Category Archives: Holly Seddon

**Weekly Wrap Up**

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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

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Books I bought this week

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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?

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

Try Not To Breathe by Holly Seddon **Giveaway**

 

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This is the debut novel from Holly Seddon, I’m always wary when I read an authors first offering, will I enjoy it? Will it keep my attention? Yes in my opinion Try not To Breathe done both. From the book description I was intrigued to see how The story would develop, considering one of the main characters was unable to communicate.

When we meet Alex she is at rock bottom, she’s a “just about” a functioning alcoholic, her marriage is in tatters,her mother has died, she’s lost her job in Journalism, events which have pushed Alex to the brink. Then a chance meeting with Amy changes everything, and Amy’s story becomes a personal obsession for Alex as she looks into the events surrounding Amy’s merciless assault, which has left her conscious but paralysed for the last fifteen years. Who, unbeknownst to her doctors, remains locked inside her body, reliving the past.

Soon Alex’s routine includes visiting hours at the hospital, then interviews with the original suspects in the attack. But what starts as a reporter story becomes a personal obsession. How do you solve a crime when the only witness lived, but cannot tell the tale? Unable to tear herself away from uncovering the unspeakable truth, Alex realises shes not just chasing a story she’s seeking salvation. I liked Alex from the start, I found her character well developed and despite her life being a “car crash”, she manages to investigate Amy’s case with passion. You also can’t help hoping she will turn her life around and fight her battle with the bottle. I found Amy played on my mind throughout Try Not To Breathe, a young girl who had her whole life ahead of her, who although conscious is unable to communicate with others, how frightening must that be? Holly manages to deal with this subject sensitively, and you can only hope as you read Amy’s story Alex will get justice for Amy.

Shifting from past to present throughout adds to the tension of Try Not To Breathe, and I found myself constantly second guessing who had done this terrible thing to Amy (during the first half anyway). I was left feeling slightly disappointed when it became obvious who the attacker was about halfway through the novel.Through out the book we learn more about Amy, which at times I found disconcerting as Amy changes from a vibrant teenager with dreams and inspirations into the shell of the person she once was, locked in her body with no way to communicate. As Alex gets closer to learning the truth, the suspense and anticipation mounts. Unfortunately as I had already guessed who the attacker was, I was left feeling slightly deflated.

I’m going to give Try Not To Breathe 4 stars as I guessed the attacker half way through, so the ending was an anti climax. Having said that Try Not To Breathe is a well written, impressive debut novel and one which I throughly enjoyed. My thanks to the publishers Corvus for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

4 ☕️☕️☕️☕️out of 5 from me

Publisher: Corvus 7th January 2016

Kindle

Hardcover

Giveaway

Giveaway

I have a hardback copy of Try Not To breathe to giveaway,  I’m afraid this is open to UK residents only. Competition ends on the 20th December 2015 at 1200am. I will send a winning email to that person within 48 hours after the giveaway ending. 

To enter please leave a comment below and all comments will go into a hat where I will pick one lucky winner

I was hoping to use rafflecoptor, but the link won’t work  for some reason so apologises for that