Tom Fabian is the central character is this book. I found out at the end that this is actually the second book to feature him and the first novel deals with the case that forms the basis for the plot in this book. It didn’t spoil this book at all not to have read the previous one.
Christopher Wisher is in prison for murder. He summons Fabian to visit him and hands him a diary. Fabian dismisses the diary as irrelevant but then Wisher commits suicide and bodies start to appear. Is there a copycat killer? Has Wisher manipulated someone into continuing his work?
Meanwhile, Fabian’s daughter is in danger too…
I really enjoyed this book. It was easy to read and the characters are appealing and pleasant. The sense of danger that Tilly Fabian is in is a great narrative strand, giving an emotional side to contrast with the police procedure. There is also a personal side to Fabian and his police colleagues which I’m sure will be developed in later books.
I admit to feeling a little disappointed at the ending as it all wrapped up very quickly. However, the final chapter which hints at the future novels was a great hook to make me want to read more!
Title: THE SONGBIRD GIRLS
Author: Richard Parker
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PUBLICATION DAY: December 19th
Description:
Her eyes were closed. From a distance the blood around her neck might have looked like a necklace, but up close her body told a different tale. She had been murdered. A tiny songbird lay beside her, its neck broken…
Detective Tom Fabian‘s past is catching up with him. It has been years since the most high-profile case of his career – when his evidence put infamous serial killer Christopher Wisher behind bars forever. But when Wisher summons a reluctant Fabian to his prison cell to hand over a diary, he realises that Wisher’s twisted games are far from over.
Shortly after Fabian’s visit, Wisher is found dead in his cell. And a few days later, the police find a woman’s body bearing Wisher’s signature, a dead songbird. But the police never released this detail to the public… so who has Wisher been talking to?
Fabian is desperate to find the killer before another innocent life is taken. But as more bodies turn up, Fabian begins to realise that Wisher may have handed him the clues before he died. Is the twisted serial killer still pulling the strings from beyond the grave…?
If you can’t get enough of crime thrillers by Adam Croft or Melinda Leigh, you will love The Songbird Girls.
Author Bio:
Richard Parker was formerly a TV script writer, script editor and producer before turning his hand to penning twisted stand-alone thrillers.
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Top of my list has got to be A Christmas Carol. It was my first classic fiction book and is a fab introduction to Dickens and other great authors.
It isn’t actually a full novel so is much more accessible to younger readers. The book that I had also contained 2 other of Dickens’ shorter stories (The Chimes and The Cricket in the Hearth) but these never captured my imagination in the same way and Scrooge and his adventure.
Oh dear, that is also the end of my list as well as I don’t tend to read books about Christmas. A bit like films really! I find them too contrived or cloying to be enjoyable.
Am I just too hard hearted and cynical? Am I Scrooge before his ghostly visits…?
How about you? Do you enjoy books with a Christmas theme?
This is the final book in the excellent young adult fiction series The Paradigm Triology (read my reviews of book one and two!)
Alice has been hidden underground, frozen in time for 80 years. Her discovery gives hope to the ‘rebels’ who want to creat a better world.
The new Controller General is none other than her adopted daughter Izzy, now known as Elizabet but there is no love lost between them and now Izzy wants to use Alice to make even more drastic social changes.
Carter Warren is determined to free Alice and save humanity from itself but can he unite the different factions that leave peacefully outside the Community even if it means certain death…
I really enjoyed this third and final installment of the series. It was slower paced than the other books and had more dialogue but this was an important change to allow the author to make serious points about the state of our species and how we have the opportunity to do so much good but risk doing unspeakable evil too.
Many of the narrative strands were concluded and I won’t give away details! The ending does give some scope for further sequels or a new series, but in the meantime we are left imagining what will happen to Alice and the other characters in the future.
Author: Ceri Lowe
Book: The Storm Girl’s Secret
Publication Day: December 17th 2018
Description:
An addictive and jaw-dropping dystopian story, perfect for fans of Bella Forrest, The Hunger Games and Divergent. Discover a world torn apart by storms under the grip of an evil organisation, and one girl who discovers a secret that will change everything…
The existence of 15-year-old Alice Davenport is Paradigm Industries’ biggest secret.
Decades ago, after fierce storms ravaged the earth, Alice was one of the first to help establish Paradigm Industries’ new world order: in which no one can leave the Barricades, and every trace of the past was destroyed. The whole Community believes she died an Industry hero.
But Alice refused to live under Paradigm’s cruel laws.
Alice was punished.
And Alice is alive.
Sentenced to permanent cryonic sleep in the Catacombs, Alice has been frozen for years… until now. With the Industry wanting her dead, Alice is on the run – helped by Carter Warren, Industry loyalist turned secret rebel. But as they make their escape, they uncover a shocking secret.
Paradigm Industries have devastating plans for the future, which threaten to tear the world apart. Those living outside the Barricades will be permanently destroyed. With Alice and Carter the only hope for humanity, can they find the strength to finally defeat the Industry?
The Storm Girl’s Secret is the thrilling conclusion to the Paradigm trilogy. Discover Alice’s heart-pounding story today.
Author Bio:
When Ceri isn’t writing, she’s a self-employed project management consultant specialising in financial services. She lives with her partner in Bristol, England and has various obsessions including all things Spanish, travelling and, of course, writing.
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This is a book that plays on the fears of every parent: the disappearance of your child.
Ally has lived with the mystery of her previous family but now wants to discover the truth. She was found beside the body of a woman presumed to be her mother but has no recollection of her previous life. Her adoptive parents Dan and Holly found her and fought to keep her: they have been protecting her ever since despite the breakdown of their own relationship.
Ally disappears with the intention to find out the truth about her past and her biological family but things are not what they seem…
Dan and Holly race to find Ally but can they trust her friends?
The first part of the book is the frantic search for Ally by her parents and the second part is what really happened to her. As a parent myself, I really felt that the fears felt by the parents to be honest and relatable.
Keep Her Close has short chapters to maintain the momentum but which also makes it easy to read around being a busy mum: great! It was a quicker read than I expected but didn’t appear too short – maybe I was reading it faster than I thought because I was caught up in the plot 🙂
Title: Keep Her Close
Author: ERIK THERME
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Publication Day: Dec 5th 2018
Description:
Someone took your daughter. And nobody believes you…
Then:
Three-year-old Ally was found alone in a parking lot.
She was barefoot and dressed only in a yellow sundress. In the middle of winter.
What kind of person would abandon their daughter?
Now:
Fifteen years later and Ally has a new family.
But her real father has sent her a letter.
And now Ally is missing.
A gripping twist-filled thriller that will have you looking over your shoulder. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and Teresa Driscoll.
Author Bio:
Erik Therme has thrashed in garage bands, inadvertently harbored runaways, and met Darth Vader. When he’s not at his computer, he can be found cheering for his youngest daughter’s volleyball team, or watching horror movies with his seventeen-year-old. He currently resides in Iowa City, Iowa—one of only twenty places in the world UNESCO has certified as a City of Literature.
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