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  The Happy Family by Daniel Hurst My rating: 5 of 5 stars Book Review: The Happy Family (The Hunt Family, Book 3) Author: Daniel Hurst Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (A "Sitting-on-the-edge-of-your-seat" Masterclass) If life were a game of poker, Daniel Hurst just cleared the table. The Happy Family is the explosive finale to the Hunt Family saga, and let me tell you, the cards were stacked in the writer’s favor from the very first page. I usually pride myself on spotting a twist from a mile away, but Hurst threw down a trope I simply did not see coming. The Tension: From the Sofa to the Taxi This was the fastest I have ever devours a book. From the start, the tension is cranked to the absolute limit. Because there are children involved, the stakes feel agonizingly high—you don't just want to keep reading; you have to. There were moments of temporary heartbreak that hit me unexpectedly; at one point, I found myself thinking of my own Mum, and that’s when you know a thriller has crosse...

The Good Samaritan by John Marrs My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review: The Good Samaritan by John Marrs – A Game of Chess with a Scorpion’s Sting Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ After finishing my second John Marrs novel, I’ve realized that reading his work is not an "easy" experience—it is a visceral one. Marrs doesn’t just tell a story; he plays a high-stakes game of chess with the reader's emotions, and just when you think you’ve called "Checkmate," he sweeps the board. The Multi-Faceted Perspective The story centers on a helpline volunteer, but in true Marrs fashion, the focus doesn't stay on a single protagonist. He forces you into the "line of fire" by shifting perspectives to those experiencing the fallout of the antagonist's actions. Feeling that gut-wrench of grief and pain through another character's eyes is tough, but it's what makes the stakes feel so dangerously real. The Power Shift on the Board Marrs is a master of the character pivot. Just a...

  Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review: Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney – A Study in Grief and the "Piquant" Twist Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ As an indie author, I often view established writers as frogs on their own well-earned lily pads in the massive pool of fiction. Alice Feeney certainly has her own pad, and her latest, Beautiful Ugly, is a book that demands a specific "taste" for the water around it. The Grip of Reality The book gripped me initially because it handles a theme I know intimately: Grief. Feeney captures the suffocating nature of loss and the way a "safe space" can suddenly become a prison. Having recently navigated my own loss of independence due to health challenges, I found the portrayal of the main character’s entrapment on the Isle of Amberleigh to be exceptionally resonant. She captures that "first-year plod" of survival perfectly—and the "sledgehammer" realization that follows. The "Animal...

  I've read the whole series now, and in my opinion, I think its best to read The Doctors Wife, Widow, Mistress, Child then the Doctor, but it would have been interesting to read the Doctor first as that ties up all the loose ends you wondered about in the Doctors Child. Everyone raved about the Doctor's wife, but I was mildly seething that retribution for crimes had not occurred. I found the Widow a get out of jail card if you pass go on the Monopoly board, the antagonist was literally getting away with murder, missing all the snakes on the child's game and jumping up the ladders of success. The Mistress saw a turn of events and a cheer from the crowd, well me any way retribution would commence but by the end of the book your gasping and asking did what just happen, just happen did she... Live another day as we jump into The Doctors Child. Parental and child angst, and this reminded me of the darkness that women suffer with postnatal depression and that telling weariness o...

Ask for Andrea Was a book I listened to on Audible, as I am walking along the road, to collect a shop, it distracted me from the grief I felt losing my Mum. Hearing her words "we'll go together". Now don't get me wrong, I wondered what she meant, and I had no idea and no plan at all to join her by taking my life. I was on my own that much was true.  I'd written and published a book that was begun at her bedside. As I stood in the church yard, and read all the names on plaques, mind wandered to the Church where her service had been, and where part of my book was written (not at the funeral but fixed in my mind after the funeral) I wondered how as she sat in the front row with Gus, how through the light of the church, and the reflection upon the coffin, how Dre one of my characters could see the light to say "There is nothing Holy in this Light" but lets get back to Ask for Andrea. Without shattering the plot lines for you, "Ask for Andrea" is th...

  The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett I’ve spent so much time recently walking through the dark corridors of horror and suspense that finding The Colour of Magic felt like stepping into a different dimension. Terry Pratchett was clearly a magician in his own right; he understood the physics of the universe just as well as he understood the absurdity of human nature. This book is a hilarious, relaxing departure from my usual thrillers. Rincewind and Twoflower are an incredible duo, and the story kept me laughing at every turn. But the standout for me? It has to be Death. There is something so oddly piquant and hilarious about his character—he is easily one of the most iconic parts of the Discworld. My brother first introduced me to the Witches, the "frog pills," and the chaos of the Disc years ago, and I always promised I’d dive in. Now that I finally have, it feels like a genuine turning point. Reading has become a steady anchor for me as I navigate my path through grief...

The Wasp Trap by Mark Edwards My rating: 5 of 5 stars A Review of The Wasp Trap written by Mark Edwards I have never read a book that gripped me quite the way The Wasp Trap did. At first, I wondered: Shouldn't it be the Honey Trap? I read the blurb and thought, Hmm, sounds like an Agatha Christie novel. You know the one—ten people go to dinner—only it wasn't called that when I had my copy, and I certainly won't repeat the original title here! I was intrigued. What could possibly happen to a group of students returning for a dinner party after 25 years? The premise immediately took me back to my own student days. It made me wonder: if I were invited to a specific reunion by one of them, would I go? After reading this book, the answer is a resounding no . I’d blame Mark Edwards for my non-attendance! I knew something was up when one of the characters couldn't even go into the yard to vape. It reminded me of when smoking was seen as a vice and we were all told to ...