Yvonne
I have three lovely new books to be added to my shelf this week.
I am still trying to be good and schedule all the books I receive, so as not to increase my toppling TBR pile, and so far it is working, although it’s quite a close call!
My first two books I manged to grab as part of a ‘Read Now’ offer from the lovely folks at NetGalley
ALTER EGO by K.A. MASSON
Pounding on the door. My seven-year-old son shaking me awake. My head fuzzy with sleeping pills. The hallway flashing with blue light.
This morning my life will change forever.
Alex Kendrew is juggling single parenthood, work and dating; with a wild, impetuous streak that’s hard to keep in check, she struggles to find a balance and feels perpetually guilty for the choices she makes.
In K.A. Masson’s domestic noir thriller, Alex begins a passionate affair when an old flame gets in touch.
But one morning, the police arrest her for his attempted murder.
Someone is framing her; can she prove her innocence as the evidence mounts against her?
THE FINAL ROUND by BERNARD O’KEEFFE
Introducing Detective DI Garibaldi, a country-music loving, self-educated detective, and the only cop in the Metropolitan Police who can’t drive a car.
On the morning after Boat Race Day, a man’s body is found in a nature reserve beside the Thames. He has been viciously stabbed, his tongue cut out, and an Oxford college scarf stuffed in his mouth.
The body is identified as that of Nick Bellamy, last seen at the charity quiz organised by his Oxford contemporary, the popular newsreader Melissa Matthews.
Enter DI Garibaldi, whose first task is to look into Bellamy’s contemporaries from Balfour College.
In particular, the surprise ‘final round’ of questions at this year’s charity quiz in which guests were invited to guess whether allegations about Melissa Matthews and her Oxford friends are true. These allegations range from plagiarism and shoplifting to sextortion and murder…
A complimentary copy of this book, for review, arrived thanks to the lovely Noelle, representing Bookouture, via the excellent team at NetGalley. My review is scheduled for January 11th 2021, as part of the Blog Tour.
THE PATRIOT (Jake Parker #2)
by NICK THACKER
It’s the last thing Jake Parker expects to hear from an old friend from his military days at West Point, Lt Colonel Douglas McDonnell. Officially, Jake’s wife Mel was an unlucky bystander during a sudden terrorist attack, but Jake has always felt there was a missing piece of the puzzle. When McDonnell tells him that his team has been tracking the group responsible, it’s Jake’s opportunity to finally lay Mel’s ghost to rest.
McDonnell believes that the terrorist cell is linked to one of the big pharma companies operating out of Puerto Rico, and he needs Jake’s skills on his team for one specific task: find the link and take them down. But as soon as Jake arrives, the plan begins to crumble. Focused on targeting the group members one at a time, the team on the ground won’t listen to Jake’s insistence that they look at the bigger picture.
When Jake meets bio-chemist Veronique, they hit it off. But when she confesses her fears that her employer is manufacturing a drug for the US market with deadly side effects, Jake realises that the terrorists have raised the stakes, and more innocent lives are at risk if he doesn’t act fast. Then Veronique is kidnapped. Unable to trust anyone around him, Jake is pushed as never before to find Vero while taking down the evil organisation before they strike at the US population…
‘Mailbox Monday’ is a gathering place for readers to share links to the books that came into their house during the last week.
This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well, after all you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!
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I’m not sure the final book really appeals to me (more of a movie plot, maybe?) and I’m afraid the first one might frustrate me somewhat (I hate when someone is being framed!!)…. so that leaves the one in the middle, which actually sounds quite good! Garibaldi could be an interesting character! (is Garibaldi a man or a woman??)
Hi Kelly,
I seem to recall having a similar conversation about Nick Thacker’s books being suitable for adaptation as a film or TV film, when I reviewed ‘Containment’, the first book in the Jake Parker series, a few weeks ago. I have actually begun reading this one already, as my Blog Tour Review is in January 2021. Whilst I still do think the stories would make great film scripts, the book is working good for me so far!
I had to scroll 10% into my kindle version of ‘The Final Round’, before there was even a mention of DI Garibaldi! I can confirm it is definitely a male detective, although the jury is going to be out until I have read this one, after quickly scanning those first pages as I flicked through!
Sorry nothing really grabbed your attention this time, but I’m sure you have plenty of books lined up to keep you going, without needing to add any more.. 🙂 🙂
The synopsis of Alter Ego has me interested in finding out more. I hope you enjoy it and your other new books, Yvonne!
Hi Mary,
Book allocations and reviews seem to be going in batches at the moment. One minute it is all WWII stories and now there seems to be a whole load of crime / thrillers on the horizon.
I do enjoy an eclectic mix of genres though, so I can live with whatever comes my way and there are some excellent books and authors coming through.
I also quite like the sound of ‘Alter Ego’, so long as the person who is being framed manages to prove their innocence in the end and the real perpetrator is apprehended, I need this one to have a happy ending!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope that all is well with you and yours 🙂
Of these three books it is probably only The Final Round that really appeals.
A bit concerned that if the synopsis is anything to go by Alter Ego may feature too much of the protagonist’s personal life. As for The Patriot. Hmm! It sounds too much like many other books I have read though that be said the author may, of course, take things in a unexpected direction.
Hi Felicity,
Kelly asked me a question earlier about ‘The Final Round’ and I had to admit that I needed to scroll 10% into the book, before the detective even featured and from the style and tone of the narrative and dialogue as I browsed, I came away feeling a little uncertain about the storyline. Still, you just can’t tell until you actually hunker down and concentrate on reading a book, so I shouldn’t let that influence you any. I also kept visualising a garibaldi biscuit every time I read his name, which was making me smile 🙂
I have started reading ‘The Patriot’ as part of the Blog Tour Review and yes! I guess the storyline is a little prescriptive, however I read the first book in the series a short while ago and I really like the character of Jake Parker, so this is a series I shall continue to invest in for now. I can really see it working well as either a made for television series, or maybe a one off feature film, but how long it will be before either industry is back on its post Covid feet, is anyone’s guess!
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and I hope that you are both safe and well 🙂
Alter Ego looks good to me! Thanks for sharing, and here are my WEEKLY UPDATES
Hi Lorraine,
The problem for me is, that with the exception of fantasy and science fiction, I will read just about anything there is offered, so these all sound good to me!
The only trouble then, is that I find it really difficult to refuse any Blog Tour / Review opportunities which come along, which is all good, but can turn into a full time job!
Thanks for taking the time to check out the post and leave a comment.
I hope that all is well with you 🙂
Oh- they all sound good and are tempting!
Enjoy your reading!
Hi Martha,
That’s my problem! There are so many books which sound tempting, I just can’t say “no”, despite my best efforts. I am trying to only accept those books for which I can allocate a definite review date, but even that pile is now growing out of control! I really just need to read and keep the computer turned off during the day, so that I don’t see all these offers keep flashing up in front of me.
It’s still a nice problem to have though 🙂
Yes, nice problem. But I have more books on my Kindle shelf than I can read in the rest of my life. I have to limit visits to NetGalley to help control what I add to my stacks. 🙂
Yes! I definitely have more physical books on my shelves than I could ever hope to read in my lifetime, let alone all the e-books, although I work on the basis that I needn’t worry about what I can’t see 🙂
I always pass a book on when I have read it, so those which are left are all still ‘new to me’. Every so often I will pass on an extra bag of as yet unread books, but you have no idea how difficult that is to do – it’s like being tortured to see them disappear out the door!
Happy Reading ! 🙂
All three books seem to be rather dark. I hope you will enjoy all of them. 🙂
Hi Anca,
Yes! They are all pretty intense sounding, aren’t they? However, it is honestly pure coincidence, that’s just the way the review requests arrived this time. I would probably rather have mixed up the genres a bit more, but I can always cope with reading a good thriller – or three! 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and I hope that all is well with you 🙂
Looks like you got some good ones this week
I certainly did, Serena and Mailbox Monday is a great place to share all my new books, and maybe pick up one or two more new recommendations at the same time!
Thanks for hosting this week 🙂
It is difficult to not add more books, but I do try to watch.
They both look good.
Hope you have had a good week. I’m late this week with visiting.
Hi Elizabeth,
The weeks just seem to fly by so quickly, don’t they?
In fact, this whole year has flown by, despite the many lockdowns and the fact that we have hardly ventured out of the house – And Dave and I are still speaking to one another, which is amazing! 🙂
I am trying desperately hard to ignore all the freebie books around and only select those which I really want to review and can schedule dates for. That’s all well and good, but now my diary is booked out right until mid April!!
Thanks for stopping by and have a safe and peaceful weekend 🙂