Liar Liar – M.J. Arlidge

September 26, 2018September 25, 2018 Book Chick1 Comment

24422342 | GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Detective Helen Grace has never seen such destruction. Six fires in twenty-four hours. Two people dead. Several more injured. It’s as if someone wants to burn the city to the ground…

With the whole town on high alert, Helen and her team must sift through the rubble to find the arsonist, someone whose thirst for fire—and control—is reducing entire lives to ashes.

One misstep could mean Helen’s career—and more lives lost. And as the pressure mounts and more buildings burn, Helen’s own dark impulses threaten to consume her…

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My thoughts: I’m thinking I’m done with this series. I do not feel the enthusiasm anymore and I’m quite sick of the whole “all against Helen” mentality that have such a big part in the books. And there is something suspect with the a new character since him/her (not going to tell you) are not on the “I hate Helen Grace” bandwagon. It is just starting to get to much and nothing of it is intriguing or challenging. I do see how Arlidge is building up to this huge explosion of happenings in a future book but the road forward is just boring me out.

The crime story however is fascinating as always and especially disturbing this time around. I felt it more authentic than usual which left me with a sense of unease and discomfort in my own home. Fire is so destructive and I think it is easy to forget how fire shows nothing or no one mercy while it ravaging over everything you hold dear. There is a high pace and small development in the story with some neat twists and a satisfying ending and if you are looking for something easy for the brain, this is a good alternative for you.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Thriller/Horror

The Witness – Simon Kernick

September 3, 2018September 3, 2018 Book Chick1 Comment

| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: ‘I had a simple choice. Stay here, and almost certainly be discovered. Or get up and run.’

THE WITNESS
When Jane Kinnear sees her lover being murdered, she suddenly finds herself in danger. Taken to an anonymous police safe-house, it soon becomes clear that her lover was an MI5 informant with important information about an imminent terrorist attack.

THE DETECTIVE
DI Ray Mason of Counter Terrorism Command is a man with a controversial past, but his effectiveness at getting results means that he’s now been given the task of preventing the attack from taking place. But can he be trusted, and does he know more about the attack than he’s letting on?

THE KILLER
In the safe-house, Jane is trying to piece together a description of her lover’s killer. But what she doesn’t know is that the killer has already found out who she is, and where she is hiding.

And now he’s coming for her.

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My thoughts: This was not what I had expected. I thought the book was more about the witness. But in reality you follow Mason most of the book. It started off fast and good with some intense chapter and great build up. Unfortunate that didn’t hold and I lost interest some 100 pages in.

Mason sure is an interesting character with an interesting past. You do get to know a lot about him but you do feel that there is so much more and stuff like that will probably be relived later on in the series. According to GoodReads there is one more book about Ray Mason so far. I will probably not read it though. The witness character was also interesting. With a background where she grew up in South Africa and escaped to the other side of the world and then a lot happened. You don’t get to know everything in one go either and it makes you curious of her past. She is an enigma and great to get to know more about. Certainly fit well with the main character and his own dark secrets.

I am however not fond of terrorists plots. I often find them childish. But I guess it is childish in reality to. To take out your own thoughts and views on other innocent people, just because others are not thinking the same way, is just making you a coward. It is like the bully in school who need to hurt others to feel better him self. Unfortunately terrorist are so much bigger and causes so much more destruction. So since the books plot is more about terrorist than anything else, this was not a book for me.

However, there is a MAJOR plot twist in the end that totally threw me. It was so far from what I expected and it was a great way to heat up the plot again and make it interesting. It was so good that it earned its own star and went from one to two stars in rating. The ending was not 100% completely satisfying but I do understand the reasons for it.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

The Child – Fiona Barton

August 12, 2018 Book Chick1 Comment

| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: When a paragraph in an evening newspaper reveals a decades-old tragedy, most readers barely give it a glance. But for three strangers it’s impossible to ignore.

For one woman, it’s a reminder of the worst thing that ever happened to her.

For another, it reveals the dangerous possibility that her darkest secret is about to be discovered.

And for the third, a journalist, it’s the first clue in a hunt to uncover the truth.

The Child’s story will be told.

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My thoughts: I have seen this book pop up a lot lately both on GoodReads and in the book clubs i’m following on Facebook. The synopsis did intrigue me so bought myself a copy. Didn’t know exactly what to expect and now i’m left with some mixed feelings.

In one way I did like the “mystery” and the history. Barton did however leave a lot of clues so I pretty much knew right from the start how everything was connected. She did throw me of there in the middle but in the end my suspicions was correct. That the book was predictable did not bother me in the end due to the really skilled way of writing it.

Other readers have reviewed it as a fast paced and an easy read. I however do not have the same feelings. There was nothing in this book that I would call fast paced and that made it pretty boring big parts of it. It is easy written yes, but it was not an easy read for me. I think due to the boring pace and the repetitive information from the different characters you get to follow made it that way for me. It doesn’t necessary have to mean that a book is boring if it is written that way, but in this one I found that it didn’t work.

In the end I do find the book likable. The story was intriguing even though predictable and it was somewhat of an easy read. It is a highly popular type of English crime right now and I do feel that it was no waste of time reading it.

Non-fiction/Biography

3 Hour dad – Adam T Hourlution

May 15, 2018May 16, 2018 Book Chick1 Comment

| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: What would you do if you were suddenly told you were going to be a mum or dad without any notice? How would you react? What thoughts would go through your head? You haven’t prepared to be a parent, you’ve not made any arrangements and nobody in your family is aware.

Now imagine that not even the mum-to-be knew that she had been hiding a little person inside her tummy the entire time.

One day Adam, just your average, typical guy receives a call from his mother-in-law (to be !) summoning him to the hospital following his girlfriend being rushed in with suspected appendicitis only to discover that she is in fact having contractions and has been admitted to the labour ward.

This heart-warming and true story invites readers to step into Adam’s shoes and experience what it is like to be a 3 Hour Dad.

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My thoughts: Adam contacted me and offered to give me his book for free, against an honest review. I do not take on many authors and try to choose well between all the request I receive each day. And this is the first time I received a true story I wanted to read. And such a sweet story it is. It’s short, funny and cute. Perfect book to brake of with between two more heavy books.

This nonfiction is about Adam and his most confusing three hours of his life and the days that follows. His girlfriend is giving birth at the local hospital but neither of them knew she was even pregnant.

I of course have seen, read and heard about those women who goes nine month and not realizing that they are pregnant until they are ready to give birth. For me it is incredible hard to understand how you can go nine months and not know. And it is really unbelievable to. And since it is so unbelievable, but apparently true, it is also one of my fears. Can you imagine the shock? Well I cannot and Adam does a fantastic job with this literary time travel, where he puts as an reader there, with him.

It is short and somewhat funny and contains a lot of cuteness. I know that the book is about Adam and his experience, but I do however feel that it is a little under developed. Or just not finished. You can’t put a rating on a true story, but my rating is on the book and writing itself. I gave it a four because I really liked it but it still missed something and I think if he would work together with his girlfriend, have her side of the story at the end, would have completed it. And maybe some pictures. True nonfiction books need pictures. 🙂