The Ship by Antonia Honeywell

The Ship

By Antonia Honeywell

Published by Orion (19 February 2015)

ISBN: 978-0297871491

Publisher's description
WELCOME TO LONDON
BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Oxford Street burned for three weeks
The British Museum is squatted by ragtag survivors
The Regent's Park camps have been bombed

THE NAZARETH ACT HAS COME INTO FORCE
IF YOU CAN'T PRODUCE YOUR IDENTITY CARD, YOU'RE GOING TO BE SHOT

Lalla, 16, has grown up sheltered from the new reality by her visionary father, Michael Paul. But now the chaos has reached their doorstep. Michael has promised Lalla and her mother that they will escape. Escape is a ship big enough to save 500 people.

BUT ONLY THE WORTHY WILL BE CHOSEN

Once on board, as day follows identical day, Lalla's unease grows.
Where are they going?
What does her father really want?

My verdict

The Ship is a beautifully written dystopian novel about survival. It is set in the not-too-distant future; there are many remnants from this current time period, which makes the story particularly realistic and terrifying.

While London burns and the population lives in poverty and chaos, a 16-year-old girl called Lalla is over-protected by her parents in their comfortable flat in Central London. She has grown up with no friends and little contact with the outside world; her only form of entertainment is visiting The British Museum daily, watching the exhibits gradually disappear and helping the homeless people who have set up camp there.

Throughout her childhood, Lalla has listened to her parents speak about a large ship, which her father is building to take them to a better place. Then as civilised society comes to an end, it is time for Lalla and her family to make that journey.

Her father claims that he has built the ship for her, to save her from the chaos, and has hand-picked each one of its 500 occupants. But as time goes on, Lalla begins to realise that the ship is becoming less of a home and more of prison.

The Ship follows a voyage - not only of the ship, but also Lalla's own voyage of self-discovery. The thought-provoking book flows from beginning to end, full of questions and moral issues.

This amazing debut is creepy and unique and I didn't want it to end. In fact the ending left me wanting more, and I am now desperate to discover the next stage in Lalla's journey.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fear The Darkness by Becky Masterman

Fear The Darkness
By Becky Masterman
Published by Orion (5 February 2015)
ISBN: 978-1409143734

Publisher's description
Ex-FBI Agent Brigid Quinn thinks she has a second chance at life. After too many years spent in the company of evil, she's quit the Feds and is working out what normal is meant to feel like. She's swapped serious killers, stakeouts and interrogation for a husband, friends and free time. But when you've walked in the darkness for so long, can you stand the light?

When a local teenager dies in a tragic drowning accident, the community thinks Brigid might be able to help comfort the family. But when she does so, something doesn't add up. And it's no easier at home: after a bereavement in the family, Brigid has reluctantly taken in her niece to give her a break before  she starts college. Brigid's ever-patient husband Carlo tells her they must go easy on Gemma-Kate, the grieving youngster. Which is fine, until she starts taking an unhealthy interest in dissecting the local wildlife.

For Brigid, death still seems to be wherever she turns. But as she herself starts to feel unwell, it's her own mortality that is the most troubling. And as she tries to get to the bottom of a serious of allegedly accidental deaths and increasingly gruesome occurrences at home, she slowly realises that maybe this time, she's let the darkness inside the only place she ever felt safe. Sometimes, death is closer than you think.

My verdict
Fear The Darkness is set in Tucson, Arizona, which is one of my favourite US states. Ex-FBI profiler Brigid Quinn is asked to investigate the death of a teenage boy - the mother doesn't believe it is accidental or suicide. Meanwhile, Brigid's home life is disrupted when she takes in her niece, following the death of her sister in law. When Brigid starts to feel worse for wear, she wonders whether her niece is poisoning her or if it is related to the case.

Fear The Darkness is character led rather than crime led. Brigid Quinn is a very strong character and it makes a change to have an older sixty-ish female protagonist. She is physically fit and mentally sharp, with a dry sense of humour. This enjoyable thriller concentrates on Brigid's family, giving her a strong background and making the book quite personal.

After a slightly slow start, the pace picked up and then I couldn't put the book down. There's a great unexpected twist at the end. I haven't read the first Brigid Quinn book - Rage Against the Dying - but I will be doing so very shortly.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan

Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery

By Jenny Colgan

Published by Little, Brown Book Group UK (26 February 2015)

ISBN: 978-0751553918

Publisher's description
Summer has arrived in the Cornish town of Mount Polbearne and Polly Waterford couldn't be happier. Because Polly is in love: she's in love with the beautiful seaside town she calls home, she's in love with running the bakery on Beach Street, and she's in love with her boyfriend Huckle.
And yet there's something unsettling about the gentle summer breeze that's floating through town. Selina, recently widowed, hopes that moving to Mount Polbearne will ease her grief, but Polly has a secret that could destroy her friend's fragile recovery. Responsibilities that Huckle thought he'd left behind are back and Polly finds it hard to cope with his increasingly long periods of absence.
Polly sifts flour, kneads dough and bakes bread, but nothing can calm the storm she knows is coming: is Polly about to lose everything she loves?

My verdict

I have always enjoyed Jenny Colgan's books for some light feel-good relief and this was no exception. I read her previous Little Beach Street Bakery book last summer.

This book yet again brings Cornwall to life, with fun endearing characters and lots of mishaps. It's chick lit at its best and not the formulaic girl meets boy storyline. This has a hint of tragedy alongside the warmth and entertainment, including a tame penguin and a rundown lighthouse.

I read the book in just a few hours. It's ideal for a night in, curled up on the settee with a hot cup of tea and a big bar of chocolate. You don't necessarily need to read the first Little Beach Street Bakery book before this one, but I think it helps to give you the background and meet the characters.

I hope Jenny Colgan has a third Little Beach Street Bakery book in the pipeline.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Stranger Child by Rachel Abbott

Stranger Child

By Rachel Abbott

Published by Black Dot Publishing Ltd (24 February 2015)

Goodreads description
One Dark Secret. One act of revenge.

When Emma Joseph met her husband David, he was a man shattered by grief. His first wife had been killed outright when her car veered off the road. Just as tragically, their six-year-old daughter mysteriously vanished from the scene of the accident.

Now, six years later, Emma believes the painful years are behind them. She and David have built a new life together and have a beautiful baby son, Ollie.

Then a stranger walks in their lives, and their world tilts on its axis.

Emma's life no longer feels secure. Does she know what really happened all those years ago? And why does she feel so frightened for herself and for her baby?

When a desperate Emma reaches out to her old friend DCI Tom Douglas for help, she puts all their lives in jeopardy. Before long, a web of deceit is revealed that shocks both Emma and Tom to the core.

They say you should never trust a stranger. Maybe they're right.

My verdict

Stranger Child is a gripping read, involving a tangled web of deception. I was intrigued from the first chapter, which described the car accident and disappearance of Natasha Joseph.

There are many twists and turns and questions that need to be answered throughout the book. Different subplots gradually come together as the story unfolds, and it is hard to know which of the main characters can be trusted.

Stranger Child is a written well, hard-to-put-down psychological thriller.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Summertime by Vanessa Lafaye

Summertime

By Vanessa Lafaye

Published by Orion Publishing Group (1 February 2015)

ISBN: 978-1409155379

 

Publisher's description
Horrifying and beautiful, Summertime is a fictionalised account of one of the most devastating natural disasters in US history.

Tens of thousands of black and white men scarred by their experiences of war in Europe return home to find themselves abandoned to destitution by the US government.

The tiny, segregated community of Heron Key is suddenly overwhelmed by broken, disturbed men with new ideas about racial equality and nothing left to lose.

Tensions flare when a black veteran is accused of committing the most heinous crime of all against a white resident's wife.

And not far off the strongest and more intense hurricane American has ever witnessed is gaining force.

My verdict

Summertime is a beautifully written novel of racial segregation, the tragedy of war, broken war veterans and the beating of a white married woman in Florida in the 1930s.

It has well-developed memorable characters, vivid descriptions of life in the Florida Keys and ample historical background. You can feel the racial tension, with scenes of violence and oppression, and the despair and frustration of the veterans living in poverty.

The book begins with the community preparing for the annual Fourth of July beach barbecue, which all goes horribly wrong when the angry veterans arrive and a local white woman is found beaten and left for dead.  The pace of the writing changes as the ferocious hurricane arrives, capturing the terror of those caught in the middle of the damage and devastation. 

The whole community is struck by tragedy - and the sad and moving ending reveals how the survivors' lives will never be the same again.

I could picture the scenes as they panned out - always a sign of a well-written book for me.  It's an excellent debut novel.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Way From Heart to Heart by Helena Fairfax

A Way From Heart to Heart
By Helena Fairfax
Published by Accent Press (18 November 2014)
ISBN: 978-1783757015

Publisher's description
After the death of her husband in Afghanistan, Kate Hemingway's world collapses around her. Her free time is spent with a charity for teenage girls in London, helping them mend their broken lives - which is ironic, since her own life is fractured beyond repair.
Reserved upper-class journalist Paul Farrell is everything Kate and her teenage charges aren't. But when Paul agrees to help Kate with her charity by accompanying her on a trip to the Yorkshire Moors, he makes a stunning revelation that changes everything, and leaves Kate torn.
Can she risk her son's happiness as well as her own?


My verdict
A Way From Heart to Heart is a lovely easy read. It is a sad but uplifting story of two people mourning the loss of a husband/friend. The emotional scene when Paul breaks the news to Kate of her husband's death (at the beginning of the book) is beautifully and sensitively written.

This romantic love story proved to me that a novel doesn't need sex scenes to make it work. The characters are extremely likeable and believable with interesting backgrounds to shape their personalities. It is clear that Paul cares for Kate, but she has to learn to trust him and let love into her life again, whilst protecting her young son's happiness.

Helena Fairfax has written a lovely contemporary romance, keeping the reader guessing until the end about whether it will be 'happily ever after'.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Burnt Paper Sky by Gilly Macmillan

Burnt Paper Sky

By Gilly Macmillan
Published by Little Brown Book Group UK (Kindle edition - 5 February 2015; Paperback - 27th August 2015)
ISBN: 978-0349406398

Publisher's description
Rachel Jenner turned her back for a moment. Now her eight-year-old son Ben is missing.
But what really happened that fateful afternoon?
Caught between her personal tragedy and a public who have turned against her, there is nobody left who Rachel can trust. But can the nation trust Rachel?
The clock is ticking to find Ben alive.


My verdict
I read Burnt Paper Sky in one sitting. I couldn't put it down. This very cleverly written psychological thriller follows the search for a missing boy through the eyes of his mother Rachel Jenner and also Jim Clemo, the police officer running the case. It taps into parents' biggest fears and worries - and the guilt they would feel if their child disappeared after leaving their sight for just a few moments. It's a story about finding the balance between protecting your child and giving them enough independence to grow and develop as an individual.

Filled with twists and turns, this brilliant debut flows from beginning to end. You can feel Rachel's anguish and Jim Clemo's frustration. At first there are few leads, but then more information comes to light as Jim Clemo searches the family background. The use of social media reports, television and newspapers adds to the tension and makes the story feel very real, as the nation responds to the case.

Burnt Paper Sky gets five stars from me, and I will be watching out for more books from Gilly Macmillan.

I received an Advance Reader Copy through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review, and then also won a printed version through Goodreads.