Category: National Reviews

A vajazzle is a fashion statement more talked about than actually seen but a Brazilian is your passport into the world not only of bored middle class house-wives but the media bubble of the reality tv star. This could be TOWIE does the Balearics with a hint of the outdoor challenges of I’m a Celebrity…….and … Continue reading “The Brazilian by Rosie Millard”

Jo Daniels life comes to a terrifying end in the most heart wrenching of circumstances as an apparently motiveless attack leaves her family devastated yet determined to find the killer who has ripped a gaping hole in their lives. As the grisly chain of events unfold Grace, the bereaved mother, retreats into the warmth and … Continue reading “The Lies Within by Jane Isaac”

The eponymous shining star of the story has a soubriquet reflecting a strength of character belying her childlike appearance. She is the source of light for her broken family and a hint of salvation for her elderly neighbour, Peggy Baxter. Her mother turns to drink as she struggles to come to terms with her father’s … Continue reading “Little Gold by Allie Rogers”

Blaming a recently deceased father for his personal frailties becomes an emotional reflex for Lucas as the circumstances of the death trigger long dormant memories of a childhood traumatised by infidelities and lies. As a pharmacologist Lucas leads a professionally clinical life analysing the biological building blocks that unlock the potential for longer life yet … Continue reading “Blame by Paul Read”

The Halved Man is the apogee of Ada Bates’s career in magic. Under the stage name of the Amazing Arden this death defying illusion is in many ways an analogy for the two men who have orchestrated her traumatic course through life. Clyde and Ray are emotionally and mentally polar opposites but have both left … Continue reading “The Magician’s Lie”

Life in the fast lane for forensic psychiatrist Natalie King grinds to a halt as depression take hold but as light begins to seep into the darker recesses any attempts to reinvigorate her medical career are potentially threatened by a nascent relationship with Frank Malosevic. Beneath his handsome and deceptively unctuous veneer lay a man … Continue reading “Dangerous to Know by Anne Buist”

The stork is the harbinger of Spring symbolically bringing light to the Winter darkness and anticipation of its arrival becomes a metaphor for life and hope as Yael struggles desperately to find safe haven in Nazi occupied Poland. The impending genocide looms large over those fighting to preserve their Jewish faith. Fighting cold and hunger … Continue reading “The Song of the Stork by Stephan Collishaw”

A vortex of despair gradually drifting away into a black hole of unreconciled guilt and anguish envelops Lisa Fulbrook as she struggles to come to terms with the violent death of her flat mate and best friend Ali. Both were victims of a knife crime committed by their one time friend Fergus and it’s now … Continue reading “Dare to Remember by Susanna Beard”

A deadly explosion in Gibraltar’s dry dockyard was never going to divert attention from the Battle of Britain and the few defending the many in their balletic aerial battles witnessed by a never say die generation. But this seemingly innocuous blip on the second world war radar comes back to haunt the dying embers of … Continue reading “A Thousand Cuts by Thomas Mogford”

Imagine Tony Robinson and his Time Team shifting their focus from archaeology to palaeontology, travelling back to the 19th century and setting up camp on the American frontier – this could take reality tv back to the future and in the process breathe life into prehistoric times. A stretch of the imagination undoubtedly but in … Continue reading “Every Hidden Thing by Kenneth Oppel”