**Weekly Wrap Up**

Well here we are again another Sunday Weekly Wrap Up Post, and here’s where I share how many books I’ve read this week, yet again it’s been a dismal week, so let’s get it over with……once again I have only managed to read one book. I can’t even blame social media this week, if I’m honest after spending 8.5 hours staring at a computer screen by the time I get home my eyes are to tired to read (oh woe is me🙈).

I’m really not sure what the answer is, but it’s going to be a pretty darn boring week on my blog as all the reviews I have are for blog tours. Hopefully I will get back on track once I’m reading some of the books on my TBR pile, and if not I might have to change this blog to something completely different, perhaps a blog about books,  but without the reviews 😂😂

I must say a huge thank you to guest reviewer Jo for sending me her fabulous review of Sweetpea, which I will be posting this week. It actually means with Jo’s post and a blog tour review I may just manage to keep my blog ticking over!

The one Book I read this week!

This is the first book I’ve read by Conrad Jones, but it certainly won’t be my last. I absolutely loved this gritty read, but  unfortunately I can’t share my review until the blog tour on Monday 29th May 

What I’m reading now

He Said She Said by Erin Kelly

The Night Visitor by Lucy Atkins

ARC’s I received this week

Book description

How far would you go to protect your family?

Single dad Ben is doing his best to raise his children alone, with the help of his devoted mother Judi. Life isn’t easy, but Judi’s family means everything to her and together, they manage.

Then Ben meets Amber. Everyone thinks this is a perfect match for Ben but Judi isn’t sure … there’s just something about Amber that doesn’t add up.

Ben can’t see why his mother dislikes his new girlfriend. And Amber doesn’t want Judi anywhere near her new family. Amber just wants Ben and the children.

The further Judi delves into Amber’s personal life, the closer she gets to shocking secrets that could change everything. And Judi must make a decision that could lead to the most disastrous consequences.

 

Book description

PI Varg Veum fights for his reputation, his freedom and his life, when child pornography is found on his computer and he is arrested and jailed. Worse still, his memory is a blank…

Reeling from the death of his great love, Karin, Varg Veum’s life has descended into a self-destructive spiral of alcohol, lust, grief and blackouts.

When traces of child pornography are found on his computer, he’s accused of being part of a paedophile ring and thrown into a prison cell. There, he struggles to sift through his past to work out who is responsible for planting the material… and who is seeking the ultimate revenge.

When a chance to escape presents itself, Varg finds himself on the run in his hometown of Bergen. With the clock ticking and the police on his tail, Varg takes on his hardest – and most personal – case yet

 

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.

 

Book description

DI Duncan Waddell has big problems. He’s borderline diabetic. The paperwork is piling up faster than the underwear at a porn shoot.

Now his best pal DC Stevie Campbell, who’s in a coma after being attacked by a suspect, has started to talk to him. Trouble is, only Waddell can hear him.

The last thing he needs is the country’s biggest case to land on his lap.

Three women have gone missing in the city he used to love, but is fast coming to despise, victims of the GLASGOW GRABBER, as their assailant has been dubbed by local hack and all round thorn in Waddell’s backside, Catriona Hastie.

Shelley Craig is the latest victim, snatched as she and her boyfriend took a shortcut through Glasgow city centre.

And she’ll do anything to make it home.

 

Book description

Lesley Welsh sadly passed away in April but Bookouture are extremely honoured to be publishing The Serial Killer’s Daughter on 14th June.

Charmer, liar, father… Killer.

Suzanne’s life changes forever the day she receives a visit from Rose Anderson, the woman who has been living with her estranged father, Don.

Don is dead, but Rose wants Suzanne to have his possessions – including a series of intimate diaries and a mysterious collection of photographs of women.

To Suzanne’s shock, one of the photos is of her friend Sophie, who died ten years ago in an unexplained and devastating fire.

But Don only met Sophie once, on an unsettling visit he paid Suzanne just days before Sophie’s death… So why did he have a picture of her?

Unable to let Sophie’s memory alone, Suzanne begins to dig into her father’s life. What horrors is she about to unearth in his journals? And who is it that’s out there, watching her every move?

Book description

Ben Whittle’s father, a private investigator, has been taken captive by a cult whilst investigating the case of a missing girl. When Ben receives a desperate call from his father asking for help he is drawn into a dark underground world.

As Ben retraces the last known steps of the missing girl he discovers his only option left is to join the cult and rescue his father from the inside.

The leader of the cult, Edward Ebb, is a psychopathic egocentric who uses his position to control his small group of followers in The Sons and Daughters of Salvation. When he initiates Ben into the group it soon becomes apparent how sick and twisted Ebb is.

Ben must find his father and the missing girl, but the odds are stacked against him and time is running out.

Can Ben rescue his father and the girl and escape with his life?
And what is the gruesome secret concealed in the Revelation Room?

The Revelation Room is the first in a new series of psychological mystery thrillers.

As everyone who follows my blog by now will know I’m a huge fan of author Robert Bryndza, so you can imagine how excited I was to receive a signed copy of Last Breath and chocolate, and I’m sorry but I just have to share the photos

 Last week on the book review café

#TopFiveThursday with #BookBlogger Danielle @BooksVertigoTea | The Book Review Café
https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/05/11/topfivethursday-with-bookblogger-danielle-booksvertigotea/

**Blog tour** Child Taken by Darren Young #BookReview @DARRENYOUNGBOOK @REDDOORBOOKS | The Book Review Café
https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/05/12/blog-tour-child-taken-by-darren-young-bookreview-darrenyoungbook-reddoorbooks/

**Mystery Blogger Award** | The Book Review Café
https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/05/08/mystery-blogger-award/

Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens #BookReview | The Book Review Café
https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/05/10/never-let-you-go-by-chevy-stevens-bookreview/

Next week on the book review café

Sweet Pea by C J Skuse #Guest review from Jo

#TopFiveThursday with a super duper awesome blogger

*Blog tour* Not Your Average Nurse by Maggie Groff #Review

and for the rest of the week I will be trying to catch up on some reading, so if you hear so much as a squeak from me on social media please feel free to give me a telling off 😂

 

 

Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens #BookReview

Book description

Eleven years ago, Lindsey Nash escaped into the night with her young daughter and left an abusive relationship. Her ex-husband was sent to jail and she started over with a new life. Now, Lindsey is older and wiser, with a teenage daughter who needs her more than ever. When her ex-husband is finally released, Lindsey believes she’s cut all ties. But she gets the sense that someone is watching her. Her new boyfriend is threatened. Her home is invaded, and her daughter is shadowed. Lindsey is convinced it’s her ex-husband, even though he claims he’s a different person. But can he really change? Is the one who wants her dead closer to home than she thought?

I’ve been a huge fan of Chevy Stevens since I read her first novel Still Missing way back in 2010, so as you can imagine I couldn’t wait to start reading Never Let You Go. As I would expect this novel has all the hallmarks I have come to expect from this author, suspense, intrigue and plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader captivated. Never Let Yo Go is a disturbing and insightful study of domestic abuse with dark and dangerous undertones running throughout, which certainly made for a gripping read

This isn’t the most original plot Lindsey flees and abusive relationship, and years later thinks she’s being stalked by her ex husband, I’ve read numerous books with the very same theme running through them, but thanks to this authors descriptive writing and her ability to build skilfully on the suspense she manages to deliver an extremely disturbing tale. I should point out some readers might find this book distressing due to the scenes of domestic abuse.

The narrative goes back and forth between past and present and alternates between Lindsey and her daughter Sophie’s POV’s. The author uses this to good effect and the reader gets a sense of foreboding from the first chapter. Another factor that added to my enjoyment of this book were the different points of view of both Lindsey and Sophie, as you get different perspectives of events and characters.

Chevy Stevens expertly builds on Laura’s paranoia which in turn lead to the reader seeing each character as someone not to be trusted, as events take a sinister turn I had many a “heart in your mouth moments”. I became so engrossed in this story it was a difficult one to put down, as you reach the end of each chapter the tension is taut, and the sense of foreboding is overwhelming. With red herrings a plenty the author skilfully keeps the reader in suspense right up until the last few chapters which isn’t an easy task. If you enjoy a psychological thriller that explores obsession, jealousy, and relationships then I would recommend adding this one to your TBR pile.

Print Length: 415 pages

Publisher: Sphere (14 Mar. 2017)

Amazon UK 🇬🇧          Amazon US 🇺🇸

**Weekly Wrap Up**

I’ve only managed to read one book this week, I haven’t lost my reading mojo thankfully. I’ve had a week off and been far to busy to read. I might have only read one book, but it was a gripping one and very different to my normal reads, part history and part thriller.

I will be taking a regular social media free break one day every week as it certainly helps me to concentrate on my reading, and  I’m so easily distracted once I start trawling through Facebook and Twitter 🙈

 The One Man by Andrew Gross

Books I bought this week

 

Book description

They thought that they had all the power, until she took it from them.

A killer hunts abusive spouses, blogging about their sins post-kill. Soon the murders and the brazen journaling draws the attention of Police Scotland’s CID. This killer works with surgical preparation, precision and skill, using a unique weapon of her own and never leaves a trace of evidence behind.

Edinburgh’s DI Kathy McGuire, nearing the end of her career, begins the hunt for the murderer as a media frenzy erupts.

But McGuire might have met her match…What has led this killer to take the law into her own hands? Is the woman accountable really a cold-hearted killer or a desperate vigilante?

 

Book description

Tom Cheever is an IT specialist, a recovering alcoholic, and a single dad. Molly, his ten-year-old daughter is his whole life. But one ordinary morning, Tom discovers that Molly’s not in her room.
Gone. Vanished.

Police are called, a search party goes out, and Tom, already struggling with staying sober, finds himself coming undone. As hours become days without any sign of Molly, everyone she knows is called into question, including Tom himself.

As he tries to desperately piece together what could’ve happened, Tom realizes that nothing is quite as it seems. Will Molly be found in time? Or will Tom have to face the rest of his life not knowing what happened to his little girl?

ARC’s I received this week

Book description

Roy Grace, creation of the CWA Diamond Dagger award winning author Peter James, faces his most mysterious case yet in Need You Dead.

Lorna Belling, desperate to escape the marriage from hell, falls for the charms of another man who promises her the earth. But, as Lorna finds, life seldom follows the plans you’ve made. A chance photograph on a client’s mobile phone changes everything for her.

When the body of a woman is found in a bath in Brighton, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is called to the scene. At first it looks an open and shut case with a clear prime suspect. Then other scenarios begin to present themselves, each of them tantalizingly plausible, until, in a sudden turn of events, and to his utter disbelief, the case turns more sinister than Grace could ever have imagined.

Book description

Eleanor, Richard and their two young daughters recently stretched themselves to the limit to buy their dream home, a four-bedroom Victorian townhouse in East London. But the cracks are already starting to show. Eleanor is unnerved by the eerie atmosphere in the house and becomes convinced it is making her ill. Whilst Richard remains preoccupied with Zoe, their mercurial twenty-seven-year-old lodger, Eleanor becomes determined to unravel the mystery of the house’s previous owners – including Emily, whose name is written hundreds of times on the walls of the upstairs room.

Book description

Robin and Sarah weren’t the closest of twins. They weren’t even that similar. But they loved each other dearly. Until, in the cruellest of domestic twists, they were taken from one another. Now, in her early 30s, Robin lives alone. Agoraphobic and suffering from panic attacks, she spends her days pacing the rooms of her house. The rest of the time she watches – watches the street, the houses, the neighbours. Until one day, she sees something she shouldn’t…

And Sarah? Sarah got what she wanted – the good-looking man, the beautiful baby, the perfect home. But she’s just been accused of the most terrible thing of all. She can’t be around her new family until she has come to terms with something that happened a long time ago. And to do that, she needs to track down her twin sister.

But Sarah isn’t the only person looking for Robin. As their paths intersect, something dangerous is set in motion, leading Robin and Sarah to fight for much more than their relationship…

I also got sent two “Top Secret” Arc’s…….my lips are sealed for now 🤐

Last week on the book review café

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/04/16/blog-tour-last-breath-by-robert-bryndza-bookreview-bookouture-robertbryndza/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/04/17/the-abattoir-of-dreams-by-mark-tilbury-bookreview-bloodhoundbook-mtilburyauthor/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/04/18/dead-woman-walking-by-sharon-bolton-bookreview-authorsjbolton/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/04/19/dead-souls-by-angela-marsons-bookreview-bookouture-writeangie/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/04/20/cover-reveal-the-art-of-fear-by-pamela-crane-giveaway-nholten/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/04/21/blog-tour-sleep-tight-by-caroline-mitchell-review-bookouture-caroline_writes/

Next week on the book review café

After The Affair by Jonathan Kaye **Blog tour**

The Quiet Man by James Carol #Review

Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens #Review

Love Me Not by M J Arlidge #Review

**Weekly Wrap Up**

Oh dear oh dear! I have only managed one book this week, the good news…. my neck is much better so I’m back to work, but the bad news is it means I have little time to read. So after much consideration I’ve come up with a solution which will hopefully give me more time to read, no im not retiring! I’ve decided I spend too much time browsing social media so for one day a week I’m not going to log in to Twitter, Facebook etc or share posts. I love to support fellow bloggers but some evenings I spend much of the evening sharing posts, RT, liking, and commenting. I’m  sure every blogger on the planet knows what I mean here, so I’m going to use this one day a week to use as reading time only. I’m sure I will be itching to turn on my IPad but I’m going to give it a go. I’m not scheduling any posts next Tuesday so if you see me pop up on social media I’ve failed miserably 😂

what I read this week

Book description

Babs had all the world ahead of her, until she got pregnant and the father did a runner. Salvation comes in the form of a man who’ll look after her. Or so she thinks. Stan Miller is really the devil in disguise… and over the next twenty years, Babs will have reason to regret she ever met him.

Starting in the 70s, BLOOD MOTHER is the second thrilling installment in the Flesh and Blood series, capturing a London that was very different from today but where some things still hold true: be careful what you wish for, and watch out for who you trust…

Book post I received this week

 

Book description

She Loves Me
A woman’s body lies in the road. At first it looks like a tragic accident. But when Helen Grace arrives on the scene it’s clear she’s looking at a coldblooded killing. But why would anyone target a much loved wife and mother?

She Loves Me Not
Across town, a shopkeeper is killed while his customers are left unharmed. But what lies behind the killer’s choices?

She Loves Me
Who lives? Who dies? Who’s next? The clock is ticking.

She Loves Me Not
If Helen can’t solve this deadly puzzle then more blood will be shed. But any mistake and it might be her own …

This weeks ARC’s

Method 15/33 by Shannon Kirk

 

Book description

Imagine a helpless, pregnant 16-year-old who’s just been yanked from the serenity of her home and shoved into a dirty van. Kidnapped…Alone…Terrified.

Now forget her…

Picture instead a pregnant, 16-year-old, manipulative prodigy. She is shoved into a dirty van and, from the first moment of her kidnapping, feels a calm desire for two things: to save her unborn child and to exact merciless revenge.

She is methodical—calculating— scientific in her plotting. A clinical sociopath? Leaving nothing to chance, secure in her timing and practice, she waits—for the perfect moment to strike. Method 15/33 is what happens when the victim is just as cold as her abductors.
The agents searching for a kidnapped girl have their own frustrations and desires wrapped into this chilling drama. In the twists of intersecting stories, one is left to ponder. Who is the victim? Who is the aggressor?

The Quiet Man by James Carol

I love this series and Faber & Faber granted my wish over on the dreaded NetGalley, so how could I refuse 🙈

Book description
The hugely popular Jefferson Winter series returns in a gripping new thriller.

In Vancouver, the wife of a millionaire is dead following an explosion in her own home. Everyone thinks her husband is responsible, but former FBI profiler Jefferson Winter isn’t so sure.

The method is too perfect; the lack of mistakes, uncanny. He’s seen a series of carefully orchestrated murders – once a year, on exactly the same day, a woman dies in a situation just like this one.

That date is fast approaching and Winter knows another victim has been selected. Can he identify the quiet man before he strikes again?

Books I’ve bought

I haven’t bought any book this week, Shock! Horror! But I treated myself to a year’s subscription of True Crime Magazine. Going back a few years ago I only ever read true crime books, I like to think they give me insight in to why people do such terrible things, I’m not sure they answer all my questions by any means but I do find them an intriguing read.

Last week on the book review café

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/03/06/blog-tourthe-good-daughter-by-alexandra-burt-extract-giveaway/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/03/07/the-promise-by-casey-kelleher-bookreview-caseykelleher-bookouture/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/03/08/blog-tour-dead-embers-by-matt-brolly-guestpost-matthewbrolly-fayerogersuk/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/03/09/evies-year-of-taking-chances-by-christie-barlow-review-christiejbarlow-bookouture/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/03/10/top-five-friday-with-the-book-review-cafe-thewowfactor/

Next week on the book review café

Rupture by Ragnar Jónasson – review

Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens

#TopFiveThursday

Top Five Friday- Crime books stand-alones

**Blog tour** Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski

 

 

**Weekly Wrap Up**

Another good week for reading I read four books this week, unfortunately I spent another week in terrible pain, but fingers crossed the medication finally seems to be helping and I’m hoping to return to work tomorrow. This is going to be a short wrap up basically because I forgot to write one until late last night 😂😂

The Escape by C.L. Taylor

Blood Mother by Dreda Say Mitchell

Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens

Evie’s Year Of Taking Chances by Christie Barlow

No book post at all this week, and although I’ve missed that satisfying sound “thud” of  book post landing on the mat it does mean I haven’t added to my TBR pile.

Again I failed at keeping away from NetGalley, but only because Bookouture put this little beauty on NetGalley and the book description sounds so intriguing

Description
Lizzy pulled the covers over her head. Then she realised what was being dragged behind the person with the torch. She rammed her fist into her mouth to stop herself from screaming…

For decades, The Moore Asylum was home to the forgotten children of Brooklyn Bay. But ever since a scandal forced its closure, the abandoned building has cast an imposing shadow. Until now – when an elderly man is found dead, his body strapped to an ancient gurney…

Detective Lucy Harwin, still reeling from a previous case that ended in the devastating murder of a mother and her child, finds herself on the trail of a killer ruthlessly fixated on avenging the asylum’s wrongs.

What disturbing secrets lie within the asylum’s walls? Together with her partner Detective Mattie Jackson, Lucy begins to unearth its terrible history, and the horrors endured by the vulnerable children.

As the attacks escalate and a woman is murdered on her own doorstep, Lucy is forced into a terrifying game of cat and mouse with a twisted individual. But can Lucy stop a murderer with nothing left to lose?

Last week on the book review café

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/03/03/top-five-friday-with-the-book-review-cafe-psychological-thrillers/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/03/02/topfivethursday-with-bookblogger-jessica-aka-jessicasreadingroom/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/03/01/book-of-the-month-february-2017/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/02/28/the-roanoke-girls-by-amy-engel-bookreview-emilykitchin/

https://thebookreviewcafe.com/2017/02/27/the-caller-by-chris-carter-book-review/

Next week on the book review café

**Blog Tour** The Good Daughter by Alexandra Burt

Evie’s Year Of Taking Chances by Christie Barlow- review

**Blog Tour** Dead Embers by Matt Brolly

The Promise by Casey Kelleher- review

My Top Five Friday

And that’s it folks I told you it would be a short post  😀😀