BOOK REVIEW: The Cold Cold Sea by Linda Huber

5/5 Stars

Blurb:

They stared at each other, and Maggie felt the tightness in her middle expand as it shifted, burning its way up - Painful sobs rose from her throat as Colin, his face expressionless now, reached for his mobile and dialled 999. When three-year-old Olivia disappears, her parents are overwhelmed with grief. Weeks go by and Olivia's mother refuses to leave the cottage, staring out at the turbulent sea and praying it didn't claim her precious daughter's life. Not far away, another mother watches proudly as her daughter starts school. Jennifer has loved Hailey for five years, but the child is suddenly moody and difficult, and there's a niggling worry of doubt that Jennifer cannot shake off. As she struggles to maintain control there are gaps in her story that even she can't explain. Time is running out for Maggie at the cottage, and also for Jennifer and Hailey. No-one can underestimate a mother's love for her child, and no-one can predict the lengths one will go to, to protect her family. 

Review: 

The beginning of the book starts, and a child goes missing. As the reader, you think you're going to be following this family throughout the story, but they're a minor reference. The real story is with another family, one who has suffered their own loss, and one who has made up for it in a terrible way. 

The Cold Cold Sea kept me interested at all points. A child abduction tale told from the perspective of the child who is taken, and the people who have taken her, rather than the suffering family. My heart broke for little Olivia who was taken - so confused with the emotional abuse she endures and the changes in her life. 

The whole way through the book, I was screaming out for somebody to notice something is wrong with this child. I wanted somebody to help her get back to her family, and I wanted the book to end with a satisfying finish. I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I almost shed a tear towards the 90% mark when it was all revealed. Fantastic storytelling. I'd recommend it.

BOOK REVIEW: The Search for Ethan by Robert Cowan

4.5/5 Stars

Blurb:

Two typical teenage lives are transformed after a night of hallucinogenic experimentation, when the subsequent bad trip spills into their real lives with tragic consequences. A desperate but darkly comical search for redemption begins, with help from an unlikely source.
Review:

The search for Ethan is like no book I've read before. It was so unique in genre that I'm finding it difficult to compare it to anything, let alone describe what it was about. Tommy and Stevie, two teenage friends have their lives change in more ways than one as the years unfold. Their lives go in two completely different paths, and it's a coming of age story with a twist. The pair encounter drugs, sex, loss and everything in between, but in the end, they both end up in the right place for them.

Robert Cowan does a brilliant job of balancing humour, grit and surprise, and I found myself intrigued all the way through, though I'll be honest in saying I didn't always know where it was going. I'd recommend it as one to read.

BOOK REVIEW: Confessions of a School Nurse by Michael Alexander

4/5 Stars

Blurb:

From the people who brought you the bestselling Confessions of a GP.

After sixteen years of high-pressure nursing, Michael Alexander has traded in his hospital uniform for the fresh air, comfort and routine of an International private school in the French Alps. Bliss! But it’s not long before he discovers that school nursing is not all permission slips, sniffles and gift baskets. Disastrous school trips; after hours dorm sleepovers; awkward sex education classes; culture clashes; swine flu panic; and kids with six-figure bank balances and a taste for bribery. This is nursing as you’ve never seen it before.

What goes on behind the gates of one of the world’s most elite boarding schools? What happens when kids from all over the world – Russia, Africa, America, Saudi Arabia – live, learn and grow under one roof? What happens when it’s left to school staff to teach children the facts of life, and lust?

Review:

From nits to sex education, this boarding school is full of kids from wealthy backgrounds with parents that don't really want to know. Most of them use an 'agent' to speak on their behalf, because whether they're from Italy or Germany, Poland or France, their English isn't always the greatest. Pair that with different world customs and beliefs, Michael has his work cut out to keep these kids in check.

Despite being there as a nurse for medical reasons, he finds himself acting as a friend, confidant and even a detective - figuring out if the teenager in front of him is really ill or whether they just don't want to do P.E.

Confessions of a school nurse is a memoir of short, easy to read tales that ring true of school life, even if things are slightly different at a boarding school. I'd recommend it as an easy read if you don't want anything too heavy or time consuming.

BOOK REVIEW: Island by Richard Laymon

3/5 Stars

WARNING: Brace yourself for a long one here, I didn't realise how much this book annoyed me until I started writing. 

Blurb: 

When eight people go on a cruise in the Bahamas, they plan to swim, sunbathe and relax. Getting shipwrecked is definitely not in the script. But after the yacht blows up they're stranded on a deserted island, and there's a maniac on the loose.

Review: 

Island is the story of Rupert, a teenage boy who gets stuck on an island with his teenage girlfriend, her parents and her sisters. Seemingly an accidental explosion of their ship, it soon becomes apparent that someone has set them up. Then people start to show up dead, and they soon realise they're living amongst a murderer. 

The book overall kept me interested the whole way through. There was always elements of mystery, even though we knew who the perpetrator was most of the way through. Richard Laymon is clearly a talented writer. He knows how to keep it interesting, despite it being a pretty long book. 

Despite how interesting it was, there was also a lot wrong with it in my opinion. First of all, some of it was downright perverted and wrong. Fair enough, this is fiction and the character in question was meant to be sadistic, but I didn't really NEED to know all the details. I found Rupert's obsession with the women on the island totally inappropriate, given their circumstances. 

Another thing which spoilt it for me was how it ended. As readers, of course we want the satisfaction of things being wrapped up toward the end. We want to see how it ends - where do the characters end up? Do they ever get off the island? What do they tell people? The author didn't tell us any of this. The story ended with them still on the island, really no further forward. 

The sexual pairing of two of the characters also seemed a little weird after everything. Considering the character in question had been raped and abused for some time, why would she want to be sexual toward somebody else? It just seemed as if Richard Laymon was using his female characters as objects, not really giving much thought to how they would be feeling after their turmoil. All the women in fact were very volatile and mouthy, despite everything they were going through. Is that really the greatest depiction of somebody who has been through all that? I think maybe the author needs to do some research on sexual abuse if he's going to write about something so horrific. 

It's a massive shame, because if some of that would have been handled better, and Rupert wasn't such a perv, the book would have gotten a higher rating from me.

'Resistance' Pre-Order

Well, FINALLY I got round to self publishing 'Resistance' the second part of the Synergy Series. It's available for pre-order now on Amazon, while the first book is now available for free on Kindle Unlimited.

REVIEW: The Ghost Files 3.5 by Apryl Baker

3/5 Stars

Blurb: 

Tick tock…

Mary Cross has been forced to accept the world of the supernatural because of an experience that left her with the ability to hear—but not see—the supernatural. She survived three weeks of being kidnapped and tortured, and it has left her emotionally and physically scarred.

Across the street from her house, strange things are happening…

Mysterious noises haunt the residents, faucets turn on by themselves, and footsteps can be heard running up and down the stairs. It all centers around Noah, a two year old child. Babysitters have run screaming from the house.

Caleb Malone has been dumped into a teeming hornet’s nest…

He’s always been the good son, done everything asked of him, and even gave up graduate school to join the family business of hunting supernatural villains. He’s convinced himself he’s happy, that his duty to his gift should come before anything else.

Until he meets Mary Cross.

She gives him hope that things can be different, that he can be different.

Together, the two of them must solve the mystery of the two shadows stalking the child and save him from whatever has attached itself to him. Time is running out and to save Noah, forcing Mary to face her own demons.

But in doing so…has she put a target on her back? 

Review:

I'm a big fan of the ghost files books, so when I saw there was another one, of course I had to pick it up. I didn't realise it was going to be a spin off, and I was skeptical whether I really wanted to see one. Mary Cross is the main character for 3.5, the foster sister of Mattie Hathaway, our usual heroine. Don't get me wrong, Mary is a sweetheart but I didn't know if she'd be interesting enough for a whole book.

The book itself is a short one, but overall I enjoyed it. I did feel it was repeated in places because it followed what was happening with Mattie too, (what we've already seen in the previous book) just from a different perspective. However, when the creepy action got going, it was great. Apryl Baker writes her creepy scenes really well, and I'm of course rooting for someone like her who started out on Wattpad.

FYI: If you haven't yet read any of the Ghost Files books, I'd recommend them. She's even got a movie deal out of them now.