Book review: Spooky Halloween Reads.

I read some great Halloween reads over the last month. The first I will tell you about is a horror book, which is entirely out of my usual comfort reading zone. But I was buddy reading it with Irena, which would make it enjoyable whatever I thought of the book. Luckily for me, I rated the book 4 out of 5 stars.

Description :

Seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats.

Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar. But when her eldest sister, Grey, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Iris learns just how weird her life can get: horned men start shadowing her, a corpse falls out of her sister’s ceiling, and ugly, impossible memories start to twist their way to the forefront of her mind.

As Iris retraces Grey’s last known footsteps and follows the increasingly bizarre trail of breadcrumbs she left behind, it becomes apparent that the only way to save her sister is to decipher the mystery of what happened to them as children.

The closer Iris gets to the truth, the closer she comes to understanding that the answer is dark and dangerous – and that Grey has been keeping a terrible secret from her for years.

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland.

My Thoughts:

I think this is my first proper horror book that I have read in quite a few years. I used to enjoy Stephen King books when I was a lot younger. But since then, my genre preferences stayed between thriller and womens fiction. Branching out to a horror book at Halloween seemed the perfect time to give it a go. Even better, I got to buddy read it with Irena.

So, onto House of Hollow. This book starts with three sisters who are as close as sisters can be. They have arranged to meet up as only Iris now lives at home. Vivi and Grey are out living their own lives. Grey as a famous model, and Vivi in a band. The three sisters share a bond like no other as they disappeared as children for 1 month, and when they were found unharmed except for a scar on the throats, they remembered nothing.

The mysterious things start to happen pretty much straight away in this book. Grey doesn’t turn up for their meeting so Iris and Vivi start to look for her. This leads them on a journey neither of them were expecting, and gives them answers and many more questions about their lives along the way.

The writing in House of Hollow is so descriptively amazing and really painted a picture in my mind. It was good to discuss these parts with Irena, as some parts of it really made me cringe, but Irena had different views. When I first saw the cover, I thought it was lovely, as I read on and discovered these were flowers of death, it seemed more creepy than nice. It wasn’t the traditional horror story with blood and gore, or ghosts and ghouls. This horror had mythical dark fairytale vibes, the type that is super creepy to me. While I didn’t know much about faeries at the time (I knew only that fairies were good and faeries were not so good). Irena knew quite a lot about them, so I also learnt about faeries and myths while reading the book.

The concluding chapters to House of Hollow are gripping, fast paced, earie and answered all the questions that I had built up over the read. The ending was both sad, happy, weird and so imaginative. There was an epilogue which was not really necassary and may or may not have been written with a book 2 in mind?? I’m not sure. Personally, I think House of Hollow ended and should remain ended in this way. But saying that I really did love this Author’s writing style and creative imagination. I would read Krystal Sutherland’s books again. I didn’t think I would say that before I started this book, but again my buddy reads have pulled me out of my comfort zone and found something exciting. I highly recommend House of Hollow. Thanks to Irena for suggesting the book and buddy reading it with me.

• Goodreads
• Amazon
• Twitter

See this amazing trailer, if my review didn’t convince you to read, then this will.

 

The Captive by Deborah O Connor. Book Review.

The Captive was a bookclub read again and this time my choice of book got voted for as the book of the month to read.

I always hope the book will be good but as it was my choice that everyone read, I particularly hoped it would be good.

Description:

Hannah knows the cage intimately. Small, the size of a shopping mall parking space. A bed, a basin, a table and chair. A hatch and metal drawer through which to exchange food and other items.

Then there’s him. Always there on the edges of her vision, no matter how hard she tries to block him out.

Every day, the same thoughts run through Hannah’s mind:

What if he speaks to me?

What if he hurts me?

What if he gets out?

First published 12 January 2021

My Thoughts:

This book intrigued me right from the start of reading the blurb. A prisoner being kept captive in your kitchen.

I didn’t know why he was being kept in a cage and why Hannah would be scared of him. If she was scared why was he there. Well the futuristic rules of criminals and prisoners is not something I like the sound of.

This was a really interesting and unique book. It was really well written and although the prisoner captivity idea is futuristic, the book explains why this came about and mentions the pros and cons which were interesting and thought provoking.

The chapters alternated between main characters Hannah and Jem’s points of view. There are also chapters which go back in time to Jem’s past. I could ‘feel ‘ both characters and although I wouldn’t have acted the same ways that Hannah did, I can understand her. The author did a great job of bringing these two to life in my head.

There were plenty of twists, thrills unexpected parts and characters to suspect. Everything I could want from a thriller. Highly recommended as a very unique thriller with parts domestic noir, legal guilty or not guilty, and tension that leads the reader to turn the pages faster and faster to see what will happen next. I loved it.

---

Links:

• Amazon
• Goodreads

 

Here’s my Calling Card. Book Review: The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup.

The Chestnut Man book has been sitting on my shelf for quite a while. I always knew it was going to be a good read as it was given to me by my fellow book loving, book blogging friend Irena, and she knows my taste. The reason I hadn’t read it until recently was that I was daunted by the length of the book being over 500 pages. Many of the reviews I have read of this book say, don’t be put off by thickness! But I was! Now what better time to enjoy an excellent book than during lockdown.

Translation by Caroline Waight.

Description:

The heart-pounding debut from the creator of the hit Scandinavian television show The Killing.

If you find one, he’s already found you.

A psychopath is terrorizing Copenhagen.

His calling card is a “chestnut man”—a handmade doll made of matchsticks and two chestnuts—which he leaves at each bloody crime scene.

Examining the dolls, forensics makes a shocking discovery—a fingerprint belonging to a young girl, a government minister’s daughter who had been kidnapped and murdered a year ago.

A tragic coincidence—or something more twisted?

To save innocent lives, a pair of detectives must put aside their differences to piece together the Chestnut Man’s gruesome clues.

Because it’s clear that the madman is on a mission that is far from over.

And no one is safe.

My Thoughts:

I had never heard of Chestnut dolls before, but I do know I love a book whereby the murderer has a calling sign. This caller sign is Chestnut dolls. Chestnuts and match sticks made into little people. But what is the significance? The significance becomes even more strange ( intriguing for the reader) when the fingerprint of a girl that went missing a year ago is found on the chestnut!

The plot focuses on two main detectives who are on the case. Neither of them particularly happy about having to work with the other and both with other places they would like to be. Not a good match for a serious hunt for a serial killer with an agenda you might think? Perhaps not, but it was a nice change to read about detectives having to be a partnership and not wanting to be there.

This Scandi Noir books deserves all the praise and rave reviews it’s got. The short chapters enabled me to read ” just one more chapter” more times than I could have imagined. The finger prints on the chestnut were what got me turning the pages. How are there finger prints of a girl who has been missing presumed dead for a whole year. The missing girl is the daughter of a government minister, so should this case be re opened? Most think ‘No’, but a good detective leaves nothing uncovered.

Are the murders anything to do with the missing girl? What’s the link between Chestnut Men and the victims? Are the victims patterned? Who is next? All questions that whizzed through my head leading to the ” just one more chapter” feeling.

The plot was long, but gripping. The characters were individual but forced to come together. The murderer, well I can describe this damaged soul as gory, blood thirsty, clever and original. If that sounds like a serial killer you’d like to meet on these pages, get reading The Chestnut Man.

I had no idea of who the killer was. I had no idea how the book would end, but when it did end after investing all that time into reading it, I was pleased, satisfied and so glad that I took the plunge into this big book.

My lockdown experience definetly included Chestnut Men. 😊

Links:

Amazon.co.uk

 

Book Review: The Mysterious Writing Group by Susan Willis

The lovely Author Susan Willis has released another fabulous short story. I have to admit after reading many of her short stories ( All of which you can find reviewed on my blog), The Mysterious Writing Group is my favourite so far.

I downloaded when it was available to download for free. So thank you Susan for this freebie little coffee break read.

Description

Christine has joined her four friends from a writing group at a murder-mystery weekend in a manor house. Although they enjoy each other’s company in their writing sessions, Christine wonders how the dynamics of the group will work over three days? They have been studying the golden age detectives and she is huge fan of Sherlock Holmes.
To even out numbers Christine pairs up with a newcomer, a Welshman, called Owen who she immediately likes when he offers to be her sidekick, Doctor Watson. While using their powers of deduction they discover some mysterious happenings, which makes Christine wonder if everyone is who they say they are?

My Thoughts:

The Mysterious Writing Group is a perfect coffee break read. Like I have said with all of my reviews for Susan Willis’ short stories, they are a great little escapism read when you have a little time to yourself.

I liked this story because it’s all things bookish. The characters are from a writing group where they meet to discuss their work. The main character Christine begins within the first few pages talking about well known authors who write crime books. And to top it all off they go to a murder mystery weekend. It is a booklovers perfect set up.

The writing flows, the characters are relatable, and the story has a full rounded plot within its shorter styled book.

I have to say as well, I was not expecting it to end as it did……..

A cracker of a read and my favourite short story by Susan Willis so far. I’m readily waiting for the next one. 😊

---

Links:
susanwillis.co.uk

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com

Twitter – @SusanWillis69