Rogue Hero by Rob Sinclair

Today is my stop on the blog tour for Rogue Hero by Rob Sinclair, a fab thriller I consumed in a couple of days. My thanks to Rachel Gilbey at Rachel's Random Resources for the invitation and to the publisher for my review copy. 

The Blurb

When a mystery bystander stops an assassination attempt on a prominent politician, it sparks a national search that captivates the nation…

Curtis Delaney watches the footage play out on the news, and immediately recognises the unidentified hero. He hasn’t seen his brother Finn in six years. He doesn’t know where he’s been in that time, or what he’s been doing. But there’s one thing he does know: Finn is no hero.

Curtis is determined to find his brother, but equally, Curtis is no detective. A husband and lawyer (and not the 'good' kind), with a mortgage and responsibilities, Curtis isn’t cut out for delving into whatever seedy business Finn has gotten involved with. But when armed men turn up on his doorstep, claiming to be FBI, he quickly realises he's been left with no choice.

The hunt for the truth will take them from the Capitol building in Washington, to the sun-kissed beaches of Mexico, and the cold streets of London, uncovering secrets of fraud, blackmail and murder. Can the brothers reunite before the real hero is discovered by the wrong people?


Purchase Link

https://mybook.to/rogueherosocial

My Review

A wee while back, well, five years ago actually - no idea where the time went, in the early days of this little blog, I read Sleeper 13 and Fugitive 13 (really must finish the trilogy) by Rob Sinclair and enjoyed them very much. His name stuck in my mind and I was pleased to have the chance to review this one, his latest - Rogue Hero.

Curtis has a nice life, a good job and a lovely wife. A news item on TV about a foiled shooting catches his eye when he realises The hero is his estranged brother. Seeing Finn unlocks something in Curtis - a need to find Finn, know he's OK. But also it makes him realise things about his work, marriage and life generally. As well as a search for Finn, this is also the story of a man finding himself. But there is excitement and danger along the way for everyone involved...

The story is told in a dual timeline and from two points of view. I thought this was very effective as we saw Curtis reaching conclusions and making decisions in the present, then learning the back story of how things came to be that way. I loved seeing Curtis coming into his own as he discovers skills he didn't really know he had. On the flioside, we learn that Finn frequently uses his skills in an underhand way, as long as he achieved his desired outcome. That said, though, there were streaks of decency through him, they just weren't very obvious.

The plot is satisfying, the action exciting and fast moving, particularly in Curtis's timeline where he crosses paths will all sorts of shady types. The back story has a different kind of action - scheming & underhand business practices. And the denouement is explosive and a little emotional.

Rogue Hero is a solid, well written thriller. It's a page turner that will suck you in and hang on to you - I read it in a couple of days. Very enjoyable.


The Author

Rob Sinclair is the million copy bestseller of over twenty thrillers, including the James Ryker series. Most recently published by Bloodhound, Boldwood publish his latest action thriller, Rogue Hero, this month and will be republishing all the James Ryker series over the coming months.

Author Social Media Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robsinclairauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RSinclairAuthor
Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/RobSinclairNews
Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/rob-sinclair

Do check out the other bloggers on the tour! 

Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen (translated by Megan Turney)

I am delighted to share my review of Thirty Days of Darkness, written by Jenny Lund Madsen and translated into English by Megan Turney, for my stop on the blog tour to  celebrate the paperback release of the book this month. But thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me and to the publisher for my gorgeous review copy (complete with spredges, what a treat!). 

 

The Blurb

A snobbish Danish literary author is challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days, travelling to a small village in Iceland for inspiration, and then a body appears … an atmospheric, darkly funny, twisty debut thriller, first in an addictive new series.

Copenhagen author Hannah is the darling of the literary community and her novels have achieved massive critical acclaim. But nobody actually reads them, and frustrated by writer's block, Hannah has the feeling that she's doing something wrong.

When she expresses her contempt for genre fiction, Hanna is publicly challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days. Scared that she will lose face, she accepts, and her editor sends her to Húsafjöður – a quiet, tight-knit village in Iceland, filled with colourful local characters – for inspiration.

But two days after her arrival, the body of a fisherman's young son is pulled from the water … and what begins as a search for plot material quickly turns into a messy and dangerous investigation that threatens to uncover secrets that put everything at risk … including Hannah…

The paperback edition of Thirty Days of Darkness comes out this Thursday, 9th May 2024, and is available here and will also be stocked by Sainsburys supermarkets in the UK.

My Review

Hannah Krause-Bendix writes literary fiction. She is confident her novels are brilliant, she just needs people to read them. Although she seems to have no time for readers. She is contemptuous of crime fiction and its authors, although I sense she would have no time for any genre that actually sold books which appeal to large numbers of people. So to not accept a challenge to write such a novel, something that is obviously so easy to do, in a month, would be to risk humiliation. However, she doesn't factor in being in a different country, a host who doesn't speak Danish or English, or a complicated relationship. Oh, and a murder and significant personal risk.... And she still has a book to write! 

When we first meet Hannah, she is not likeable. At all, really. Her only real friend is Bastian, her editor. She thinks pretty much everything and everyone is beneath her but is very much the tortured writer, agonising over her words whilst consuming alcohol and cigarettes in excess. She does acknowledge, at least though, that she really needs to start selling some books. But her frustrations at this and contempt for a popular Danish crime author who does sell books, and lots of them, lead her to the small Icelandic fishing village of Húsafjöður for a month - fishing boats, snow and not a lot of daylight. 

There are certainly many colourful characters for her to be inspired by. Stand outs for me were Ella, Hannah's host for the month. Welcoming and accepting, she doesn't bat an eyelid at her guest's odd and often rude behaviour. She is a model for how Hannah could be. I loved her part Danish, part English notes. Another character I liked was the barman at the village's only bar whose name we never learn but who proves to be a handy man to have around. And I can't forget about lovely Jørn.  The interesting thing about seeing these folk through Hannah's eyes is that she views them all as inferior to her in some way. Also, she doesn't really get relationships, possibly because she's not very successful at her own. The Icelandic landscape and the weather also play important roles here, but despite the cold, we do see Hannah beginning to thaw just a little. 

But this is a novel about writing a crime novel. And what more inspiration could Hannah want than a murder? But she is unprepared for the impact the crime has on her, the people around her and the book she is trying to write. Inspiration comes thick and fast, but she discovers she wants a satisfactory conclusion for more than the story. Even if her crime investigation skills leave much to be desired.

I haven't really conveyed how clever this book is. As someone whose first love is crime fiction I know it's a genre that tends to be looked down on by some of the wider fiction community, not classed as 'real' literature. Nonsense, of course, but I love how this book plays with that whole idea. It's self aware, a bit meta, humorous,  but tense in all the right places, and the tension just ramps up as the book progresses. Thirty Days of Darkness is a crime novel about writing a crime novel whilst investigating a crime. It's totally entertaining and absorbing - I read it in one sitting - and a very assured fiction debut. Highly recommended. And a big shout out, as always, for an excellent translation, this time provided by Megan Turney.

The Author

Jenny Lund Madsen is one of one of Denmark’s most acclaimed scriptwriters (including the international hits Rita and Follow the Money) and is known as an advocate for better representation for sexual and ethnic minorities in Danish TV and film. She recently made her debut as a playwright with the critically acclaimed Audition (Aarhus Teater) and her debut literary thriller, Thirty Days of Darkness, first in an addictive new series, won the Harald Mogensen Prize for Best Danish Crime Novel of the year and was shortlisted for the coveted Glass Key Award. She lives in Denmark with her young family.

My Second Life by Simon Yeats

Today is my stop on the blog tour for My Second Life by Simon Yeats, which focuses not on his many travel adventures but, rather, his battle for access to his son. My thanks to Rachel Gilbey at Rachel's Random Resources for the invitation and to the author for my review copy of the book.

The Blurb

Right at this moment, my abducted son is being abused in another country and there is nothing I can do about it other than write this book to get publicity for his story.

We all have two lives. We only get to experience living in the second after we realize we only have just one.

I have my first real scare in life when I get attacked by a kangaroo when I am seven. My first brush with the cliff-face edge of death comes when I am 12. My dad drives the family down the dangerous Skipper’s Canyon dirt road in New Zealand in a rented minivan.

Including the occasion I am almost involved in two different plane flight crashes in the same night, there have been at least a half dozen more occasions when I have been within a moment’s inattention of being killed.

However, none of those frightening incidents compare to what I experience after my son is abducted.

This memoir is the story of how I used the traumatic experiences of my life to give me strength to forge on during a 13 year fight to be a father to my son.

What did it take for me to get to my second life?
It took me to truly understand what fear is.


Purchase Links

Amazon UK 
Amazon US 
Barnes & Noble 
Kobo 
Smashwords 

My Review

I recently read one of Simon Yeats's travel memoirs, How to Start a Riot in a Brothel in Thailand by Ordering a Beer..., so know that he could tell an entertaining yarn, but this book has a very different tone. The title comes from the Confucious saying 'We all have two lives. And the second one begins when we realise we only have one' and this is Yeats's story of the extraordinary circumstances that brought him to his second life.  

Before I start, I will say there were a couple of things I struggled with. It is written entirely in the present tense even though much of what is being described took place in the past, which does lead to some confusion here and there. And as with his travel memoir, this book would've benefited from a much tighter edit. 

But these things don't detract from what he is saying. A lot of what is written sounds unbelievable, but Yeats is aware of this and reassures us that every word is true. Much of the first half of the book is dedicated to some of Yeats's terrifying brushes with death - I was slightly confused though when he was about to plunge down an almost sheer cliff of snow and ice at the end of one chapter and in a car accident in the next - and they are incredible to read, real heart in the mouth stuff. His point in telling us though, is that none of these brought him to his second life. 

The second part of the book is the real story here - Yeats's long, arduous and ongoing battles for access to his son, who is currently with his mother in Brazil - Yeats is an Australian living in the US. I won't go into detail here about it, you'd not believe me anyway if I did, but it's utterly heartbreaking to read, with occasional utterly joyful moments on the odd time he has been able to see his son. I was moved to tears many times. I am aware, of course, that we are only hearing one side of a story here but it would seem that there has been no level of justice given in this case and Mr Yeats does not seem to have been given any opportunity to state his case or mount any meaningful legal battle. And there is much, much more than that, as you will see if you read this book. 

I must also mention a couple of things from Yeats's work as a physical therapist. This is a dedicated man with a calling to his job. I had wet eyes reading about David and Jacob, whose father first made Yeats aware of the Confucious saying. You will be touched by these stories, as well as the main, important one here. I was also moved by the author's stories of his own father, the love he has for him and strong model of fatherhood he has obviously set. 

My Second Life is a hard to read in places, shocking in many and almost unbelievable in plenty of others. It's a tale of one man's long hard fight to see his son that will resonate with many but particularly those of us who.are parents. I cried for him and I cried for his son but it's a book I am glad to have read. 


The Author

Simon Yeats has lived nine lives, and by all estimations, is fast running out of the number he has left. His life of globetrotting the globe was not the one he expected to lead. He grew up a quiet, shy boy teased by other kids on the playgrounds for his red hair. But he developed a keen wit and sense of humor to always see the funnier side of life.

With an overwhelming love of travel, a propensity to find trouble where there was none, and being a passionate advocate of mental health, Simon’s stories will leave a reader either rolling on the floor in tears of laughter, or breathing deeply that the adventures he has had were survived.

No author has laughed longer or cried with less restraint at the travails of life.


Author Social Media Links

Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@authoryeats
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/authoryeats/?hl=en

 

The Alliance by Matt Brolly

It's my pleasure to share my review for a book that just grabbed me as soon as I read the blurb - The Alliance by Matt Brolly. Big thanks to Zoe at Zooloo's Book Tours for inviting me to take part in the tour And to the publisher and Netgalley for my review copy.

 

The Blurb

Four cities, four killers, four murders. The Alliance is just getting started.

When four unconnected serial killers simultaneously commit identical murders across four different US cities, FBI Special Agent Shannon Wallace faces an unprecedented threat—a cooperative of killers working in unison. Each homicide is witnessed by a survivor, and now these lucky ones need to decide how to tell their stories to the world.

Their posts about the horrific murders create a media storm and a new term is soon coined for the killers: The Alliance. As they recruit new killers into their ranks and more innocent people linked to the initial murders are killed it becomes clear that Wallace is dealing with an unprecedented threat—a deadly alliance formed to terrorize the nation with coordinated strikes.

With the killers always one step ahead, the very fabric of society threatens to unravel and Wallace battles to decipher The Alliance’s endgame before they dismantle civilization city by city. In a desperate race against time, can Wallace uncover the members and motives of the Alliance and end their reign of terror before more victims wind up dead.

Book Links

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199135685-the-alliance
Buy Links - https://mybook.to/thealliance-zbt

My Review

I read and reviewed one of Matt Brolly's earlier US set books, The Controller, a few years back and really enjoyed it. So that fact, along with the blurb (shown above) piqued my interest in this one. I wasn't disappointed. 

Icarus (Ike) Glass - great name - is a Brit who came to the US years ago, settled in San Antonio and became a journalist. He's pretty washed up and definitely drinks too much. One evening he shares a few beers with a man he meets in a bar - it turns out not to be a great idea...

I didn't find Ike Glass particularly likeable but it was hard not to feel sorry for him as he gets caught up in a bizarre string of events. Shannon Wallace was much more relatable - in her forties, a strained relationship with her son and trying to establish herself at Quantico after years of working in the field. She's in the Behavior Analysis Unit (the one often imagined on the small screen), specifically the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, which I imagine is a tough gig at the best of times. But here she is presented with a case like no other, with identical incidents across the US - it's unprecedented. But I think my favourite character was Lieutenant Michael Boyd, who takes initial charge of the San Antonio crime scene. He's world weary, mourning the death of his wife but there seemed a gentleness around him. I liked him a lot. 

I really liked the idea of crimes taking place simultaneously across the US. And ones that are creatively staged too. Yes, they are far fetched but suitably creepy and pretty darn scary! For various reasons that become clear as the book progresses much of the action here is in San Antonio but we hear plenty of details of incidents happening across the country. 

I loved the use of both more traditional media and social media in this novel. It shows both how quickly news can travel - instantly, really - and people's fascination with the darker side of human nature. As events build and the Alliance themselves make more use of social media, there is no shortage of folk ready and waiting to watch whatever horror is perpetrated. And I really don't know if that wouldn't be the case in real life - there seems to be a real appetite for true crime. It's funny, as regular visitors here will know, I read (and watch) a lot of fictional crime but very rarely the true life stuff. But plenty of people are fascinated by it. So is it such a big leap to imagine us watching it on our screens in real time? Subscribing to social media accounts set up by killers? I'm not so  sure.

The Alliance is a hard book to review in detail without giving plot spoilers, which, of course, I'm not going to do. It's tense almost from the get go and only gets more so until we reach a denouement full of surprises. The writing is tight - there's always something going on, moving the plot forward. It's exciting and I was genuinely invested in what happened in the end. And more than a little shocked. Worth a read. 

The Author

Matt Brolly is the Amazon number one, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the DI Blackwell novels set in Weston-super-Mare, as well as the DCI Lambert crime novels, the acclaimed near future crime novel, Zero, and the US thrillers, The Controller, The Railroad, and The Running Girls. His books have sold over one million copies in 16 countries. 

Matt lives in London with his wife, their two children, a dog called Herbie, and a cat called W.G Snuffy Walden.

Author Social Media Links

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattbrollyuk

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/mattbrollyuk

Twitter : https://twitter.com/MattBrollyUK

Website : https://mattbrolly.com/

Maman by FE Birch

Today is my stop on the blog tour for Maman by FE Birch. I love the cover on this one! My thanks to Heather Fitt at Overview Media for the invitation and to the author for my review copy.

 

The Blurb

A twisted suspense novel

DS Joanna Armstrong, a top child protection detective, becomes the accused when one of her twin babies develops facial bruising - sending her into a spiralling post-natal psychosis.

Her life falls apart in an instant. Her team are torn, the doctors think she’s fabricating her illness, and even one of her own colleagues appears hell bent on destroying her.

Can Joanna clear her name when everything seems stacked against her? Can she break through all the prejudice before time runs out? Or is she really mad like they all say?

Maman is a gripping tale of family, loyalty, and integrity, but most of all, truth and justice.

My Review

Jo Armstrong's nightmare begins one afternoon when she suddenly finds herself filled with confusion and fear as she doesn't understand how she got where she is, what is happening or why her police colleagues in the child protection team are behaving the way they are towards her. And there will be a lot of time, pain and heartache before everything is resolved one way or another.

Jo's decline in mental health is well described, as is her confusion at all going on around her. We see her thoughts whirring about, all over the place and her self doubt, a hatred for herself, even. It's sometimes a hard read but often relatable for anyone who has struggled with their mental health to any degree. 

I loved Jim, Jo's husband. Equally confused by the events that have taken place and the situation in which he finds himself, he never once doubts Jo, and never stops fighting for things to be resolved. Also very likeable is social worker Effie (now there's a name that's a little familiar...!). She's warm, approachable and compassionate whilst remaining professional. She's wonderfully described and I could picture her perfectly. Jo's police colleagues, on the other hand, are anything but sympathetic and understanding, particularly DC Claire Bristow, who is pretty openly hostile towards Jo and Jim. Happily, I have no experience of anything like this in real life but I'd like to think (hope) there is a little more compassion is offered to families whilst the truth is being established - innocent until proven guilty and all that. 

Maman is a story about depression, grief and trauma, love, a fight for justice and a spotlight on hidden illnesses. It is tense throughout and an interesting read. 

The Author

FE Birch is an ex-cop from the North East but she’s not a Geordie. She is a prolific short story writer with a trail of pseudonyms and publications behind her. With a penchant for dark, deep and the disturbing, her crimes are rarely cosy. She has self-published two collections of competition winning short stories and her debut novel, She’s Not There was published early 2023 by Red Dragon. She is also published by Harper Collins (2013) with stories about being an undercover cop …

With a bendy EDS body, GSOH and a little bit of clumsiness, she wears many hats and loves wigs. Her friends call her Effie.

How to Start a Riot in a Brothel in Thailand by Ordering a Beer and Other Lesser Known Travel Tips by Simon Yeats

Today I'm helping to close the blog tour for How to Start a Riot in a Brothel in Thailand by Ordering a Beer and Other Lesser Known Travel Tips by Simon Yeats, which is part memoir, part unorthodox travel guide! My thanks to Rachel Gilbey at Rachel's Random Resources for inviting me and to the author for my review copy.

There is also an opportunity to win a set of all three books in the series in the giveaway at at the bottom of the page. But be quick, it closes soon! 

The Blurb

Book 1 of a hilarious series of travel misadventures and dubious personal introspection by Australian author Simon Yeats, who from an early age learned that the best way to approach the misfortunes of this world is to laugh about them.

Simon shares his comedic insights into the unusual and uproarious elements of living life as an Aussie ex-pat and having a sense of Wanderlust as pervasive as the Spanish Flu in 1918.

From how to keep yourself entertained when unwittingly forced to watch 11 hours of live sumo wrestling in Japan, to surviving heartbreak in India at the hands of a French flight attendant, to 48 hours spent in Nepal that qualify as the funniest most gut wrenching travel experience since Captain Bligh was set adrift in the Pacific, to his unsuccessful attempts at avoiding going to a brothel in Thailand.

Simon Yeats has gone into the world and experienced all the out of the ordinary moments for you to sit back and enjoy the experience without the need to break a leg or rupture a pancreas.


Purchase Links

UK 
US 

My Review

I have to say I was drawn to this book just by the title. I mean, look at it! Figured I was in for something fun and I was right. And as someone who hasn't actually travelled much I was looking forward to reading about far going places. This first book in a series of three focuses on the author's travels in Asia, whilst the other two cover tales from Europe, the USA and South America. 

Despite my limited travel experience, I loved the part of Yeats's introduction where he shares (in full, because it's quite short) the speech he would give if invited back to his old high school (all boys) graduation ceremony which, summed up, would basically say 'Travel as much as you can. You will never regret travelling and discovering new things.' And it would seem that this is a mantra the author lives by, having travelled to far flung places all over the world. We get a small taste of some of these adventures here. 

There were a couple of things I didn't like so I'm just going to get those out of the way quickly.  There was the occasional off colour comment (in my opinion, of course, maybe not for others) and I felt there was too much signposting to the author's other books within the text. The book would definitely benefit from a tighter edit. But these are niggles - there is much to enjoy in this book. 

Each chapter is headed up with a joke which I thought was a novel idea. Some are groan worthy, though! 😂   Several trips/incidents are covered in the book and they are all entertaining. The incident mentioned in the title is funny, his exchange with an immigration officer on his return to the US from Japan had me giggling but, for me, the pièce de résistance is the story of his white water rafting trip in Nepal. The tears were running down my face reading that one and I'm smiling now just thinking about it. 

Yeats has an easy manner and a relaxed way of sharing his stories - it's easy to imagine he's actually telling you these tales over a beer one night! He's also quite funny, one of my favourite moments was when confronted by his brother-in-law's German Shepherd his 'testicles receded into the panic room of my stomach'. Yes, he has a humorous turn of phrase. 

How to Start a Riot... is full of funny, entertaining stories  and some dubious money saving tips. 😂 But what I really loved is that it's a celebration of travelling, exploring, taking risks, having adventures and embracing everything. Being rewarded with fabulous (and some not quite so fabulous, to be fair, but still valid) experiences. And I think that should be applauded and encouraged.

The Author

Simon Yeats has lived nine lives, and by all estimations, is fast running out of the number he has left. His life of globetrotting the globe was not the one he expected to lead. He grew up a quiet, shy boy teased by other kids on the playgrounds for his red hair. But he developed a keen wit and sense of humor to always see the funnier side of life.

With an overwhelming love of travel, a propensity to find trouble where there was none, and being a passionate advocate of mental health, Simon’s stories will leave a reader either rolling on the floor in tears of laughter, or breathing deeply that the adventures he has had were survived.

No author has laughed longer or cried with less restraint at the travails of life.

Author Social Media Links

Tik Tok 
Instagram 

Giveaway to Win 1 set of all Three Books in Simon Yeats' Lesser Known travel tips series in paperback and 1 set in epub (Open to UK / US / Canada).

Prize includes copies of:
- How to Start a Riot in a Brothel in Thailand by Ordering a Beer and Other Lesser Known Travel Tips
- How to Avoid Getting Mugged in Rio de Janeiro by Singing Songs by The Police and Other Lesser Known Travel Tips
- How to Survive Making Yourself Look Silly While Dancing with the German Mafia at a Bavarian Nightclub and Other Lesser Known Travel Tips

2 winners – first winner will win the paperbacks, second winner will win the epubs .

*Terms and Conditions –UK / US / Canada entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Enter here: 

Giveaway

I will be reviewing Simon's memoir, My Second Life (not part of this series) on 4th May so do look out for that. 

The Translator by Harriet Crawley

Edited to add: Posted a day late due to illness. Sincere apologies to all concerned.  

Today is my my stop on the blog tour for The Translator by Harriet Crawley, a love story set against the politics of Moscow and a threat to the UK. My thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for my invitation and to the publisher for my review copy. 

The Blurb

A passionate love story, centred on a devastating Russian plot to sabotage the undersea communication cables linking the US to the UK. Clive Franklin, a Russian language expert in the Foreign Office, is summoned unexpectedly to Moscow to act as translator for the British Prime Minister. His life is upended when he discovers that his former lover, Marina Volina, is the interpreter to the Russian President. Together they will try to stop the attack that could paralyse communications and collapse the Western economy.

The Translator is published by Bitter Lemon Press and came out on 21st March 2024.

 

My Review

My Review

I don't normally read a lot of romance novels but this one involved a bit of espionage so how could I say no? Also, a story set in a country we only see in the headlines on the news - in recent years anyway. And something told me that, in this one, love wasn't necessarily going to run smoothly!

It's 2017. Clive Franklin, a Russian interpreter, or translator, as he appears to be known, for the British Foreign Office, is in Scotland when he receives a phone call advising him he has been seconded at short notice to the Prime Minister's office and will leaving immediately for Moscow. After the Prime Minister's meeting with the Russian president has finished, Clive is to remain in Moscow to translate at some trade talks, whilst trying to find information on suspicious Russian activity in the seas off Britain's South West coast. Intelligence gathering is not currently in Clive's skill set but he hadn't reckoned on the Russian president's interpreter being a face from his past...

Clive comes across as a nice chap, intelligent, polite, well mannered - perfect for his role in Moscow. Well, dual roles, I should say, although he is understandably hesitant about the whole intelligence gathering thing. However, needs must, and he soon receives an offer of help from  unexpected quarters. 

Marina is a Russian interpreter, favoured by the Russian president. Again, she knows exactly how to behave, with higher stakes for her as punishment could be harsh. She comes across as quite a lonely woman who carries a lot of sadness, but there are hints that this was not always the case. I worried that she didn't seem to have any friends other than Lev, the president's private secretary, who rebellious streak I adored. One person I certainly didn't adore but who was, for me, one of the most beautifully drawn characters was General Grigory Varlamov, the deputy director of the FSB. The vice president is also colourfully described. 

I loved the plot. I enjoyed the formalities of the hierarchical society. I loved all the intrigue, secrets, coded messages, hushed conversations and dangerous risks. It's a race against time but there's a lot going on with meetings, business trips and conversations, some engineered, some not, so it's quite wordy.  Which, for me, gave it a really interesting feel of being both fast and slow. It's hard to explain. It's obviously very tense but I felt that occasionally that was lost a little. Overall, The Translator is an intelligent novel, obviously political, very interesting and ended in a way I hadn't anticipated. I really enjoyed it. 

The Author

A fluent Russian speaker and former journalist, Harriet Crawley lived and worked in Russia for twenty years. She sent her son to state school in Moscow which, until 2016, was her second home.


Do remember to check out the other stops on the tour!