The Famous - Rachel Lynch

New novel by prolific Rachel Lynch set in the world of celebrity and television

Lynch returns with another standalone thriller set amidst the world of the rich and famous following her successful departure from Cheshire set crime series, with The Rich.

Lynch creatively exposes the darkness underneath the sheen of superficiality we see amongst Instagram reels and stories.

In this book, we meet Gloria White, the aging mid-morning television host who is being subjected to a series of vicious anonymous letters culminating in the kidnapping of her daughter; while dealing with the loss of her media mogul father-in-law Roger Wade and the stress this leads.

Hot on the heels of the highly acclaimed film 'The Substance', where the varnish vanishes from an ageing starlet as she seeks the elixir of youth; this shows a highly esteemed television personality's life slowly unravel when her integrity is questioned.

Unlike The Rich which was one of those Crash-like scenarios, when lives are entwinned unknowingly, this story focuses solely on a main matriarch and her behaviour impacts everyone, while her arc revolves around this eventual realisation of her actions before it is too late.

Truth is buried and lives are ruined by the acts of the rich and famous. Lynch who touched upon such things in her previous work, invents more fictional tales that focus upon cancel culture, celebrity and money buying power.

Thrilling and tantalising in equal measure, fans of Lynch's Kelly Porter books will know what to expect with the intricately plotted narrative, but the realisation of a character such as Gloria White, at her advanced age is a successful one.

The Famous is out from Canelo on 6th March in all formats

FACS - Wish Defense

 

Chicago trio FACS return with sixth studio album from Trouble In Mind on February 7th

FACS are unlike any band you would have heard of before. They remain an enigmatic threesome who have garnered a cult following since the release of Void Moments in March 2020, when the world took a turn.

That album was an insular one, and one whose lyrical content coupled with that throbbing basslines and persistent drums along with a vocal of insolence. Yet it is still able to connect due to the musicianship on display by Brian Case (vocals), Jonathan Van Herik (original returning member on bass) and Noah Leger on drums.

Case, the main writer, states that this album revolves around the idea of doppelgangers or doubles, in a sense FACS are holding a mirror up to themselves to make tackle yourself and what motivations lie ahead.

Second track 'Ordinary Voices' is one that is familiar in the FACS form; pulsating and unrelenting in its message, which is quickly followed by title track 'Wish Defense' which has this ear worm of a bass line at the outset, culminating in the shout 'I'm not here' on repeat as a chorus. It is not so much disillusionment they are trying to sell, they can see the listener and can relate.

 

Track four, 'A Room' is an archetypal wall of sound number, with Case's vocals merely being held up by the roaring sound being created.

While it may not reach the heights or lightning in the bottle of Void or the follow up Present Tense (2021), this nevertheless remains a supreme statement of art by a band who are firing on all cylinders. This sort of album gives you hope that when given a chance a band can still be heard.

At seven songs in length and thirty minutes in runtime, this is still a curated piece of production helmed by the late Steve Albini, in his last professional work.

Wish Defense is released from Trouble in Mind on February 7th

My thanks to them and OneBeat PR for the review opportunity.

Dead Man's Shoes - Marion Todd

 

Marion Todd returns with another instalment in the DI Clare Slater world

Having followed Todd's career - a second career as her life as a novelist started in later years - it has been a joy to see this writer grow as an author creating a world she is happily swimming in as the crime washes up on the nearby shores in St Andrews.

This most recent adventure follows the death of a young man found dead near a nightclub. The marks on his neck are indicative and a symbol of a serial killer in the North of England, labelled 'The Choker', a killer who targets gay men.

From that death, another death follows and on and on and with further attacks on men happening, Slater must again balance the extremes of work pressure with the crucial home-life balance with a fellow member of the Police force. 

It is always difficult to find new problems or obstacles for a character in a continuing series without it becoming old hat or sound like you are repeating yourself. In this edition, Todd gives Slater the difficulty of a back injury sustained in the line of duty meaning she becomes a passenger driven to crime scenes and has to slow down while trying to get the same results.

Written as ever with such enthusiasm and with a great ear for dialogue in the workplace, Todd again has written a winner of a crime read. 

Dead Man's Shoes is released on 9th January 2025 from Canelo Crime

My thanks to them for the pre-approval on NetGalley

The Last Ride - Nick Louth

The fun of reading new thrillers from established and new writers, is that they welcome you into their world so to speak.

Having followed writers from up and down this land ranging from St. Andrews, Scotland to Manchester to the abundance of London set novels, this reader has now had the luxury of reading a new novel set in the vast countryside of Cornwall in the a new thriller by Nick Louth

The second in the Jan Talantire novel - this is a new sort of twist on the thriller. Having read female protagonists by female writers and male protagonists by male writers, here is a female protagonist by a male writer.

The story revolves around a joyriding incident that goes horribly wrong culminating in a chase and a crash that leads to a fatality and critical injuries to other youngsters in the car. Talantire comes in on the night shift and starts the investigation that much like the winding road on which the accident occurred, there are many twists you cannot see coming

As with other Canelo Crime strand releases, there is a plethora of obstacles for Talantire to overcome and most are the office politics at play culminating in decisions and repercussions for all. Another great addition is that you become quickly aware of the difficulty and vastness of the Cornwall landscape and how hard it is to police in that region

This was a thrilling read and one that has piqued my interest to this writer, with this reader looking forward to further releases

The Last Ride is out from Canelo now on all formats.

The Little Christmas Library - David M Barnett

 

New novel by David M. Barnett out now from Orion Publishing

David Barnett is a writer this reader has followed for several years, he is a writer of genuine warmth and kindness, always showcasing the good of his characters writing stories about generosity of spirit and positivity in this age of shaming and blaming.

It is only fitting then that Barnett has written a Christmas story about community, reminiscent of such Capra-corn (Frank Capra films where the good wills out).

The story revolves around our feisty independent female lead, Molly, who returns to her small Northern settlement, Merry-le-Moors, after a bad year in the big smoke of London. She has lost her job and just gone through a heartbreaking end to a promising relationship. She moves back in with her Dad, Jack, who runs the local village mobile library. A source of comfort to many in the town who come in for the warmth of the vehicle as much as the friendly nature Jack dispenses. 

Molly jumps in with both feet, helping to organise the books and soon the library has a new lease of life owing to the influx of youth. There follows funny entanglements about the letters left in books and mistaken identities which is a mainstay of British humour stemming back to Wodehouse and up to date with Richard Curtis.

Molly falls for a council officer, Harry Pink, who threatens the closure of the library and the service it provides the community. This leads to a will-they, won't-they romance culminating in life changing decisions for all.

Previous books by Barnett have this mild political comment running in the undertow of his narrative, but his strength of honest characters being depicted is a joy to watch and devour in reading.

A real gem of a little book by Barnett in time for the festive season. For fans of The Holiday, It's A Wonderful Life and Last of the Summer Wine, there is something for everyone in this Christmas page-turner.

Out now from Orion Publishing and available on Amazon now

My thanks to Compulsive Readers for the review opportunity

Pax and the Forgotten Pincher

 

Second novel from David Barker's London Falling series. 

Out now from Tiny Tree Books

David Barker returns with his YA books which started in 2023 with the first book, Pax and the Missing Head, and is a rip-roaring dystopian set boarding school tale about the eponymous Pax Forby, a workhouse boy who is naturally gifted in robotics and coding. In the first book, he wins a place at the prestigious Scholastic Parliament.

Hoping for a quieter second year, outside the school, New London is as dangerous as ever. Cyber-attacks and drones have intensified causing a climate of fear and uneasiness. During this, Pax and his firm friends - Megan and Samuel - find themselves drawn to the underground resistance movement.

Borrowing from famous English literary titles and evoking the sense of fear and peril that can surround a huge metropolis can towards a young child (aged 9-12) as Pax is meant to be, Barker has again marshalled a story of great thrust and pulsating action.

Keen readers will see nods to the works of Rowling and Tom Brown's Schooldays and the use of Roacher reminded this reader of Batteries Not Included (1986) along with the ever threatening Big Brother-overlord mayor of London who threatens the subjects and citizens of New London.

The Pincher in question is a play on words for youngsters, it actually refers to pensioners, who when people get to an age they are quickly forgotten about and discarded from memory. This is a mark of Barker himself the writer, in his adult thriller series 'Blue Gold' he was very prescient to describe the eventual loss of water that will happen on our planet; and with the heating crisis happening now for our elder population this is a reminder that science fiction always makes the reader have a hard look at their present situation.

Quietly intense and a real joy to read, Barker has again provided a wonderful page turner that is whilst brief does stay with the reader making them look forward to the next instalment with fervour and excitement.

Pax and the Forgotten Pincher is out now from Tiny Tree Books on all formats

My thanks to Tiny Tree Books for giving me a preview copy for an honest review.

Thicker Than Water - Ken Lussey

 

Brand new novel by prolific author Ken Lussey

Lussey has been quite the prolific author since just before the pandemic, this is his 10th novel in nearly six years.

Lussey first came to this reader's attention in the summer of 2018 when he released his first book EYES TURNED SKYWARDS which merged historical fact and detective fiction to create a rip-roaring narrative with a new sort of hero in RAF pilot Bob Sutherland who becomes a Thaw like detective when investigating the actual crash of King George VI's younger brother the Duke of Kent. The intrepid former police officer uses his wits to find out what caused the crash and avoid the cover-up. This is itself the birth of a special branch of Military Intelligence where Bob must come to grips with a new sort of political espionage all while co-operating with a new partner, Madame Monica Dubois, a double agent. Together they forge a passionate and honest relationship of secrets and lies, where the only thing true is their burgeoning love for each other.

Over five books, this reader has followed the paths of Bob and Monica from restricted Scottish highlands to chases in Stockholm and most recently their honeymoon spy tour in Malta in THE EYE OF HORUS.

Whilst writing those books, Lussey has also written two books starring Callum Anderson, a former Metropolitan Police officer who following a bitter divorce has returned to his roots in Scotland to become a private investigator. He is now courting a doctor, Jenny Mackay, who is overcoming her own alcoholic demons and yet the unlikely pair (like Bob and Monica) have found solace together when the chance for love may have gone in their eyes.

Lussey has taken the bold and brave decision to melt his two universes (1940s war-time and modern day detective) together in a story about place and how history can tie a place to two separate occasions when one act takes place. This is not a time-travel story but a place-portal story. 

It is the season of Hogmanay, Callum and Jenny visit Sarclet Castle in Caithness where they are asked to investigate the brutal murder of a young woman in 1943, whose ghost is believed to haunt the castle. A cold case to begin with but not the first woman to be stabbed in nearby Sarclet Broch; there was another murder nearly two thousand years earlier. And upon their arrival, a third fatal stabbing occurs. Can Callum prove anything on a case eight decades old while avoiding danger in their hunt for the contemporary killer.

Callum in his third appearance comes across as a more stable protagonist not too dissimilar from Bob Sutherland - methodical, patient and intelligent, yet it is the growth of Dr. Jenny that is the most impressive portion of the book. Jenny is treated as an equal to Callum, they slowly are forming a working as well as a personal partnership that will hold them in good stead in books moving forward.

Lussey has attempted something grand and he has achieved success, crafting a thrilling cat and mouse with his usual admiring travelogue with snippets of history. Like whiskey, this is a wonderful blend of escapism, entertainment and education

Thicker Than Water is published by Arachnid Press on all formats.