My 2019 In Review

Let me start by wishing you all a very happy new year and I hope those of you that celebrate had a great Christmas.

I left writing this review, and picking my top books of 2019, until the very end of the year because I was still reading and didn't want to miss anything! I'm going to talk a bit about my year, the books that made the biggest impression on me and my booky resolutions for the year to come.

2019 was an up and down year for me. I began the year struggling with tiredness, but in January  started a job which I absolutely love, working with people who have a dual impairment in vision and hearing. Unfortunately, my tiredness worsened and I experienced one or two other physical symptoms which led to a short stay in hospital in June. It transpired that all these symptoms were linked to poor mental health. My anxiety has risen, confidence has fallen, and I haven't yet been well enough to return to work. However, recovery is underway and the plan is to return to work in February, which is brilliant.

All of this has affected my reading and reviewing, although books have often been my refuge. I didn't read as much as I'd  have liked to but finished 102 published books, with the 103rd running over into this new year. I also read an as yet unpublished book which is going to do brilliantly. However, not all of them have appeared on the blog and my Goodreads list only shows a fraction of them. So

Booky resolution No 1: Write my review as soon as I finish the book, and copy it straight across to Goodreads and Amazon (if it's after publication day). Also to resolve an ongoing issue with Amazon regarding some reviews. 

During the year, I had the opportunity to take part in the blog tours for some really fantastic books. I am hugely grateful to all the tour organisers who invited me to be involved. I enjoyed every single one, but did find they took a lot of time and I was neglecting my own books. So

Booky resolution No 2: Say yes to fewer blog tours and read some of my own books (and those sent to me by lovely authors as I'm way behind with those too).

I'm not hugely optimistic about keeping this one. I decided not to take on any tours for December and January. Whilst I took a full blogging break in December, I am signed up for 5 tours in January, plus a Bookstagram one! 😂 But we'll see...

Despite my health difficulties, I did get to Bute Noir in August, my first time at the small crime writing festival held on the beautiful Isle of Bute. The sun shone for us, and I had a great time. I wrote a wee piece about it here. At the end of September, as is now tradition, I headed to Stirling for the always fantastic Bloody Scotland. I am very thankful for the friends who supported me at these events.

Booky resolution No 3: Try to get to at least one other new book festival, finances permitting.

Finally in this wee bit, a shout out to all my awesome fellow book bloggers. My wee blog is a tiny fish in a big pond, and the only reason it gets as many views as it does is because other bloggers are kind enough to share my reviews on social media, primarily Twitter, for which I'm hugely grateful. I try to reciprocate, but I'm not terribly organised, so

Booky resolution No 4: Be a better, more organised, more supportive member of the blogging community.



My Top Books of 2019

So that was my 2019 in brief, and my aims for this new year (which also include better planning ahead and a wee overhaul of the blog). But what about the books I read over the last twelve months? I was so lucky to read some outstanding ones during the year. I've picked sixteen that really stood out for me, but could easily have added another ten or so. However, these are the ones that made the cut, listed in the order I reviewed them. You can read my original reviews by clicking on the book titles.

I almost started and ended my year with Matt Wesolowski. His debut, Six Stories, published by Orenda Books, was my third read of the year, whilst Beast, the fourth in the Six Stories series is my 19/20 crossover read. All three of his books that I finished could easily be on this list, but I have picked Six Stories, because I hadn't read anything like it before. For those that don't know, it's written as a podcast - so original. You can also see my reviews for Hydra and Changeling (probably my favourite of the three, but it's a close call).

'I have never before read a book quite like this one. The podcast presentation is genius. I totally felt that I was listening to it rather than reading the words on the page. As a genre debut, this is phenomenal. It's well paced, intelligent, absorbing, beautifully written, atmospheric, dark and creepy as anything.'


If Only I Could Tell You by Hannah Beckerman, published by Orion, was a February read. A change from my usual diet of crime, this was a beautiful, emotional family drama about five strong women.

'I read this from beginning to end in one sitting, staying up way, way too late! It's an exquisitely written book. The feelings of all the women involved, but particularly Audrey and Jess, are beautifully described.'


A new book from a favourite author was a March treat. Thunder Bay by Douglas Skelton is his first book with new publisher, Polygon, and it's fab. Set on the fictional Scottish island of Stoirm, it focuses on journalist Rebecca Connolly and her investigation into a death on the island fifteen years earlier. When I read it, it had a beautiful purple cover, but it now has a brand new look ready for the publication of the follow up, The Blood is Still, in March.

'This is a story of secrets and lies, and the danger that both can bring. It's about finding the truth, whatever consequences that might bring. It's beautifully written, descriptive and atmospheric. The pacing is perfect, and the conclusion unexpected.'


April was a great month for cracking review reads. First of my picks from the month is The Passengers by John Marrs, published by Del Rey/Penguin Random House. Set in a near future where automatic driverless cars have been introduced, it's genuinely scary.

'It's original and brave and more than a little frightening, set in a plausible future, touching on the advance of technology, the power of social media and mob rule. But it's very human and emotional too and shows how little we need to know about people before we make judgements on them.'


Savage Games by Peter Boland (Adrenalin Books) is the second in the series featuring retired soldier John Savage. What starts out as a simple favour for an old friend's son soon turns into something much darker. You can also read my review of the next in the series, Savage Children, which came out last year as well.

'It's exciting, gripping and dark. Violent and shocking in places. But it's very human, with plenty of emotion. Basically, I loved everything about this book!'

Next up from my picks is No Man's Land by Neil Broadfoot (published by Constable). This is the first in a new series set in Stirling featuring Irish former soldier Connor Fraser.

'Connor Fraser is a new hero, reminiscent of Reacher or Bourne. No Man's Land is fast paced and filled with believable characters who remind us that we don't always know who to trust. It's tense action packed and exciting. And bloody. Very bloody.  I loved it!'


A change of direction for my next choice. Our Life in a Day by Jamie Fewery (Orion) is a love story about Tom and Esme, who are about to celebrate ten years together.

'It's a 'real'  love story, in that it feels very believable, between two flawed individuals. Beautifully written, with all the moments, good and bad, described with delicacy and emotion. In fact, this is a book full of heart. An accomplished debut.'


My last pick from April (told you it was a bumper month!) is the latest from one of my favourite authors, Mason Cross, writing here as MJ Cross. What She Saw Last Night, published by Orion, is his first standalone after five Carter Blake novels, and opens with a murder on the Caledonian Sleeper.

'I raced through it in a day. It's a character driven thriller, with a hugely believable and relatable protagonist and strong supporting players. An unusual and cracking story line. An absolute winner from MJ Cross.'


Breakers is written by Doug Johnstone and was published by Orenda Books in May. It tells the story of Tyler, a young housebreaker from one of the roughest parts of Edinburgh.

'Breakers is violent, bleak, brutal, and sad, but also tender, hopeful, beautiful and full of heart. I went through an emotional rollercoaster reading it. The writing is taut - not a word is wasted. It's pacy with plenty of action But, for me, this is the tale of a young man in an impossibly difficult situation trying to do the right thing for those he loves.'



My Silent Daughter by Emma Robinson was published by Bookoutre in August. I reviewed it as part of the blog tour, when it was called Where I Found You. Three year old Ruby isn't speaking, and mum Sara just doesn't know what to do. Husband Mike is useless and her mother-in-law just interferes, but the two women are forced to bond.

'For me, this book is about recognising that we are all unique. It's about sometimes reshaping our ideas for the future. It's about celebrating the small things. And it's about family, friends and asking for help. It's not soppy, gushy or preachy, but an accessible, relatable tale of love, friendship, acceptance and hope.'


In The Silence is the debut novel from MR Mackenzie (Bloodhound Books) and features criminology lecturer Dr Anna Scavolini. On her first night back in Glasgow after ten years away, Anna comes across an old friend stabbed and dying in a Glasgow park.

'I really liked Mackenzie's style of writing - he has a real way with words. In The Silence is a cracking read and a great debut. It's brilliant to see a strong woman, two actually, taking centre stage. Mackenzie has taken an issue which is often featured in crime novels but covered it in a fresh way and with style.'


I binge read Johanna Gustawsson's three Roy and Castells books (Orenda Books) in September  in preparation for a blog tour. Again, all three could have been included here, but I have gone with the third book, Blood Song translated by David Warriner as it was the one with which I had the biggest emotional connection. Set in present day London and Sweden, and Spain in 1938 during the Civil War, it centres around the murder of a wealthy family. You can also read my reviews of Block 46 and Keeper, the first two books in the series.

'The story is intelligent and complex, the two timelines are eventually wound together, and I read the book almost in one sitting, I was so hooked. Beautifully written, I didn't predict the ending at all, and there was one particular moment that was a complete shock. I felt this was the case that touched Emily and Alexis the most - it certainly affected me the most.'


Action and adventure next. Marah Chase and the Conqueror's Tomb by Jay Stringer, and published by Pegasus Books in July, but I didn't manage to review it until October. Disgraced archaeologist Marah is given a chance to redeem herself by MI6, but to do so she must undertake a dangerous mission.

'It's an adrenaline filled story from beginning to end, with moments of genuine peril, when my heart was in my mouth. And there are some epic, and varied, chase scenes! I loved every minute of this read - it's loads of action packed fun. A great, imaginative story, brilliantly written.'


November was another bumper month for strong books. Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver and published by Orenda Books opens with nine strangers simultaneously jumping to their deaths from a London Bridge. They are part of The People of Choice.

'This was unlike any other book I've ever read. It's not an easy read but totally worth it when it all comes together. It makes you uncomfortable, and it's hard to say it was enjoyable as such. But it is absolutely unforgettable. It gets your head in a spin. It challenges you. It challenges your apathy. How you relate to the world around you and how much you miss. It has harsh, but relevant, things to say about social media. It's also really, really clever. And unique.'


Oi! by Snowball (UK Book Publishing) is the only non fiction book on my list. A harrowing, personal story of abuse within the British childcare system in the 60s, 70s and 80s, this was definitely my hardest read of the year, but the most impactful. It's the book I talk about more than any other on the list.

'Oi is a difficult read that took me a while to finish but it's a story that needs to be heard. It has been written with an adult take on childhood memories of hugely traumatic events, but what shines through is Snowball's refusal to bow down or be silenced, and his strong sense of right and wrong. It will stay with me for a long time. It was a privilege to read it.'


And the subject of my last review of the year makes the list, as it's yet another unique book. Stephen Watt's Fairy Rock (published by Red Squirrel Press) is the first crime novel to be written entirely in verse! It tells the stories of four young people growing up in the Bridgeton area of Glasgow which is rule by a vicious, violent crime family.

'These poems are raw and dark. So dark. But there is such a beauty to the writing that they are a joy to read. This is poetry at its most raw, visceral and beautiful. The whole concept of a novel entirely in verse is original and brilliant, and Stephen Watt totally delivers.'


So there you have it. Sixteen books that made an impact on me in 2019. There were lots more that I read which were brilliant, and too many that I didn't get around to reading, but there is always this year! I haven't been organised enough to look too far ahead into this new year, but I'm looking forward to finishing Matt Wesolowski's Beast, which is out in paperback in February. Out this month is A Dark Matter, the start of a new trilogy from Doug Johnstone. As already mentioned, March sees the release of Douglas Skelton's The Blood is Still, and the new one from Mason Cross, Hunted, should be out in April. And I know there will be a ton of other great books for us to choose from through the year.


Finally, I know this is a book post, but just before I go I want to mention My Top Film of 2019. A buddy movie with real warmth and heart, The Peanut Butter Falcon was made on a small budget and had a limited release in the autumn. It's coming out on DVD in the UK in March and I think it might be available on Amazon Prime in due course. I laughed, I cried and I celebrated as I watched the film, and have raved about it ever since to anyone who will listen!

'It's quirky and  heartwarming. Please see this beautiful movie, however you can. You will be a better person for it. It's a film about friendship, love, hope, redemption, challenging disabilities and the family we choose. And wrestling.'

A big thank you to all the publishers, authors, blog tour organisers and bloggers I have worked with for your support, and often patience, over the last twelve months. And the hugest thank you to the people who cared for me, encouraged me and picked me up when I was down - you know who you are - I couldn't have done it without you. Here's to a happier, healthier 2020! 

Fairy Rock by Stephen Watt

Regular visitors to this blog will know that whilst I love crime fiction, I'm also partial to a bit of poetry. So I jumped at the chance to read Fairy Rock, the first crime novel written entirely in verse! My thanks to Kelly Lacey at Love Books Tours for inviting me and to the publisher for my review copy.

The Background:

"In 2017 Andrew Smith, then Director, now Chair of the Scottish Writers’ Centre, came up with a dynamic idea to run a Twitter campaign inviting poets to pitch an idea and the winner would have a poetry pamphlet published by the SWC’s publisher partner, Red Squirrel Press. Poet, critic, essayist, editor, designer and typesetter Gerry Cambridge, poet Sheila Templeton, writer, musician and Editor of both Postbox Press (the literary fiction imprint of Red Squirrel Press) and Postbox International Short Story Magazine, Colin Will, and myself took part in a panel at the SWC, ‘How to get published’ in October 2017. Andrew received many entries, a shortlist was drawn up, Stephen Watt subsequently won and persuaded me to publish a full-length collection."
— Sheila Wakefield, Founding Editor, Red Squirrel Press


The Blurb:

Glasgow is correctly lauded for its wonderful characters and hospitality but at the turn of the Millennium it was dubbed the ‘Murder Capital of Europe’ with sectarian divisions and organised crime rife in the city. Four of its natives have been raised around the city’s Bridgeton area, cultivated by its ill-omened beliefs, and now have to separately find a way to subsist. But one crime family firmly believes in the tradition of torture and a novel way of disposing of its detractors. Who will emerge smelling of roses -or end up pushing the roses up from the earth below?

Fairy Rock was published on 21st September 2019 by Red Squirrel Press and you can purchase it here.

My Review:

Whilst I have read many collections of poems which are linked by the subject or theme, I was intrigued to see if a  collection which told a story would work. And it absolutely does.

Fairy Rock focuses on the Bridgeton area of Glasgow which is ruled by a crime family with a novel and unique murder technique. The opening poem sets the scene and tone with a flashback to the late 70s, and then the rest of the story is set in the recent past and present day. We see Danny, Deek, Seamus and Claire as they grow up in this hostile environment, each carrying their own baggage and looking at a none too bright future.

These poems are raw and dark. So dark. They feature incest, sexual abuse, drug taking, sectarianism, knife and gun crime, murder and ruthless, brutal violence. But there is such a beauty to the writing that they are a joy to read. I've picked a couple of (non gruesome) examples to illustrate my point:

From CHIPS PROTOCOL
'Merchant City girls clad in shimmering Diana Ross silver coats
pulled over their bleached-blonde heads
to protect them from the downpour giggled and hallowed
between flashing, sparky bars
like shooting stars gliding in the dark.'

From FLORIST
'Her child dissolves into the small digital window
which is his world, lit by the crude bare bulbs
framing a lapsed Swimming World poster on the glass.'

There are so many more examples I could have chosen but I want you to discover them for yourselves by reading the book. It's hard to pick a favourite poem as they are all so good, but I was drawn to a couple of the early, dark poems - CANDLES and ORPHANAGE. TABLOID HAIKU also deserves a mention - as the name suggests, it is a newspaper headline in the form of a haiku. Genius.

For all the grimness there is an element of, admittedly dark, humour in some of the poems. And the characters and scenes are so vividly described, you can't not enjoy the writing. I love just outside of Glasgow and know some of the areas mentioned, and I just loved the whole Glasgow vibe that runs throughout.

This is poetry at its most raw, visceral and beautiful. The whole concept of a novel entirely in verse is original and brilliant, and Stephen Watt totally delivers. The man can write. A triumph. 

The Author:

Stephen Watt was born in the Vale of Leven in 1979. His awards include first prize in the Poetry Rivals Slam, the StAnza International Digital Poetry Slam, and the Tartan Treasures award. Notable collections which he has curated include the Joe Strummer Foundation collection Ashes To Activists (2018) and the James Watt bicentenary booklet Horsepower (2019). He is Dumbarton Football Club’s Poet-in-Residence and was appointed the Makar for the Federation of Writers (Scotland) in 2019. He lives in Dumbarton with his wife Keriann and pug Beanz.

What She Saw Last Night by MJ Cross

MJ (Mason) Cross is one of my absolute favourite authors and so I'm delighted to re share my review of What She Saw Last Night as part of the blog tour. Many thanks to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers for inviting me to take part. I read and reviewed from my own copy of the book. Elsewhere on the blog I have a guest post from Mason, an edited extract from the book, and a Q&A with the author.

The Blurb:

No one will believe ... WHAT SHE SAW LAST NIGHT.

Jenny Bowen is going home. Boarding the Caledonian Sleeper, all she wants to do is forget about her upcoming divorce and relax on the ten hour journey through the night.

In her search for her cabin, Jenny helps a packed woman with a young girl she assumes to be her daughter. Then she finds her compartment and falls straight to sleep.

Waking in the night, Jenny discovers the woman dead in her cabin ... but there's no sign of the little girl. The train company have no record of a child being booked on the train, and CCTV shows the dead woman boarding alone.

The police don't believe Jenny, and soon she tries to put the incident out of her head and tells herself that everyone else is right: she must have imagined the little girl.

But deep down, she knows that isn't the truth.

What She Saw Last Night was published by Orion Publishing in eBook and trade paperback formats on 18th April 2019 and will be realised in paperback on 28th November 2019, and can be purchased from Waterstones, Amazon UK and other good booksellers.

My Review:

I have long been a fan of MJ Cross, and his Carter Blake series which he wrote as Mason Cross. You can click through to read my reviews of The Killing Season and Presumed Dead, books 1 and 5 in the series. The others have all been read, but not yet reviewed. In fact, it was an appearance of his at Bloody Scotland, and my subsequent reading of The Killing Season and The Samaritan that reignited my passion for books, and particularly crime and psychological thrillers. So I owe Mason a big thank you!

I was excited, and a little bit nervous, to hear he was going to be writing a standalone book, far away from the world of Carter Blake, and set back in the UK. I needn't have worried. What She Saw Last Night is very different from the Carter Blake books, but just as good.

Jenny Bowen is travelling back to Scotland from London on the Caledonian Sleeper, following the recent death of her father. Waking in the night to use the bathroom, she finds the young woman two compartments along lying dead, but can't see the little girl who had been with her when Jenny boarded. It turns out there is no record or CCTV coverage of the little girl, who just seemed to have vanished into thin air. Neither the railway staff nor the police believe Jenny, and think she must be mistaken.

She tries to believe them, tries to forget about the little girl and get on with things in Scotland. But she can't. Just can't. She has to know what happened. So, with very little information, she begins to investigate on her own. But it turns out that she might have an ally in the police after all. Which might just come in handy...

Jenny is brilliant. She's just an ordinary woman who ends up in an extraordinary position. It could be you or I. I've spent a lot of time thinking about that since I read this. What would I have done in Jenny's position? Would I have chased after the truth? I'd like to think so, but I'm really not sure... But Jenny is determined, tenacious and thorough. Brave too. She's a great protagonist, and beautifully written.

From the other key players, Mike Fletcher deserves a mention. A straight up, dependable guy with a nightmare of a boss, he can sense when something's not quite right. And Klenmore is an enigma that we know little about. Both are well written characters, as are all of the cast.

Scene setting is, of course, very important, and Cross does it very well. He has clearly researched the Caledonian Sleeper and it was easy to picture in my mind. As was the busyness of London (a place I don't know well) and the isolation of the house up in Inverkiln.

The book is beautifully paced. It's a bit like riding a train, which sets off at a steady rate, before speeding up and hurtling towards it's final destination. Well, not quite like that, but I'm trying to stick with the train thing! Certainly the ending is full of tension and action, but there are also a couple of heart stopping moments along the way, as Jenny's questions open up a whole can of worms.

So, What She Saw Last Night isn't necessarily action filled in a traditional way, ie. guns blazing, doors being kicked in, etc, there is plenty going on, and I raced through it in a day. It's a  character driven thriller, with a hugely believable and relatable protagonist and strong supporting players. An unusual and cracking story line. An absolute winner from MJ Cross (who will always be Mason to me, I'm afraid)! And it needs to be made into a movie!

The Author:

MJ Cross is a British novelist. Writing as Mason Cross his debut novel The Killing Season was longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Book of the Year 2015. His second novel, The Samaritan, also featuring his inimitable lead character Carter Blake, was selected as a Richard & Judy Book Club pick. Mason has written a number of short stories, including A Living, which was shortlisted for the Quick Reads 'Get Britain Reading' Award and 'Expiry Date', published in Ellery Queen. He lives near Glasgow with his wife and three children.

Mason’s most recent Carter Blake novel, Presumed Dead, was longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize 2018.

To sign up for the Mason Cross Readers Club for updates and exclusive giveaways, go to masoncross.net/readers-club

Find out more at www.masoncross.net

Had a look through my pics and think this is my fave - it makes me smile! 

Oi by Snowball

I was fully booked for blog tours for this month when I heard about Oi. But as soon as I read the information about the book I knew it was one I needed to read and talk about. You'll see why below. Thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the tour and to the author for my review copy.

The Blurb:

This is a harrowing personal voyage into the 1960-80s childcare system as experienced first-hand by the author and many like him.

It was a brutally horrific system that made countless victims of the very children it was designed to protect. These brutally horrific regimes, founded upon extraordinary levels of inhumanity, cruelty, violence, fear, and intimidation brought children to their knees, brutalised, cowed and often in fear for their very existence. It was a stark, depressive, and oppressively dysfunctional system, that imposed perpetual physical suffering and mental hardship, upon its most vulnerable charges. It was a pernicious cycle of ritualised systematic abuse, inflicted on some of the most vulnerable children society could offer up.This was the environment that the ‘Unfortunates’ found themselves embedded in during the 1960s.

It was a system that lacked care, thought, and all things humane. A system where the imposition of brutal physical and sexual abuse had become normalised, legitimised, embraced and ultimately, forcefully accepted. This was life in a local authority home. These were the homes of ‘the Damned’, where a catalogue of daily horrors were inflicted for the personal pleasure of those charged with the care of this hidden, and often forgotten, sub-culture of children who, through no fault of their own, were forced to embrace these traumas, and endure a fight for their very survival.

Oi was published on 18th November 2018 and you can by it from Waterstones and Amazon.


My Review:

Oh my goodness. I'm really not sure I can do this incredible book justice. I am fortunate to have no experience of the British childcare system past or present, and so Oi was a real eye opener for me. It has stuck with me, and tears fill my eyes every time I talk to someone about it.

Oi tells the true story of one young boy's journey through the childcare system from the end of the 60s through to the 80s. And it's absolutely heartbreaking. And harrowing. But it's also a tale of that young man's resilience in the face of the most awful circumstances. There are so many things I want to say about this book - the picture below will give you an idea - but I will try to keep it focused.

The story opens when Snowball is about six years old. He is part of a large foster family and feels secure, happy and loved. His walk home from school is described so vividly. He's the only black face in the community, but experiences no hostility because of it, just a kindly curiosity. This happy existence follows his hugely traumatic first year of life when he was abused, burned and scalded by his drunken mother. He was lucky to survive and I think this was an early show of the resilience and strength that would mark his survival in later years.

Everything changes when he is suddenly ripped from his foster home and taken to a care home, never to see any of his foster family again. On his first night in his new home he needs the loo, and ignoring the warnings from the boys in his room, heads off to the toilet. On the way back, a cuff across the head from the home manager sends him flying into the wall opposite. And that's just the beginning.

Oi catalogues abuse upon abuse - mental, physical and sexual. This abuse was carried out by those tasked with caring for these kids, who had all arrived damaged. One young boy walking around with blood dripping from his arms from self harming. A bright young girl whose light is dimmed by systematic sexual abuse. Care workers using food deprivation as a punishment. There is story after story, and they are all heartbreaking. I cried so much reading this book.

These children were let down, and let down repeatedly by everybody who should have been caring for them - the staff in the homes, social workers, teachers, police, pretty much everyone. Traumatised kids pushed into a brutalized regime.

In one of the homes in which Snowball lived 'everything and anything was either controlled, abused or simply broken. Property and children alike.' The same home 'operated on the core principle of institutionalised abuse. Whether it was mental, physical or sexual, the entire operation was predicated on the belief that control could be maintained by violating children.' Snowball refers to it as a home for 'the unwanted and the wretched.' And this home was in no way unique.

There are exceptions, but they are few and far between. The occasional kindly care worker, who wouldn't beat the kids, a nice policeman and the one decent home where Snowball lived, and had possessions he could call his own. Tears filled my eyes as Snowball is completely overwhelmed at the thought of writing a letter to Santa, hardly daring to hope that he might actually get a gift.

But these moments of kindness are far too few in a very bleak landscape. The abuse continued and I was horrified to read about it being ignored by everyone, even when evidence is presented.

Oi is a difficult read that took me a while to finish but it's a book that should be widely read. It talks about all kinds of abuse in detail so it might not be for everyone, but it is a story that needs to be heard. It has been written with an adult take on childhood memories of hugely traumatic events, but what shines through is Snowball's  refusal to bow down or be silenced, and his strong sense of right and wrong. It will stay with me for a long time.

I have no idea how Snowball survived those first sixteen years but I'm delighted that he did and made a success of his life. I can't help but wonder about the other children mentioned in the book. Of course, such abuse should never ever have happened, and the awful thing is that it still goes on in our care system. We need to be aware, we need to talk about this. We need to be shocked, we need to be angry. Those responsible must be held accountable.

There is so much more I could say, but I'm going to finish here. Thank you David for telling your story. It was a privilege to read it.


The Author:

The author, David Lee Jackson (1964 – Present) was born in Withington, Manchester in England, into an impoverished black family.  Within months of being born, he found himself on the wrong end of abusive parenting, being hospitalised and close to death.

Eventually recovering and well enough to be treated as an out-patient, he was placed into foster care, where he was loved and he began to thrive. Unforeseen circumstances forced him from this loving home, and he found himself at the brutal and often criminal mercies of an abusive and violent childcare system.

The 1960s and 1970s British Childcare System cared little for the children under its control.  It was a brutal, degrading, violent and occasionally deadly environment, into which children were not only thrown like lambs to the slaughter, but were then expected to emerge as competent, capable, contributing members of the society that had so shamelessly failed them at every juncture.

He survived by navigating his course through one violent and abusive encounter after another. Living on his wits, and his fists where necessary, and longing for the day he would finally be freed from this physical and psychological turmoil. David survived, educated himself, obtaining an Honours Degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in International Business. He has been an elected public official, served on a number of charity boards and forums, and is an active campaigner on social justice and equality issues. David has worked in the criminal justice system, working with drug-addicted offenders, many with shared or similar backgrounds to his own, and he is a well-travelled and widely respected project management consultant.

In 2018, David (under the name Snowball) published the widely praised and much talked about book, 'Oi' through the Amazon network, in which he detailed in all its brutally cold and horrifically ignoble glory, the horrifying levels of abuse, brutality and criminality that he encountered, while being raised in the British Childcare System throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The book itself is a testament to the enduring resilience of all children living through adversity and both physical and psychological hardship, and an indictment of the casually brutal and often criminal systems, that inflict relentless brutality upon children it has been charged with caring for.

Reviews included:
…..Harrowing, brutal and truthful!  Buckle up and read Snowball's heart wrenching account of a life that no child should ever experience- prepare to be shocked to the core, be ready to feel every emotion…..(Brenda Lee)
……one of the most emotional journeys you will ever take with a child who survives unbelievable childhood adversity. At times it is almost too painful to witness, it truly is a tribute to the child and the man who wrote it……Amanda Knowles (MBE)
…..this book is as epic as it is painful read at times and extremely sad!  It illustrates a time when Victorian child care was still in evidence even in the 60s, 70s & 80s and children were definitely to be seen and not heard……...this book will educate……Anon

David is currently resident in the United Kingdom, where amongst other professional endeavours, he has embarked on a blossoming career as a Keynote Speaker and Motivational Presenter. He has an adult son and enjoys the comfort of a vast extended family, that is spread across the entirety of the United kingdom.

To quote David in words he would choose himself:
………….Life has been a tough ride at times. It would have been easy, and acceptable to simply give up, to shrink, to fade away as expected.  However, there is an irrepressible force inside all of us called the Human Spirit, and it constantly screams at me, 'David, you may not be responsible for being down, but you are responsible for getting back up again' …………………and so I get up.

Violet by SJI Holliday

I'm delighted to be today's stop on the blog tour (which happily doesn't involve travelling on a train!) for Violet by SJI (Susi) Holliday. My thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me to get involved and to Orenda for my review copy.

The Blurb:

Carrie’s best friend has an accident and can no longer make the round-the-world trip they’d planned together, so Carrie decides to go it alone.

Violet is also travelling alone, after splitting up with her boyfriend in Thailand. She is desperate for a ticket on the Trans-Siberian Express, but there is nothing available.

When the two women meet in a Beijing Hotel, Carrie makes the impulsive decision to invite Violet to take her best friend’s place.

Thrown together in a strange country, and the cramped cabin of the train, the women soon form a bond. But as the journey continues, through Mongolia and into Russia, things start to unravel - because one of these women is not who she claims to be…

Violet was published by Orenda Books as an eBook on 14th September 2019 and on 14th November 2019 in paperback. You can purchase it from the publisher, Waterstones, Amazon UK and Amazon US.


My Review:

I am not much of a traveller, but now I seriously have the fear about it after reading this! I am never talking to anyone when I'm travelling ever again! Headphones and a book for me  from now on.

Violet is travelling on her own in Beijing, having been dumped by her boyfriend. And half her luggage has gone missing. She is desperate to get a ticket for the Trans-Siberian Express to Moscow, but is told that all the tickets have gone. Retiring to the bar to drown her sorrows she meets Carrie who is also travelling alone after her best pal had an accident. Carrie has her pal's ticket for the train which she can't be refunded for but she can transfer. After the two girls get drunk and have fun together, Carrie offers Violet her spare ticket, making no mention of payment. And thus their journey, and ours, begins.

It's hard to talk too much about the story itself without spoilers. But it gets harder to trust either girl as the journey progresses and their memories of events that take place are fractured and hazy. Violet is an unreliable narrator but it's mainly her voice we hear. She is desperate for a new friend, a really good new friend, and wants to impress Carrie. However, her behaviour isn't always appropriate and is frequently erratic. But Carrie's occasional emails to her best friend and family members are very telling. She is clearly not all she seems either.

Susi Holliday has created two great characters here and she teases us by revealing them very slowly. Initially we only know what each girl tells us about herself, and we don't always know what of that is true, but as the story unfolds we learn more about them bit by bit and can form our own opinions. Although mine changed frequently as the tale twisted and turned.

The setting on the train is claustrophobic and stifling, and certainly adds to the dangerous environment. As I mentioned earlier I'm not particularly well travelled, so I loved visiting the places in the book. They are so beautifully described, very evocative. I got really cross with Violet and Carrie for not making the most of them!

This was my first book by Susi Holliday but I look forward to reading more. I read Violet in two days. It is a detailed, intimate look at an obsessive and toxic relationship between two unreliable, possibly dangerous people and the damage done to them and those around them. The characters, whilst not particularly likeable, are really well crafted and the locations are so brilliantly described I could have been there. I really enjoyed it but will look at train journeys differently now!


The Author:

SJI (Susi) Holliday is a scientist, writing coach and the bestselling author of five crime novels, including the Banktoun Trilogy (Black Wood, Willow Walk and The Damselfly), the festive chiller The Deaths of December and her creepy Gothic psychological thriller The Lingering. Her short story ‘Home From Home’ was published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and shortlisted for the CWA Margery Allingham Prize.

Encapsulating her love of travel and  claustrophobic settings, her latest novel, Violet, explores toxic friendships and the perils of talking to strangers, as well as drawing on her own journey on the Trans-Siberian  Express over 10  years ago.  All of her novels have been UK ebook number-one bestsellers. Susi was born and raised  in  Scotland and now divides her time between Edinburgh, London and as many other exciting places that she can fit in.

Highest Lives by Gordon Brown

Today is my stop on the Highest Lives tour and I'm delighted to be offering a giveaway - more details later on how you can win a copy of the book. My thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part and to the publisher for providing the prize.

The Blurb:

In cities across North America people are dying in seemingly impossible ways. Is history s most outrageous serial killer on the loose? When LAPD Detective Sarah Tracy is secretly instructed to recruit Craig McIntyre to help her investigate the deaths, she is unaware that his mere presence can transform people s darkest thoughts into action. As Sarah and Craig hunt the murky underbelly of LA for the malevolent figure responsible for the bizarre deaths, they stumble upon the most expensive narcotic ever to hit the streets - a substance that promises something so unbelievable that users are willing to risk death to experience it. With government black ops agency head Senator Tampoline always lurking in the shadows, Craig is used to being hunted. Now he is the hunter. And thousands could die if he fails to track down the killer.

Highest Lives was published by Strident Publishing on 8th October 2019 and you can buy it from Waterstones, Amazon UK, Amazon US and other good booksellers.


The Author:

Gordon Brown has seven crime and thriller books published to date, along with a number of short stories (including a story in an Anthony Winning anthology). His latest novel, Highest Lives,  is the fourth in the Craig McIntyre series. He also helped found Bloody Scotland, Scotland's International Crime Writing Festival (seewww.bloodyscotland.com), is a DJ on local radio (www.pulseonair.co.uk) and runs a strategic planning consultancy. Gordon lives in Scotland and is married with two children. In a former life he delivered pizzas in Toronto, sold non-alcoholic beer in the Middle East, launched a creativity training business, floated a high-tech company on the London Stock Exchange, compered the main stage at a two-day music festival and was once booed by 49,000 people while on the pitch at a major football Cup Final.

You can find out more about Gordon by visiting his website or following him on Twitter @GoJaBrown.


Giveaway:

I'm delighted to be able to offer a paperback copy of Highest Lives to one lucky person via my Twitter account @SuzeCM. Just head over there and follow the instructions on my pinned tweet to be in with a chance to win. The giveaway will close at 8pm on Sunday 24th November and the winner will be notified on Twitter. UK entries only, sorry. Good luck!

Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver

I'm thrilled to be taking part today in the blog tour for the unique piece of work that is Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver. Huge thanks, as always, to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part and to Karen Sullivan at Orenda Books for my review copy.

The Blurb:

A shocking, mesmerisingly original, pitch-black thriller, which, following the critically acclaimed Good Samaritans, confirms Will Carver as one of the most imaginative, innovative and exciting authors in crime fiction.

Nine people arrive one night on Chelsea Bridge. They’ve never met. But, at the same time, they leap to their deaths. Each of them received a letter in the post that morning, a pre-written suicide note, and a page containing only four words: Nothing important happened today.

That is how they knew they had been chosen to become a part of The People of Choice: a mysterious suicide cult whose members have no knowledge of one another.

Thirty-two people on a train witness the event. Two of them will be next. By the morning, People of Choice are appearing around the globe. It becomes a movement. A social-media page that has lain dormant for four years suddenly has thousands of followers.

The police are under pressure to find a link between the cult members, to locate a leader who does not seem to exist...

Nothing Important Happened Today was published by Orenda Books as an eBook on 14th September 2019 and in paperback on 14th November 2019. You can purchase it from the publisher, Waterstones, Amazon UK, Amazon US and other good booksellers.

My Review:

Oh gosh, where to start! I didn't read any full reviews of Nothing Important Happened Today before I read it, but I had seen lots of comments along the lines of 'OMG!' 'WTF have I just read?' and 'I can't review that!', so I knew I was in for quite a ride.

And guess what? They were all right. Nothing Important Happened Today is pretty impossible to describe. If this was a vlog post (worry not, dear reader, face for radio here) it would just be me exclaiming "Whaaaaaaattt?!", pacing the floor and throwing my hands up in despair.

This is my first Will Carver read, although I have Good Samaritans waiting patiently for me, but I'm already thinking he might be some kind of evil genius. This was unlike any other book I've ever read (and I've read a few) and I'm fairly sure you probably won't have read anything similar either.

It begins with nine people, all strangers, jumping off a bridge at the same time, having received a letter that morning staying simply 'Nothing important happened today'. They are The People of Choice. The passengers in one carriage of a passing train get the best view of this mass suicide - two of them will soon be getting a letter.

The narrator is impersonal and anonymous. The writing style is aggressive. It's blunt and directed at the reader. Short sharp chapters that just grab you. Very few of the characters are named, rather they are simply referred to by a number and a title - Poet, Lover, Nobody. We see snapshots of their lives but don't get the chance to learn too much about them before they are gone. But they are you. And they are me. I think I'm a Nobody. In between these wee glimpses we learn about cults and mass murderers, a fascinating (and well researched) history lesson.

The subject matter will mean this isn't for everyone. It's not an easy book to read but it is totally worth it when it all comes together. It makes you uncomfortable, and it's hard to say it was enjoyable as such. But it is absolutely unforgettable. It gets your head in a spin. It challenges you. It challenges your apathy. How you relate to the world around you and how much you miss. It has harsh, but relevant, things to say about social media. It's also really, really clever. And unique.

I think Will Carver's mind must be a dark disturbing place to be. But going by this, I will happily read anything he comes up with. Nothing Important Happened Today is easily one of my books of the year.

The Author:

Will Carver is the international bestselling author of the January David series. He spent his early years in Germany, but returned to the UK at age eleven, when his sporting career took off. He turned down a professional rugby contract to study theatre and television at King Alfred’s, Winchester, where he set up a successful theatre company. He currently runs his own fitness and nutrition company, and lives in Reading with his two children. Good Samaritans was book of the year in Guardian, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Express, and hit number one on the ebook charts.