Tag: Point Blank Books

Posted on

Wolf Pack by Will Dean – Blog Tour Review.

About The Book

When there’s a pack on the hunt, nobody’s safe

A closed community

Rose Farm is home to a group of survivalists, completely cut off from the outside world. Until now.

A missing person

A young woman goes missing within the perimeter of the farm compound. Can Tuva talk her way inside the tight-knit group to find her story?

A frantic search

As Tuva attempts to unmask the culprit, she gains unique access to the residents. But soon she finds herself in danger of the pack turning against her – will she make her way back to safety so she can expose the truth?

Will Dean’s most heart-pounding Tuva Moodyson thriller yet takes Tuva to her absolute limits in exposing a heinous crime, and in her own personal life. Can she, and will she, do the right thing?

About The Book

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. I have read a couple of books from this series but unfortunately not the book that preceded this one. It didn’t impact on my enjoyment of this novel, just made me regretful for what I missed. What I know is that Tuva feels a lot of guilt and pain and struggles with loneliness and all of this just increased my respect and liking for her. 

She is a journalist who works well with the local police force, they have a lot of respect for each other and this becomes increasingly evident as Tuva becomes the only person the small group of people who live in the Rose Farm compound, are willing to talk to. What also becomes more evident is her bravery, because nothing would have made me want to communicate with anybody in this group.

This is such a fascinating series. The almost sinister crimes that take place where anybody or all could be responsible. The danger that Tuva faces in her attempts to get answers, despite being in even more danger because of her deafness. The huge amount of snow that I can’t even begin to imagine. The descriptions of ‘Toytown’ as Tuva calls it, and it’s inhabitants. Some quirky, some odd, most loyal. But in particular, I enjoy this series because of Tuva herself. I love her resilience, loyalty and friendships, in particular with Tam and the young neighbour Dan.

I need to make a determined effort to catch up with this series,I’m sure this will make me appreciate it even more. 

Posted on

Black River by Will Dean – Blog Tour Review.

About The Book

Black River is an electrifying return for relentless reporter Tuva Moodyson, from the author of DarkPinesand RedSnow.

FEAR 

Tuva’s been living clean in southern Sweden for four months when she receives horrifying news. Her best friend Tammy Yamnim is missing.

SECRETS

Racing back to Gavrik at the height of Midsommar, Tuva fears for Tammy’s life. Who has taken her, and why? And who is sabotaging the small-town search efforts?

LIES

Surrounded by dark pine forest, the sinister residents of Snake River are suspicious of outsiders. Unfortunately, they also hold all the answers. On the shortest night of the year, Tuva must fight to save her friend. The only question is who will be there to save Tuva?

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. Black River is book three in the series, if you are a reader who appreciates getting to know recurring characters I do recommend you read these books in order. Many are a little bizarre! 

Tuva has returned to Gavrik to try and help find her closest friend Tammy. She doesn’t want to be there, has settled into her new life in Malmo and anybody who has read these novels would admit that Gavrik is a little strange. But Tammy is all she has and she is determined to help. However,  she doesn’t have the support of everybody  and is upset that there is more interest in the disappearance of another local woman, one who is Swedish.

Gavrik with it’s inhabitants isn’t somewhere I would like to visit, Tuva does mention a few times that the best thing to do is avoid it. Especially during Midsommer where alcohol and the customs associated with the festival takeover the community. I had to look on YouTube at this festival because the description intrigued me so much. Think May Day with a slightly spooky feel to it. And combined with some extremely creepy locals it isn’t something I would like to attend.

This isn’t a novel where I could work out what had happened to Tammy or who was responsible. It is a novel where I was I intrigued by the intensity, the suspicion and the unfriendliness of the town, and forest. And of course, the mosquitoes and the snakes.

A great addition to the series,I’m interested to see what will happen next. 

Posted on

When The Dead Come Calling by Helen Sedgwick – Blog Tour Review.

About The Book

In the first of the Burrowhead Mysteries, an atmospheric murder investigation unearths the brutal history of a village where no one is innocent. When psychotherapist Alexis Cosse is found murdered in the playground of the sleepy northern village of Burrowhead, the local police force of Georgie, Trish and Simon investigate. Leads take them from Alexiss recent clients to local bullies, exposing a maelstrom of racism, misogyny, abuse and homophobia that has been simmering beneath the surface of the village. Shaken by the revelations and beginning to doubt her relationship with her husband Fred, Georgie starts to realise something bad is lurking under the soil in Burrowhead, while someone (or something) equally threatening is hiding in the strange and haunted cave beneath the cliffs.

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. I hadn’t read the authors previous books so had no idea what to expect. Almost straight away I was impressed by the description of the local area. The old superstitions, the poverty, unemployment. A town that still had a police station because it had been forgotten about. This town almost had a character of its own, it is that well described. I spent a lot of time when reading it trying to work out where it could be. I failed at placing it, but I imagine there are many communities like Burrowhead in the UK. 

The police team are the main characters. I feel that I will get to appreciate them more as I get to know them. I did discover quite a lot about Georgie, the senior officer, but the one I liked most was Trish. I liked her devotion to Uncle Walt and her willingness to help Andy. A tough childhood but she didn’t let it beat her. 

For me, the investigation wasn’t the main focus in the novel. Instead it was the different characters, their lives and how they dealt with living in a community that wasn’t always welcoming and the legends and superstitions that became increasingly fascinating.

An intriguing read by an author who I will read again. 

Posted on

My Top Ten Books of 2019

The time has come again to face an impossible task of narrowing the 117 books I have read into a top ten list. As always it was difficult to do but I have managed and I will list them in no particular order. Apart from my favourite book of the year which I will reveal at the end. You can see my review for each book by clicking on the title.

Expectation by Anna Hope.

If Only I Could Tell You by Hannah Beckerman.

The Photographer Of The Lost by Caroline Scott

Changeling by Matt Wesolowski

Red Snow by Will Dean

From The City, From The Plough by Alexander Baron

On My Life by Angela Clarke

The Taking Of Annie Thorne by C. J. Tudor

The Girl At The Window by Rowan Coleman

My Book of 2019

Turbulent Wake by Paul. E Hardisty

Posted on

Red Snow by Will Dean – Blog Tour Review.

About The Book

TWO BODIES

One suicide. One cold-blooded murder. Are they connected? And who’s really pulling the strings in the small Swedish town of Gavrik?

TWO COINS

Black Grimberg liquorice coins cover the murdered man’s eyes. The hashtag #Ferryman starts to trend as local people stock up on ammunition.

TWO WEEKS

Tuva Moodyson, deaf reporter at the local paper, has a fortnight to investigate the deaths before she starts her new job in the south. A blizzard moves in. Residents, already terrified, feel increasingly cut-off. Tuva must go deep inside the Grimberg factory to stop the killer before she leaves town for good. But who’s to say the Ferryman will let her go?

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. My plan to read Dark Pines before reading this sequel didn’t work out but I had no problems reading this as a standalone. There are references to a previous case but no spoilers and I had no problem with not knowing any characters. I also avoided reading the synopsis. All I knew about the series was what I had seen on social media and what I learned from attending an event that featured the author last year.

I have to mention the climate. Temperatures as low as -22 are not something I can imagine. The impact that the weather conditions and the short days had on people’s lives. That people and animals can freeze to death. It gave me plenty to think about when I was outside shivering at zero degrees.

The characters, especially Tuva, all stand out as being original. Tuva is one who has made her way on to my favourite heroine list. She is funny, warm, rum loving and full of guilt over what she never said to her mother when she had the chance. I enjoyed reading about her deafness, the downside to her hearing aids, her frustration at other peoples obsession with them and her ability to lip read was a technique she used to her advantage. She isn’t the only character I liked. There was also the Grimberg family, especially Cici, and the wood cutting sisters.

Unusually for me, I didn’t try and solve the murder as I read. I just concentrated on the characters, the weather and the humour. I have never seen characters so visually described before. Pissy Knickers, Cheekbones and Facelift are just a handful of them.

I will be reading Dark Pines soon but I really hope that there will be book three.