Category: Thriller

Splinters Of Sunshine by Patrice Lawrence

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The Blurb On The Back:

Help.

I pick up the envelope … As I rip down the sides, there’s loads of paper bursting out; stuck on flowers, dandelions, roses …

Spey recently received two surprises.  The first: his ex-prisoner dad turning up unannounced, and the second: a mysterious package containing torn-up paper flowers.

Spey instantly recognises it as a collage he made with his old friend Dee, and decides she must be in danger, but there are no clues to her whereabouts.

There’s only one person he knows who can help to track her down …

On a road trip like no other, will Spey and his dad find Dee, before it’s too late?

SPLINTERS OF SUNSHINE was released in the United Kingdom on 19th August 2021.  Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

You can order SPLINTERS OF SUNSHINE by Patrice Lawrence from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Now You See by Max Manning

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The Blurb On The Back:

Will you look her in the eyes, just before she dies?

I, Killer has posted two photos of his first victim online – Before Death and After Death.  They’ve gone viral before DCI Fenton’s team even discovers the body.

Soon, another victim’s photo is similarly posted … and so begins the killer’s following.

DCI Fenton is determined to discover the identity of I, Killer.  Then the murderer makes the hunt personal, and Fenton’s search becomes a matter of life of death for him and his daughter.

But as I, Killer’s body-count rises, his number of online followers is growing – and he loves to give his fans what they want … 

You can order NOW YOU SEE by Max Manning from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein

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The Blurb On The Back:

”We don’t pick and choose what to be afraid of.  Our fears pick us.”

Tash Carmody has been traumatised since childhood, when she witnessed her gruesome imaginary friend Sparrow lure young Mallory Fisher away from a carnival.  At the time nobody believed Tash, and she has since come to accept that Sparrow wasn’t real.  Now fifteen and mute, Mallory’s never spoken about the week she went missing.  As disturbing memories resurface, Tash starts to see Sparrow again.  And she realises Mallory is the key to unlocking the truth about a dark secret connecting them.  Does Sparrow exist after all?  Or is Tash more dangerous to others than she thinks?

You can order SMALL SPACES by Sarah Epstein from Amazon UK, Amazon USA, or Waterstone’s.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Making Wolf by Tade Thompson

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The Blurb On The Back:

Meet Weston Kogi, a London supermarket store detective.  He returns to his West African home country for his aunt’s funeral.  He sees his family, his ex-girlfriend Nana, his old school mate, Church.  Food is good, beer is plentiful and telling people he works as a homicide detective seems like harmless exaggeration, until he wakes up in hell.

He is kidnapped and forced by two separate rebel factions to investigate the murder of a local political hero, Papa Busi.  The solution may tip a country on the brink into civil war.  Making Wolf is the outrageous, frightening, violent and sometimes surreal homecoming experience of a lifetime. 

You can buy MAKING WOLF by Tape Thompson from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Carter by Ted Lewis

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The Blurb On The Back:

Jack Carter, strong-arm man for a London gang, returns to his Northern home town for a funeral.

Brother Frank was honest, meek and sober.  Why was he found dead after a car crash, stinking of whisky?

Jack wants to know – old friends are shifty – old enemies edgy – and the girls aren’t talking …

Fast of mind, fist and boot, Jack decides to stay around.

You can buy GET CARTER by Ted Lewis from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne by Jonathan Stroud

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The Blurb On The Back:

WANTED: SCARLETT AND BROWNE

Scarlett McCain is a shoot-first-ask-questions-later kind of outlaw.  She survives on bank heists, her wits – and never looking back.

That is until she meets Albert Browne, a boy with a dark past and an even darker talent.  Thrown together in a lawless future Britain, populated by strange and savage beasts, the two must escape across the wilderness – with deadly enemies close behind. 

You can buy THE OUTLAWS SCARLETT & BROWNE by Jonathan Stroud from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Good Girls Die First by Kathryn Foxfield

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The Blurb On The Back:

THE NIGHT BEGAN WITH BLACKMAIL:

Eight o’clock.  Portgrave Pier.  Can you keep a secret?

Ten teenagers lured to a derelict carnival.  Each one with a dark past they are determined to keep hidden.  As they start to die, is it an unknown killer they need to fear … or each other?

Mind games.  Murder.  Mayhem.

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO SURVIVE THE NIGHT?

You can buy GOOD GIRLS DIE FIRST by Kathryn Foxfield from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Slough House by Mick Herron

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The Blurb On The Back:

’Kill us?  They’ve never needed to kill us,’ said Lamb.  ‘I mean, look at us.  What would be the point?’

A year after a calamitous blunder by the Russian secret service left a British citizen dead from Novichok poisoning, Diana Taverner is on the warpath.  What seems a gutless response from the government has pushed the Service’s First Desk into mounting her own counter-offensive – but she’s had to make a deal with the devil fist.  And given that the devil in question is arch-manipulator Peter Judd, she could be about to lose control of everything she’s fought for.

Meanwhile, still reeling from recent losses, the slow horses are worried they’ve been pushed further into the cold.  Slough House has been wiped from Service records, and fatal accidents keep happening.  No wonder Jackson Lamb’s crew are feeling paranoid.  But they have they actually been targeted?

With a new populist movement taking a grip on London’s streets, and the old order ensuring that everything’s for sale to the highest bider, the world’s an uncomfortable place for those deemed surplus to requirements.  The wise move would be to find a safe place and wait for the troubles to pass.

Bu the slow horses aren’t famed for making wise decisions.

You can buy SLOUGH HOUSE by Mick Herron from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Rules For Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

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The Blurb On The Back:

If you want to get away with murder, play by the rules.

A series of unsolved murders with one thing in common: each of the deaths bears an eerie resemblance to the crimes depicted in classic mystery novels.

The deaths lead FBI Agent Gwen Mulvey to Boston’s Old Devils bookshop.  Owner Malcolm Kershaw had once posted an online article titled ‘My Eight Favourite Murders’, and there seems to be a deadly link between the deaths and his list – which includes Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers On A Train and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.

Can the killer be stopped before all eight of these perfect murders have been re-enacted? 

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The Catch by Mick Herron

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The Blurb On The Back:

If life in the Intelligence Service has taught John Bachelor anything, it’s to keep his head down.  Especially now, when he’s living rent-free in a dead spook’s flat.

So he’s not delighted to be woken at dawn by a pair of Regent’s Park’s heavies, looking for a client he’s not seen in years.

Benny Manors could be anywhere, provided it serves alcohol.  So John sets out on a reluctant trawl through the bars of the capital, all the while plagued by the age-old questions: will he end up sleeping in his car?  How many bottles of gin can be afford at London prices?

And just how far will Regent’s Park go to prevent anyone rocking the Establishment’s boat.

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The Haven Revolution by Simon Lelic

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The Blurb On The Back:

When pupils start going missing from a prestigious boarding school, Ollie Turner knows it’s a job for the Haven.

Below the city streets, the Haven is a hideout for kids, run by kids.

Ollie and the Haven’s Investigations Team put their lives on the line, going undercover to find the missing children.  But little do they realise that a deadly enemy awaits them – one with plans to destroy everything they hold dear.

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The Haven by Simon Lelic

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The Blurb On The Back:

Underneath the city there exists a secret organisation.

It’s called The Haven – a sanctuary for kids run by kids, with an investigation team that fights for justice everywhere. 

Alone and on the run, 13-year-old Ollie Turner is taken in by The Haven – and finds himself in a world of danger and adventure he could never have imagined …

You can order THE HAVEN by Simon Lelic from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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Liquid Crystal Nightingale by Eeleen Lee

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The Blurb On The Back:

Go deeper, they said.  Look closer. 

Pleo Tanza is a survivor.  Her father was broken by tragedy, her twin sister is dead – chewed up and spat out by the corruption and injustice of Chatoyance – but she’s going to make it, whatever it takes.  She’s going to get off this rock.

But escape is for the rich or lucky.  Pleo’s framed for the murder of a rival student – the daughter of one of the colony’s wealthy, squabbling clans – and goes on the run, setting off a chain of events that could destroy the fragile balance of the old colony forever …

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Skin Deep by Liz Nugent

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The Blurb On The Back:

Cordelia Russell lives on the Côte d’Azur.  For years she’s acted the part of the wealthy English divorcée.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Tonight, she will spend a final decadent night at a glittering party.  Surrounded by the young, beautiful and privileged she will forget her age and her poverty.

But when dawn breaks she will stumble home through the back streets to her door.  Where flies buzz over the decomposing corpse lying in her bedroom …

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Nobody Walks by Mick Herron

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The Blurb On The Back:

Tom Bettany is working at a meat processing plant in France hen he gets a voice mail from an Englishwoman he doesn’t know telling him that his estranged 26-year-old son is dead – Liam Bettany had a fatal fall from his London balcony.

Now for the first time since he cut all ties years ago, Bettany returns home to London to find out the truth about his son’s death.  Maybe it’s the guilt he feels about losing touch with Liam that’s gnawing at him, or maybe he’s actually put his finger on a labyrinthine plot, but either way he’ll get to the bottom of the tragedy, no matter whose feathers he has to ruffle.  But more than a few people are interested to hear Bettany is back in town, from incarcerated mob bosses to those in the highest echelons of MI5.  He might have thought he’d left it all behind when he first skipped town, but nobody ever really walks away. 

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White Bodies by Jane Robins

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The Blurb On The Back:

Callie loves Tilda.

She’s her sister, after all.  And she’s beautiful and successful.

Tilda loves Felix.

He’s her husband.  Successful and charismatic, he is also controlling, suspicious and, possibly, dangerous.

Still, Tilda loves Felix.

And Callie loves Tilda.  Very, very much.

So she’s made a deal to save her.  But the cost could destroy them both … 

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Reconstruction by Mick Herron

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The Blurb On The Back:

What should have been a simply pick-up turns into a day-long nightmare for Bad Sam Chapman.

When an operational catastrophe puts a gun in the hands of a young man who then breaks into South Oxford Nursery School and take a group hostage, teacher Louise Kennedy fears the worst.  But Jaime Segura isn’t there on a homicidal mission, and he’s just as scared as those whose lives he holds as collateral.

As an armed police presence builds outside the school’s gates, Bad Sam Chapman – head of the intelligence services’s internal security force, the Dogs – battles the clock to find out what Jaime is after, before those who are after Jamie find him first …

You can buy RECONSTRUCTION by Mick Herron from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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My Sister The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

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The Blurb On The Back:

When Korede’s dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what’s expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach.  This’ll be the third boyfriend Ayoola’s dispatched in ‘self-defence’ and the third mess that her lethal little sibling has left Korede to clear away.  She should probably go to the police for the good of the menfolk of Nigeria, but she loves her sister and, as they say, family always comes first.  Until, that is, Ayoola starts dating the doctor where Korede works as a nurse.  Korede’s long been in love with him, and isn’t prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean sacrificing the other … 

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A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder by Holly Jackson

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The Blurb On The Back:

The case is closed.

Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it.  Everyone in town knows he did it.

But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure.  When she chooses the case as the topic for her final-year project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden.  And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth? 

You can order A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER by Holly Jackson from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

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No Bad Deed by Heather Chavez

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The Blurb On The Back:

You’re driving home from work to your husband and children.

Suddenly a woman is in front of your car.  She’s being attacked.

You call the police and they tell you to stay in your car.

But what if you got out to help?  What might the consequences be?

You save the woman, but the attacker takes your handbag.  And your car.

And then, the next day, when you think it’s all over, your husband disappears.

He’s gone without a trace.

And then he texts you.  I’m sorry.

But is it really him?

Nothing could prepare you for what happens next …

Driving home one rainy night, Cassie Larkin sees a man attacking a woman on the side of the road and makes a split-second decision that will throw her sedate suburban life into chaos.  Against all reason and advice, she gets out of her car to help.

She saves the woman, but while she helps the victim, the attacker steals her car.  Now he has her name.  Her address.  And he knows about her children.

The next day – Halloween – her husband disappears while trick-or-treating with their six-year-old daughter.  Are these disturbing events a coincidence or the beginning of a horrifying nightmare?

As she desperately searches for answers, Cassie discovers that nothing is as random as it seems, and that she is more than willing to fight – to go to the most terrifying extremes – to save her family and her marriage.  

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Pretend You’re Safe by Alexandra Ivy

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The Blurb On The Back:

Jaci Patterson was sixteen when she found the first locket on her porch.

Inside were a few strands of hair wrapped around a scrap of bloodstained ribbon.  Though the ‘gifts’ kept arriving, no one believed her hunch that a serial killer was at work.

Now Jaci has finally returned home – only for bodies of strangled victims to start appearing years after the disappeared.

Her nightmare is beginning all over again.  And this time it won’t end until the murderer makes Jaci his … for ever.

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A Strange Kind Of Brave by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald

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The Blurb On The Back:

What doesn’t kill you makes you … stronger?

Jake McCormack is the villain of Clanfedden.  He’s just killed a boy – deliberately run him over with his truck, in front of everyone.  And he knows he’ll get away with it. 

Luca Spinelli, 14, is the new boy in town.  He’s looking for a fresh start after what happened at his old school.

Allie Redmond has lived in Clanfedden all her life.  Luca’s friendship is the bright spark she needs.

But more than anyone, Allie knows the danger of Jake McCormack.  She needs to warn Luca.  She needs to prevent disaster.  At least, she needs to try …

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Swimming Against The Storm by Jess Butterworth

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The Blurb On The Back:

Our land is sinking.  It’s disappearing into the water.  And no one knows how to save it

Twelve-year-old Eliza and her younger sister Avery have lived their entire lives in a small fishing village on the coast of Louisiana, growing up alongside turtles, pelicans and porpoises.  But now, with sea levels rising, their home is at risk of being swept away.

Determined to save the land, Eliza and Avery secretly go searching in the swamp for the dangerous, wolf-life loup-garou.  If they can prove this legendary creature exists, they’re sure that the government will have to protect its habitat – and their community.

But there’s one problem: the loup-garou has never been seen before.  And with a tropical storm approaching and the sisters deep, deep in the swampland, soon it’s not just their home at risk, but their lives as well …

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