VENOMOUS (Adam Black Book #3) by Karl Hill is the latest fast paced thriller in the Adam Black series by this new to me author and I cannot believe I have not read this series before now. Similar to a Jack Reacher archetype lone wolf, one-man justice system, Adam Black is back. Even though this is the third book in the series, it is easily read as a standalone and I am looking forward to going back to read books one and two.
Adam Black is a retired SAS officer recruited by the Colonel for a secret operation to save the life of the Prime minister’s daughter who has been abducted.
The abduction is identical to the serial killer, The Red Serpent’s previous abductions and murders, but the psychopath has been convicted and in prison for the last six months. Adam Black is tasked with infiltrating Shotts prison and finding out what the Red Serpent knows about this new abduction.
As Black works to get closer to The Red Serpent, he is betrayed. Now he must find a way to escape.
On the run from authorities, Black is determined to save the Prime Minister’s daughter and discover the identity of the current killer.
I love this type of thriller for the pure escapism. The strong main character who is a killing machine with his own set of morals. This book does contain a lot of blood and violence as others in this sub-genre. The author’s writing effortlessly pulled me in and I just fell into the story with all the action, secrets, plot twists and a hero to cheer for. I love Adam Black and I hope to be reading many more of his adventures.
Karl Hill is the pen name of Kenny Hill, a Scottish lawyer, living in the village of Eaglesham, on the outskirts of Glasgow.
During winter, the weather can be harsh, the snow sometimes falling over two feet deep. He had a chihuahua called Rambo, who hated the snow. Sadly, Rambo died, and is greatly missed. When it snows, Kenny thinks about Rambo. Kenny’s protagonist, Adam Black, doesn’t worry about the snow. Nor does he have a chihuahua.
Today I am very excited to be included on this new Buoni Amici Press Release Blitz for one of my favorite romance authors! I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for BONUS KISSES by Freya Barker.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Free-spirited black sheep, Taz Boran, has worked tirelessly as a nurse bringing efficient medical care to Africa for the past eight years. But when her sister Nicky is told she doesn’t have long to live, she immediately flies home to small-town Eminence, Missouri.
Unfortunately, taking care of Nicky means being around her husband, Rafe; the one man Taz could never forget. Rafe is not only her brother-in-law but also took over the family veterinary clinic from her dad.
As Taz becomes Nicky’s home health care nurse—working closely with Rafe to make her sister comfortable—their latent attraction comes sizzling back to the surface. They won’t betray Nicky, but if her dying wish is to see them get the happy ending they always deserved, can they really keep fighting what’s meant to be?
BONUS KISSES by Freya Barker is a contemporary romance/Women’s fiction by an author I have come to always look forward to reading. Not only is the reader emotionally involved in this small town second chance love story, but the entire family dynamic is rocked to its core as secrets are revealed.
Natasha “Taz” Boran has been working as a nurse for nine years in Africa with Doctors Without Borders. Taz is the adventurous younger sister, but there are also personal reasons for her running across the world to work away from her small-town upbringing. Veronica “Nicky” Boran was always the perfect older sister, but now she does not have long to live and all she wants is Taz to come home.
Taz agrees to take care of her sister and her two children. With that comes the problem of being around Rafe, Nicky’s husband and the reason for her leaving. As Taz cares for Nicky, secrets are revealed and Taz learns that Nicky knows and wants Taz to get what she gave up nine years ago.
When Nicky dies, Taz not only has to deal with her grief, but two young children who have lost their mother, her own mother who believes the worst of her, a father with Parkinson’s disease and the ever-increasing return attraction to the one man she ever truly loved.
Freya Barker is masterful at taking this story plotline, which could have been a disaster and written a beautiful, emotional, heartbreaking, healing and redemptive love story not only between the hero and heroine, but the entire extended family. My emotions were all over the place while reading this book. Each character, big and small is written realistically and takes the story into small subplots that give you the small town feel. Small town gossip, strained family dynamics and a love story delayed all make for a story I could not put down. (Make sure you have tissues close by.)
I highly recommend this beautiful love story!
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About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.
Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; she creates characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills in their lives.
Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, and Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, Freya continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!
Today I am sharing My Feature Post and Book Review on the Damppebbles blog tour for a new crime fiction/mystery book – ALL DOWN THE LINE by Andrew Field.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
MANCHESTER: Cain Bell thought he had closure over the hit and run death of his daughter. Ted Blake had confessed he was the behind the wheel just before he died.
Twenty years on and Cain’s world is thrown upside down when his fiancé claims the driver was lying. Before she says more, a savage attack leaves her in a coma fighting for her life.
To find out why Cain must uncover why four friends swore blind to never tell the truth about his daughter’s death.
Now, he must persuade Manchester’s most terrifying gangster to reveal the secrets that kept hidden for two decades. But Billy McGinty is in no mood to break his own wall of silence.
Unless Cain can persuade him to talk, even if it means putting his own life on the line.
ALL DOWN THE LINE by Andrew Field is a new crime fiction/mystery book by a new to me author. The story is set in Manchester and pits a grieving protagonist against an organized crime family in a fast-paced, tightly plotted standalone mystery.
Cain Bell lost his 10-year-old daughter in a hit and run on the streets of Manchester. While the driver did not stop at the scene, a man does confess to the crime before he dies of prostate cancer. The accident destroys Cain’s marriage and he lives in a fast paced limbo until he meets April.
Fast forward twenty years and Cain proposes to April in their restaurant, Red Manisfesto. April says yes, but she tells Cain she has a secret that must be revealed first about the death of his daughter, but before she can tell her secret, the two are attacked on their way home from the restaurant. April ends up in a coma and is not expected to live.
To discover April’s secret, Cain begins to ask questions that have been covered up for many years. Each discovery only leads to more danger as Cain finds himself pitted against the most feared crime boss in Manchester and his terrifying family.
This gritty crime fiction/mystery story has a crew of characters that are not very likable, but they are interesting. I did feel for Cain and his losses and I was surprised by his determination to find the truth even as he was completely out of his league. Mr. Field has written an intricate plot that has plenty of twists that lead to a surprising and satisfying climax.
This is a fast-paced gritty crime fiction/mystery with plenty of secrets, villains and violence.
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About the Author
Andrew Field has spent most of his working life as a PR consultant raising the profiles of others. Now the roles are reversed as he steps into the spotlight with All Down The Line (published in 2020).
He handled Boddingtons Bitter during its “Cream of Manchester” heyday, developing innovative sports and cultural partnerships with TV and media platforms. Clients have also included a convicted armed bank robber and another who did eighteen months prison time for blackmail, although he didn’t know about their colourful backstories at the time. “I’d quizzed them more about their experiences. After all, hard-boiled grimness all adds to the mix, even if it is anecdotal.”
“Authors are by definition are relatively introverted. They work in isolation and inhabit imaginary world of their own creation. They can spend years staring at a computer screen bringing their characters to life. Then they have to become a different person to promote their work and market themselves.”
“Fiction is a great way to write about how you feel personally about this great thing we do called living. We disguise it by calling it crime fiction, but behind the genre there is a world view being expressed. In my eyes, the memorable books, films and music, good or bad, are the ones you’re still thinking about 24 or 48 hours after you finished reading, watching or listening.”
What can readers expect from Andrew’s work? “If you’re into noir from the likes of James Lee Burke, James Cain, James Ellroy, Dennis Lehane, Elmore Leonard, Ted Lewis, Ed McBain and Jim Thompson, you’ll see where I am coming from.”
Andrew lives, works and plays in Northumberland, England, Europe, with his wife Catherine. A novella, Wicked Games was published in 2014. Without Rules in 2018 by Boomslang. All Down The Line will be published in December 2020.
TRAUMA by Dylan Young is a new medical psychological suspense/thriller by a new to me author that I could not put down! You see the entire story through the eyes, fugues and minimal memories of the protagonist who is working to recover from a severe brain injury.
Cameron Todd and his live-in girlfriend, Emma are on vacation in Turkey when his entire world changes forever. Emma is found dead after falling from a cliff and Cameron is found almost dead having severe head trauma and multiple broken bones after falling. Cameron is pulled from the marina waters and returned to London for recovery.
The Turkish and English police have many questions, but Cameron has no memories. The doctors all believe Cameron’s amnesia is real due to his extensive brain injury, but the police and Emma’s family are skeptical.
The more Cameron recovers, the more he wants to find out what really happened on that cliff. Did he hurt Emma, or is his injured brain trying to tell him he is not responsible for Emma death and the sinister truth is in his fugue memories of that day in Turkey?
I loved this book! It starts off with a prologue that pulls you right in, but you do not know if it is a real memory or not. Then the remainder of the story’s pace is a slow burn that keeps building towards the surprising climax. Cameron is a protagonist that is written with a deep understanding of his brain trauma and its limitations without getting too technical and bogged down in medical terminology. The brain trauma is what makes you question every bit of information Cameron gives the reader. Cameron’s family and his few friends are fully fleshed secondary characters. This is also the first book I have read to include the Covid-19 pandemic and it does not take over the story.
I can highly recommend this suspense/thriller by Mr. Young! Keep a few hours free because you are going to find it difficult to stop turning the pages.
Dylan Young was born in a mining village in the Swansea valley in Wales where he attended primary and secondary schools. In 1974, he was offered a place at Medical school in London and qualified in 1979. Medicine and a family followed, but writing as Dylan Jones, he published 4 novels in the nineties, two of which were filmed by the BBC. In 2011, Random House re-released two of the books in the Natalie Vine series as ebooks.
Dylan Jones now writes children’s fiction as Rhys A Jones and contemporary urban fantasy as DC farmer. But crime never went away. The first in his new series featuring Detective Inspector Anna Gwynne, is due for release in January 2018. Two more books will follow.
Dylan Lives with his wife in West Wales where the landscape (and the weather!) provide ample inspiration for his books.
