Ghost Notes by Doug Johnstone

It's been a couple of years since the last book in the Skelf series from Doug Johnstone. He hasn't been resting on his laurels as The Transcendent Tide was published last year and this year has seen a couple of his early novels released to mark twenty years in publishing. But I am absolutely delighted to see the return of Dorothy, Jenny and Hannah in Ghost Notes, the seventh novel in the hugely popular series about the Skelf women. My thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me on the tour and to the publisher for my review copy. 

 

The Blurb

The highly anticipated seventh novel in the unforgettable, critically acclaimed Skelfs series,featuring three generations of women in the Skelf family: funeral directors and part-time investigators.

The Skelf women have been keeping their heads down, running the family’s funeral directors and private-investigation businesses. But when a woman collapses at her husband’s funeral and is saved by Dorothy, she finds herself drawn into the murky world of ‘grief tech’ – a booming new industry that creates digital avatars of the dead.

Jenny’s latest case – a simple blackmail job for an old school friend – quickly spirals into chaos as the woman’s tangled love life pulls Jenny towards dangerous old habits.

Meanwhile, Hannah and her wife, Indy, are confronted by the unexpected arrival of Indy’s ex-boyfriend, claiming to be dying and eager for the Skelfs to arrange his funeral. But his arrival uncovers more ghosts from the past, and threatens to upend everything they’ve built.

As their cases collide and their personal lives spiral, the Skelfs face danger from all sides.

My Review

Oh, I've missed these women! Coming back to their lives feels a bit like coming home. And I wonder if that isn't, at least in part, down to the atmosphere in Dorothy's kitchen - the warmth she creates just by being her, for both her family and employees, but others as well.

Dorothy saves the life of a woman who collapses at a funeral that Dorothy has organised. The ceremony is for the woman's husband, and the family have already experienced heartbreak and grief. Looking into the man's death, Dorothy uncovers some deeply unpleasant things in a murkier corner of death industry. Jenny's blackmail case for an old school acquaintance takes her to some dark places but also brings about a realisation about herself and Indy's ex-boyfriend makes Hannah question everything she thought she knew about her wife and their relationship.

What I love is that each woman has a puzzle to solve, whilst keeping themselves safe, strong and together. They are each other's support network and need each other more than any of them would probably care to admit. The characterisation, as always, is brilliant. Dorothy warmth and care, Jenny's rougher edges and Hannah's lovely nerdiness. But what helps make them feel complete are the characters around them, particularly Indy, Archie, whom I adore and Brodie. Indy has a more central part to play in this novel when Yannis turns up for the team to plan his funeral, we learn much more about her back story and it's great to have that information. But it's hard to see Hannah when she doesn't know what or who to believe. Jenny realises much about herself in this book which is great to see, but I fear it won't all be smooth sailing ahead. And Dorothy... oh, my heart hurt for her.

The three storylines are very different, some more violent than others and a couple really infused with a lot of sadness. But they all feel real, and that's down to the skill of the author. The world building and scene setting is great and the characterisation of all involved is wonderful. As always with a Doug Johnstone novel, he touches on issues I knew nothing or very little about, and I love that. And he mentions lots of bands I've never heard of because he's cool and I'm not!

As you may have guessed, I am delighted to see these wonderful, strong, flawed women back. Ghost Notes is well written, full of brilliant characters and interesting storylines. But at the centre of it all is family and love. And I really liked the meaning behind the title but also how it could refer to other things across the book. Roll on book eight!


The Author

Doug Johnstone is the author of twenty novels, many of which have been bestsellers. The Space Between Us was chosen for BBC Two’s Between the Covers, while Black Hearts was shortlisted – and The Big Chill longlisted – for Theakston Crime Novel of the Year. Three of his books – A Dark Matter, Breakers and The Jump – have been shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize. Doug has taught creative writing or been writer in residence at universities, schools, writing retreats, festivals, prisons and a funeral home. He’s also been an arts journalist for 25 years. He is a songwriter and musician with six albums and three EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of crime writers. He’s also co-founder of the Scotland Writers Football Club and lives in Edinburgh with his family.

Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize Longlist - 138 Main Street by Gavin Bell

A while back I promised to try to review all of the books on the McIlvanney Prize longlist this year before the Bloody Scotland festival weekend and then....nothimg! The festival starts in just under four weeks - it's come around so quickly! - so I really need to get back on this, see how far I get.

I'm going to start by resharing my review of the one book on the list that I have reviewed, just before the list was published, actually. You can find my original post (including a short Q&A with the author) here but below is a recap of my thoughts on 138 Main Street by Gavin Bell.

The Blurb

There is a killer on the loose.
And he is targeting one specific address – 138 Main Street.
The problem? There are over 7,000 Main Streets in the USA.
And no clue which one will be next.

For FBI Special Agent Ben Walker and his rookie colleague, Officer Zoe Hill, the pressure to solve the case is unimaginable. There aren’t enough police officers to cover every house, and vigilante residents are attacking anyone who rings their doorbell. Main Street might be one of America’s most popular addresses, but for those living at number 138 it comes down to fight or flight.

Then a manuscript is sent to the New York Times, purporting to be the manifesto of the Main Street Killer and demanding radical social change. The killer demands that Wall Street be shut down for a day. The financial implications will be huge, but unless it happens he will escalate to bombings. Soon it won’t just be whoever lives at 138 Main Street who is at risk, but entire residential blocks.

As the effect of the terror campaign takes hold across the nation, Ben and Zoe find themselves in a race against time to stop the killer. But with their target always several steps ahead, and almost 3,800,000 square miles of ground to cover, they'll have to find him first…

My Review

Woohoo! Been so excited for this one - it's been a long time coming! 

The premise is brilliant. Murders are taking place across the US, seemingly unconnected - no links between the victims, different MOs. Until after three or four the realisation hits that all the crimes have taken place at the same address - 138 Main Street. The trouble is, there are an awful lot of those across And and nobody has any idea where will be hit next. 

Zoe Hill is one of the first attending police officers at an early crime scene and impresses FBI guy Ben Walker with her observations. Now all they, and the rest of the team, including analyst Matthew Brodie, have to do is work out who is committing these crimes, where he or she might hit next -  from thousands of potential targets - and how to stop that happening. They have an overwhelming task ahead of them. 

I loved this! As well as following the FBI investigation, we meet some of the people living at various 138 Main Street addresses, and learn a little of their lives and their thoughts around the whole thing. The characters are great and beautifully written. I particularly loved Zoe. Coming from a small town police department to a national FBI case, she's understandably anxious but determined to get the job done.  And Ben seems like a real stand up guy. They make a great team, especially when you add Brodie, with his puppy dog excitement and enthusiasm and sideways way of looking at things, into the mix - very different people, different skills, a formidable team. We see their frustrations as they fail, their thought processes and analysis as they pick themselves back up and carry on. 

138 Main Street is a complex, well thought out and beautifully written novel that fully satisfies - great characterisation across the board, brilliant scene setting, from one horse towns to big cities, plenty of tension and dread, unexpected twists and an explosive conclusion. So glad Gavin is back and has arrived in style! 

Photo by Scarlett Bell

Where are the Kings by Donal Ryan

Something different for me today, a break from crime and thrillers. I thought the blurb for Donal Ryan's Where are the Kings sounded great so was delighted to take part in the blog tour. Big thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for the invitation and to the publisher who sent me a gorgeous hardback copy to review. 

The Blurb

Jack is just twelve years old when he rushes down the hill after his mother's car on his bike, desperate to reach her before she reaches the lake.

What happens next cannot be undone. Jack's life changes just at the moment he is entering those dizzying years when he will transition from boy to man; when nothing makes sense at the best of times.

Yet Jack is not alone. Enveloped as he is by his extended family - his ferociously loving Nana; Grandad, given to sudden bursts of rage; his earthy uncles Haulie and Theo who want to show him what it means to be a man, and the irascible JJ who resents him deeply. Then there is beautiful aunt Rose, whose mere presence ignites every atom in his changing body.

But how can a boy with so many questions, in a family with so many secrets, understand the person he is becoming? Without his mother to ground him on the earth, will he spin off into the stars?

The stunning, emotional story of a young boy coming of age just as his life is thrown into new waters. Beautifully poignant, deeply lyrical and layered, this is a novel that resonates beyond the page.

My Review

This is my first Donal Ryan novel although he has published several previous books and been longlisted and shortlisted for many awards and won several prizes. I wasn't sure what to expect and his is a writing style I'm not used to. He doesn't use speech marks which I thought I would struggle with a little but I found as I got absorbed in the story I  forgot they weren't there. 

Jack is twelve when he loses his mother, and her death puts his already emotionally unstable father into a mental hospital. Jack is taken to live with his mum's family who, although they live nearby, he has not spent much time with. His fiercely catholic Nana and Grandad, their unmarried sons Theo, Haulie and JJ, and their daughter Rose take him in to their home. Jack doesn't really know what to expect from them or why they expect of him. He knows he is loved deeply and is completely accepted into the bosom of the family. But he worries. He misses his mum so much but doesn't understand why he's not crying, why he's not grieving. And all the while he is growing up - we meet him in the cusp of his teens and follow him for a couple of years. 

I loved the family, all of them, but particularly Theo and Haulie. They are manly men, rough and tough, comfortable in themselves, larger than life, full of banter, but tender when they need to be. Nana sounds lovely, full of warmth, tea and cake on the go. And she's determined that Jack knows how much he is cared for. Jack's relationship with JJ, his uncle, but only a couple of years older than him, gets off to a tricky start but they soon develop a rhythm. His grandad is head of the house but we all know that for most of the time, the real boss is Nana. And then there is his auntie Rose, the family member for who causes Jack the most angst, as she causes feelings he doesn't understand, urges he's pretty sure he shouldn't be having. It's a lot for a young boy to process, especially after the loss of his mum, who was, of course, daughter and sister to these lovely folk. 

We follow Jack through days where not much happens, on day trips, on a holiday, visits from and to his dad,and when his memorable great aunt Gertrude comes to stay. We see his interactions with family, friends, girls and others, and we feel his confusion about it all. And we see the gaping hole his mother has left in his life. Sometimes it's not clear whether something is in Jack's imagination, in a dream or whether it's actually happening, but it doesn't detract, particularly as Jack doesn't always realise himself which is going on. 

The author has a very lyrical way of writing meaning a lot of this read as poetic prose. There are plenty of Irish words used but I was able to follow everything without any bother (special credit to Tom Read Wilson as thanks to his Edinburgh Fringe show I knew the word 'gee'). Where are the Kings is a beautiful coming of age novel about life, death, grief, love and family. And Jack finds his kings. Gorgeous. 

The Author

Donal Ryan, from Nenagh, County Tipperary, has published seven number one bestselling novels and a short story collection.

He has won several awards for his fiction, including the European Union Prize for Literature, the Guardian First Book Award and six Irish Book Awards, and has been shortlisted for several more, including the Costa Book Award and the Dublin International Literary Award. He was nominated for the Booker Prize in 2013 for his debut novel, The Spinning Heart, and again in 2018, for his fourth novel, From A Low and Quiet Sea. The Spinning Heart was voted Irish Book of the Decade in 2016. In 2021 Donal became the first Irish writer to be awarded the Jean Monnet Prize for European Literature.

His most recent novel, Heart Be at Peace, won both Novel of the Year and Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards, and was shortlisted for Novel of the Year at the Nero Book Awards.

His work has been adapted for stage and screen and translated into over twenty languages.

Donal has lectured in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick since 2014 and lives in Castletroy with his wife Anne Marie and their two children.

The Angel of Death by Trevor Wood

I was worried this might be a challenging read for me - see below for more details - but I'm happy to say I very much enjoyed it. Welcome to my blog tour review of The Angel of Death by Trevor Wood. Big thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for the invitation and to the publisher for my review copy. 

The Blurb

Battling his own advancing dementia, DCI Jack Parker is forced to confront a ruthless killer on the streets of Newcastle…

Death is stalking the streets of Newcastle. An anonymous killer is offering the terminally ill a dignified escape. Mercy to some. Murder to others.

DCI Jack Parker doesn’t want the case. He has a secret of his own – an early-onset dementia diagnosis he’s desperate to conceal. But the signs are becoming impossible to ignore. As his mind begins to betray him, the city faces its own moral reckoning.

While politicians debate a contentious new law and the self-styled Angel of Death selects another victim, Jack’s world is shaken when the killings are traced to a carers’ support group – one his wife, Helen, has been attending in secret.

Yet his deepest fear is also his darkest temptation. Because when his disease becomes unbearable, Jack can’t escape one haunting question:
Could the Angel of Death be the saviour he’s been waiting for?

My Review

I read the previous two books in this series before this one. I heard Trevor speaking at Bloody Scotland last year (I think) and bought the first book then. And I bought the e-book version of the second in the series so I could read them all in order. Having said all of that, The Angel of Death works fine as a standalone but I always feel you get a richer reading experience if you read the whole series.

A killer whose agenda hits close to home for DCI Jack Parker. A couple of people come to the police convinced that someone has helped a relative to die - are they right and if so, did they give their consent or were they murdered?

I did wonder how I would be reading this series as I lost my mum in December and my dad, who had dementia, just there in April, so things are still a bit raw. My experience was very different from Jack's though and that helped, I think. As the child of a dementia sufferer, I felt for Aidan, who is struggling not only with his dad's condition and its implications but also with Jack's decision about what he wants to happen when his dementia worsens. And for a 16 year old, that's a lot to carry. 

I found the storyline very interesting, and a difficult read in places, as it leads to much discussion about the rights and wrongs of the Assisted Dying Act.  But for Jack and his team, there is still a murderer to catch. I love the relationship between Jack and the two main members of his team, including the jokes and sarcasm. And I have a wee soft spot for Leon, who seems like a lovely young man and a dedicated policeman, although he can get a bit jealous! 

The investigation for the team is a tough one and it's a while until they get their break, then it's full on tension and jeopardy for the denouement. And I loved that the ending hints that there might be another Jack Parker book in the works. 

The Angel of Death is a well written police procedural, focusing on a difficult subject, which is dealt with effectively and sensitively. The characterisation is good and the denouement is tense. And the dementia side of things appears to be well researched, which is great. A series which offers something a wee bit different which is well worth checking out. 

The Author

Trevor holds an MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) from UEA. His first novel, The Man on the Street, won the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger and the Specsavers Best Crime Debut and shortlisted for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. It was followed by two critically acclaimed books in the Jimmy Mullen trilogy, One Way Street and Dead End Street. You Can Run, a standalone thriller set in a remote Northumberland village, was also longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. The Angel of Death is the third in a police procedural series featuring Detective Chief Inspector Jack Parker, who is in the first stages of early-onset dementia. The series started with The Silent Killer and was followed by The Inside Man. Trevor is one of the founding members of the Northern Crime Syndicate.

Book Blanket 2026

Here are my three DCI Jack Parker squares for my book blanket project. The Angel of Death square is the one on the right.

From the Shadows by GR Halliday

It's my stop on the blog tour for From the Shadows by GR Halliday, the first in the DI Monica Kennedy series. A screen adaptation, The Dark, began on ITV (in the UK) on Sunday night. Big thanks to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me. I read from my own bought copy. 

The Blurb

Seven days. Four deaths. One chance to catch a killer.

Sixteen-year-old Robert arrives home late. Without a word to his dad, he goes up to his bedroom. Robert is never seen alive again.

The discovery of a body on the coast of the Scottish Highlands, plunges Detective Inspector Monica Kennedy into a murder investigation, that won’t begin and end with
one death. As paranoia rises and secrets are forced into the light, the local community becomes aware that there is a serial killer in their midst.

Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Nichol Morgan has been missing for days, sending a last, enigmatic text message to his social worker Michael Bach, who can’t quite shake the suspicion that something is terribly wrong.

Soon DI Monica Kennedy finds herself entangled with a cunning killer, who has been meticulously watching and waiting. But as her history catches up with her, she begins
to lose trust in her judgement. Can she find the killer before he claims another victim?

From the Shadows has been reissued this year by Point Blank. It was originally published in 2020.

The Dark, based on From the Shadows, adapted by Matt Hartley, directed by Polly Hill and produced by Poison Pen Studios, part of ITV Studios, is currently being shown on ITV and ITVX in the UK. 

My Review

The action in From the Shadows covers large areas of the Scottish Highlands but the police investigation is centred in Inverness. I'm writing this review looking out over the sea in Nairn, just a few miles up the road from Inverness, where I'm currently on holiday. The sun is shining, the sea looks gorgeous (will be going for a dip later) and it's a million miles away from the darkness in this book. 

The opening chapter really grabs you - it's pretty gripping, with a rising feeling of doom. And that feeling never really goes away as the investigation falters and the team fear there will be more victims. 

The main character, DI Monica Kennedy, is interesting. I didn't find her particularly likeable, but she doesn't go out of her way to make herself likeable. She has always felt like an outsider, doesn't seem to warm to others easily, and struggles to accept help, unless it's on her terms. But she is determined to do the right thing by the victims, determined to solve the crime, even to the detriment of her relationship with her young daughter. Her perseverance was admirable, if sometimes foolhardy. 

I think my favourite character was Michael Bach, a social worker who is worried about a missing client, a young man whom he let down. Another person whose determination to do the right thing shines through. 

I liked the short snapshots we got from the killer's point of view. I'm always interested in where writers get their ideas from for the crimes they present, particularly the more original ones, but reading Gareth's bio gave me a clue here! It's such an unusual idea, presented well. 

And sitting in this beautiful part of the world, I must mention how much the Scottish countryside plays a part in in this book - it is a character in its own right. But it tends to be much darker, bleaker, wilder than what I can see through the window just now - still beautiful, though. 

The plot is dark, but well handled and the denouement is gripping and explosive. From the Shadows is a beautifully written book populated by interesting characters, full plenty of tension and dread. I am looking forward to watching the TV adaptation - it started on Sunday but I'm going to catch up when we get home - but I'm more excited to read the other books in this series. 

The Author

GR Halliday was born in Edinburgh and grew up near Stirling in Scotland. He spent his childhood obsessing over the unexplained mysteries his father wrote about as a paranormal investigator, which have been a major inspiration for his writing. Gareth studied Ancient History at Edinburgh University and is a co-founder of the Caledonian Crime Collective. In 2024, he qualified from the University of the Highlands and Islands as a counsellor and psychotherapist. He works as a volunteer for an addiction charity and has his own private counselling practice. Gareth lives with his partner in the rural Highlands outside Inverness, where he pursues his favourite pastimes of mountain climbing and swimming in the sea, before returning home to his band of semi-feral cats.

Book Blanket 2026 - half year update

A bit of a different post from me today! Some of you might remember at the beginning of the year I decided to crochet a book blanket, inspired by Alexandra Martin (@alexandra.mmartin on Instagram), a young American mum who appeared on my feed having made one last year. The idea is to crochet a granny square for every book I read this year, based on the colours on the front cover, so I'll end up with a unique blanket, and a fun way to remember some of books I've read. I've shared some of the squares on here, on the corresponding review posts.

If you don't know what a granny square is, here's one. It's a traditional crochet design made up of four rounds (in this case) of clusters of three stitches. It's a favourite of mine because it can be plain or colourful, and used for blankets, bags, clothing - anything really! I have plans in the autumn to make a chunky jumper which is essentially two giant granny squares (about ten rounds in thick yarn) with added sleeves!

 

But back to the blanket. The grey single coloured squares will be used to separate the months, as the book squares will be arranged chronologically. They will be joined and the whole blanket edged in the same grey, but I can't start joining them yet as I don't know how many books I'll read, so don't know how many squares there will be in the end.


So here are the squares up to the end of June:

 

I have used three or four colours for each square. I've matched the colours of the yarn to those on the books as far as possible, but it's not always perfect, depending on what I have in my yarn stash. I've often used the colour of the text for the title (and sometimes the author name), other times I've only used colours from the picture on the cover. For one, I've only used the colours from the title (West by Carys Davies). It all depends on the individual book, and what I've read/am reading either side of each one. Outside of some blog tour and  competition reading I had to do, I've tried to be a bit careful with what I choose to read so I don't end up with similar squares next to each other - it hasn't always worked out that way but overall I'm pretty pleased with how it's going. I'm using a range of yarn, whatever I have in my stash, and if I read a physical book with embossing on the cover, I'm trying to use sparkly yarn. It's been a great exercise to pair with reading some of the books that have been sitting on my shelves for far too long! 

Here are the squares, and the corresponding books I've read for each month. 

January

Legacy of Blood by MR McKenzie
The Shadows and the Dust by Allan Gaw
The Hope by Paul E Hardisty
Genesis by Chris Carter
The Binding by Bridget Collins

February

The Death Watcher by Chris Carter
In The Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan
Tombstoning by Doug Johnstone
Guilty by Definition by Suzie Dent
The Dry by Jane Harper
Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay


March

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
The Smiling Man by Joseph Knox
West by Carys Davies
The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton
138 Main Street by Gavin Bell
Sirens by Joseph Knox
My Mother's Lies by Diane Saxon


April

The Grapevine by Craig Robertson & Alexandra Sokoloff
Quite Ugly One Evening by Chris Brookmyre
Secrets From The Grave by Leigh Lewis
Bluff by Francine Toon
Benbecula by Graeme Macrae Burnet
Ship of Thieves by Douglas Skelton
The Hollow Boys by Tariq Askanani


May

Rat Race by Callum McSorley
The Bone Mother by Suzy Aspley
The Vanishing Place by Zoe Rankin
Illicit Still by William McIntyre

Under the Blazing Sun by Jenny Lund Madsen (unfortunately out of order - correct on main picture)
The Woman Before Me by Ruth Dugdall
The Burnt Moor by Nina Bhadreshwar
The Sacrifical Man by Ruth Dugdall
Diary of Lies by Philip Miller


June

Boy B by Ruth Dugdall
Blood Enemy by Douglas Jackson
Stop Dead by Katrín Júlíusdóttir
The Pinnacle by Abir Mukherjee
Nowhere Girl by Ruth Dugdall
Better the Devil by JD Kirk
Original Sins by Linda Duncan McLaughlin
The Burning Grounds by Abir Mukherjee
Love, After All by Ewald Arenz

The Dark Heart by Neil Lancaster
Bad Influence by Will Carver

Sorry I haven't been clever enough to do a wee montage of the book covers but I'll work on that for the full blanket reveal. 

The squares will now be 'blocked' - pinned out, sprayed with water and left to dry. This will make the squares more even and flat and ensure all of the squares are the same size. I probably should've done that to make sure they were photoshoot ready! Anyway, they'll be put away to wait for the next six months worth which I'll share in early January, and I'm hoping to have the squares all joined up to show you the whole blanket by the end of January. 

So those are my January to June squares. I'm expecting a smaller number for July to December but we'll see! Can't wait to put my blanket together! 

Crossroads: The Price of Truth by Tommaso Piani

The blurb for this one drew me in and I was keen to give it a go. Welcome to my review of Crossroads: The Price of Truth by Tommaso Piani. My thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me and to the author for my paperback review copy. 

The Blurb

They took his freedom. Now he decides who stays free.

Roberto Edoardo Riva was the golden boy of Milanese finance: a wunderkind moving millions by day and losing himself in the elite's excessive nightlife by night. A penthouse in Brera, a Porsche in the garage, and a future without limits.

Then, one blurred dawn, everything shatters.

He wakes up in a room that isn't his, next to the lifeless body of a Swedish model. A syringe he’s never touched. In less than twelve hours, the predator becomes the prey: arrested, tried, and sentenced to seven years in the hell of San Vittore prison.

Today, Roberto is a new man. Having survived the filth of a cell, he sought refuge in the chaos of Bangkok to disappear forever. But the past has a long reach. An anonymous package delivered to his doorstep contains a devastating truth: medical reports, stolen photos, and a recording that leaves no room for doubt. It wasn't a twist of fate. It was a perfect plan, orchestrated by the only two people he ever truly trusted.

He is no longer running. He is calculating the strike.

My Review

Roberto Riva is a financial wizard who makes millions on the markets. He works long days but at the weekend he likes to party. Really likes to party - drink, drugs and girls. But one morning after hits differently when he finds a dead woman in the bed. After going to prison for the crime, he is determined to find out who set him up, and why. 

This is a short novella which I read in a couple of hours, but the author has packed a lot into 118 pages. It spans several years and we see Roberto change as he learns the skills he needs to survive inside prison, and outside it, in a world where his reputation no longer means anything. We move from Italy to Thailand and back again. I loved his relationship with his prison mentor Salvatore, and his very different relationship on the outside with Lek, the latter changing his viewpoint on life. Until unwelcome news arrives. 

Roberto is a very interesting character whose downfall is described in the first few chapters in short, choppy sentences, which I liked, as the portrayed the immediacy and speed at which everything was happening. As Roberto settles into his prison term, the writing style changes, the sentences are longer. It works. 

Crossroads: The Price of Truth is a small book that packs a big punch. It tells the complete story of Roberto's downfall, a recovery on his own terms, and revenge and payback, with a satisfying denouement. A quick and enjoyable read. 

The Author

Born in Vittorio Veneto, Northeast of Italy, in 1977, Tommaso Piani is a global citizen whose life has been shaped by the ever-changing skylines of the world’s major metropolises. With a degree in Political Science, Tommaso began an international career in 2009 that took him from the vibrant energy of Dubai to the soul of Thailand, and from the vast horizons of Australia to the heart of the UK, where he has lived since 2020.

For nearly two decades, Tommaso has been a key player in the architectural envelope industry, managing the planning and supply chain for the massive glass-and-steel facades that define contemporary skyscrapers. This constant immersion in the world of high-stakes construction and global urban development provided the perfect backdrop for his transition into thriller writing.

The seeds of his debut novel were sown thirteen years ago, but it wasn't until recently that Tommaso decided to pull the manuscript from the drawer and bring his vision to life. His debut, "Crossroads: The Price of Truth" (Crossroads – Il Debito della Verità), is a gripping financial thriller that reflects his international outlook and deep understanding of the pressures within the corporate world.

After its successful launch in Italy - where it quickly climbed the Amazon Top 10 Hot New Releases (Noir) and received critical acclaim from specialized outlets like Thriller Life - Tommaso is now bringing his unique brand of "International Noir" to the English-speaking market. He currently resides in Watford, UK, where he is already plotting his next literary move.