19th Jul 2020 – White Tulip

PUBLISHERS BLURB

Caring teacher and loving husband, Finn tolerates daily humiliation to be with Sophie, the woman he loves. Fragile & naturally compliant he must summon all his courage to survive the system. Despite the injustice, they dream of a normal life, where liberty and identity are not subverted by ever tightening restrictions.

When a powerful politician requests that Finn tutor his daughter, it seems like a change of fortune. Soon Finn’s new found optimism is crushed by manipulative abuse, and a flu-like epidemic that threatens his life. It is left to Sophie to pick up the pieces and save her husband. In New Albany, every opportunity comes at price.

How far must Sophie go to save the man she loves?

For fans of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, ‘VOX’, 1984, and other speculative fiction, ‘The Third Magpie’ takes the reader into a terrifyingly plausible world where a wristband restricts your job, your movement, and even who you can marry. It is a society where propaganda masks extremism that threatens your very existence.

MY REVIEW

The Third Magpie is a dystopian romance that’s terrifying in its plausibility.

Finn is a teacher and a loving husband, but in the eyes of the government he is a foreigner (He’s Irish) and as such his freedom is severely restricted. His wife,Sophie’s father is high up in the government so that helps, but human rights are almost non-existent for the ‘tagged’ and free speech is a thing of the past.

This is a tale of power, of oppression and love.

The horrifying part of this tale is that it feels like we are only a small step away from this possible future.

It is a character driven story of romance, but it’s a dystopian chiller at heart. I found it moving and terrifying at the same time. A thoroughly engrossing read.

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

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Of Anglo-Spanish heritage, M.S. Clements grew up in Exeter, Devon. After gaining a degree in Economics and Spanish, Clements moved to London and trained for a PGCE at The Institute of Education. In the late 1990’s Clements worked as a Spanish teacher at all boys’ comprehensive in Surrey, leaving full time teaching in 2000. Clements continues to run a Spanish club for primary aged girls at a local school and tutors privately.

M.S. Clements has published short stories and poetry both online and in print, and is a founding member of @Virtwriting, an online writers’ group

PUBLISHERS BLURB

HOW CAN YOU SOLVE A CRIME IF YOU CAN’T REMEMBER THE CLUES?

In the second compelling thriller from Leona Deakin, Dr Bloom returns to solve another mystery.

But how can she solve the crime when the victim can’t remember anything?

There is an explosion at a military ball. The casualties are rushed to hospital in eight ambulances, but only seven vehicles arrive. Captain Harry Peterson is missing.

His girlfriend calls upon her old friend Dr Augusta Bloom, who rushes to support the investigation. But no one can work out what connects the bomb and the disappearance. When Harry is eventually discovered three days later, they hope he holds the answers to their questions.

But he can’t remember a single thing.

MY REVIEW

#2 in the Dr Bloom series, but can also be read as a stand-alone.

Lost begins with Captain Harry Peterson attending a military ball with his partner, Karene. But he is called away urgently into the building and then a bomb explodes.

Karene rushes to find Harry, she finds him unconscious but breathing so he is taken away by ambulance.

He doesn’t arrive at a hospital for three days but he has no memory of any events for the past 4 years, including his relationship with Karene.

She asks her friend, Dr Augusta Bloom, for help. Dr Bloom enlists the very reluctant help of her business partner, Marcus. He’s still wary about her motives after the events in the previous book, Gone.

They soon find much more than a terrorist attack, something that puts them all in danger.

Lost is full of tension, with a few shocks and surprises on the way. A fast paced, utterly compelling thriller, with great characters, that will have you hooked from the very start.

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

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/2ZGlGr1

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Leona draws inspiration for her writing from her own experiences having started her career as a psychologist with the West Yorkshire Police and her successful work in psychology since. Leona was part of a team responsible for designing methods of selection for recruiting and promoting officers from PC to Chief Superintendent. Her role was to create realistic policing scenarios – from personnel issues to large scale incidents (plane crash, terrorist bomb etc) – that could be used to test leadership skills. To do this she spent a great deal of time interviewing and observing officers at various ranks and reviewing cases. This gave Leona an insight into the police culture that helps her to write authentic character interactions in her novels. Leona is now an occupational psychologist and lives with her family in Leeds.