The Child Blog tour and Review

The Child by Fiona Barton
Publication date: June 27, 2017
Publisher: Berkley Books
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Source: Publisher for an honest review

Description:

As an old house is demolished in a gentrifying section of London, a workman discovers a tiny skeleton, buried for years. For journalist Kate Waters, it s a story that deserves attention. She cobbles together a piece for her newspaper, but at a loss for answers, she can only pose a question: Who is the Building Site Baby? 

As Kate investigates, she unearths connections to a crime that rocked the city decades earlier: A newborn baby was stolen from the maternity ward in a local hospital and was never found. Her heartbroken parents were left devastated by the loss. 

But there is more to the story, and Kate is drawn house by house into the pasts of the people who once lived in this neighborhood that has given up its greatest mystery. And she soon finds herself the keeper of unexpected secrets that erupt in the lives of three women and torn between what she can and cannot tell.

My Take:

When I heard Fiona Barton had a new book coming out, I was eager to read it because  I loved The Widow so much. Let's begin by stating that The Child did not disappoint. I have figured out that Barton is a smart and twisty author. I love the complexity and pacing of her writing.

In The Child, Kate Waters is trying to remain relevant and compete with the youngsters writing the online content for the paper. She is having a difficult time adjusting to the 24/7 news cycle of the internet and isn't particularly happy with some of the quality of what is being put out there. She still wants the old-school story about real news that requires actual research and skill - not just fluff.

When she spots a small write up about the tiny skeleton uncovered at a building site, she knows there is much more to this, and she won't stop until she figures it out.

The reader is also introduced to Emma and Angela - each has a strong emotional reaction to the small write up about the skeleton being found. It is a slow and complex process to find out what each of the women's past trauma is. As always, Barton creates characters that I found to be interesting and sympathetic. I really like that the reader gets to follow Kate as she slowly works through all the leads and dead-ends to pull all the pieces together. There are major plot twists and surprises along to way. 

As usual, Kate is the catalyst for the unraveling of secrets and sins and long-buried pain. The way the mysteries unfold was very enjoyable to read  - especially since I felt that justice was served in the end.  While I did guess one of the big reveals, that didn't deter from my enjoyment because  I was so anxious to see just how it was going to happen. 

I really enjoyed The Child and have been recommending it to everyone. I try to avoid giving too much of a description since half the fun of reading one of Barton's books is just reading with no idea of what to expect -- because she is great at keeping the reader on their toes.

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This summer FIONA BARTON is back with a second novel that proves lightning can strike twice.

Barton’s 2016 debut, The Widow, was an instant global bestseller, captivating readers around the world and settingthe publishing industry abuzz.

The highly-anticipated release of THE CHILD (Berkley Hardcover; June 27, 2017) reaffirms Barton’s growing reputation as a writer of rich, character-driven suspense novels. Like Tana French, Louise Penny, and Megan Abbott, Barton’s stories do more than thrill: they explore the complexities of a changing world.

The Widow delved into the secrets that exist within a marriage and the reporter’s role as voyeur.  Here Barton continues to mine those themes. THE CHILD tackles the 24/7 news cycle, and lays bare the intricacies of a different but equally fascinating relationship—mother and child.

Though THE CHILD delivers an evocative look at the changing face of journalism, and a delicious plot twist, it isthe characters’ haunting and rich emotional lives that set Barton apart and confirm her stature as a crime novelist of the first order.

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The Passenger - Review

The Passenger by Lisa Lutz
Publication date: March 1st 2016 by Simon & Schuster
320 pages; Hardcover
Genre: Suspense/Thriller/Mystery
Source: Publisher via NetGalley for an honest review

Description from Goodreads:

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Spellman Files series, Lisa Lutz’s latest blistering thriller is about a woman who creates and sheds new identities as she crisscrosses the country to escape her past: you’ll want to buckle up for the ride!

In case you were wondering, I didn’t do it. I didn’t have anything to do with Frank’s death. I don’t have an alibi, so you’ll have to take my word for it...

Forty-eight hours after leaving her husband’s body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois cashes in her credit cards, dyes her hair brown, demands a new name from a shadowy voice over the phone, and flees town. It’s not the first time.

She meets Blue, a female bartender who recognizes the hunted look in a fugitive’s eyes and offers her a place to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya-now-Amelia accepts. An uneasy―and dangerous―alliance is born.

It’s almost impossible to live off the grid today, but Amelia-now-Debra and Blue have the courage, the ingenuity, and the desperation, to try. Hopscotching from city to city, Debra especially is chased by a very dark secret…can she outrun her past?

With heart-stopping escapes and devious deceptions, The Passenger is an amazing psychological thriller about defining yourself while you pursue your path to survival. One thing is certain: the ride will leave you breathless.

My Take:

It was the description for The Passenger that made me request this galley.  It sounded like one of those super fast-paced thrillers that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat until the end of the book --- and it turned out to be exactly that. And more.

I loved the uncertainty of who Tanya is - or was - throughout the novel. It appears that  she has changed identities more than once -- she is too good at this to be new to it. The strain of living new lives is wearing on Tanya though. When her husband dies and she has no alibi, she knows she has to run - because of the mysterious secret from her past. This mysterious secret is slowly revealed over the course of the novel -- and I loved every painstaking moment of the reveal.

I really enjoyed the tantalizing hints given as the novel progresses. Just enough for the reader to makes guesses then change their mind a few times as to exactly what happened in Tanya's past that sent her on the run. I was completely caught up in the story from the first.

No one in The Passenger is quite what they seem or pretend to be. Everyone is a potential threat and Tanya can never forget that. I was on edge the entire time I was reading and loved every minute of it. I think that The Passenger will appeal to any reader that enjoys fast-paced, riveting novels of mystery and suspense. This is definitely a book that I will be recommending.

Daughter by Jane Shemilt - Review

The Daughter by Jane Shemilt
Publication date: March 3, 2015 by William Morrow
Source: Publisher for an honest review
Description:

How well do you really know those you love?

Jenny loves her three teenage children and her husband, Ted, a celebrated neurosurgeon. She loves the way that, as a family, they always know each other's problems and don't keep secrets from each other. 

But when her youngest child, fifteen-year-old Naomi, doesn't come home after her school play and a nationwide search for her begins, secrets previously kept from Jenny are revealed. 

Naomi has vanished, leaving her family broken and her mother desperately searching for answers. But the traces Naomi's left behind reveal a very different girl to the one Jenny thought she'd raised. And the more she looks the more she learns that everyone she trusted has been keeping secrets.

How well does she really know her sons, her husband? How well did she know Naomi? If Jenny is going to find her, she'll have to first uncover the truth about the daughter she thought told her everything.

My Take:

The premise of The Daughter is one that always gets me and I just couldn't pass it up.  Jenny is a working mother who is trying to have it all -- the job as a doctor while being a wife and mother to three great teenagers. She has convinced herself that she has things mostly under control and is aware of everything of importance in her kids' lives. We all know where this is headed, right? Her fifteen year old daughter, Naomi, is very busy with a play and is tired and rarely around anymore, but things will get back to normal soon. This is the set up for Naomi's sudden disappearance.  Every mother's worst nightmare.

I have to say that I was caught up in the story (nightmare) right away. Maybe it is because I have two teenage daughters and  I could too easily imagine how I would feel in Jenny's position.  The search for Naomi brings out all kinds of information about Naomi, her brothers and father that previously were either unknown, ignored or just overlooked by Jenny. There is a lot of time given to examining choices, mistakes made and the consequences to these. 

The timeline goes back and forth between the days after Naomi's disappearance and a year later. I actually like the split timeline thing in books, so this didn't bother me. I don't want to give away too much, so I won't discuss the later timeline. I will say that I was a little surprised by the ending, but I wasn't disappointed or upset by it. I actually preferred it to some of the other possibilities. And with so much about this book, it made me  stop and think. I think that the biggest thing I took away from this book was a reminder to pay attention to your family - even the mundane, boring stuff, because that is what makes up life. Don't try to convince yourself  that you know people --- it would be better to have a conversation with them.  It serves as a reminder to listen and actually hear what is being said. We are all just doing the best we can and we should understand that about ourselves and others.

Favors and Lies Blog Tour and Review

Favors and Lies by Mark Gilleo
Publication date: July 1, 2014 by The Story Plant
Source: Publisher for an honest review
Description: 
Dan Lord is a forty-year-old private detective with a law degree working the blurred line between right and wrong in the Nation’s Capital. As a self-employed solutions broker and legal consultant, he works for a very select clientele. He doesn’t advertise and only takes cases on referral. But when two people close to him are murdered, Dan's work becomes very personal.
With the assistance of a newly hired female intern, extracting clues from a ladder of acquaintances, Dan bounds through both the underbelly and elite of society, each step bringing more questions and yet ultimately taking him closer to the answer he seeks. A bail bondsman, a recluse hacker, a court clerk, a university student, an old-school barber, a high-class madam, an intelligence officer, a medical doctor, and a police detective are among the list of people Dan must cajole for help. His quest will lead him to discover things he never wanted to know, and put him in the position to reveal things that important people would prefer remain unrevealed.

Tense, ingenious, and filled with the unforgettable characters that have become a Mark Gilleo trademark, Favors and Lies is the most thrilling novel yet from one of the great new voices in suspense fiction.


My Take:
Favors and Lies sounded like it might be an interesting read, so I agreed to review it. I had no idea that it would be so much fun and such an intense page turner. I was hooked from the first few pages. I was intrigued by this guy and had to find out what was going on. I loved the way the first couple of chapters of the book don't really explain things - the reader is just along for the ride while Dan goes about his business. At first it isn't really clear what that business is - he meets with a guy in a bar after a bunch of elusive moves to make sure he isn't followed or recognized. Intriguing. It seems that Dan is the good guy in the situation, but it is all very mysterious. The second chapter, however, is where I was truly hooked. This is where the head-long rush to find out what is going on hit me.

Dan Lord is a great protagonist - smart, tough, wily, stubborn and loyal. When two members of his family are found dead on the same night, he is determined to find answers. When he becomes a suspect in their murders, he is even more determined. And he is pretty angry at the way things are going. Obviously, there is something big going on and Dan is going to find out what it is.

I don't want to discuss particulars because I don't want to give away the good stuff. Suffice to say, I was impressed with the story and was completely entertained. Things are seldom what they seem and Dan has managed to get on a lot of people's wrong sides - which makes for some fun reading. Impressively, I was actually surprised at the big reveal. I really did not see it coming. 

Favors and Lies was such a blast from start to finish. I didn't know what to expect from Mark Gilleo's writing, but I was happily surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. If you like action-packed thriller/mysteries with a super cool protagonist, then you will probably enjoy Favors and Lies. 



About the Author:

Mark Gilleo holds a graduate degree in international business from the University of South Carolina and an undergraduate degree in business from George Mason University. He enjoys traveling, hiking and biking. A fourth-generation Washingtonian, he currently resides in the D.C. area. His two most recent novels were recognized as finalist and semifinalist, respectively, in the William Faulkner-Wisdom creative writing competition.
http://markgilleo.com

Follow the tour here:

July 01, 2014 - Dive Under the Cover

July 01, 2014 - Teena in Toronto

July 15, 2014 - The Bunny`s Review

July 31, 2014 - A Blue Million Books

August 05, 2014 - A Book Geek