Veronika Jordan's Blog

Dreaming of Unicorns by Charlie Barlow Extract

In Dreaming of Unicorns, Charlie Barlow takes the reader on a journey from San Francisco to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Iran, as he battles to build the business of his dreams: online medical consultation app Health at Hand.

It’s not a smooth journey, and this is an honest account with all the bumps in the road. There are regulatory minefields, cultural barriers, legal threats, demoralising setbacks and hard-won breakthroughs.

Charlie’s wit and self-reflection are refreshing as he describes the painful lessons he had to learn and the resilience needed to survive in the high-stakes startup world. This is the ultimate handbook for any entrepreneur or anyone thinking of becoming one. The warts and all account of one man’s attempt to snag that most elusive of beasts — the unicorn.

After 12 years working as a Private and Investment Banker for leading international banks – including Morgan Stanley, HSBC and the Bank of Singapore – Charlie Barlow established his own technology venture- capital business, Rockfirst Capital, in 2012 and subsequently founded the multi-award-winning telehealth company Health at Hand.

Health at Hand became the first licensed telehealth company to ever be established in the Middle East and the first to focus on transforming healthcare access to the under-served blue-collar population of the region.

Having scaled Health at Hand to over 4 million patients and 6 countries, Charlie sold the business in 2021 to Fortune 500 company Allianz. He now works within the fintech and health sectors, advising businesses on how to scale cross-border and to reach their full exit potential. 

Extract

Here is an extract from the book:

‘Charlie Barlow. How the fuck did you get into my office?!’

‘And so it began – my journey as a first-time entrepreneur, having lied my way into the office of Dr Pat Basu, founder of the world’s most successful digital healthcare company. With a growing sense of both trepidation and excitement, I’d found myself in the heart of Doctor on Demand’s San Francisco headquarters, hoping to kickstart my copycat MedTech business for the under-served, low-income populations of emerging markets … But how on earth did this meeting even happen in the first place? I knew next to nothing about technology or healthcare when I began the journey of incubating Health at Hand, the digital healthcare business I would go on to sell some five years later.

‘I was on a night flight from Singapore to Dubai in early 2016 when the idea first came to me. A brainwave. Or so I thought. Smartphones were becoming more and more prevalent, and WIFI was beginning to reach even rural communities in much of the developing world. I’ve always had an active mind for scheming and brainstorming and, having spent the last ten years living in Asia and the Middle East, I was acutely aware that in many developing markets, the quality of healthcare available to the general population often fell short of the standards found in more developed regions. What if there was a mobile-enabled technology solution that allowed patients and doctors to communicate through video – and from their smartphones? I could alleviate one of the world’s great injustices, ensuring that access to quality primary healthcare was not only available to the privileged few, but to everyone. Build an app; download it on to an iPad; throw that iPad into a shanty town or refugee camp, and I’d be a world-beater.

‘It all sounded so easy.’

Extract courtesy of Grace Pilkington Publicity

For further information, interview requests or to see a book, please contact gracepilkingtonpublicity@gmail.com

About the Author

Charlie Barlow was founder and CEO of Health at Hand, an app-based doctor
video consultation platform launched in Dubai in 2017.

“What a remarkable story and one of great resilience and kindness, building a business to serve the low-income populations of the emerging markets”
Liz Earle MBE

The Howling by Michael J Malone (Annie Jackson Mysteries #3)

Scotland’s oldest legends are just waking up… Vowing once more to remove herself from society, Annie is living alone in her little cottage by the shores of a loch.

But when an old enemy – now locked up in a high-security hospital – comes calling, begging her to find the son that she was forced to give up at the age of seventeen, Annie is tempted out of seclusion.

The missing boy holds the key to ending Annie’s curse, and he may be the only chance that both she and Lewis have of real happiness.

#TheHowling Twitter/X @michaelJmalone1 @OrendaBooks #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours
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Annie and Lewis begin an investigation that takes them back to the past, a time etched in Scottish folklore, a period of history that may just be repeating itself. And what they uncover could destroy not just some of the most powerful people in the country, who will stop at nothing to protect their wealth and their secrets, but also Annie’s life, and everything she holds dear…

My Review

In the first book in the Annie Jackson series, we had flashbacks to the time when witches were strangled and their bodies thrown on a blazing pyre. In Book Three, The Howling, it’s about wolves.

Jean and Mary are sisters who have fallen out. One lives in a great hall, while the other lives in a hovel with her son Andra and two daughters. It’s the year 1707 and Andra saves a wolf cub, which he calls Laddie. He is the last wolf left in Scotland, as all the others have been killed. As Andra and Laddie become close, their souls begin to merge as one. Andra knows that if the wolf takes over he will be lost forever. Hundreds of years later, Drew has flashbacks to Andra’s life and his relationship with Laddie.

So how does this relate to Annie and Lewis? Sylvia Lowry-Law, who we met in the last book, tried to kill Annie as part of a ritual to raise a demon. Naturally it failed, Annie was rescued, and Sylvia ended up in a secure psychiatric hospital. But now Sylvia wants Annie to find her son, who was taken from her when she was seventeen.

Bernard Peters works for his grandfather, also called Bernard Peters. When ‘gramps’ is on his deathbed, he makes a dying confession, telling the younger Bernard that his life was not what he thought and there are secrets that people will kill for to prevent them getting out. And so the two searches and the seemingly unrelated characters begin to merge, like the wolves in the lives of Andra and Drew.

It’s a brilliantly written thriller, which combines fast paced chases, power hungry megalomaniacs, and a group known as The Order, with mysticism and superstition. The wolf scenes are terrifying and each time we went back to Andra, I was almost too scared to turn the page because I knew the outcome, but not the journey.

It’s different from the other two books in the series, but just as good. I have a feeling there will be another book soon as too many questions were left unanswered. Bring it on I say!

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Michael Malone is a prize-winning poet and author who was born and brought up in the heart of Burns’ country. He has published over 200 poems in literary magazines throughout the UK, including New Writing Scotland, Poetry Scotland and Markings. Blood Tears, his bestselling debut novel won the Pitlochry Prize from the Scottish Association of Writers.

His dark psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie, was a number-one bestseller, and is currently in production for the screen, and five powerful standalone thrillers followed suit. The Murmurs and The Torments, first in the Annie Jackson Mysteries series, were published to critical acclaim in 2023. A former Regional Sales Manager (Faber) he has also worked as an IFA and a bookseller. Michael lives in Ayr, where he also works as a hypnotherapist.

About Orenda Books

Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.

Atticus Arnott’s Great Adventure by Caroline James

Escape to sunny Spain with the #1 bestselling author of The Cruise in this heartwarming rom com full of romance, self-discovery and the magic of saying yes to adventure.

The best chapters of life are still waiting to be written…

When seventy-year-old Atticus Arnott trades the rainy hills of Cumbria for the golden coast of Spain in his beloved vintage campervan, his quiet village is left reeling from the shock. With only his faithful collie, Ness, for company, Atticus sets off in search of sunshine, serenity, and perhaps a glass or two of sangria. But his solo adventure quickly turns into something far more unexpected…

Back in Ireland, Atticus’s daughter Mary is facing a crisis of her own. As her picture-perfect life starts to crumble, she must find the courage to put herself first for once and rediscover the dreams she set aside long ago.

As father and daughter navigate new paths, they learn that starting over isn’t about running from the past—but embracing the unknown with open arms…

Full of laughter, love and second chances, Atticus Arnott’s Great Adventure is a feel-good escape that proves it’s never too late for a new beginning—no matter where life might take you.

My Review

I’ve come to the conclusion that I am probably quite antisocial. I’m not saying that if I found myself in Atticus’s situation I would turn into a lonely old grump, but the idea of living with a load of partying old pats in sunny Spain is probably my worst nightmare. When I retired in 2023, my husband and I decided to spend two months at a time in Gran Canaria but we settled for a quiet life – mostly. If I pop my clogs before him, he’d better not go back there with someone else. Unlike his late wife Clara approving of his new found ‘second chance’, I would be more like Lazar Wolf’s dead wife in Fiddler On The Roof and come back to haunt him.

That’s not to say that I didn’t love the book – I even stayed up till midnight (told you I wasn’t a party animal) to finish it. My favourite character though was definitely the daughter Mary. Even though I am Atticus’s age, I found her story the one I could most empathise with. She left her family in Cumbria to marry estate agent Conor and move to Ireland. They set up the business together, then had four children and what a right so-and-so he turned out to be. But never let it be said that Mary is a doormat. We shall have to wait and see.

Mungo is Mary’s twin and more of a grump than Atticus. He’s changed the ailing sheep farm into a trendy camp site with a shop and cafe, but Atticus is upset that he sold off the sheep that had been his father’s life. However, Mungo’s son Jake is going to help change all that. Jake is my second favourite character. At sixteen, he can turn his hand to anything and everything from online dating apps in Spain to doing up an old camper van. I need a Jake in my life. And a camper van.

Anyway, no more Gran Canaria – we have a dog now – just need a suitable mode of transport so we can all take that trip. We just need to find somewhere quiet and rehome the gnomes…

Many thanks to @lovebookstours for inviting me to be part of #AtticusArnott blog tour.

About the Author

Caroline James is the celebrated author of later-life fiction, including The Cruise, the #1 best-seller that has captivated cruise ship passengers worldwide, earning its reputation as Girl Power for the Over-Sixties! Her eagerly anticipated follow-up novel, The Cruise Club, is set to make waves too. Caroline’s vibrant storytelling stems from her colourful career. Before becoming a full-time writer, she carved out a fascinating path in the hospitality industry, owning a charming country house hotel and a lively pub. As a media agent, she worked closely with celebrity chefs, giving her an insider’s perspective on the glitz, glamour, and grit of the culinary world. When she finally turned her focus to writing, she discovered her true calling, penning best-selling novels that have garnered her legions of fans.

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Open to Death by Sophie Mattis a DI Rena Hunt Mystery Book #1

In the picturesque town of Rucklesby, peace is shattered when a young woman is found brutally murdered in her home.

Detective Inspector Serena “Rena” Hunt is called to the scene, still haunted by her last case and questioning her instincts. 

The victim, Sicily Avery—a wife and mother—has been stabbed through the heart with chilling precision. When another woman is killed in the same way, Rena realises a calculated murderer is on the loose, leaving cryptic notes on the victims as part of a twisted agenda. 

Genre: Mystery / Crime fiction / police procedural

With the body count rising, Rena and her team race to stop the killer before they strike again. Tensions mount with the arrival of new forensic pathologist Dr. Lucas Mann—bringing both friction and unexpected chemistry—as they work together to outwit a murderer who always seems one step ahead. 

Open to Death intricately combines themes of murder, betrayal, and the unyielding quest for justice, all while subtly developing a slow-burn romance. 

My Review

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, but with plenty of information and initial back story about the characters, particularly DI Rena Hunt, who is going to be our strong female lead going forwards. This is book one in a new series.

Rena is a great protagonist, and I also really like her sidekick Jack Orly, I even like his name. Unlike our first victim Sicily Avery – is anyone really called Sicily? What were her parents thinking? Then a second woman is killed in the same way, but I can’t say who as that would give it away.

The story becomes more and more complicated as new characters and suspects are introduced, and they all seem to be left-handed (statistically unlikely), which is what our attractive pathologist Lucas Mann believes about the killer, looking at the angle of the knife wounds. The stabbings are particularly gruesome, though I’m not sure why, having read far worse, but there is something so visceral and direct about them, delivered at such close quarters. This just didn’t seem like random killings.

I used to belong to an online book club, which was like a buddy read, but we all read the same section of a book at the same time, and crime fiction was our favourite, as we could all play amateur detective and try and work out who dunnit. We often got it hopelessly wrong. Open To Death would have been perfect. Not just who the killer is, but finding a link between the victims and a motive.

My only reservation is the made up county and towns, as usually it’s a fictional town or village, but I don’t think I’ve ever come across a fictional county in a book before, at least not in a crime novel.

However, as this is the first in the series, I think it will get better and better and hopefully a romance will blossom between Rena and Lucas.

Many thanks to Hygge Book Tours for inviting me to be part of the #blogtour

About the Author

Sophie Mattis is a British mystery novelist who enjoys crafting suspenseful tales set in the English countryside. Blending intricate plot twists and vividly drawn characters, she delves into the hidden facets of modern life, often focusing on the intersections between family, relationships, and the human psyche. When she’s not writing, she enjoys travelling, cycling in the woods, and exploring England’s hidden treasures.

Author’s Website:
www.sophiemattisbooks.com

Social Media Handles
Twitter/X: 
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The Midnight Killer by Jez Pinfold

Detective Bec Pope is waiting in Heathrow departures when the call comes in: a body has been found in a quiet Bloomsbury cemetery. Her long-overdue holiday is over before it begins.

It’s no ordinary crime scene. The smartly-dressed young man hasn’t just been murdered. The killer has left a message – a pentagram, brutally carved into the dead man’s chest.

Then a second victim is discovered on a patch of scrubland in Bermondsey. Another young man, killed at midnight, just like the first.

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The same five-pointed symbol etched into his flesh.

Bec is on the hunt for a ruthless killer unlike any she’s faced before. If she is to crack the case, she must discover what the symbols mean. And why these victims were targeted.

With the press circling and the entire city on edge, Bec’s running out of time in a case that grows darker by the hour. She needs to stop the killer before midnight strikes – and another life is taken.

My Review

First of all let me say that if I was at the airport about to board a plane to New York with my family, and work rang, I would have ignored the call till I got to my destination. But Detective Bec Pope takes the call and cancels her holiday. Then her partner and his children do the same. I want to know whether they are covered by insurance, or whether the police are paying for the missed trip.

If Bec really was the only officer at the station capable of solving this case, then bring someone senior in from another force. Anyway, rant over, because this was a really good story.

In my youth I was fascinated by all things occult – weren’t we all in the 70s – seances, scary films, Dennis Wheatley books. I even studied it during my OU degree in the 2000s. Let me just say that I know a fair bit about pentagrams, Satanism and such – don’t ask – so I was surprised that no-one seemed to, apart from Kevin aka Acheron. And where’s the dark web when you need it? That surely would be the way to go. Or they could have consulted me! But I digress.

The Midnight Killer is a fast-paced, exciting read and personally I did not work out who the killer was until near the end. It’s very twisty, if a little far-fetched at times, but Bec is a great female lead with a good team around her. I would not have realised that this was part of a series if I didn’t know, as the book stands up well on its own. The main thing we discover is that her previous colleague Detective Miller was killed in the line of duty, and Bec initially struggles to accept his replacement.

If you like procedural crime thrillers, then The Midnight Killer is definitely for you. It would make a good TV series with someone like Vicky McClure in the lead. And what a cliffhanger! We’ll hopefully discover the outcome in the next book.

Many thanks to @ZooloosBT  for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Jez Pinfold taught English and Film Studies in London for twenty years, including eight years as Head of English. Before landing in secondary teaching he had various jobs, including roadie, sound engineer, guitar tutor and teacher of English as a foreign language. After writing, his other passion is music. He plays guitar in a rowdy covers band currently called The Maverick Detectives, although they frequently change their name to avoid becoming too recognised and succumbing to the trappings of fame.

Book Links
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com
Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/midnightkiller-zbt

The Familiars by Stacey Halls

Young Fleetwood Shuttleworth, a noblewoman, is with child again. None of her previous pregnancies have borne fruit, and her husband, Richard, is anxious for an heir.

Then Fleetwood discovers a hidden doctor’s letter that carries a dire prediction: she will not survive another birth. By chance she meets a midwife named Alice Grey, who promises to help her deliver a healthy baby. But Alice soon stands accused of witchcraft.

Is there more to Alice than meets the eye? Fleetwood must risk everything to prove her innocence. As the two women’s lives become intertwined, the Witch Trials of 1612 loom. Time is running out; both their lives are at stake. Only they know the truth. Only they can save each other.

Rich and compelling, set against the frenzy of the real Pendle Hill Witch Trials, this novel explores the rights of 17th-century women and raises the question: Was witch-hunting really women-hunting? Fleetwood Shuttleworth, Alice Grey and the other characters are actual historical figures. King James I was obsessed with asserting power over the lawless countryside (even woodland creatures, or “familiars,” were suspected of dark magic) by capturing “witches”—in reality mostly poor and illiterate women.

My Review

I read The Foundling by this author with my online book club in 2020. I adored it, but not sure why I didn’t pick up another of her books until I listened to Mrs England just over a month ago. I loved that as well, so I thought I’d better listen to The Familiars. I used Borrowbox from the Library for both.

The Familiars is based on the real case of the Pendle Hill witch trials in Lancashire in 1612. ‘The trials occurred during the reign of King James I, a staunch believer in witchcraft who introduced the death penalty for it.’ The characters in the book are mostly real people of the time, but the story is pure fiction.

It’s crazy that at the time anything unexplained could be ‘explained’ by witchcraft. For instance when Jon Law is taken ill, his face having collapsed on one side, his arm having lost its use and he is unable to speak, it’s obvious that he has had a stroke. But Alizon Demdike, who was seen nearby with a black dog, confessed to having putting a curse on him. And God help you if a frog or toad was found in your house.

Seventeen-year-old Fleetwood Shuttleworth has already lost three babies and is now pregnant again. In the woods, she meets a strange girl called Alice Grey, who is carrying a bag of dead rabbits. Alice is technically trespassing on Shuttleworth land, but Fleetwood is intrigued by her. They meet up again and Alice tells Fleetwood that she is a midwife. And that is the beginning of their friendship.

In the meantime, lifelong friend of her husband Richard, Roger Nowell (he was a real person) is determined to make a name for himself in his twilight years by seeking out witches and sending them for trial and certain death.

We have to remember that this was the 17th century when women had no voice and were subservient to their husbands. It’s maddening at times!

I loved this book so much, and it’s perfect as an audiobook.

About the Author

Stacey Halls was born in Lancashire and worked as a journalist before her debut The Familiars was published in 2019. The Familiars was the bestselling debut hardback novel of that year, won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the British Book Awards’ Debut Book of the Year. The Foundling, her second novel, was also a Sunday Times top ten bestseller. Mrs England is her third novel.

The Crooked Medium’s Guide to Murder by Stephen Cox

London 1881. Can two crooked women stop a murder?

Extravagant medium Mrs Ashton and her lover, blunt working-class Mrs Bradshaw, run a spiritualist scam. Mrs Ashton secretly reads minds.

Believing that Mrs Ashton is genuine, grieving Lady Violet craves the truth behind her mother’s untimely death.

#TheCrookedMediumsGuidetoMurder X/Twitter @stephenwhq @RandomTTours #bookX #booktwitter 
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#Victorianmurdermystery #historicalmurdermystery #spooky #paranormal #sapphic #LGBTQ #womensleuths #BritishDetectives

But Lady Violet’s powerful husband Sir Charles hates spiritualists. Has he killed before? Uncovering this MP’s wicked crimes will put all three women in terrible danger… 

To solve a shocking murder, look both sides of the grave.

My Review

This was an interesting read set in one of my favourite periods of history, the Victorian era, the pinnacle of hypocrisy. I say interesting because the style of writing used by the author is very different, often as if written at the time. I sometimes struggled with Braddie’s way of speaking, but maybe that’s because it put me outside of my comfort zone. The story however, is great fun, though there is a serious undertone.

Mrs Honoria Ashton is a medium. Except she’s a fraud, of course she is, as we all know it’s not possible to contact the dead. Her seances are full of tricks and ruses, but many who are grieving are taken in. But in spite of all this fakery, she can read minds, and get people to ‘open’ so she can see what they are really thinking.

As I said, Braddie grated on me, but I did love Maisie. Only fourteen years old, she’s street-wise beyond her years. She helps Mrs Ashton with various jobs, while looking after her younger siblings and drunken ‘pa’ since her mother died. But what she really wants to be is an amateur detective and be paid for it out of the profits.

The main story revolves around the beautiful Lady Violet and her husband Sir Charles, a rising star of the government, but in reality, a coercive bully. But is that all there is to him, or is he actually far worse, a murderer even? He hates spiritualists, but Lady Violet has asked Mrs Ashton to contact her late mother as she is still grieving and can’t move on.

This was a very entertaining read, if a little overlong (as so many books are these days), and I really enjoyed it. Recommended for anyone with an interest in spiritualism and the Victorian period of history.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Stephen Cox is a writer living in London. He’d read every Holmes, Christie, and Sayers before he was 21 and did Holmes fanfic in school. He has also read the Moonstone six times. With a science degree he has always been a fan of history and the imagination.

The Crooked Medium’s Guide to Murder contains the strong characterisation, women protagonists, authentic period setting, and wide roaming imagination of his other works. He says ‘It’s a rip-roaring twisty story, with relationships under stress and surprising readers at every turn.”

His first two novels, Our Child of the Stars and Our Child of Two Worlds were called “heartfelt, imaginative and gripping”, with wide praise in the national press.

Stephen says ‘I wanted female rogues as my leads – women with mixed relationship with law and the truth, yet capable of great kindness. This is a rigorous detective story with a client in trouble and old crimes to be solved. It has everything – a brutal man, a Lady in danger, and the past and present feeding the action. Can these outsiders possibly win through?

Queer women certainly existed and made lives together in Victorian England, as those with eyes to see can see,’

Buying links
stephencox.co.uk
Up to date buying and pre-order links will be added to the link below and updated as available.
The books are available through Amazon and also all other eBook retailers and print direct from Stephen and his publisher.

For more information
stephen.cox.pr@gmail.com 

Stephen’s socials
Instagram @stephencoxauthor
Twitter/X @stephenwhq (very inactive)
Facebook stephencoxauthor
BlueSky ‪@stephencoxauthor.bsky.social‬

Self-Published
The book is self-published to a high standard with professional editing, copy-editing, proofing, formatting, and a professional cover.  It will be available from Amazon and other retailers. Committed to professionalism, Stephen is applying to join the Crime Writers Association, which can only be considered when the book is out.

The Wish by Heather Morris

Jesse is 15. She loves her friends, her little brother and her parents – even when they’re arguing, which feels like constantly these days. But most of all, she loves playing video games. Even from her hospital bed.

Alex is 29. He doesn’t love a lot of things. To be honest, he’s not really sure he knows how to. His desk at work, as VR games designer, is empty, much like his life feels sometimes.

#TheWish X/Twitter #heathermorrisauthor @ZaffreBooks #RandomThingsTours @annecater  @RandomTTours #booktwitter 
Instagram @heathermorrisauthor @zaffrebooks @randomthingstours #bookstagram #blogtour 

Then Jesse makes a wish. A simple one: a video experience made of her life, something to be there, just in case she isn’t.

One loving teenager.
One lonely adult.

Which one will get the happy ending?

My Review

In 2004, when my younger son was in sixth form, 15-year-old Laura E. was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia. More than 400 people turned out to give blood samples to The Anthony Nolan Trust one Thursday night in a bid to save her life, even many who didn’t know her. She needed a bone marrow transplant.

I remember sitting with my sister-in-law crying as we read of the failed transplants, and how she chose to let go. It was one of the bravest and saddest things I’ve ever read.

A lot of books make me cry, but this one had me in tears for much of it. Maybe it was because of the memory of that brave girl, or I would have done so anyway, but The Wish handles it so sensitively. It never shies away from the feelings of anger as well sorrow.

Poor Jesse. In hospital for months at a time, she needs a bone marrow transplant. The one from little brother Sam didn’t work. Her mother is naturally devastated, but her father is in denial and gets cross with everyone. Especially Alex. Jesse’s wish is to make a video experience of her life for those left behind if she doesn’t make it. Her father can’t accept that it’s a possibility and virtually throws Alex out. How can they convince him that it’s what Jesse wants?

Jesse’s friends at the hospital are brilliantly written characters. Mouthy Amy, and cheeky boys Luke and Ryan, who try to help in the most unusual ways. And then there is Alex. He could never have imagined what was really being asked of him or how emotionally involved he would become.

The Wish is a masterpiece and everyone should read it. It throws everything into perspective.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Born in New Zealand, Heather Morris is passionate about stories of survival, resilience and hope. In 2003, while working in a large public hospital in Melbourne, Heather was introduced to an elderly gentleman who ‘might just have a story worth telling’. The day she met Lale Sokolov changed both their lives. Lale’s story formed the basis for The Tattooist of Auschwitz and the follow-up novel, Cilka’s Journey.

In 2021 she published the phenomenal conclusion to the Tattooist trilogy, Three Sisters, after being asked to tell the story of three Holocaust survivors who knew Lale from their time in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Together, her novels have sold more than 18 million copies worldwide. Sisters Under the Rising Sun, a heart-wrenching novel based upon the experiences of women in Japanese POW camps, was published in 2023 to great acclaim.

Heather’s first contemporary novel, The Wish, is published in September 2025.

I am Death by Chris Carter (Robert Hunter #7)

Seven days after being abducted, the body of a twenty-year-old woman is found on a green patch of grass by the Los Angeles International Airport.

She has been left with her limbs stretched out and spread apart, placing her in a five-point human star. The autopsy reveals that she had been murdered in a most terrible way. But the surprises don’t end there.

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Detective Robert Hunter, who leads LAPD’s Special Section, Ultra Violent Unit, is assigned the case. But almost immediately a second body turns up. Hunter knows he has to be quick.

Surrounded by new challenges as every day passes, Detective Hunter finds himself chasing a monster. A predator whose past hides a terrible secret, whose desire to hurt people and thirst for murder can never be quenched – for he is DEATH.

My Review

Welcome to post number seven on this fab #blogathon. I will be reviewing one book per month.

Carlos Garcia is back for I Am Death (he wasn’t in the previous book), the seventh outing in the Detective Robert Hunter series and they just get better, though An Evil Mind will take some beating.

The first murder is terrible, the second probably one of the worst in all the books I’ve read so far, while the third is very Jack the Ripper. That’s all I’m saying. But what makes it worse (one in particular) is that we have got to know the victim and admired her strength, and her determination to overcome her terrible childhood. She really didn’t deserve what happened to her. Not that any of the victims do. But the back stories are becoming more elaborate with each book, I know I said something similar after reading An Evil Mind.

I will say that I did guess one of the twists quite early on, though the changing timelines made me doubt my instincts at times. It didn’t make any difference to my enjoyment of the book though – if enjoyment is the right word – it’s more about the (evil, sadistic) journey than the destination in I Am Death and that’s fine by me.

When you read a news story, and someone dies in a fire, you are often told that the smoke will have killed them first, so they didn’t suffer. With a Chris Carter novel, it’s the opposite. There’s no ‘they were dead already when they were being carved up’. It’s ‘oh yes they were still conscious while watching their own hands and feet being chopped off, and being skinned alive’. But that’s the nature of the beast. No-one ever said these novels are for the faint-hearted.

I’m not a romance fan in general, but please let Robert have a relationship. I think he’s lonely and needs more than a one night stand. Occasionally we think he’s found a kindred soul, but they either get killed or it just fizzles out. He needs a strong career woman who understands him.

Many thanks to @Tr4cyF3nt0n for inviting me to be part of the #CompulsiveReaders #blogathon.

About the Author

Born in Brazil of Italian origin, Chris Carter studied psychology and criminal behaviour at the University of Michigan. As a member of the Michigan State District Attorney’s Criminal Psychology team, he interviewed and studied many criminals, including serial and multiple homicide offenders with life imprisonment convictions. He now lives in London. Visit his website www.chriscarterbooks.com

The Burning Stones by Antti Tuomainen translated by David Hackston Paperback Tour

Saunas, love and a ladleful of murder…

A cold-blooded killer strikes at the hottest moment: the new head of a sauna-stove company is murdered … in the sauna. Who has turned up the temperature and burned him to death?

The evidence points in the direction of Anni Korpinen – top salesperson and the victim’s successor at Steam Devil.

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And as if hitting middle-age, being in a marriage that has lost its purpose, and struggling with work weren’t enough, Anni realizes that she must be quicker than both the police and the murderer to uncover who is behind it all – before it’s too late…

My Review

I think it will take me some time to get the images of the first murder out of my head. I’m not going to say any more. I don’t want to be reminded.

Then there are the sprats. I ate them once as a child and was immediately sick, and I have never eaten them since. The thought of them still fills me with horror!

Finally we have the ‘bumlet’. It’s a square of folded linen designed for hygiene purposes. I wasn’t sure if it’s an actual ‘thing’ or just created for the story. Of course I googled it and apparently the Finns (who invented the sauna) also like the extra protection from the heat. They take their saunas much hotter than we do in the UK.

But we also don’t really do naked in the UK. And if we did, we would sit on a neatly folded towel, with another one over any naughty bits. In the case of our first victim, it would have taken more than a double thick bumlet or a folded towel to save him from overheating.

Anni Korpinen is our narrator. Following the impending retirement of Erkki ‘The Stove King’ Ruusulu and the horrific murder of his successor Ilmo Räty, she is now in line to be the next CEO of Steam Devil sauna stoves. She is also the number one suspect in the murder as she has motive, means and opportunity. Chief of police Kiimalainen couldn’t care less about any of these – he is gunning for her because of an age old feud with her father over an Elk. I kid you not.

Anni is married to Santeri who is obsessed with Formula One and former racing drivers’ old socks. Thirty years ago she was engaged to police officer Janne who she jilted, but that’s a whole separate story.

Incidentally, the translation is seamless. Hard to believe The Burning Stones was written in a foreign language, especially as Finnish is considered one of the hardest languages to learn.

I loved this book. It’s very different from the Adventure Park trilogy, where our intrepid hero Henri Koskinen was an actuary. Anni Korpinen is a sauna stove salesperson, though I’m not sure that’s any more exciting. And she doesn’t have a cat. If there’s a follow up can she have one of Schopenhauer’s kittens please.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author. In 2011, his third novel, The Healer, was awarded the Clue Award for Best Finnish Crime Novel and shortlisted for the Glass Key Award. With a piercing and evocative style, Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime-genre formula, and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards and now a Finnish TV series. Palm Beach, Finland (2018) and Little Siberia (2019) were shortlisted for the Capital Crime/Amazon Publishing Readers Awards, the Last Laugh Award and the CWA International Dagger, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel. The Rabbit Factor, the first book in the trilogy will soon be a major motion picture starring Steve Carell for Amazon Studios, and the first two books were international bestsellers. Antti lives in Helsinki with his wife.

About Orenda Books

Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.