OH How he thrills me!

Say You’re Sorry – Michael Robotham

Hachette – Available August 2012

Yet another amazing and unputdownable (yes it’s a word!) thrilling mystery from Michael. Once started it kept me up well past my bed time and was the first thing I reached for come morning!

Joe O’Loughlin is back and better than ever as he navigates the depths of a cold case for two missing girls, The Bingham Girls, presumed runaway troubled teens until one turns up in the oddest of places. Joe’s ability to untangle the truth by seeing the full spectrum of human emotion and what drives criminals to acts of brutality and deprivation are what stands this character out from the crowd and its these powers of human detection that lead him to the twisted culprit but be warned – he’ll keep you guessing to the very end and even then will Joe figure it out in time to save the day??

So so so Good….what more can I say?



NOTE: Not AUS cover art.



Can you outrun a Plague?...

The Masque of the Red Death – Bethany Griffin

Hachette – Available August 2012

This somewhat different tale is based on the story of the same name by Edgar Alan Poe and it feels just as sinister…

The year is 1870 and the world has been decimated by plague – the lucky few who can afford the manufactured porcelain masks which are the only known prevention to the deadly contagion are frivolously wasting their time and money trying to ignore the bodies piling up around them.

Our protagonist Araby is daughter to the famous inventor of the masks and living with her own demons and guilt from a long past tragedy while trying to find oblivion in all the wrong places resulting in drug and alcohol abuse – partying to dull the pain.

This is a girl that clearly needs saving, enter the vital love triangle with the dark and mysterious Will who tries to see past the insipid party girl and the would be revolutionary Elliott who is running from demons of his own  but which boy can she trust and who will she turn to as the city burns?

Let me take you back....

A Half Forgotten Song – Katherine Webb

Hachette – Available August 2012

A truly mesmerising read where the characters, times and places leap off the page and into your mind to hold on with a tenacious grip!

Via Katherine’s marvellous writing I swear I could smell the salt laden and chilly Dorset winds and feel the baking heat of the Moroccan desert. Rich in interesting characters and what a tale – love, betrayal, jealousy and pain with twists I never saw coming woven from the past only to creep into the present  as all good secrets have want to do…

I craved to know Mitzy’s terrible secrets just as much as I wished I could leave them be – I defy you to not feel the same!

A Must Read!

Unsaid – Neil Abramson

Hachette – Available JULY 2012

Sometimes great books have a way of finding us just when we need them most, Unsaid was, for me one of those books.

It came to me at exactly the right time to help me through a painful and sad period and gave me small comfort in a way nothing else could.

Neil’s writing is honest, humorous and heartbreakingly beautiful – I often found myself pausing during reading to mentally bask in the pictures he painted or let the information I had just learned sink in as I turned it over in my mind or on occasion, read the passage to aloud to my partner or Mum, so important was the message it had to be shared.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this book is important to me, almost a reflection of myself and the values I hold dear. I'm not going to provide the usual synopsis, I feel its best to come to it fresh with no preconceptions, I think Neil explains it very well with a quote from the main character Helena “it is so much more than the sum of its parts”.

I hope it can provide you even an ounce of the warmth it gave me.

Missing: Mother, Menace and Architectural Genius...

Where’d you go Bernadette? – Maria Semple

Hachette – Available July 2012

I'm not going to spoil it by telling you where she went – so don’t even ask!

Set in Seattle we get a private look into the Branch family: Techno wonder-mind Elgin Branch, Architectural genius and unknowingly lost Bernadette Fox and their brilliant (of course) yet blind sighted daughter Bee Branch.

This story has humour, honesty, technological advances, malicious blackberry bushes, Russian Mafia, drama, adultery and plenty of Penguins….intrigued? GOOD!

I have no idea how to describe this book (especially without giving away all the surprises) except to say – read it, it will all make sense in the end and you’ll be happy you tried it (similar, coincidentally to a Tapas party I went to recently..)

Keep an open mind and great things will happen!

I see Demons

The Boy Who could See Demons – Carolyn Jess-Cooke

Hachette – Available May 2012

A startling look into the curious workings of the human psyche and the darkest places it can take us, perfect for fans of ‘The Six Sense’.

I loved the characters that create the duel dialogue of this novel, first and foremost is 10 year old Alex, the star of the story who is wonderfully warm, funny and so caring of his severely depressed mother Cindy…he also happens to be best friends with a Demon – Ruen.

The other half of this tale features Anya, Alex’s psychiatrist who’s interest moves beyond professional when Alex’s case becomes a stark reminder of her own troubled daughter Poppy’s who died 4 years previous.

As Ruen makes his presence known Anya finds herself questioning her diagnosis and her belief in the reality of personal ‘demons’ and their role in the suffering and temptation of our race. Which poses an interesting question…can the baser level urges of suffering humans – such as depression, greed, self-hatred and harming really be fuelled by lecherous nether realm demons?? That I will let you read and decide – its well worth discovering!