The Girls by Emma Cline

Book Review

Being loosely based on the Manson Family cult, apparently selling for a $2 million contract and written by an author who's only 25 years old, The Girls by Emma Cline (Random House) was a must-read before it was even published.

I'd seen lots of good reviews of the book and also a couple of ones that hated it, so I thought I'd see what all the fuss is about.

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Book Review

First off, I apologise if this review is rambling and confused; I've only been back from my honeymoon in Canada for a couple of days and I'm still incredibly jet-lagged. I'm actually writing this to try and stay awake.

I meant to review Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch (Gollancz) ages ago but it somehow got lost on the list. It was one of the books that I won in my crime book bundle from Orion and I read it a few months ago now. I was reading the second of the series, Moon over Soho, on holiday and realised that I never got round to reviewing this one.

Which I'm now rectifying because I thoroughly enjoyed it, I haven't read such an original book in a long time.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Review

I thought I'd better get in there soon with my opinion on Harry Potter and The Cursed Child (Little, Brown Book Group). The only things is, I'm not sure what my opinion is.

I loved the Harry Potter books and would usually devour them pretty quickly then be left feeling that lost and unconnected feeling you have when finishing a brilliant book. This one didn't have quite the same affect, it was there but not as strong as it had once been. Maybe this is because I'm a bit older, maybe because it's based on a story by J.K. Rowling but not written by her, but I think it just didn't have the, excuse the pun, 'magic' of the novels.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the '8th Harry Potter story,' but in play form instead of a novel. It's based on an original story by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffay and Jack Thorne, and written by Thorne.

Watching Edie by Camilla Way

Review

Watching Edie by Camilla Way (HarperCollins) was published on Thursday 28th July and I meant to post this review before that, but I'm afraid I got pretty busy (cough, publishing my own book, cough), so I've only now just got round to it. I wanted to crack on with this review though as Watching Edie was one of the most gripping but also unsettling thrillers I've ever read.

It's a tale of friendship gone sour and the mistakes of youth catching up with you.


Publisher's Blurb:

"THERE ARE SOME FRIENDS YOU'LL NEVER FORGET
NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY...

BEFORE
Edie is the friend that Heather has always craved. But one night, it goes terrifyingly wrong. And what started as an innocent friendship ends in two lives being destroyed.

AFTER
Sixteen years later, Edie is still rebuilding her life. But Heather isn't ready to let her forget so easily. It's no coincidence that she shows up when Edie needs her most.

NOW
Edie or Heather?
Heather or Edie?

Someone has to pay for what happened, but who will it be?"

News...

I'm sorry I haven't posted for a while but I've been ridiculously busy. Part of the business has to do with this post. I've been wanting to post about this for a while and I finally can because everything is finished and ready to go in a week's time.

Enough being elusive, here's my news...

I've written a book!

Well actually I've co-written a book. Highlanders' Revenge by Paul Tors is being published by Matador Publishing and will be released on Thursday 28th July.

It was written by myself and my uncle, Paul Richman, hence the name Paul Tors (Tors is my nickname).

We have a website with more information here.

Children's Books - I Like You by Sandol Stoddard Warburg and Jacqueline Chwast

Book Review

At the moment I seem to be either reading thrillers or children's books. This probably says something deeply disturbing about my inner psyche, but I'm owning it.

Most of my children's books are ones I have from my youth, but I actually bought I Like You by Sandol Stoddart Warburg (Houghton Mifflin) a few days ago. I'm getting married in August (pause to hyperventilate as I realise how much I have to do and how little time is left) and I was looking for a wedding reading. We've already got one (from a book, obviously) but wanted a second.
Long story short we decided to stick with the one wedding reading as we couldn't find anything else that meant as much as the one I'd picked (I'll reveal it after the wedding). But when I was looking I did come across words from I Like You and though I didn't feel it was right for the wedding, it did capture my attention, so I bought the book.

Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin

Book Review

Firstly, sorry for not posting for a while, I'm very busy with work at the moment and I'm also getting married in August (less than two months, oh GOD!), so time has gotten away from me a bit.

I really wanted to make time to write this review though as Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin (Penguin) is a book that I really enjoyed and I think Heaberlin is a crime writer to watch.


16 year old Tessa Cartwright is the only surviving Black-Eyed Susan, the name given to the victims of a serial killer who left their bodies beneath a Texas field of the yellow flowers. Tessa's memory of the event is fragmented and hidden deep inside her. What she can remember she uses to put a suspect in prison and hopes that she can move on with her life.
Years later Tessa is grown with her own daughter and tries to block out her past. But then she discovers a patch of Black-Eyed Susans beneath her bedroom window that seem to be newly planted. Does this mean that the serial killer is still out there and Tessa has put an innocent man on Death Row? Tessa must go back into her past and try and retrieve her memory in order to learn the truth of the Black-Eyed Susans killer.