Candice Fox – Steph's Book Blog

September 10, 2020September 9, 2020

Gathering Dark by Candice Fox – Review.

About The Book

The gripping new thriller from the No. 1 bestselling author.

Blair Harbour’s life as Hollywood’s top paediatric surgeon was perfect, until the night she was jailed for a murder she says she didn’t commit.

With ten years of freedom lost, her medical licence cancelled and her son being raised by foster parents, she’s ready to start again from scratch.

But when a former cellmate begs for help finding her missing daughter, Blair must risk it all to save a young life. Her only allies are a thief, a ganglord and the cop who put her away.

To do the right thing, Blair must mix with all the wrong people.

Will it put her new-found freedom on the line

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. I have read a couple of books by Candice Fox before, Hades and Crimson Lake both of which were book one in a series. To my regret I have fallen behind with reading the others but after reading this book, which I suspect could be another series, I know I need to catch up.

Unlike both of of those books this is set in LA and not in Australia. But there are similarities. There are some thoroughly unlikeable characters, mainly members of the police force and also some scenes that feature very dry humour. Especially when they featured Blair and Sneak.

One of the reasons I enjoy reading books by Candice Fox so much is because you really get to know the characters. You see how their lives fell apart. Blair because she tried to help somebody, Sneak, an injury and Jessica for doing her job. Even the terrifying Ada is given an excuse even though it isn’t proven. And you see some slightly strange methods of coping with their lives from both Blair and Jessica.

You wouldn’t expect an ex convict to be willing to talk to the police officer who put her in jail for murder and force her to be apart from her young son. And then for the police officer to become a friend of the son. But it happens, and it works quite well. It isn’t the easiest relationship between Blair and Jessica but the friendship between Jessica and Jamie is lovely to read.

October 27, 2017October 25, 2017

Hades by Candice Fox – Review.

About the Book

THE KILLER IS IN SIGHT, BUT WHO IS BEHIND YOU?

Homicide detective Frank Bennett feels like the luckiest man on the force when he meets his new partner, the dark and beautiful Eden Archer. But there’s something strange about Eden and her brother, Eric. Something he can’t quite put his finger on.

At first, as they race to catch a very different kind of serial killer, his partner’s sharp instincts come in handy. But soon Frank’s wondering if she’s as dangerous as the man they hunt.

My Review

I’ve read a few Australian novels this year and every one I have read is a demonstration of how different they are to everything else that I read. The only word I can think of to describe the difference is refreshing.
When Frank meets his new partner Eden he is fascinated by her. Beautiful,enigmatic and at times unfriendly with Frank. She has a brother Eric who can only be described as a brute. He is also obsessed with Eden and watches everything Frank does. Which is even more unsettling due to Eric being in the same police team.
Franks’s first job in his new team is investigating a series of murders where all the victims are missing vital organs. Some of these victims are very young and they need answers quickly.
The investigation is broken up across the entire book by flashbacks to Eden’s childhood which explains how her and Eric became police officers and what they are capable of.
Out of all the characters in the novel the only one I really warmed to was Hades. Which was strange because he was a criminal. A dangerous man who also had a heart and tried to do the right thing for the children. But I think these are characters that the reader is meant to dislike. Frank was a wife abuser, and he had problems with alcohol and drugs. Eden is cold and unapproachable, I feel that more will be revealed about her in later novels. Eric was a monster, I can’t think of anything nice to say about him.
At times I wasn’t sure what to believe. I don’t know if a police force would permit siblings to work together or if Frank would have been allowed to keep his job but it didn’t really matter. One of the parts of the novel that I have thought about often since finishing it, is a comment from Frank about how members of the police cope. And how coping mechanism starts to fail when they are no longer in the force. I enjoyed reading the novel and seeing the characters develop.
Candice Fox is an author that I am determined to keep up with and I am pleased that there are a few books available for me to read.
With thanks to the publisher for the copy received.

May 4, 2017May 4, 2017

Crimson Lake by Candice Fox – Blog Tour Review.

About the Book

12.46: 13-year-old Claire Bingley stands alone at a bus stop

12.47: Ted Conkaffey parks his car beside her

12.52: The girl is missing . . .Six minutes – that’s all it took to ruin Detective Ted Conkaffey’s life.

Accused but not convicted of Claire’s abduction, he escapes north, to the steamy, croc-infested wetlands of Crimson Lake.

Amanda Pharrell knows what it’s like to be public enemy no.1. Maybe it’s her murderous past that makes her so good as a private investigator, tracking lost souls in the wilderness. Her latest target, missing author Jake Scully, has a life more shrouded in secrets than her own – so she enlists help from the one person in town more hated than she is: Ted Conkaffey.

But the residents of Crimson Lake are watching the pair’s every move. And for Ted, a man already at breaking point, this town is offering no place to hide . . .

My Review

I had a feeling that Crimson Lake was going to be a bit different when Ted, the lead character helped an injured goose and named it Woman. It amused me that every time he approached her she got aggressive. As the story progressed his care of her and her babies was respite from some of the pretty grim moments that Ted had to endure.
After the trial that ended his marriage and career fell apart from lack of evidence he moves north to a remote area in Cairns. When his lawyer puts him in touch with Amanda Pharrell he is given something to focus on.
If it hadn’t been clear from the beginning that Ted was innocent I probably wouldn’t have given this book a second glance. But I’m glad that I did read it, the book is very good and its original. The Australian humour had me giggling a few times. Mainly at his attempts to understand Amanda and his attempts to tame Woman.
Amanda is damaged, you don’t find out what happened to her until the end and it explained a lot about why she had built her defensive mechanism. Her character was amazing, she was easier to warm to then Ted at first.
The scenes with Ted at the mercy of the baying mob, headed up by the two bullying police officers was at times uncomfortable to read. It was a stark example of how media feed a frenzied crowd. The whole novel is more raw than the usual British and American fiction that I usually read, but that was part of its appeal. I hope that it will be a new series, it has great potential.
With thanks to the publisher for the copy received via NetGalley.

You can buy the book here