The Repenting Serpent

Author – Wes Markin.

Wes Markin is a hyperactive English teacher, who loves writing crime fiction with a twist of the macabre.

Having finished ‘The Repenting Serpent,’ sequel to ‘One Last Prayer for the Rays,’ he is now working on the third instalment of DCI Michael Yorke’s wild ride. He is also the author of ‘Defined,’ a prequel to his DCI Yorke novels, which takes the reader back to his blood-soaked university days.

Born in 1978, Wes grew up in Manchester, UK. After graduating from Leeds University, he spent fifteen years as a teacher of English, and has taught in Thailand, Malaysia and China. Now as a teacher, writer, husband and father, he is currently living in Harrogate, UK.

Wes Markin

Social Media Links –

Twitter – twitter.com/MarkinWes
Facebook Author Page – www.facebook.com/WesMarkinAuthor
Goodreads Author Page – bit.ly/GRtoWesMarkin
Amazon Author Page – author.to/WesMarkin

Pages – 273

The Blurb –

A DCI Michael Yorke Thriller

A vicious serial killer slithers from the darkness, determined to resurrect the ways of a long-dead civilisation.

When the ex-wife of one of DCI Michael Yorke’s closest allies is left mutilated and murdered, Yorke and his team embark on their greatest test yet. A  deeply personal case that will push them to their very limits.

As Yorke’s team are pulled further into the dark, the killer circles, preparing to strike again.

The Repenting Serpent is a true edge-of-the-seat, nail-biting page turner.

Today is my stop on The Repenting Serpent blogtour.  Many thanks to Caroline Vincent for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts – I read the first book in the DCI Michael Yorke series One Last Prayer For The Rays, so I was really excited to read the second.

This book is set after the first one, and is just as gripping as the first one.  A colleague’s ex-wife is found dead in a startling manner.  As the team strive to find the killer they face their own demons.  This is such a good read and I found myself hooked.

Purchase Links –

The DCI Michael York Thrillers:
#1 One Last Prayer for the Rays – getbook.at/OneLastPrayerRays
#1 The Repenting Serpent – getbook.at/RepentingSerpent

To review The Repenting Serpent just follow these links:
Amazon: getbook.at/RepentingSerpent
GoodReads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/44788626-the-repenting-serpent/

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A Story A Day May Collection

Author – Morgen Bailey.

Morgen Bailey (Morgen with an E) is an author (of novels, short stories, writing and editing guides), freelance editor (for publishers and indie authors), writing tutor (in person and online), Writers’ Forum magazine ‘Competitive Edge’ columnist, blogger, speaker, and co-founder of Northants Authors. The former Chair of three writing groups, she has judged the H.E. Bates Short Story Competition, RONE, as well as the BBC Radio 2, BeaconLit, and Althorp Literary Festival children’s short story competitions. She also runs her own monthly 100-word competition. 2018 events include talks and workshops at Troubador’s Self Publishing Conference speakers, workshops and panels at Delapre Book Festival, interviewing and workshops at BeaconLit, and NAWG Fest with her ‘Editing your Fiction’ weekend residential course. Morgen can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and many others. Her blog is http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com, and email address morgen@morgenbailey.com.

Morgen Bailey

Social Media Links –

Author = https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/books-mine

Editor = http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/editing-and-critique

Tutor = http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/courses

Blogger = https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com

Speaker = https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/writer-for-hire/speaking-at-your-event

Twitter = http://twitter.com/morgenwriteruk

Facebook = http://facebook.com/morgenwriteruk

Pages – 233

The Blurb –

This collection was written from a variety of prompts supplied by storyaday.org and originally published on Morgen’s blog (morgenbailey.wordpress.com – where you can still read the list of prompts), during May 2011, 2012, and 2013.

In this book there are stories of revenge, overcoming obstacles, newfound and lost love, shopping, chocolate, legends of history, and the occasional alien or two.

We have crimes afoot, writer’s block, characters with and without friends, homages, humans and non-humans, scratches, squeaks and barks.

From Chelsea buns to casseroles, we share the highs and lows, but the stories all go to show what can be done with a prompt, a few hours, and a colourful imagination.

Today is my stop on the A Story A Day May Collection.  Many thanks to Sarah Hardy BOTBS for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts – This is a great collection of short stories and flash fiction.  Prompts are a great way to get the creative juices flowing.  The use of prompts to collate this book is good as you get such a wide range of subjects.

All the stories are unique and showcase the writer’s talent, as she tackles a varying array of topics.

Purchase Links – The Story A Day May Collection

Dust Devils

Author – Jonathan Janz grew up between a dark forest and a graveyard, which explains everything. Brian Keene named his debut novel The Sorrows “the best horror novel of 2012.” The Library Journal deemed his follow-up, House of Skin, “reminiscent of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and Peter Straub’s Ghost Story.” Since then Jonathan’s work has been lauded by writers like Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, Tim Waggoner, Bryan Smith, and Ronald Kelly. Novels like The Nightmare Girl, Wolf Land, Savage Species, and Dust Devils prompted Thunderstorm Books to sign Jonathan to an eleven-book deal and to give him his own imprint, Jonathan Janz’s Shadow Side. His novel Children of the Dark received a starred review in Booklist and was chosen by their board as one of the Top Ten Horror Books of the Year (August 2015-September 2016). Children of the Dark will soon be translated into German and has been championed by the Library Journal, the School Library Journal, and Cemetery Dance. In early 2017, his novel Exorcist Falls was released to critical acclaim. Jonathan’s primary interests are his wonderful wife and his three amazing children, and though he realizes that every author’s wife and children are wonderful and amazing, in this case the cliché happens to be true.

Jonathan Janz

Social Media Links –

Website – www.jonathanjanz.com

Twitter – @JonathanJanz

Publisher – @Flame Tree Press

Pages – 304

The Blurb –

It is 1885 in the wilds of New Mexico and Cody Wilson and Willet Black are bent on revenge after their loved ones are slaughtered by a group of traveling actors, but neither of them suspects what they’re really up against. For the actors are vampires. Their thirst for human blood is insatiable. The two must battle the vampires—alone—or die trying.
FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launching in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.

Today is my stop on the Dust Devils blog tour.  Many thanks to Anne Cater for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts – I really enjoy Jonathan Janz books, I have already reviewed House of Skin and The Dark Game.

This book follows Cody and Willet as they both comes to terms with losing their family thanks to a travelling theatre group.  This group is not what they appear to be as they are all vampires.  Cody and Willet risk their own lives to try and get some revenge for their loved ones.

If you love dark and gory, you will love this as the story pulls no punches with the graphic scenes of violence and cannibalism. The author successfully balances this with the character development of Cody and Willet throughout the book.

Purchase Links – Dust Devils

The Lynmouth Stories

Author – L.V. Hay.

Lucy V Hay is a script editor for film and an author of fiction and non-fiction. Publishing as LV Hay, Lucy’s debut crime novel, The Other Twin, is out now and has been featured in The Sun and Sunday Express Newspaper, plus Heatworld and Closer Magazine. Her second crime novel, Do No Harm, is an ebook bestseller. Her next title is Never Have I Ever for Hodder Books.

L. V. Hay

Social Media Links –

• www.twitter.com/LucyVHayAuthor
• www.facebook.com/LucyHayB2W
• www.instagram.com/LucyVHayAuthor

The Blurb –

The Lynmouth Stories

Beautiful places hide dark secrets … 

Devon’s very own crime writer L.V Hay (The Other Twin, Do No Harm) brings forth three new short stories from her dark mind and poison pen:

– For kidnapped Meg and her young son Danny, In Plain Sight, the remote headland above Lynmouth is not a haven, but hell.

– A summer of fun for Catherine in Killing Me Softly becomes a winter of discontent … and death.

– In Hell And High Water, a last minute holiday for Naomi and baby Tommy  becomes a survival situation … But that’s before the village floods.

All taking place out of season when the majority of tourists have gone home, L.V Hay uses her local knowledge to bring forth dark and claustrophic noir she has come to be known for.

Did You Know …?

Known as England’s ‘Little Switzerland’, the Devon village of Lynmouth is famous for its Victorian cliff railway, fish n’ chips and of course, RD Blackmore’s Lorna Doone.

Located on the doorstep of the dramatic Valley of The Rocks and the South West Cliff Path, the twin villages of Lynton and Lynmouth have inspired many writers, including 19th Century romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who honeymooned there in 1812.

PRAISE FOR LV HAY:

‘Well-written, engrossing & brilliantly unique’– Heat World

‘Prepare to be surprised by this psychological mystery’– Closer

‘Sharp, confident writing, as dark and twisty as the Brighton Lanes’– Peter James

‘Prepare to be seriously disturbed’ – Paul Finch

‘Crackles with tension’ – Karen Dionne

‘An original, fresh new voice in crime fiction’  – Cal Moriarty

‘The writing shines from every page of this twisted tale’– Ruth Dugdall

‘I couldn’t put it down’ –  Paula Daly

‘An unsettling whirlwind of a novel with a startlingly dark core’ – The Sun

‘An author with a fresh, intriguing voice and a rare mastery of the art of storytelling’ – Joel Hames

Today is my stop on the The Lynmouth Stories.  Many thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts – This a great collection of three short stories that all feature Lynmouth, and is perfect if you are looking for a quick read.  It is a great way to introduce yourself to the author’s work before starting on her novels.

The three stories are all very different and compelling and you find yourself wanting to know more about the characters.

Purchase Links – http://myBook.to/LynmouthStories

Dead Inside

Author – Noelle Holten.

Noelle Holten is an award-winning blogger at www.crimebookjunkie.co.uk. She is the PR & Social Media Manager for Bookouture, a leading digital publisher in the UK, and a regular reviewer on the Two Crime Writers and a Microphone podcast. Noelle worked as a Senior Probation Officer for eighteen years, covering a variety of cases including those involving serious domestic abuse. She has three Hons BA’s – Philosophy, Sociology (Crime & Deviance) and Community Justice – and a Masters in Criminology. Noelle’s hobbies include reading, author-stalking and sharing the booklove via her blog.
Dead Inside is her debut novel with Killer Reads/Harper Collins UK and the start of a new series featuring DC Maggie Jamieson.

Noelle is also the reason that my blog exists, I attended a talk by her over two years ago about blogging.  I was so inspired by her, that I decided to start my own book review blog, and here we are.  Two years on and I am reviewing her first novel.

Noelle Holten

Social Media Links –

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noelleholtenauthor/

Twitter: (@nholten40) https://twitter.com/nholten40

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18489795.Noelle_Holten

Blog: https://www.crimebookjunkie.co.uk

Instagram: @crimebookjunkie  

Publisher – Killer Reads

Pages – 293

The Blurb –

‘Kept me hooked … excellent pace and a very satisfying ending’ Angela Marsons

‘An excellent read’ Martina Cole

‘A brilliant debut – gritty, dark and chilling. Noelle Holten knows her stuff’ Mel Sherratt

A dark and gripping debut crime novel – the first in a stunning new series – from a huge new talent.

The killer is just getting started…

When three wife beaters are themselves found beaten to death, DC Maggie Jamieson knows she is facing her toughest case yet.

The police suspect that Probation Officer Lucy Sherwood – who is connected to all three victims – is hiding a dark secret. Then a fourth domestic abuser is brutally murdered.

And he is Lucy’s husband.

Now the police are running out of time, but can Maggie really believe her friend Lucy is a cold-blooded killer?

Today is my stop on the Dead Inside blog tour.  Many thanks to Sarah Hardy BOTBS for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts –  On reading this book, you may be surprised to realise that is it the Noelle’s first book.  The story is well structured and moves along at pace.

For this first book in the DI Maggie Jamieson series, the story revolves around Lucy Sherwood and her violent relationship with her husband.  Even if you know someone who has been in an abusive relationship, you never know what being in that situation is like.  The constant mental and physical anguish, walking on eggshells and changing your whole personality just to placate your partner.  Noelle has managed to capture the essence of this horrible mindset and get it onto paper, the fear and dread is very real.  Domestic violence is sadly part of our world and makes for difficult reading but this issue drives the story along and hopefully will enlighten some readers to the circumstances some women and men find themselves in every minute of every day.

Noelle’s extensive knowledge of the legal system is evident, the book has an authenticity to it as you read the conversations between the liaising agencies.  It was also interesting to get a small insight into Probation Officers as most crime novels focus solely on the Police teams.

Whilst Lucy is struggling with her home life, her day job is as a probation officer dealing with domestic abusers.  So she has to be professional and try and help these men who are exactly like her husband.

DI Maggie Jamieson and the team are dealing with a murder of a well known woman beater, most of the force think he got what he deserved, but when another two bodies are found they realise they are dealing with a serial killer.  The only connection between the three? Lucy Sherwood is their Probation Officer…….

An excellent debut novel and I can’t wait for the second one, Dead Wrong which you can preorder here

Purchase Links – Dead Inside

 

Game of Crones

Author – Jay Raven.

Jay Raven is the author of Gothic chillers and historical horror reminding readers that the past is a dangerous place to venture, full of monsters and murderous men. He blames his fascination with vampires, witches and werewolves on the Hammer Horror films he watched as a teenager, but living in a creepy old house on the edge of a 500-acre wood may have something to do with it.

If you would like to be informed of new releases, enjoy free short stories and access exclusive giveaways and competitions, please subscribe to Jay’s monthly newsletter on his website at www.jayraven.co.uk

Jay Raven

Social Media Links –

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/fantasywriterjayraven/

Twitter: @JayRavenAuthor

Website: www.jayraven.com

Pages – 117

The Blurb –

Game of Crones: Tales of Witchcraft and Wickedness

Welcome to a world of cruelty, hexes and treachery, where malicious magic rules and you are but a single necromancer’s spell away from eternal terror.

From malevolent medieval magicians  to Wild West witches, this spellbinding volume by a master of the macabre is packed with frightening fables guaranteed to send a supernatural chill down your spine.

Amongst the haunting historical horror stories, you’ll meet:

• A half-crazed girl locked up in a high security mental hospital by those accusing her of causing a devastating earthquake.
• An impoverished French noblewoman who’ll stop at nothing to marry her daughter to a wealthy prince – even if it means dabbling with a dangerous love potion.
• The hated public executioner Pandora whose fabled box has already killed 55 men – without leaving a trace of violence on their bodies.
• Wily witch Merta who uses all her wits and trickery to turn the tables on the corrupt Mayor who wants her burnt alive at the stake.
• A faery mage without conscience or pity with the perfect plan to make Mankind turn on itself – and all it takes is one innocent baby.
• A drought-stricken frontier town that seeks magical help from the local Indian tribe to make it rain, but learns it comes at a terrible cost.
• The doubt-ridden King, plagued by nightmares of his death, who consults an enchantress to learn the most of hidden of secrets: just when the Grim Reaper will claim him.
• A Mid Western widow who is convinced her homesteading husband is still alive, held hostage by a sorceress.

If you’re thrilled by exciting dark fantasy tales, with cunning twists, edge-of -the seat tension and unexpected shivers, you’ll love Game of Crones. Pick it up today. If you dare…

Today is my stop on Game of Crones blog tour.  Many thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts – This is a great collection of short stories, which you know by now I love.  Firstly the title, I love a good pun and this one is clever.

All the stories contain, as the title suggests, witches or some form of magic within them.  There are eight tales in total and although they all have a common thread, they are all very different in tone.  I enjoyed them all but my favourite was Suggestion of Evil, which I thought was very captivating.  In this story Pandora, has all but wiped out crime from every town she visits, simply by the method she uses to execute prisoners.  What is her secret?

Purchase Links –

https://www.amazon.com/Game-Crones-Tales-Witchcraft-Wickedness-ebook/dp/B07QKMJV5N

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Game-Crones-Tales-Witchcraft-Wickedness-ebook/dp/B07QKMJV5N

The Friend Who Lied

Author – Rachel Amphlett.

Before turning to writing, USA Today bestselling author Rachel Amphlett played guitar in bands, worked as a TV and film extra, dabbled in radio as a presenter and freelance producer for the BBC, and worked in publishing as a sub-editor and editorial assistant.

She now wields a pen instead of a plectrum and writes crime fiction and spy novels, including the Dan Taylor and English Spy Mysteries espionage novels and the Detective Kay Hunter British police procedural series.

She’s a member of International Thriller Writers and the Crime Writers Association, with the Italian foreign rights for her debut novel, White Gold sold to Fanucci Editore’s TIME Crime imprint, and the first four books in the Dan Taylor espionage series contracted to Germany’s Luzifer Verlag.

Praise for Rachel Amphlett

“Thrilling start to a new series. Scared to Death is a stylish, smart and gripping crime thriller” ~ Robert Bryndza, USA Today bestselling author of The Girl in the Ice

“Scared to Death… moves along at breakneck speed with twists and turns” ~ Angela Marsons, bestselling author of the Detective Kim Stone crime thriller series.

Rachel Amphlett

Social Media Links –

Email: info@rachelamphlett.com

www.rachelamphlett.com

Twitter: @RachelAmphlett

Instagram: @RachelAmphlett

Facebook: Rachel Amphlett

Pages – 362

The Blurb –

What she doesn’t know might kill her…

Lisa Ashton receives a last-minute reprieve from death two weeks before her birthday. Regaining consciousness, she is horrified to learn one of her friends has been killed – and saved her life.

As she recovers, she uncovers a trail of carefully guarded reputations, disturbing rumours, and lies. Soon, Lisa begins to wonder if one of her friends is hiding a terrible secret.

Because five of them entered the escape room that day, and only four got out alive.

And someone is determined to cover their tracks before she can find out the truth.

Can Lisa find the killer before someone else dies?

The Friend Who Lied: a twisted psychological thriller from USA Today bestseller Rachel Amphlett – perfect for fans of The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley and Friend Request by Laura Marshall.

Today is my stop on the The Friend Who Lied blog tour.  Many thanks to Sarah Hardy BOTBS Publicity for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts – This story follows Lisa as she wakes up in hospital, having just had major life saving surgery.  What she doesn’t know yet is that she has benefited from her friends death.

Nearing the end of her life and unable to get a transplant Lisa and her close friends decide to have one more last night out, in a panic room.  The five of them enter but only four make it out alive.

As Lisa recovers, she tries to find the answers to his death but in doing so she finds out that her friends aren’t what she thought they were.

The book is written from each friends point of view, all with their own secrets to hide and reasons to want their friend dead.  With each narrative the suspense grows to a satisfying conclusion.

Purchase Links –

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/en/ebook/the-friend-who-lied

Apple Books

https://books.apple.com/book/the-friend-who-lied/id1461832054

Google Play

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Rachel_Amphlett_The_Friend_Who_Lied?id=59OVDwAAQBAJ