MAY 2019 - ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY - 6 OF THE BEST!

Three books bought, a couple received via Edelweiss - Above the Treeline early reviewer site and one courtesy of Black Rose Publishing........

Toni Kan - Nights of the Creaking Bed (2019) - Edelweiss

Interesting cover and blurb which attracted me to this one. Not over long either which is another plus point.

Nights of the Creaking Bed is full of colourful characters involved in affecting dramas: a girl who is rejected in love because she has three brothers to look after; a middle aged housewife who finds love again but has an impossible decision to make; a young man who can't get the image of his naked, beautiful mother out of his mind; a child so poor he has to hawk onions on Christmas day - and many others. Some, initially full of hope, find their lives blighted by the cruelty of others, or by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or by just not knowing the "right" people. Corruption, religious intolerance, gratuitous violence, the irresponsible attitudes of some men to their offspring and the importance of joy are some of the big themes that underlie this memorable collection.

Liz Jensen - War Crimes for the Home (2002) - bought copy

Charity shop bargain buy, again sucked in by a fantastic cover and the fact that I just don't read enough female authors

'You know what they say about GIs and English girls' knickers,' ran the wartime joke, 'One Yank and they're off.' When Gloria met Ron, he was an American pilot who thought nothing of getting hit by shrapnel in the cockpit. She was working in a munitions factory in Bristol during the Blitz, but still found time to grab what she wanted - ciggies, sex, American soldiers. But war has an effect on people. Gloria did all sorts of things she wouldn't normally do - evil things, some of them - because she might be dead tomorrow, or someone might. 

Now, fifty years on, it's payback time. In her old folks' home, Gloria is forced to remember the real truth about her and Ron, and confront the secret at the heart of her dramatic home front story. 

In a gripping, vibrant evocation of wartime Britain, Liz Jensen explores the dark impulses of women whose war crimes are committed on the home front, in the name of sex, survival, greed, and love.

Hans Olav Lahlum - The Human Flies (2014) - bought copy

A series recommended to me by Kate Jackson, the blogger - Cross Examining Crime, as opposed to Kate Jackson, the Charlie's Angel. I'm partial to a bit of Scandi crime, when I can remember to actually read it.

Oslo, 1968. Ambitious young detective Inspector Kolbjorn Kristiansen is called to an apartment block, where a man has been found murdered.

The victim, Harald Olesen, was a legendary hero of the Resistance during the Nazi occupation and at first it is difficult to imagine who could have wanted him dead. But as Detective Inspector Kolbjorn Kristiansen (known as K2) begins to investigate, it seems clear that the murderer could only be one of Olesen's fellow tenants in the building.

Soon, with the help of Patricia - a brilliant young woman confined to a wheelchair following a terrible accident - K2 will begin to untangle the web of lies surrounding Olesen's neighbours; each of whom, it seems, had their own reasons for wanting Olesen dead. Their interviews, together with new and perplexing clues, will lead K2 and Patricia to dark events that took place during the Second World War . . .

The Human Flies by Hans Olav Lahlum is a gripping, evocative and ingenious mystery - the first in a series featuring K2 and Patricia - which pays homage to the great Agatha Christie and will plunge readers into Norwegian history, and into a world of deceit and betrayal, revenge and the very darkest murder.

Russell Rowland - Cold Country (2019) - Edelweiss

My cup of tea......

Montana, 1968: The small town of Paradise Valley is ripped open when popular rancher and notorious bachelor Tom Butcher is found murdered one morning, beaten to death by a baseball bat. Suspicion among the tight-knit community immediately falls on the outsider, Carl Logan, who recently moved in with his family and his troubled son Roger. What Carl doesn't realize is that there are plenty of people in Paradise Valley who have reason to kill Tom Butcher.
Complications arise when the investigating officers discover that Tom Butcher had a secret--a secret he kept even from Junior Kirby, a lifelong rancher and Butcher's best friend. As accusations fly and secrets are revealed one after another, the people of Paradise Valley learn how deeply Tom Butcher was embedded in their lives, and that they may not have known him at all.

With familiar mastery, Russell Rowland, the author of In Open Spaces and Fifty-Six Counties, returns to rural Montana to explore a small town torn apart by secrets and suspicions, and how the tenuous bonds of friendship struggle to hold against the differences that would sever us.

Wayne D. McFarland - Tales from the Day (2018) - Black Rose Publishing

Invited by the publisher to have a gander at this one. It should make a bit of a change from my usual reading

A collection of 19 humorous, moving, and often heart-pounding stories.

Yeah, this is a memoir of sorts, if shark fishing in one’s underwear, roping a bear, getting drunk with your Grandfather, or losing ten grand at the Hollywood Sign is a memoir. The Day Johnny Cash Hit On My Wife is on the roster as well, for the only name drop in all the stories. There’s also a thing about getting shot in Arkansas and a road trip with a monkey. I can’t deny these were life shaping events, but truth be told they all happened under the heading of “oops.”

Hans Olav Lahlum - Satellite People (2015) - bought copy

The second in Lahlum's series of five novels thus far.

A gripping, evocative and ingenious mystery which pays homage to Agatha Christie, Satellite People is the second Norwegian mystery in Hans Olav Lahlum's series.

Oslo, 1969. When a wealthy man collapses and dies during a dinner party, Norwegian Police Inspector Kolbjorn Kristiansen, known as K2, is left shaken. For the victim, Magdalon Schelderup, a multimillionaire businessman and former resistance fighter, had contacted him only the day before, fearing for his life.

It soon becomes clear that every one of Schelderup's ten dinner guests is a suspect in the case. The businessman was disliked, even despised, by many of those close to him; and his recently revised Will may have set events in motion. But which of the guests - from his current and former wives and three children to his attractive secretary and old cohorts in the resistance - had the greatest motive for murder?

With the inestimable help of Patricia - a brilliant, acerbic young woman who lives an isolated life at home, in her wheelchair - K2 begins to untangle the lies and deceit within each of the guests' testimonies. But as the investigators receive one mysterious letter after another warning of further deaths, K2 realises he must race to uncover the killer. Before they strike again . . .

TIM STEVENS - SNOUT (2012)

Synopsis/blurb.....

TWO SUSPECTS. ONE TRAITOR. NO ROOM FOR ERROR.

London, 1979. A new government is about to take power in Britain, and the intelligence services need to be purged.

Roy Nichols is pushing fifty, a little too fond of a drink, and frustrated in his career. He's also in charge of a division of MI5 in which a Soviet mole has been found to be operating. It's his job to identify and expose the enemy agent.

Nichols has two acolytes, both with their strengths and weaknesses. Which is the mole? As the shadow of suspicion falls on Nichols himself, he finds the pressure almost more than he can bear, and resorts to an unorthodox method of coping: he starts a diary...

A tense, chilling Cold War spy mystery in the spirit of Le Carre, Snout is an 8,000-word story of suspense and high drama that will keep you guessing right up until the final twist.

Tim Stevens is the author of the acclaimed action/espionage thrillers Ratcatcher, Delivering Caliban, Jokerman, Tundra, Severance Kill and Annihilation Myths, and the Cold War spy novella Reunion.

Another previously enjoyed author revisited through a long short story. I'm building up to trying one of his novels eventually!

I've not read enough Le Carre to confirm whether the comparison with one of the masters of the espionage trope is merited, but I liked what I read here. I do like dipping into the espionage genre. There's always someone with something to hide, always someone playing someone else.

Here.......duplicity, double dealing, treachery, betrayal, an investigation, suspicion, a lack of respect, a few home truths and after twists and turns and a final twist, a resolution and answers for the reader.

I wasn't especially stunned by the final outcome, I think when you read a lot of mysteries/thrillers/crime fiction the last "unexpected" twist is mostly a given. You may not know exactly what it will be, but you anticipate it's arrival.

4 from 5

Spiked has been enjoyed by the author before.

Read - June, 2019
Published - 2012
Page count - 33
Source - purchased copy
Format - kindle

MAY 2019 - FILMS + TV (HOME VIEWING)

A decent month's home viewing with a few films and some TV enjoyed in the month....
(I'll do a separate post on the Cinema trips in the month)

The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018) - Netflix film 

Not a film I would have picked to be truthful, but my youngest daughter was in control of the remote. Not too bad, a few scary moments, though I did find myself frustrated at the passivity of the family when initially getting terrorised - fight back FFS. An okay watch, but not one to live too long in the memory.

From Google....

Mike and his wife Cindy take their son and daughter on a road trip that becomes their worst nightmare. The family members soon find themselves in a desperate fight for survival when they arrive at a secluded mobile home park that's mysteriously deserted -- until three masked psychopaths show up to satisfy their thirst for blood.

The Virtues (2019) - TV drama

Only one episode of it watched so far - we need all five of us together at the same time - and its harrowing. I'm a big fan of Stephen Graham. Not going to be a barrel of laughs here.

From Google....

Written and directed by Stephen Meadows, `The Virtues' is an emotionally charged drama that teeters on the edge of total self-destruction. Joseph is already in a precarious situation battling an alcohol addiction and memories from a dark childhood, but his life is thrown into further disarray when his ex-partner moves to Australia and takes their son with her. With no one to turn to but a bottle of liquor, an all-night bender prompts Joseph to confront his haunting past and he heads to Ireland. There he finds compassion from a sister who thought he was dead but also a familiar face that strikes feelings of fear within him.

The OA (Season 2) (2019) - TV drama

I was press-ganged by my son into watching the first series, which was okay. Not sure that I totally got what was going on, and maybe that's the point. The internet seems to be full of conflicting opinions about both series as to what it all means. Not a discussion that interests me. I'll just do what I'm told and watch. One episode down, seven to go I think. I do hope Jason Isaacs dies horribly.

From Google...

Part I
The series centers around Prairie Johnson, an adopted young woman who resurfaces after having been missing for seven years. Upon her return, Prairie calls herself "The OA" (for "Original Angel"), exhibits scars on her back, and can see, despite having been blind when she disappeared. The OA refuses to tell the FBI and her adoptive parents where she has been and how her eyesight was restored, and instead quickly assembles a team of five locals (four high school students and a teacher) to whom she reveals that information, also explaining her life story. Finally, she asks for their help to save the other missing people whom she claims she can rescue by opening a portal to another dimension.

Part II
The second season follows the OA as she traverses to another dimension and ends up in San Francisco to continue her search for her former captor Hap and her fellow captives, as Prairie crosses paths with private eye Karim Washington to assist in his investigation of the surreal disappearance of a missing girl that involves an abandoned house with a supernatural history and an online puzzle game. Meanwhile, in the original dimension, a series of unfortunate events propels the OA's five companions to embark on a road trip across America to assist the OA on her journey.

Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002) - film

A few Shane Meadows films rocked up on TV as a warm up for The Virtues. I hadn't seen this one previously. Funny in places without being laugh out loud. Sad in others. I like Robert Carlyle and Kathy Burke. Not amazing, but an okay watch.

From Wikipedia....

Once Upon a Time in the Midlands is a 2002 British romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Shane Meadows, starring Robert Carlyle, Rhys Ifans, Kathy Burke, Ricky Tomlinson and Shirley Henderson. It is set in Nottingham, in the East Midlands region of England.

Plot
Set in Nottinghamshire, Dek (Rhys Ifans) proposes to his girlfriend Shirley (Shirley Henderson) on TV. When Jimmy (Robert Carlyle), "the great love of her life" and father of her daughter Marlene (Finn Atkins), sees this, he returns in an attempt to win back her heart. However, after deserting his friends in Scotland during an unsuccessful robbery of some clowns, his friends turn against him and come to the Midlands to try to track him down. In the end, Shirley refuses to go with Jimmy and professes her love for Dek; likewise, Marlene refuses to have anything to do with Jimmy, and accepts Dek as her father figure.

Death Wish (2018) - film

I enjoyed the original with Charles Bronson and didn't even know there had been a remake. I like a bit of Bruce. And Billy Bonus - Vincent D'Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket, Law and Order) also stars as his brother. I don't think it's that different to the original version. A decent hour and a half's watch. I doubt they will do a 2, 3 and a 4 remakes, but you never know. I probably still prefer the book from Brian Garfield and by a spooky coincidence have another of the author's books sitting on my bedside table. It's been a while since I read him.

From Google....

Dr. Paul Kersey is a surgeon who often sees the consequences of the city's violence in the emergency room. When home intruders brutally attack his wife and young daughter, Kersey becomes obsessed with delivering vigilante justice to the perpetrators. As the anonymous slayings grab the media's attention, the public begins to wonder if the deadly avenger is a guardian angel -- or the Grim Reaper itself.

The Shield (Season 1) (2002) - TV drama

One of those series I never watched in the day and always kind of regretted not getting involved in. Channel 4 have all 7 seasons (or is it 8, available on their box set doodah). Four episodes in and I'm liking it, maybe a bit more than my wife. Not sure if we will both have the stamina to get through all 80 plus episodes. I hope so.

From Google.....

Vic Mackey is a rogue cop in an experimental division of the Los Angeles Police Department, willing to sink to the criminals' level in order to take them on -- but his misdeeds eventually come home to roost. He breaks the law to, in his mind, bring some semblance of order to a chaotic world.

The Bucket List (2007)

Enjoyable. I like seeing the two main actors doing their stuff. Best film ever? No, but well worth the time invested in watching it.

From Google...

Billionaire Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) and car mechanic Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) are complete strangers, until fate lands them in the same hospital room. The men find they have two things in common: a need to come to terms with who they are and what they have done with their lives, and a desire to complete a list of things they want to see and do before they die. Against their doctor's advice, the men leave the hospital and set out on the adventure of a lifetime.

Welcome Home (2018) - film

Another Netflix punt and a decent film, not without it's creepy moments. I don't think I knew any of the cast, but they were okay - not amazing, not wooden either. It was quite tense and uncomfortable in places with a decent sting in the tale.

From Wikipedia.....

Welcome Home is a drama/thriller film starring Aaron Paul and Emily Ratajkowski as Bryan and Cassie, a couple that tries to solve their personal problems with a romantic trip to Italy. Italian actor Riccardo Scamarcio plays the supporting role of Federico.

Lead casting of Paul and Ratajkowski was announced in April 2017.[1] The film was written by David Levinson, produced by Allan Mandelbaum and Tim and Trevor White and directed by George Ratliff for Voltage Pictures. On September 7, 2018 the film was set for a video on demand release on November 12, 2018. The first trailer for the film was released on October 4, 2018.

The Green Mile (1999) - film

A re-watch of a long long film over a couple of nights and it's still bloody amazing.

From Wikipedia....

The Green Mile is a 1999 American fantasy crime drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont and adapted from Stephen King’s 1996 novel of the same name.

The film stars Tom Hanks as Paul Edgecomb and Michael Clarke Duncan as John Coffey, with supporting roles by David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, and James Cromwell. The film also features Dabbs Greer in his final film, as the older Paul Edgecomb. The film, told in a flashback format, tells the story of Paul's life as a death row corrections officer during the U.S. Great Depression, and the supernatural events he witnessed there.

The film received positive reviews from critics, and was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Michael Clarke Duncan, Best Sound, and Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published.

Line of Duty (Series 5) - TV drama

Last couple of episodes watched at the beginning of May and it got a bit better after nearly losing me earlier on. I think my favourites scenes always take place in the interview room. Great cast as always, but this one was my least favourite series of the 5. Maybe time to call it a day guys. Dot's magic fingers was a bit of a stretch.

From the Radio Times ........

Adrian Dunbar, Vicky McClure and Martin Compston are confirmed to be reprising their roles as the officers of AC-12, returning to the job as Supt. Ted Hastings, DI Kate Fleming, and DS Steve Arnott.

The new series will also see the return of Maya Sondhi as PC Maneet Bindra, Polly Walker as public relations expert Gill Biggeloe, and Aiysha Hart as Murder Squad cop (and Steve’s ex girlfriend) DS Sam Railston.

Tony Pitts will return as Detective Chief Superintendent Les Hargreaves, while Andrea Irvine plays Ted’s estranged wife Roisin Hastings.

A first-look image has also been released, revealing “Balaclava Man” John Corbett (Stephen Graham) and Lisa McQueen (Rochenda Sandall). These two guest leads are pivotal figures in a deadly organised crime group which is known to have links with corrupt police officers.

Stephen Graham’s character is the “most dangerous” Line of Duty villain yet
Other newcomers joining the cast include Taj Atwal as PC Tatleen Sohota, Richard Pepple as PS Kyle Ferringham, and actors Susan Vidler, Sian Reese-Williams, Ace Bhatti, and Elizabeth Rider.

Take a look at the trailer and you get a few clues as to what he’s hinting at – including an ominous shot that appears to show Ted Hastings standing in a prison cell. The pressure is clearly on as we see not just one balaclava man but a whole gang, headed up by Stephen Graham’s John Corbett, with three police officers murdered in a hijacking.

And over it all hangs the big unanswered question: who is “H” – the shadowy police insider with direct command of a network of balaclava-clad criminals? (And no, Adrian Dunbar is NOT happy about those Line of Duty hints that Hastings could be H.)

STEVE BREWER - FOUND MONEY (2012)

Synopsis/blurb.....

Two couriers ditch a briefcase full of drug money. An honest man finds it and turns it in to police. When no one claims the money, the law declares that it's finders keepers. What happens when the couriers show up later, wanting the money back?

Find out in this suspenseful short story by Steve Brewer, author of more than 25 crime novels, including the well-known Bubba Mabry series.


Well I've enjoyed a few of Brewer's books over the past few years, so was happy to give one of his short stories a punt.

Best story ever? No, but enjoyable with lots packed into 11 pages. I do like reading crime fiction from an outlaw or criminal perspective and a lot of Brewer's work satisfies that yearning.

Two young 'uns growing up together, a double act, early thuggish, criminal tendencies, errand boys moving up in the ranks to couriers, a mishap, lost money, a demotion, some sage advice - "let it go", but boys know best, a sting, consequences and a life spent looking over one's shoulder.

A busy little tale and probably the first of a few I'll read this month from Steve Brewer. I'm a fan.

4 from 5

Other Brewer books enjoyed and recommended - Bank Job, Shotgun Boogie, Homesick Blues,  Duke City Split (as Max Austin), Duke City Hit (as Max Austin)

Read - June, 2019
Published - 2012
Page count - 11
Source - Kindle Unlimited trial
Format - kindle

DAY KEENE - THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN (1954)

Synopsis/blurb......

THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN

His name was Clay Burgess. Occupation: cop - he started out honest. Then he walked a crooked mile - with the little black bag to collect the loot from The Slot's gamblers. And he found a crooked sixpence when he began to dip into the little black bag for - the redhead from St. Louis. 

According to a few comments over on Goodreads this isn't one of Keene's better books and if I'm being honest it wasn't great.

Haines City, late 30's and Clay Burgess is an honest cop. The chief of Police and the DA, enlist Clay to make the regular collections from the bars, clubs and cathouses - the envelopes stuffed with cash and dropped in the bag - all the cost of doing business and oiling the machine in this small town.

It's initially a slow fall from grace. Burgess married, madly in love and wanting to please his wife, trades up his one bed apartment for a house he can't afford. He becomes resentful of his bosses, jealous of the jewels flaunted around the neck of the DA's wife, tired of fixing events for the drunken police chief, all to keep the wheels of the town turning. He changes and becomes just another pig at the trough, taking more than his share from the bag.

Marital bliss, country club membership, furniture payments, new car, a gardener, a cleaner, financial pressures, pregnancy, drinking, cheating - with the wrong woman, fixing, stealing, death, birth, fatherhood, medical problems, more expenses, a showdown with the bosses, another death and a disappearing act.

Twelve years later, the carnival comes to town and our unfinished business gets concluded.

I quite liked the depiction of how Burgess turned and his simple life morphed out of control. I enjoyed his journey and the erosion of his morals, turning himself into the kind of person he initially despised. I was less convinced by his adultery as he was always doing everything for his wife. It did serve a purpose as far as helping the plot along.

I was less enamoured by the twelve years later thing which didn't really work for me. It was a bit weak in my opinion; almost an afterthought, as if the author had written himself into a hole, got bored with Burgess and the book and didn't know where to take his tale.

Not one that will live too long in the memory, though it was far from the worst book I've ever read. I certainly haven't been put off from reading him again.

Probably a 3 from 5 at a push.

Day Keene wrote about forty books in a career spanning the late 40s to the late 60s. He died in 1969. There's a couple more of his better regarded books on the shelves.

Read - June, 2019
Published - 1954
Page count - 112
Source - purchased copy
Format - paperback

2 BY MIKE RIPLEY

A couple from Mike Ripley and his Fitzroy Maclean Angel series























Ripley's Angel series spans 16 books with the first published in 1988 and the last - Angels and Others - dropping in 2015. The series has won a few awards, most notably the CWA Last Laugh Award a couple of times. Comedy thrillers is how these books have been described.

According to his page on Fantastic Fiction......

It has been said that he 'paints a picture of London Dickens would recognise' and that 'he writes like the young Len Deighton, wierd and wonderful information and very, very funny'. Described as 'England's funniest crime writer' (The Times), he is also a respected critic of crime fiction, writing for the Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Times and the Birmingham Post among others.

There's a (somewhat dated) piece about the series at The Thrilling Detective Web Site

In addition to the Angel series, he's written a few standalone novels and more recently half a dozen "Albert Campion" novels, continuing with the series character created by Margery Allingham.

Just Another Angel (1988)

Band-leader, Fitzroy Maclean Angel, agrees to help an enigmatic lady, Jo Scamp, recover some stolen jewellery. But what begins as a simple search soon develops into violence involving a deranged London gangster and a policeman with a vendetta.


"Mike Ripley may be mentioned in the breath as George V. Higgins and Elmore Leonard."

Daily Telegraph











Angel Touch (1989)

The London Stock Exchange can be a peculiar and dangerous place when financial reputations are at stake and no end of shocking scams and insider dealings are lurking under the surface. Enigmatic band leader Fitzroy Maclean Angel is drawn into this intrigue and puts his knowledge to work.


"Mike Ripley is one of the best things to have happened to British crime fiction for years."

Birmingham Post

SAMUEL W. GAILEY - THE GUILT WE CARRY (2019)

Synopsis/blurb.....

Perfect for readers of The Girl on the Train and Winter’s Bone, Publishers Weekly praises The Guilt We Carry as “a gripping tale of redemption” and New York Journal of Books declares it “the Breaking Bad of the book world.”

Since the tragic accident that brutally ended her childhood, Alice O’Farrell has been haunted by her past. Unable to bear the guilt of negligence that led to the death of her younger brother, fifteen-year-old Alice runs away from home. She lives on the streets, makes one bad decision after another, and drowns her guilt in alcohol. But, everything changes when she stumbles upon a startling scene: a dead drug dealer and a duffel bag full of ninety-one thousand dollars in cash. Recognizing this as an opportunity for a fresh start, Alice takes the money and runs. However, she soon finds herself fleeing from more than her own past—the dead dealer’s drug supplier wants his money back and will destroy her to get it. A merciless manhunt ensues, headed by Sinclair—a formidable opponent—relentless, shrewd, and brutal. As blood is spilled all around her, Alice is eventually faced with her day of reckoning. In the end, The Guilt We Carry is a story about redemption and forgiveness, but at what cost?

Bad choices, followed by more bad choices and superseded by a monumentally stupid decision. Alice wakes up next to a dead bar owner/drug dealer after being roofied by him. She hopes, otherwise its another indication of how low she has fallen.

Shortly after, there's a violent encounter between the dead dealer's bag men and some cops, leaving Alice surrounded by five corpses and holding a big bag of cash. Soon she's running again, only this time she will be pursued with a bit more diligence and doggedness than the efforts her family put into finding her after she ran away from them.

This poor night and crappy day is the culmination of five or six years of running, drinking, more drinking and more running, moving from town to town, dead end jobs, rough sleeping, seeking solace in the bottom of a bottle or three, and trying to escape the guilt she carries over the death of her four year old brother when she was looking after him.

Engaging, interesting, fast moving. I was sucked in by the story and events as they unfolded. There's a flip flopping narrative between present day and the past, with the tragedy that befell Jason (the dead brother), Alice and her parents. We view the incident, the aftermath and her inability to face her parents any longer.

While reading I was obviously rooting for Alice. There's a concern and sympathy for her predicament. She's trying to escape her guilt through alcohol. She has moments of clarity and is mostly functioning, but the lure of the bottle draws her back every time and that's when she's most vulnerable. She's headed back to the one place she felt safe, but she's been careless and left a trail.

Pursuit by a strange pairing, with the back story of the main villain fleshed out as we go along, an intervention, a travelling companion, another sorry saga, double trouble, a destination, more peril, a re-union, sanctuary, temporary peace before a confrontation and a violent climax.

I really liked this one. I enjoyed the journey, the present day running and the pursuit, the encounters along the way and how it all turned out. I pondered the predicament she faced - guilt, shame, an inability to forgive one's self, all a heavy burden loaded onto her at a vulnerable age when life skills, experience, maturity have yet to be acquired.

I was pleased as punch with myself, as I guessed the outcome probably 10 pages before we got to it. I think calling it right added to the buzz as opposed to detracting from it.

Very very good.

4.5 from 5

Samuel W. Gailey's debut novel Deep Winter sits on the TBR pile, but will be bumped a bit closer to the top after reading this one.

Read - May, 2019
Published - 2019
Page count - 304
Source - Edelweiss - Above the Treeline early reviewer site, courtesy of Oceanview Publishing
Format - ePub file read on laptop