Katharine Johnson's Blog, page 4

Book review: Beneath a Starless Sky by Tessa Harris

I’m always attracted to books set in the 1930s, and having read Tessa Harris’s other historical novels, I knew this one would be gripping and meticulously researched.

Munich 1930: Smoke filled the air. Lilli Sternberg’s quickening heart sounded an alarm as she rounded the street corner. Lifting her gaze to the rooftops, a roaring blaze of thick flames engulfed the side of the building and joined the stars to fill the black sky. Her father’s shop was no more.

Lilli Sternberg longs to be a ballet dancer. But outside the sanctuary of the theatre, her beloved city is in chaos and Munich is no longer a place for dreams. The Nazi party are gaining power and the threats to those who deviate from the party line are increasing. Jewish families are being targeted and their businesses raided, even her father’s shop was torched because of their faith.

When Lilli meets Captain Marco Zeiller during a chance encounter, her heart soars. He is the perfect gentleman and her love for him feels like a bright hope under a bleak sky. But battle lines are being drawn, and Marco has been spotted by the Reich as an officer with great potential. A relationship with Lilli would compromise them both.

Will Lilli be able to escape the threats facing her family, and how much is she willing to risk for the man she loves? An absolutely gripping and emotional historical fiction novel about love, courage and betrayal for fans of My Name is Eva and The Woman of War.

My review

Having read a lot of contemporary novels recently, I really enjoyed the chance to go back in time for this one and was swept away by the tale of forbidden love between a Jewish dancer and German/Italian soldier.

It starts in 1940 with a heart-wrenching prologue as Nazi officers arrive at an old woman’s home demanding to know where Lilian Sternberg is. We’re then taken back ten years to when Lilli is a dancer. She falls in love with Captain Zeiller despite her parents’ misgivings but is heartbroken when she receives a telegram from him breaking off the relationship and with nothing left to lose she heads off for America where she dances on the stage and in a film with Fred Astaire before her career is halted by a foot injury. Her success brings her to the attention of the rich and famous but while she’s basking in being in the spotlight she’s also increasingly disturbed by the letters from home describing the growing Nazi threat in Germany.

What I especially liked about it was the espionage angle and the inclusion of real-life characters like the Prince of Wales and his mistress Wallis Simpson. Lilli infiltrates their circle to look for evidence that they are supporting the fascist regime. In a wonderfully tense scene, she’s invited to dinner at Fort Belvedere with the Prince, Wallis and their guests Oswald Mosley and Diana Guiness. She has to hide her revulsion as a Jew to being served pork and the anti semitic views expressed by the guests – and to her horror she’s invited to become an ambassador for the pro fascist Anglo-German Fellowship.

After the King’s death and King Edward’s abdication, she’s a guest at the royal couple’s wedding and goes with them to Germany where Goebbels has a proposition for her. I can’t say any more about the plot without giving away spoilers but this is a dazzling and devastating story that had me hooked to the end.

Beneath a Starless Sky is published by HQ Digital and available as an ebook now and paperback in October.

Book review: One By One by Ruth Ware

As soon as I heard about this alpine whodunnit set in a ski chalet by Ruth Ware, author of In a Dark, Dark Wood and The Turn of the Key, I snapped it up. A beautiful chalet with velvet sofas, sheepskin throws, roaring fire, a pool and breathtaking views sounds like the perfect place for a corporate gathering but of course their stay turns out to be anything but idyllic. An avalanche is only the start of the problems facing the employees of music tech company, Snoop. As one by one they’re picked off, it’s obvious the killer’s among them. Those that are left have to find a way to keep safe together but who is it safe to trust?

The setting for this story is superb – a perfect complement to the chilling events. I really enjoyed immersing myself in the descriptions of the beautiful but hazardous landscape during the snowpocalypse. As a device it’s perfect for cutting the characters off from the outside world with no means of communication, creating a claustrophobic locked room situation.

While it did take me a while to get to grips with who was who – twelve characters are introduced in quick succession and Snoop employees also each have a Snoop ID name – they are distinct and intriguing, thoroughly unlikeable but compelling. Descriptions of seven of the employees are given at the start from their company website, which I found useful to refer back to.

The story’s told in two viewpoints: chalet girl Erin and former Snoop employee, Liz. Tensions among the group start to show as they fall out over the future of the company with a lot of money at stake. Although I had my suspicions about the killer early on, revelations slip out about people’s pasts and different motives emerge so I couldn’t be sure.

The suspense builds gradually during the first half of the book but shoots up and up, even past the point where we know for certain who the killer is because it’s far from the end of the story, turning into a nail-biting cat and mouse game before everything’s neatly wrapped up.

I’d recommend this book to fans of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and The Guest List by Lucy Foley.

One By One is published by Harville Secker, an imprint of Vintage, part of Penguin Random House and is available now in hardback, kindle and audiobook, and in paperback in September.

Book review: Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone

I was enticed by the premise for this debut thriller so was excited to be invited to read an early copy. However, I must admit that after I’d downloaded it and seen a few reviews describing it as magical realism I wondered if I’d made a mistake as that isn’t my usual genre so it slipped down my TBR list. Now I’ve read it, here’s what I think.

I wasn’t there when my sister died.

Because she isn’t dead.

Perhaps everyone’s childhood memories are the same: part truth, part fantasy. But this house turned our imagination into a melting pot, a forge. A cauldron. I can trust nothing that came out of it.

No. 36 Westeryk Road, an imposing flat-stone house on the outskirts of Edinburgh. A house of curving shadows and crumbling grandeur. But it’s what lies under thee house that’s extraordinary – Mirrorland. A vivid, make-believe world that twin sisters Cat and El created as children. A place of escape, but from what?

Now in her thirties, Cat receives the shocking news that her sister has disappeared. Forced to return to Edinburgh, Cat finds herself irresistibly drawn back into Mirrorland. Because El has a plan. She’s left behind a treasure hunt that will unearth long-buried secrets…

I will admit to being a terrible stick-in-the-mud when it comes to reading – I know what I like and I like what I know. I like rational explanations and anything gimmicky makes me run a mile. But I love it when a book surprises me, and this is one of those books.

Haunting, nightmarish and thrilling, it would not let me go! The best way I can describe it is a bit Diane Setterfield meets Stephen King – which is to say a beautifully written, beguiling story of sibling rivalry which plays with reality and childhood imagination. It’s very classy, brilliantly plotted and full of twists. The imagery is so vivid it would make a brilliant film. Although I had a suspicion about the sisters early on which turned out to be correct I loved seeing how it all unfolded. This is an exceptional debut – I’ll certainly be looking out for more by this author.

Miorrorland will be published by HarperCollins on 1 April 2021. Thanks to the publisher for an advance copy with no obligation to review.

Free books!

It’s been a tough year for everyone so it’s lovely to see publishers very generously spreading some Christmas cheer by giving away free ebooks. Have you seen a bookvent calendar? They’ve become quite a tradition in recent years – behind each door is a book you can download for free but only on that day. Well, today is that day for The Suspects!

As a reader, I’ve snapped up some great books this way. I’ve discovered new authors and sometimes gone on to buy other books by them later or bought the paperback as a present for someone. Or not. There’s no obligation.

This year I’ve already downloaded several books I’m excited to read from the Darkstroke calendar, breaking yet another promise to myself that I wouldn’t add any more to my kindle library until I’d caught up with my To Be Read list.

To download The Suspects for free click here

And to see the calendar for other free books just go to http://www.darkstroke.com On the gallery page that opens look for the little Santa icon. Click on that to bring up the calendar, select that day’s door and it will open to reveal the book and take you through to the Amazon page.

Each title is only available on that date so don’t forget to visit every day.

Happy reading!

Book review: Your Neighbour’s Wife by Tony Parsons

I’ve read articles by Tony Parsons but none of his books so had no idea what to expect from this one.  How to describe the plot? If you can imagine Us by David Nicholls meets Fatal Attraction I think you’ll have some idea, ie part love story, part psychological thriller. It feels raw, digs deep and the twists keep coming.

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As with most psychological suspense stories, it starts with a woman who has a perfect life – loving husband, cute child, successful and rewarding career but a bad decision throws all that into jeopardy. Tara’s spoilt, selfish and attractive, with a doting father who bought her a pony, and has never had to try too hard to get what she wants. She and her husband Christian met when they worked for a music newspaper but now that print journalism has largely dried up, she’s turned to running a dating app business with a friend while Christian (Clark Kent looks with a gym bod) is the house husband, looking after five year old Marlon and Buddy the golden Lab. Their family life is painted with multi layers and fine details. 

So where does it all go wrong? With a one-night stand in Tokyo.

Rolex-wearing James Caine who works in wealth management is “a different kind of attractive” from Tara’s husband, ie mid-period Harrison Ford. She could blame it on the jetlag, the earthquake, the alcohol or the adrenalin buzz from making a well-received speech but sleeping with him, she acknowledges, was her choice, her consequences. “I bought the ticket, Daddy.”

As friend Ginger says, she’s behaved like men who think “they’ve earned it. Because they think they deserve a little sugar in their bowl after eating all of life’s boring vegetables.”

But whereas Tara feels she “wandered away from my real life just for a little while” and now wants things to go back to how they were before, James Caine has no intention of letting that happen. He turns from charmer into repugnant, threatening stalker. “You’ve got a new life now and it includes me.”

The story’s told in different viewpoints by Tara and Christian who acknowledges “Tara was driven. And I was parked.” The one thing he can do in his changed, post-print world is to keep his family safe from anyone who wanted to harm them.

When James Caine’s found murdered in a hotel room, there are lots of suspects including Tara, Christian, Tara’s adoring father, her bitter mother, her friend Ginger who has a secret, Ginger’s husband who has a violent past, Mary and Skyla who work with Tara, or the troll who’s threatening their business. Any of them could plausibly have done the deed and we’re led down one twisty path after another.

All I could be sure of was that it wasn’t five-year-old Marlon, Buddy the dog or Maple the pony but at the end it definitely felt like the right person had done it. If you’re looking for an entertaining psychological suspense that tugs on the heartstrings in places and makes you cover your eyes in others, this is the one.

Your Neighbour’s Wife will be published by Penguin on January 7, 2021 in digital (Cornerstone), hardback (Century) and audiobook (Penguin Audio). Thanks to the publisher for a review copy via NetGalley.

Book review: The Perfect Life by Nuala Ellwood

The hook “Have you evert wanted to be someone else?” was one I found hard to resist. Having loved The House on the Lake by the same author I couldn’t wait to start reading.

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Vanessa has always found it easy to pretend to be somebody different, somebody better. When things get tough in her real life, all she has to do is throw on some nicer clothes, adopt a new accent and she can escape.

That’s how it started: looking round houses she couldn’t possibly afford. Harmless fun really. Until it wasn’t.

Because a man who lived in one of those houses is dead.

And everyone thinks Vanessa killed him…

As someone who’s made a living from nosing around other people’s houses I could immediately empathise with Nessa. Although I wasn’t really sure why she needed to assume false identities for her viewings, it’s an enjoyable situation. Her hobby soon takes a sinister turn, making you wonder what else she’s capable of lying about.

The story’s told in two timeframes – the tense, claustrophobic present narrative, in which the perfect life she’s established with the career and man of her dreams is crashing down around her; and her childhood, where she retreated from the tragedy of her mother’s death into the comforting world of a storybook about a house where the character makes friends with ghost children. I especially loved this element which for me set it apart from lots of other domestic suspense stories.

As the house in which the man’s body’s found is where the children’s stories were set, and the body identified as the author, the death starts to look less like a coincidence, forcing her to question her own memory. Throughout the book you’re questioning whether events and people are what they seem.

This is a creepy, chilling, intense read that gripped me from the start and wouldn’t let go. I ‘d recommend it to fans of psychological suspense.

The Perfect Life will be published by Penguin in March 2021. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy.

Book review: Part of the Family by Charlotte Philby

Who could resist a book that’s described as a blend of spy thriller and domestic drama? Especially when you learn that the author’s an investigative journalist and granddaughter of double agent Kim Philby.

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On the surface, Anna Witherall has the perfect life. Married to her university boyfriend David, she has an enviable job as a magazine journalist, a beautiful home, and gorgeous three-year-old twin daughters, Stella and Rose. Their competent and capable nanny, Maria, is practically part of the family.

But beneath the veneer of success and happiness, Anna’s hiding a dark secret, one that threatens to unravel everything she has worked so hard to create. Only one thing is certain: to protect her children, she must betray them. As she finds herself drawn into the dark and highly controlled world of secret intelligence, she’s forced to question her family’s safety, and her own.

And someone is watching. Someone she thought she could trust. Someone who is determined to make them all pay.

This chilling and absorbing story’s told from two viewpoints – Anna’s and Maria’s, the nanny. It’s beautifully written and kept me intrigued throughout, although I did have to concentrate to keep up with all the characters and the changes in narrator. Like the characters, you find yourself questioning everything and really don’t know who to trust.

I loved the exotic locations, especially as I was reading the book during lockdown, and although it’s hard to feel sympathy for Anna I did find her life fascinating. The ending came as a complete surprise, making this a thought-provoking read that will stay with me.

Part of the Family is published by the Borough Press, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Book review: The Searcher by Tana French

I love Tana French’s writing – her descriptions are beautiful and her characters are multi-dimensional and always feel real. However, she’s also incredibly versatile which means you never quite know what you’re going to get with her books.

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Retired US police officer Cal Hooper moves to a remote village in rural Ireland where he plans to refurbish a ramshackle cottage and enjoy the peaceful surroundings, “watching the owls and letting the rest of the world take care of itself”. But when a local kid Trey asks for his help to find Trey’s missing brother, Cal finds himself getting drawn in.

It’s hard to beat The Wych Elm or the first Dublin murder squad mystery, but this is a very different story so it’s best to put preconceptions aside and judge it on its own. The title calls to mind a Western and the author has described this book as an Irish Western which makes sense – a tough but principled individualist newcomer trying to restore justice in a hostile environment, set against a sweeping, rugged landscape. It’s interesting to see how Cal tackles this mystery without all the advantages he’s been used to in the police squad.

I enjoyed the book which feels like the introduction to a series. I was intrigued by Cal and felt I got to know him but that there’s more to discover in future books. The dialogue as usual felt real and was full of warmth, and I loved the building of trust and friendship between the two main characters.

Although the story unfolds at a slow pace with too much animal shooting and skinning for a vegetarian like me, it has a wonderful sense of place. I could visualise the remote setting and lines like “The air was rich as fruitcake” kept me reading.

If you enjoy a beautifully observed, character-driven detective mystery, The Searcher is well worth a read.

The Searcher is published by Penguin. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy with no obligation to review.

My Top Student Suspense Picks

Autumn always ironically makes me think of new beginnings. Crisp, cold days and golden leaves transport me back to starting a new year at school or university and that sense of excitement and anticipation. I’m probably thinking about it even more this year because my daughter’s just started university – although Covid’s added a whole new dimension to the 2020 experience.

Student life is such an intense time – you’re thrown together with people you don’t know but who you may end up knowing better than anyone else ever. You’re embarking on a new life, full of possibilities – it’s thrilling but also a bit daunting. Most young people are living away from home for the first time. Being among strangers gives them a chance to reinvent themselves – but living in close proximity in student halls and trying new experiences can also bring secrets tumbling out.

All these things provide perfect conditions for a suspense thriller. Here are some of my favourites:

The Roommates by Rachel Sargeant

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They live in your house. You share everything. But do you trust them?

University’s supposed to be one of the best times in your life. But Imo’s first week’s going from bad to worse. A stalker’s watching her flat, following her every move, and she suspects her flatmates are hiding dark secrets. When one of them suddenly disappears, the trauma of Imo’s recent past hurtles back to haunt her, and she begins to realise just how little she knows about the people she lives with.

One of my favourite reads this year – the author captures that fresher vibe brilliantly as four girls begin a new chapter in their lives. Imogen, driven by the memory of her sister’s disappearance, is determined to find her, but when she delves into Amber’s background she finds it’s full of surprises.

Told in four viewpoints, the story’s full of intrigue. The girls have distinct personalities and bring with them plenty of psychological baggage. I’d recommend it to fans of The Guest List by Lucy Foley and The Search Party by Simon Lelic

The Roommates is published by Harper Collins and is available in paperback, audiobook and kindle versions here

Tell Me Everything by Cambria Brockman

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A murder at an elite New England college tears apart a group of friends – and one of them is playing a dangerous game. In her first weeks at Hawthorne College, Malin is swept up in a tight-knit circle – Gemma, John, Max, Khaled, and Ruby – that will stick together for four years.

Malin’s a loner, and an observer. She’s adept at hiding her troubled past and a master at reading the people around her. But while she tries to maintain her carefully constructed image, her mistakes lead to fatal consequences.

This edgy debut has one of the most fascinating protagonists I’ve come across. I was intrigued by her lack of attachment and the emerging back story about her family, and found myself questioning whether she was a sociopath or victim or both. I was never sure how much to trust her account and was kept guessing until the explosive end. I’d recommend it to fans of In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware and The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley.

Tell Me Everything is published by Ebury Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. The paperback will be released next month. The ebook is available here

Revelation by Jo Fenton

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Manchester, 1989. Rick, a student, is found dead at his hall of residence. This has a devastating effect on Dan who was in love with Rick and Becky who’s in love with Dan. Their search for the truth takes them to a Kabbalistic sect. Will Becky discover who killed Rick in time to save her best friend?

I loved being transported back to 1980s student life in this novel, although I’m happy to say my experience was less eventful than Becky’s. She’s such a likeable main character who’s always dreamed of being a detective so is ideally placed to find Rick’s killer. I’ve just beta read the ARC for Becky’s next investigation and it’s a corker so if you’re looking for a detective series with a fresh angle, jump on board with this one.

Revelation is published by Darkstroke Books and is available here

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

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A misfit at an exclusive New England college, Richard finds kindred spirits in five eccentric students in his Ancient Greek class. But his new friends have a horrific secret. When blackmail and violence threaten to blow their privileged lives apart, Richard is dragged into the nightmare that engulfs them, entering a dark world, from which there can be no return.

I couldn’t possibly leave out this modern classic. Donna Tartt’s haunting, intoxicating and compelling 1990s novel about brilliant young lives being derailed by a tragic event has been hugely popular and influential. I love this book for its outsider narrator and beautiful writing style. Reading it is like being let into a secret. We know from the start that Bunny’s been murdered and that Richard is partly responsible but don’t know how or why.

The Secret History is published by Penguin Random House and is available here

Have you read these? What did you think? Do you have any other cracking campus recommendations?

Book review: The Housewarming by SE Lynes

I’m always fascinated by psychological dramas between neighbours and was instantly drawn to this one by the cover and tagline “Everyone has something to hide.” The lights on in the house make me want to go inside and be a fly on the wall, find out who lives there and what they’re hiding behind closed doors.

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I hadn’t read anything by SE Lynes before but had heard lots of good things so my expectations were quite high. I discovered that I love the way this author writes – the style is frantic but poetic and very visual. Ava’s trapped in a memory from a year ago when her toddler daughter Abi’s disappeared from the house while she was upstairs. This is the opening line:

“When I think about that morning, it is beat by beat, like a heart – my own heart, my daughter’s, at the time so enmeshed it seemed she was part of me: my body, my tissue, my bones. She is part of me. She always will be.”

The loss of a child is obviously most people’s worst nightmare but for this reason the scenario’s been done lots of times which presents an author with a difficult challenge in coming up with a storyline that feels fresh and plausible. I felt this book does it particularly well, though.

Ava’s guilt, angst and growing suspicion feels painfully real: “I live in the past, survive in the present” – while other chapters in her husband Matt’s viewpoint show that he’s tortured by his own guilt.

Their neighbours, Neil and Bella are pillars of support and help with the search but we soon find they’re dealing with their own problems. And then there are the Lovegoods, the aspirational neighbours holding the housewarming party. Are they as shallow and materialistic as they appear?

“Tragedy is like an infectious disease. People avoid you. They don’t want to catch it” When the invitation arrives, Ava’s not sure she can face her neighbours, especially all together in one room. It’s obvious they’ll all come because everyone’s dying to see the results of the ambitious refurbishment project that Neil’s been working on.

I loved the small cast of characters and claustrophobic setup. Revelations are teased out along the way and just as I thought all that was missing was a big twist, it came along.

Although I’d like the story to have ended differently, I loved the twist and found it plausible. This is such a visual story – I’d love to watch it on television.

The Housewarming will be published by Bookouture on 23rd October 2020 but can be preordered here

Thanks to the author and publisher for a review copy via Netgalley which in no way influenced my opinion of the book.