3rd Sep 2019 – White Tulip

PUBLISHERS BLURB

Keith Nolan falls in love with a remarkable young woman from the past, talking to him on a home video she recorded in 1989. To keep their conversation going, he must find more of her tapes—while forces work against them both, and time is running out.

MY REVIEW

Keith spends his spare time trawling flea markets for an elusive comic book to complete his collection. On one of his trips he sees video recorder tape with ornately decorated and he gets an emotional tingle and pops it into his pocket (with the stall holders permission). But this is quickly forgotten when he finds the comic he has been searching for….

One day, at a bit of a loss, Keith comes across the tape and decides to play it….a young woman is doing a video diary, he makes a comment and somehow she hears him…..he asks the year….1989….she says she will record more but he will have to find the tapes…..and so an adventure begins.

This is not the usual genre for me, but the sci-fi element caught my imagination. It’s a beautifully written, charming and emotional fantasy romance. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you to The Write Reads for the opportunity to read this for free. This is my honest and unbiased review.

You can buy a copy here

https://amzn.to/2LfWHn9

Book reviews, Police procedural

Burning Ambition and Takeaway Terror by Barry Faulkner – Book Review

3rd Sep 20192nd Sep 2019 lel2403

PUBLISHERS BLURB

Burning Ambition (Case 7)

What is behind the murder of three prisoners in a security van on their way from court to jail? How did one of the prisoners get substituted on the way and why is a family of one of them wiped out? What did they know that had to be kept secret? DCS Palmer and the team find a wall of silence and a major crime family intent on one last major heist that would eclipse all others. An old adversary from Palmer’s early days in CID shows his hand and bit by bit the team piece together the clues. Then just when it seems all over and ready to file in the ‘solved’ drawer Palmer finds something that blows it all open again leading to the major end twist. As usual with Palmer, his wife and nemesis neighbour Benji both have an input to the proceedings

Takeaway Terror (Case 8)

Three delivery lads working for London takeaway meal company Deliver-Eat are killed by a hit and run driver. Were they just delivering takeaways or something else?

Palmer’s team soon find themselves looking at two organised crime gangs about to go into a turf war over the lucrative drugs trade. The surveillance teams that Palmer puts in place get him very worried when an old villain from his past who is an explosives expert is recruited by one of the gangs. The war explodes into action and Palmer’s team are in the thick of it. Will anybody get out alive, including Palmer?

MY REVIEW’s

Burning Ambition

Detective Chief Superintendent Justin Palmer is part of the small Serial Murder Squad, when called to a fire. The fire was in a van transporting 3 prisoners….all three murdered and set alight. Why?

With the technology astute DS Gheeta Singh, they manage to quickly find a link to a local crime boss……with more deaths than you can throw a stick at, this is a fast paced, crime thriller that grips you from start to the rather amazing finish. It has little nods to real events, the Krays, Brinks Mat, and Hatton Garden which lend a feel of reality to the tale….

I really enjoyed the gentle banter between colleagues and the characters are likeable and well rounded.

There is humour too….a melting Chinese barbecue for one had me laugh out loud. I liked the mention of using sun cream too, skin cancer kills…..(but that’s a personal thing and nothing to do with the story.)

Will they stop a theft from the Royal Mint?

This was my first of the DCS Palmer series and is number 7….so I have some reading to do now as I’ve clearly been missing out.

Takeaway Terror

DCS Palmer and DS Singh are back, this time investigating the three deaths of takeaway delivery riders, all in hit and run incidents. Using the tech available along with old fashioned policing, they discover the riders were delivering more than takeaways on their mopeds and they are joined by DS James Knight from the Organised Crime Squad due to drugs being involved…. Who is running this team of drug couriers? And why kill the couriers?

This is another, fairly quick read due to its fast pace. Full of action, humour and no small amount of explosive violence. A very entertaining, original, police procedural.

Thank you to Anne Cater and Random Things Tours for the opportunity to participate in this blog tour and for the promotional materials and a free copy of the book. This is my honest, unbiased review.

You can buy a copy here

https://amzn.to/34sjALU

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Barry Faulkner was born into a family of South London petty criminals who ran with the Richardson’s Crime Gang in the 60’s-90’s. Being the youngest his mother, a top fashion model, was determined he would not follow in the criminal footsteps of the rest of the family and enrolled him into the Morely Academy of Dramatic Art to pursue a career in acting. Sadly young Faulkner was asked to leave after three months when no acting ability had surfaced. He went onto become an advertising copywriter with the English branch of the US Agency Erwin Wasey Ruffraf and Ryan where he got lucky with some scripts he sent to the BBC TV and became a scriptwriter and editor for them and several ITV companies. During this time the DCS Palmer plots were amassed in various notebooks and three years ago Faulkner finally found time to write and publish them. His early insight into the criminal world of his family has added authenticity to the characters and plots that makes them credible and the pace keeps the reader glued to the end. His signature end twist will always surprise you. Check out his top rated crime blog at geezers2016.wordpress.com ( Courtesy of Goodreads)

Book reviews, Crime thriller, Thriller

A River Of Bodies by Kevin Doyle – Book Review

3rd Sep 20192nd Sep 2019 lel2403

PUBLISHERS BLURB

In this sequel to his impressive debut novel To Keep A Bird Singing, Kevin Doyle delves further into the murky world of the powerful Donnelly family and their association with the Catholic church and the security forces.

The clock is ticking as Noelie and his friends try to uncover the network of corruption and deception that the family have used to protect themselves and their operations.

But Albert Donnelly is onto Noelie and there’s nothing he won’t do to stop him.

Edgy, dark and sharp, Kevin Doyle’s A River of Bodies is a cracking political thriller – restless, brilliantly plotted and topical.

MY REVIEW

A River of Bodies is the second of the Solidarity Books trilogy by Kevin Doyle.

Set in Ireland this is about uncovering the perpetrators of child abuse with links to industrial schools, the clergy, the Garda and even Special Branch.

Noelie’s friend Hannah had been murdered, as has his nephew, Shane. All linked to the investigation into Albert Donnelly and his family farm, which appears to be the centre of the abuse ring from the 60’s, and features in a nasty home movie.

Noelie, Black Gary, Meabh, Katrina and Martin are trying to find the truth, but it puts them all in danger……will they all survive? And will they get nearer to getting justice for the victims….?

This group of friends are just normal people, not gung ho action figures and this gives such believability to the tale.

This is a dark, edgy and gripping read with an underlying feeling of menace …and really sets the scene for Book 3……

Thank you to Anne Cater and Random Things Tours for the opportunity to participate in this blog tour and for the promotional materials and a free copy of the book. This is my honest, unbiased review.

You can buy a copy here

https://amzn.to/2kohF8

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin Doyle is from Cork and works as a writer and creative writing teacher. He has been published in many literary journals, including Stinging Fly, The Cork Review, Southwords and The Cúirt Journal. He is the winner of a string of awards, including the Tipperary Short Story Award (1998) – first; Over The Edge New Writer Of The Year – shortlist; Hennessy Literary Awards (2011) – shortlist; Seán Ó Faoláin Prize (2013) – runner-up; Michael McLaverty Short Story Award (2016) – winner. In 2018, he published his first novel, To Keep A Bird Singing. He lives in Cork.