Wednesday, September 13, 2017

The Chalk Man - C.J Tudor



Kindle Edition

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 11/01/18

Pages: 352

Amazon Uk Link: Here

GoodReads Link: Here

Given for an honest review via Netgalley


The Blurb

Looking back, it all started on the day of the fair and the terrible accident. When twelve-year-old Eddie first met the Chalk Man.

It was the Chalk Man who gave Eddie the idea for the drawings: a way to leave secret messages between his group of friends.

And it was fun, to start with, until the figures led them to the body of a young girl.

That was thirty years ago and Ed thought the past was behind him. Then he receives a letter containing just two things: a piece of chalk, and a drawing of a stick figure. As history begins to repeat itself, Ed realises the game was never over . . .

Everyone has secrets.

Everyone is guilty of something.

And children are not always so innocent.

My Thoughts


With storytelling this good its hard to believe that this is a debut Novel. This book is being touted as one of the must read books of 2018 and I normally dont buy that kind of hype but sometimes the publicists are right. This book could and should be a big one.

Some reviews are comparing it to Stand By Me crossed with The Goonies but I dont think thats fair, it has its own place and deserves it.
Told between 1986 and 2016 we get to be part of the lifes of Eddie, Fat Gav, Hoppo, Metal Mickey, and Nicky for the summer of 1986 and the consequences of that summer 30 years later.

The writing has everything you could want from a story, characterisations, Plot and outcome all faultlessly brilliant. It left me yearning for those childhood summer days of adventure but with out the ending.

Highly recommended.

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Unforgivable - Mike Thomas



Kindle Edition

Publisher: Zaffre

Published: 27/07/17

Pages: 400

Amazon Uk Link: Here

GoodReads Link: Here

Given for an honest review via Netgalley


The Blurb

Bombs detonate in a busy souk, causing massive devastation.
An explosion rips apart a mosque, killing and injuring those inside.
But this isn't the Middle East - this is Cardiff . . .

In a city where tensions are already running high, DC Will MacReady and his colleagues begin the desperate hunt for the attacker. If they knew the 'why', then surely they can find the 'who'? But that isn't so easy, and time is fast running out . . .

MacReady is still trying to prove himself after the horrific events of the previous year, which left his sergeant injured and his job in jeopardy, so he feels sidelined when he's asked to investigate a vicious knife attack on a young woman.

But all is not as it seems with his new case, and soon MacReady must put everything on the line in order to do what is right.

My Thoughts


The book starts of with an all too real terrorist(?) attack quickly followed by another attack on a mosque. Whilst everyone else is trying to find the bomber MacReady is sidelined after he is asked to investigate a knife attack.
As with all my reviews I will not spoil it for anyone by giving the plot away but needless to say everything is not how it seems.

Unforgivable is a thriller that twists and turns the reader through interconnected story lines that lead to a fantastic ending. Its one of those books that you really want to get to the end of but when you do you are so disappointed that its finished you want to read it again.
The story felt so real, I felt totally immersed into the book I was there dodging the shrapnel and listening to the briefings standing next to Will MacReady.

Really loved it and cant recommend it enough. From one expat living in Portugal to another a massive 5 stars.