t be more than two tenants living at the same time. But I don’t think that is the only reason I return to read another Carver book. It’s more the thrill of not knowing what will come next. The thrill and fear to see what else has brewed in that twisted (in the best way possible) mind of his.

Psychopaths Anonymous is a genre defying masterpiece that will be remembered as the foundation of a new and exciting direction to the thriller and noir genre.

More often than not I’m intrigued by Carver’s mind. Psychopath Anonymous explores what would happen if a support group for psychopaths would exist. Seen from the perspective of Maeve, who is one of the best anti hero characters I’ve read in a very long time, we are taken on a journey of how such a group could be established. Sprinkle in some dark humour, let it simmer with murder and murderous intentions and then let it cook until complications and twists start to rise and you get yourself an enjoyable and original read.

With Psychopaths Anonymous, Carver took a risk. The thriller genre is pushed and blended into noir and then the noir genre is pushed and blended into psychological horror. In theory, this should be a recipe for disaster. But it isn’t. It works beautifully due to Carver’s ability to make his readers root of characters that are flawed in every single way. And with Psychopaths Anonymous, Carver’s writing reaches levels that I’m sure border on superhuman at this point.

Psychopaths Anonymous is by far the best instalment in the Carververse. It will not please everyone and I’m sure the intention wasn’t and isn’t to please everyone. Raw and unfiltered, Carver sets himself up as the author who is not afraid to make his readers scared of what will come next.

Sleepless by Romy Hausmann

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Thank you to Joe Christie from Quercus for giving me the opportunity to join the blog tour and sending me an advance readers copy. All views are my own

Rating: 5 out of 5.

What if your friend would ask you for your help? Would you say yes even though you are in over your head? How far are you willing to go for your friendship? Would you help them cover up a murder?

Back in January I had come across a little book titled ‘Dear Child’. The cover was the first thing that drew me towards the novel, having never heard of its author, Romy Hausmann. January was a month where I wanted desperately to go back to my roots, to spending hours upon hours discovering the German literature in high school, reading the small printed Reklam Ausgaben that had the colorful covers that looked more like collectibles. I had instantly made a connection with Hausmann and after finishing Dear Child I had to write a review about it. Back then little did I know that Quercus probably had already started to work on Hausmann’s debut – Marta Schläft – and mentioned even in my review that I hoped this would be translated.

Of course I didn’t have any patience and had a friend of mine in Berlin go and buy the German edition of the book. ( I think that book got lost in transit since it never reached me in the UK -.-” ) But then I found out that Quercus was going to publish Marta Schläft (trans. Sleepless) and it was happening sooner than I thought. And I made myself a promise, that if a blog tour would be organised, I had to be part of it.

Thankfully and thanks to Joe Christie who was kind enough to make my dream come true, I was allowed to take part in the amazing blog tour for this novel and now the time has come for me to share my thoughts on Sleepless.

With a strong publishing debut, Hausmann solidifies her status as the Queen of German suspense; proving her skills and abilities as a writer.

Meine Gütte did I enjoy Sleepless. Usually when it comes to debuts, I spot from the very first few pages that this is the first book someone has written. However with Sleepless, I never had that feeling; Hausmann brilliantly executing a complex narrative told from three points of view and on three different timelines.

The story follows the events in the life of Nadja who has been raised in Poland but now lives in Berlin. Her childhood wasn’t the best but she is now ready (or at least to a certain degree) ready to leave the past in the past and focus on her future. She is living a some-what normal life. Nadja has a job, and an apartament, however living is not as easy as it is for others. Battling with mental health issues and anxiety, Nadja finds it at times difficult to go on the subway, doesn’t like large groups of people and in the eyes of others her living conditions aren’t the best.

But to a certain degree Nadja is on the path of getting better. That’s until her friend one day appears at her work and tells her she needs her help. Nadja doesn’t hesitate to help her and why should she? Her therapist had told her she needs to make connections, and build friendships. But with what her so called friend needs help with isn’t opening a jar or help clean out the house of unnecessary things that she gathered without noticing. It’s with hiding a body.

The story from here on unravels in rapid successions. Multiple POVs contribute to fill in the picture about Nadja’s past and how she got to be who she is today. I’m not going to spoil the ending but all I’m going to let you know is that it is worth every moment.

The way Hausmann structured the novel I think is genius. We start somwhere in the middle of the story, without any context. We don’t know what’s happening only that things are happening. I found the moment to open the story perfect because it gave plenty of time and opportunity to give sufficient information to the reader whilst allowing for the current timeline to flow naturally. It also helped the overall ARC of the story to avoid any soggy middles by turning up the dial on the tension in the present moment and making the readers ask themselves how someone cold end in such a terrible position.

Sleepless, if I hadn’t known it was Hausmann’s debut, I would have been certain that it was written by an experienced writer that has penned many novels before. Simply from the structure adopted, I can only imagine how a difficult of a task it has been for Hausmann to strike the perfect balance that she has achieved. Now, thinking back to it, I should’ve known that Hausmann is a master storyteller from reading the intricate and yet effortlessly executed Dear Child.

Sleepless is definitely a great read for anyone who wants to see what German thrillers are all about. And paired with Jamie Bulloch’s translation, it is a perfect read for new readers of translated fiction as well as hard core lovers of the genre. Sleepless is now out everywhere where good books are sold and you should definitely check it out.

Please make sure you check out the other amazing reviewers who are part of this blog tour as well as check out Duncan’s review from Fiction from Afar who is my go to person when it comes to translated fiction reviews.

The Secret War by Louise Burfitt-Dons

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Thank you to Anne Carter for giving me the opportunity to take part in this blog tour and to Louise Burfitt-Dons for sending me an advance readers copy of this novel. All views are my own.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Where is the line you draw between fiction and reality? What if the reality to you’ve been told to believe isn’t actually the reality at all? What if what others would quickly dismiss as a conspiracy theory is in fact what truly happened?

These are only a few of the questions that I found myself asking myself as I turned page after page in The Secret War by Louise Burfitt-Dons. I had my reservations about this book when I first saw the invitation from the lovely Anne to join this blog tour but I told myself that I needed to step outside of my comfort zone if I wanted to discover more books to love and adore. And spoiler alert… I don’t regret that decision.

With a very close to anyone’s heart premise, I dived deep into this action packed thriller following characters that were very well fleshed out and made me take an interest in the overall Karen Andersen series that Burfitt-Dons has penned.

With a chilling premise and twists and turns at every page, The Secret War is definitely the perfect read for lovers of Dan Brown and Blake Crouch thrillers.

Without spoiling the books content too much, the story centers around one particular premise that I have found gutsy. What if one of the biggest nations in the world would develop a bio-weapon to further their plans for the world? But going off of only this idea, and why I find this idea so intriguing and gutsy is that if this is not done right, the repercussions could be immense.

Having now read The Secret War I understand just how well these types of books can be written. There were many times where I had feared that the characterization might go wrong but the thrill of discovering the narrative as well as the plot only added to the excitement and thrill. With a strong list of characters, I found myself often swept into the story and my hyperactive imagination made come alive in my mind. And I’m not kidding, I really got some big Mr Robot vibes (but not to the extend where I found it too similar).

The Secret War is a unique story that flips the ‘What If?’ plot theory on its head and delivers a strong story told from multiple locations and points of view. I highly recommend this book to the lovers of action thriller genre but also to readers who have been enjoying Dan Brown’s thrillers and Blake Crouch.

I’m very thankful to Anne Carter and Louise Burfitt-Dons for allowing me to take part in this blog tour and if you haven’t already make sure you check out Varietats review form the 21st of June here. Also tomorrow is BooklyMatters turn over on instagram to share their thoughts on the book, so make sure you head over to her instagram account (@booklymatters) and give them a follow to check out their review.

The Secret War is now available to be order on Amazon and even is free to read on Kindle if you have a KindleUnlimited subscription. So there’s no reason why not to check this thrilling read.

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.