Yvonne
Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house during the last week. Be warned that Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.
Mailbox Monday now has a permanent home, where links may be added each week. So why not stop by, leave a link to your own Mailbox Monday post, oh! and don’t forget to leave a comment for our three new joint administrators, after all, we all like to receive them … ‘Mailbox Monday’
Leslie of ‘Under My Apple Tree’
Serena of ‘Savvy Verse & Wit’
Vicki of ‘I’d Rather Be At The Beach’
This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!
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The newest find for my ever growing TBR mountain this week, is a review option from the folks over at NetGalley. I thought it especially worth a mention, as it spotlights a new author on the fiction writing scene, yet someone who is no stranger to the world of media. As this, her debut novel is very firmly rooted in the genre of thriller / suspense, which is one of my all time favourites, this had to be a ‘couldn’t resist’ option for me and I can’t wait to read it.
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‘CAN ANYBODY HELP ME?’
It was crazy really, she had never met the woman, had no idea of her real name but she thought of her as a friend. Or, at least, the closest thing she had to a friend in Dublin.
Struggling with a new baby, Yvonne turns to netmammy, an online forum for mothers, for support. Drawn into a world of new friends, she spends increasing amounts of time online and volunteers more and more information about herself.
When one of her new friends goes offline, Yvonne thinks something is wrong, but dismisses her fears. After all, does she really know this woman?
But when the body of a young woman with striking similarities to Yvonne’s missing friend is found, Yvonne realises that they’re all in terrifying danger. Can she persuade Sergeant Claire Boyle, herself about to go on maternity leave, to take her fears seriously?
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SINEAD CROWLEY
Born in Dublin, Sinéad Crowley has been working as a journalist since graduating from Dublin City University in 1993 and is currently Arts and Media Correspondent with RTE, Ireland’s national broadcaster. Working for both radio and television, she has covered stories ranging from General Elections to the Eurovision, and has reported from locations including Southern Africa, Azerbaijan and from the Oscars in Los Angeles.
A self confessed internet addict, she discovered the world of parenting websites while on maternity leave with her first child. Her debut thriller, Can Anybody Help Me?, is set on one such site.
Sinéad lives in Dublin with her husband and two young sons.
I’ve always wanted to write a book, and I’d interview authors with that in the forefront of my mind. I could speak to them about how they did it. I knew people who did it. That made it all real and achievable. I decided to just sit down and do it. I knew, if I didn’t, I’d regret it.
I wrote in the car! If I had an interview at 2pm, I’d turn up at 12.30pm and do an hour in the car. I had my laptop with me all the time, and whenever I had a minute I’d work away on it. I thought about it a lot too. I’d write little notes, so that if I got an hour at the end of the day I wasn’t sitting there with a blank piece of paper
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The premise of this book is an interesting one. I remember discovering the virtual world of the Internet when my daughter was born 13 years ago.
Hi Laura,
Whilst in some ways I am not a huge fan of the impact the internet is having on all our daily lives, I can see the advantages in certain situations. Although I have never had a family of my own, I can appreciate the comfort factor of having others in the same situation as yourself, available for advice and support 24 /7.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment.
Bet a lot of readers could identify a bit with the situation in this book – except for the scary crime, hopefully!
Hi Mary,
I do think that social media and the internet have an important role to play in today’s society, especially for those groups of people who may be unable to have outside contact without it, or for the likes of us, folks with a common interest they like to share.
However, when I stop and think of all the personal information we share and the private details about our lives we divulge, almost without thinking, I do wonder how long it will be before the storyline featured in ‘Can Anybody Help Me?’ becomes featured in books more often, to reflect situations which might well occur in real life.
Thanks for stopping by and for the interesting perspective you offer on this book.
I like the background info on the author as well!
Hi Mystica,
As soon as I came across the quote from Sinead about the amount of interviews she had conducted with various authors, which gave her the inspiration and courage to try writing a book of her own, I knew that this was a story I should be reading, especially as she has based the storyline of the book on events from her own experiences … well, to a point anyway!
Thanks for stopping by and for the interesting comment.
Enjoy your new book.
Thank you so much Pat, I’m sure I shall, I love a good thriller!
Have a good week.
Wow! This books sounds superb. What a unique premise for a novel. Thanks for sharing.
I hope you’ll visit me at http://www.thebusymomsdaily.com/2014/03/mailbox-monday-march-31.html
Hi Cheryl,
I must admit that I haven’t come across a storyline like this before, although I guess that as times move on and technology dominates our daily lives more and more, this type of premise will become more part of our everyday reading genres … Good or Bad? … Who Knows!
Thanks for stopping by, I always appreciate your comments.
A topical read that as Mary said a lot of readers will identify with and relate to.
Hi Tracy,
In this fast changing world of technology, information gathering and cybercrime, I guess the synopsis for this book, which not so long ago would have seemed so far fetched, is soon going to become a crime of the norm. Any efforts made to curb the advance of the internet criminal, have all been rather ‘too little, too late’.
Thanks for taking the time to comment, I always appreciate it.
This sounds quite interesting, as well as a bit of a nail-biter!
I think one of the reasons I’ll never get through all the books on my shelf (and in my Kindle) is because once I make a decent dent in things, I end up replacing them with even more! It’s a vicious cycle. 😉 That said, having finally finished the Masters of Rome series, I did a little splurging this week with some Christmas money I still had at Amazon. (which doesn’t count several I got while immersed in the series) My purchases were:
Master and God by Lindsey Davis
Raiders of the Nile by Steven Saylor
Purple Roads by Fleur McDonald
A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths
The Black Cat by Martha Grimes
I also pre-ordered a couple, but as those didn’t actually come into my possession this week I didn’t include them.
(whew! I feel like I’ve just left the confessional!)
Hi Kelly,
Think yourself lucky! I never even get to make a dent in my TBR mountain, which is really more of a volcano, threatening to explode at any moment! Some of the books near the bottom are probably destined to never see the light of day and will be unearthed as some antique crunchy parchment type paper, after my passing!!
You really do enjoy those chunkster historical epics, don’t you? They are the kind of thing I could really get stuck into once in a while, but couldn’t see myself reading on a regular basis.
Now the Martha Grimes and Elly Grifiths are both right up my street and as I haven’t read either of those, I thank you for featuring them and have added them to my list.
Have a good week and Happy Reading!
I do prefer to read series in order when possible, and that includes these two. I read the Richard Jury series several years ago and I hope I remember anything necessary to the plot when I get into The Black Cat. I think there is yet another installment following this one. I’m a little more current on the Elly Griffiths series, so I’m looking forward to reading that one (and the ones following it) soon. At the moment, I’m in another one of those historical epics. 🙂
One of my pre-orders did appear on my Kindle this morning, but I’ll save it for next week (if you feature this meme again then).
Hi Kelly,
I try to read a series in order, but it never seems to work out that way somehow!
The only Martha Grimes I have read, is ‘I Am The Only Running Footman’, which is book 8 and goes back to 1988, so I seriously need to catch up on this series!! …. ‘The Black Cat’ is book 22 and another installment is due out this year apparently (Vertigo 42)!!
I haven’t read any of the Elly Griffiths yet, but I have them in my TBR pile somewhere, so I shall probably have a binge and read them all together.
I have another NetGalley pre-order come through today, whilst I have been out, so I am off to take a look at that and download it now.
Have a great evening.
This does sound like a topical and exciting read! Thanks for highlighting it! Enjoy and have a great week.
Hi Lucy,
The thing is, after reading this story, am I ever going to feel comfortable chatting online ever again!!! LOL
Have a great week and thanks for stopping by.
This sounds like a good read 🙂 I’ve heard of quite a few female authors writing their novels in the car, many waiting to pick up the kids etc.
Hi Nikki,
I know what I am like just reading a book, for needing peace and quiet, so I think that if I were writing a book, then the solitary silence requirement would be much greater! I can’t even stand to read with background music or noise of any kind!
I’m not sure either, that I could just gather my thoughts together and get a story down on paper, in small, quick snatched moments. I would probably have to shut myself away until I had written to the point of a natural break in the story and sitting in the car for an hour or so just wouldn’t do it for me …. far too cold and uncomfortable!
I am already bad enough for making notes for a review as I am reading, so as an author a notebook and pen would be essential at all times, just in case that all important phrase or plot twist, came to mind.
Ah! just dreaming …. The chances of me ever writing a book myself are almost non existent.
I was only just wondering how you were, when your comment popped up. I checked out ‘Notes Of Life’ just a couple of days ago, however there were no new posts, so I’ll pop over now and see if you have added anything else.
This sounds very intriguing, a nice intro about the author.
Hi Mary Ann,
I thought it was quite interesting that interviewing authors as part of her job, had inspired Sinead to pursue her own dream of writing a novel. It must have also been quite helpful to have got some of the inside tips and ‘do’s and dont’s’ of the trade during her discussions.
Thanks for the visit and taking the time to comment. Have a great week.
Sounds good and looks like the author was inspired by her visiting parenting websites while on maternity leave. When my young ones were little, my fav online place was called iVillage.com. Geared at moms and women, they had forums, tips, coupons, recipes, quizzes …they even had a free website service and email where you set your journal up. I haven’t though of that website in years! lol I’ll have to check if it still exists.
Happy reading.
Hi Naida,
I checked as well and ivillage.com is very much alive and well. That it has survived, when many such sites around it have ‘crashed and burned’, says a lot for the content it provides, although I suspect it has been ‘sexed up’ a little since you might have last looked.
I like the more modern storyline for this book, however I’m afraid my main focus is on the suspense part of the story and I am itching to discover just who this mystery stalker is, who obviously has trouble on their mind …. Puts you right off revealing any more details about yourself online, doesn’t it?
Thanks for the contribution to the conversation, I love reading your comments.
I hope you enjoy your new book!
Hi Vicki,
I love a good suspense thriller and with such an up to date and not too overdone storyline, ‘Can Anybody Help Me?’, should keep me well entertained.
Thanks for stopping by, it is always good to catch up.
Sounds quite different.
I hope you enjoy this book.
Have a great reading week.
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
My Mailbox Monday
Hi Elizabeth,
Whilst the premise for this book is still a fairly unique one right now, I guess this genre of ‘internet fiction’ (I’m sure that someone will come up with a much better name than that) will only increase over the coming years, as the internet and social media becomes more and more a part of all our lives!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope that things are okay with you.