Book Description:

Detective Joe Stone and his team investigate a major terrorist attack on one of London’s most iconic buildings. They soon draw up a list of suspects who are highly respected members of the community and government. When most of his team is attacked, it soon develops into a war of nerves and a race against time before a deadly weapon is unleashed with horrific consequences.

My Thoughts:

Long Shot is the second book in the Detective Joe Stone series. Having not read the first book I would highly recommend reading Loose Cannon, the first book in the series first. This is due to feeling like I was kind of missing out on what had happened in the first book, especially the story line surrounding Gemma as it follows on into the second novel. The author does his best to try and give snippets but there just wasn’t quite enough back ground for my personal liking.

The chapters are relatively short in the book which makes it feel a much faster read. The story line it self is quick moving with lots going off so certainly gets the adrenaline coursing through you.

I think the story line to do with the terrorist attack is extremely current in today’s world. I wish it wasn’t but sadly it is. The author very much brings to life the terror and fear surrounding these incidents and the need for the police to deal with it and try and wipe it out.

Stella had to be my favourite character. I have to say I love a strong minded female. She is feisty and not afraid to take risks. She was definitely one of a few stand out characters in the novel that appealed to me.

Whilst an enjoyable read, I do wish I had read the previous novel before reading this one. Saying that though I will go back and read the first one as it certainly had me intrigued.

Long Shot will certainly appeal to fans of fast paced, action packed thrillers. The short chapters will send you full throttle through the book and hurtling to the end. Definitely a series and an author to keep your eye out for.

My thanks to the author for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own and biased in anyway.

Goodreads rating 4/5 stars.

Long Shot is available to purchase from Amazon.

Loose Cannon, the first book in the series is currently 99p until the end of July from Amazon.

About the author:

I was born in Hackney, London and grew up on the Bannister House Housing Estate in Hommerton. I now live in Nottinghamshire and married with two grown up children who now have lives of their own, leaving me time to indulge in my favourite passions, reading and writing. I still work full-time in the printing industry which is where I have been for the past 40 years. On many occasions it interferes with my writing, working extra hours or weekends, so it can be a balancing act but one I seem to manage along with an understanding wife of course.
I spent five years researching books, magazines, documentaries, movies and internet articles on various subjects as well as completing a creative writing course and attending workshops run by the Nottingham Writers Studio.
It was a great achievement in 2016 when I published my first Crime Thriller novel ‘Loose Cannon’ with great reviews. It was the first in the Detective Joe Stone series and I was encouraged to write the sequel ‘Long Shot’ which is due for publication on July 29th 2017.
My writing style is a fast-paced page turner with cliff hangers, moral dilemmas and believable characters.
I would like to thank all my readers, editors, bloggers and Crime book club friends who, like you Susan, have been so supportive through this process. Your encouragement drives me on to write the next book in the series.

Website: http://www.jacksteeleauthor.com/

Social Media sites:

https://www.facebook.com/jack.steele.31508

Twitter: JackSteele1961

https://www.instagram.com/jack_steele1/

Book Description:

 

Bullying. Corruption. Murder.

 

It is the summer of 2002. The corpse of a 15 year old boy, missing for thirty years, is discovered in Stoke-on-Trent. The city is on the cusp of change and Chief Superintendent Berkins wants the case solved quickly.

DCI Jim Tyler has arrived from London under a cloud, moving to Staffordshire to escape his past. He is teamed up with DS Danny Mills to investigate the case, but there is tension between the detectives.

When the dead boy’s sister comes forward, describing a bright, solitary child, she points a finger at the school bullies. Important careers may be at stake.

Then one of the bullies is found brutally murdered.

As Tyler and Mills dig deeper they start to suspect a cover-up.

What is the connection between the death of a schoolboy in 1972 and this latest killing?

With the pressure building, and the past catching up with DCI Tyler, will he and DS Mills be able to put aside their differences in order to catch a cold-blooded killer?

My Thoughts:

Red Is The Colour is the first book in a new crime series.

The opening of the book grabbed me straight away and from that point on I was hooked. There is mention of Rudyard Lake in the book which is in Leek. Having rented a holiday home there one year that was right on the lake, I loved being transported back there and being able to easily remember what the surroundings were like.

I loved the story line an old case being re investigated due to the discovery of a body. Sadly there are quite a few cases in the news of people who have been missing for years and the poor families having no closure as to why they have disappeared. It must be the worst thing imaginable. Losing a loved one is horrendous enough but to never actually know what’s happened to them must be mental torture every single day.

There seems to be a little bit of everything in this story. There is an underlying humour in parts which I really enjoyed as well as a strong story line with main characters that grabbed my interest straight away. I have to say I think it is a great start to a new series.

Red Is The Colour is the first in a new crime series that is sure to make it’s mark in this genre. Gripped from start to finish, this is one book that crime fans will struggle to put down. Can not wait for more.

My thanks to Bloodhound Books for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.

Goodreads rating 4/5 stars.

Red Is The Colour is available to purchase from Amazon.

Author Bio:

Mark L. Fowler is the author of the novels Coffin Maker, The Man Upstairs, Silver, and Red Is The Colour, and more than a hundred short stories. His particular interests are in crime and mystery, psychological thrillers and gothic/horror fiction.

His first published novel, Coffin Maker, is a gothic tale set between our world and the Kingdom of Death. In the Kingdom the Coffin Maker lives a solitary existence, and every coffin he completes signals the end of a life in our world. One day he discovers that he is to be sent two apprentices, amid rumours that the devil is arriving on Earth.

Mark’s second novel, The Man Upstairs, features the hard-boiled detective, Frank Miller, who works the weird streets of Chapeltown. Having discovered that he is in fact the hero of twenty successful mystery novels, authored by The Man Upstairs, Frank has reasons to fear that this latest case might be his last.

In 2016, Silver, a dark and disturbing psychological thriller was published by Bloodhound Books. When a famous romance novelist dies in mysterious circumstances, she leaves behind an unfinished manuscript, Silver. This dark and uncharacteristic work has become the Holy Grail of the publishing world, but the dead writer’s family have their reasons for refusing to allow publication.

Red Is The Colour is Mark’s latest book, a crime mystery featuring two police detectives based in Staffordshire. The case involves the grim discovery of the corpse of a schoolboy who went missing thirty years earlier. Red Is The Colour is the first in a series featuring DCI Tyler and DS Mills, and will be published in July 2017 by Bloodhound Books.

The author contributed a short story, Out of Retirement, to the best-selling crime and horror collection, Dark Minds. Featuring many well known writers, all proceeds from the sales of Dark Minds will go to charity.

A graduate in philosophy from Leicester University, Mark lives in Staffordshire, and is currently writing a follow up to Red Is The Colour. When he isn’t writing he enjoys time with family and friends, watching TV and films, playing guitar/piano and going for long walks. 

Links:

https://twitter.com/MFowlerAuthor

https://www.facebook.com/marklfowlerauthor/

Book Descriptions :

Who can you really trust?

 Detective Inspector Denis Hamilton is dragged into a gruesome murder investigation, while on annual leave in Lake Windermere. A handwritten note, with a woman’s name, is found inside the corpse.

 When a direct link to London is unidentified, Hamilton must race against the clock to make the connection before the body count rises.

 Meanwhile, four friends with strained relationships, are reunited. What past event do they want to keep buried and is there something linking them to the murders?

 Then, when a person from Hamilton’s past returns, he must ask himself: how well do we really know our friends?

 London’s murder investigations team returns in this third novel from the bestselling author of In the Shadows and No Safe Home.

My Thoughts:

Even though Deadly Friendship is the third book in the DI Denis Hamilton series it easily works as a stand alone as the author gives the reader enough background information so that you don’t feel like you are missing out on anything. In fact if anything I thought I got to know Denis even more.

I loved the story line in this book. A group of friends that are tied by an event from their past which has them worrying about their future. In parts it actually felt a bit like a horror film with the build up of apprehension of what was going to happen.

I had absolutely no clue who the murderer was and loved that the author kept me guessing right up until everything is revealed. It certainly makes for a thrilling and shocking read.

For me the author had the perfect balance of the crime and the man behind the detective Inspector title. I enjoyed finding out more about him, his past and his family life. Don’t worry as the majority of the story does feature on the case  but there was enough for me to feel like I knew him better and understood how an event in his past has shaped him more.

Deadly Friendship is a steady read that builds up to an extremely thrilling finale. As soon as I picked it up I knew I wouldn’t be putting it back down until I was finished, and I didn’t. That’s how hooked and entertained the author had me. My only problem is now its left me yet again desperate for the next book!

My thanks to Bloodhound Books for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.

Goodreads rating 5/5 stars.

Deadly Friendship is available to purchase from Amazon.

Author Bio:

Book Description:

When the body of a Bushman is discovered near the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, the death is written off as an accident. But all is not as it seems. An autopsy reveals that, although he’s clearly very old, his internal organs are puzzlingly young. What’s more, an old bullet is lodged in one of his muscles… but where is the entry wound?

When the body is stolen from the morgue and a local witch doctor is reported missing, Detective ‘Kubu’ Bengu gets involved. But did the witch doctor take the body to use as part of a ritual? Or was it the American anthropologist who’d befriended the old Bushman? As Kubu and his brilliant young colleague, Detective Samantha Khama, follow the twisting trail through a confusion of rhino-horn smugglers, foreign gangsters and drugs manufacturers, the wider and more dangerous the case seems to grow.

A fresh, new slice of ‘Sunshine Noir’, Dying to Live is a classic tale of greed, corruption and ruthless thuggery, set in one of the world’s most beautiful landscapes, and featuring one of crime fiction’s most endearing and humane heroes.

My Thoughts:

Dying To Live is the sixth book in the detective Kubu series. As I only started reading the series from book three, they do tend to work well as stand alone’s but definitely recommend reading them all as they really are good books.

Whilst there are horrible crimes featured in the books, as obviously it’s a crime series, I usually find that thanks to the lovable Kubu, he usually brings a bit of humor to the books. This time round I didn’t find that there. Don’t get me wrong as it wasn’t a bad thing but I did miss this as it’s something that I love about the series. The reason for this is there is a story line to do with HIV so Kubu is a lot more sombre.

Samantha is a fantastic character. Her and Kubu make a great team. They are a bit like chalk and cheese as they are definitely opposites but this is what makes them more endearing to the readers.

Reading of the crimes in Dying To Live is like a whole different world. With witch doctors and Rhino horn smugglers, they certainly are not crimes you would come across in your stereo typical British crime books which gives the Detective Kubu books a certain appeal.

Dying To Live is yet another enjoyable offering from the very talented writing duo. The series would be great for the television though through the authors writing skills, the reader very much gets transported into Kubu’s world which at times is quite a scary one!

My thanks to Orenda Books for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.

Goodreads rating 4/5 stars.

Dying To Live is available to purchase from Amazon.