13th Sep 2019 – White Tulip

PUBLISHERS BLURB

Platform Seven at 4am: Peterborough Railway Station is deserted. The man crossing the covered walkway on this freezing November morning is confident he’s alone. As he sits on the metal bench at the far end of the platform it is clear his choice is strategic – he’s as far away from the night staff as he can get.

What the man doesn’t realise is that he has company. Lisa Evans knows what he has decided. She knows what he is about to do as she tries and fails to stop him walking to the platform edge.

Two deaths on Platform Seven. Two fatalities in eighteen months – surely they’re connected?

No one is more desperate to understand what connects them than Lisa Evans herself. After all, she was the first of the two to die.

MY REVIEW

I was lucky to read this via The Pigeon Hole, as a daily staves.

I found this to be a slightly unsettling read, as while its focus is on Lisa and her thoughts, she is actually a ghost. She had died on Platform 7.

She watches a man do the same and it’s so tense as she knows what he’s about to do, but can do nothing to help. She knows how he’s thinking, as she had been in the same situation.

I like the way it tells of the effects of these suicides by train have on the people who work on the stations and the poor sods of the British Transport Police (although from personal experience, I know it’s actually a lot worse and lasts for years).

We learn of Lisa’s life and the controlling people she was involved with and it is quite a bleak subject at times, but is written in such an emotional way it offers hope.

A compelling and thought provoking read.

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

PUBLISHERS BLURB

How would you feel if you got caught up in a secret so vast it threatened everything the world had come to believe?

That’s what happened to John Milburn, computer science lecturer, orphan, husband and father, who lived an ordinary life in Haverhill, Suffolk, England.

That is, until the dreams started…

From the idyllic calm of Cambridge, John Milburn is drawn to the dust and the heat of Jericho.

Thrown into danger and intrigue, he discovers more than he’d bargained for.

‘A wowser of a tale that is exciting and thought-provoking with a cast of characters you’ll fall in love with. Inspired by Biblical events, historical finds, theories and the author’s own strange imagination.’

MY REVIEW

Set in the present day, but with a prophecy from ancient Egypt.

This tells of John, a husband and father to twin girls……but then he has a dream about ancient Egypt, and twins that are to be protectors.

A very clever mix of fact, some biblical events and fiction, with so much happening it keeps you hooked from start to finish.

It jumps between the two timelines, but in such a way as to keep it easy to follow, even with its twist and marvellously imaginative plot. An engaging read.

Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources for the opportunity to participate in this blog tour and for the promotional materials and a free copy of the ebook. This is my honest, unbiased review.

Author Bio –

Shelley Clarke was born into a naval family in Kent in 1958, and consequently moved house a lot as a child. She had ambitions to follow in her father’s footsteps and join the Royal Navy, and to become a carpenter, but these were not female occupations at that time. So she learned to type… which has come in jolly handy for putting her stories first onto paper, and now onto screen.

Shelley is a keen painter, poet, and karaoke enthusiast; she loves mad family get-togethers, hates olives, ironing and gardening, and currently lives in Devon with her husband Kev, and their two Tibetan Terriers Nena and Pepi, who make them smile every day.

Shelley often forgets she is a grown-up.

Children of Sinai is Shelley’s debut novel. The story had been bouncing around her head for many years, and putting it down on paper has been the hardest thing she’s ever had to do. She certainly could not have got through this experience without a lot of cursing and chocolate!

Social Media Links –

https://www.facebook.com/childrenofsinai/?modal=admin_todo_tour

https://twitter.com/Shelley62628484