Roxanne Reviews

Page Count 359
Publication date July 2023
Publisher Macmillan
GoodReads link

Synopsis
**********
Blackthorn Ashes was meant to be their forever home. For the first six families moving into the exclusive new housing development, it was a chance to live a peaceful life on the cliffs overlooking the Cornish sea, safe in the knowledge that it had been created just for them.
But six weeks later, paradise is lost. Six people are dead. And Blackthorn Ashes is left abandoned and unfinished, its dark shadows hiding all manner of secrets.
One of its surviving residents, Agnes Gale, is determined to find out the truth about what happened. Even if that truth is deadlier than she could have ever believed possible . . .
**********

Review
I’m not sure where I’ve landed on the rating scale with Blackthorn. This is a very slow burn with a somewhat irritating amount of repetition within the dialogue and character behaviours, however the plot itself is a good one.

I’d very much enjoy a screen adaptation of this story, Hilary sets a vivid and believable scene with the build of an idyllic, gated community for families who appear perfect from the outside… but they never are are they?

Several tragic events befall the small group of neighbours in this unfinished paradise, some of which were dragged out far too long for their predictable revelations but Hilary balanced the scales by shocking me with a few truths nonetheless.

Main character Agnes is autistic which I personally thought was written accurately from my own experience with relatives- though I’m not well versed.
Hilary squeezes the heart with Agnes younger brother’s reaction to his sister and her behaviours, I felt Christie was perhaps the best written character of all.

Unfortunately the Gale family drama Blackthorn centres itself on gets quickly dull and repetitive. With a timeline switching to before, during and after their six weeks of life in Blackthorn, Hilary has ample opportunity to utilise cliff hangers but failed to do so in a way that enticed me to read on.
I pushed on to discover the truth behind the shocking events at Blackthorn through sheer determination but the pacing of the book almost had me walk away several times.

I probably won’t read another title by this author.

Page Count 482

Publication date May 2023

Publisher Hodder & Stoughton

GoodReads link

Synopsis

**********

When Caz steps onboard the exclusive cruise liner RMS Atlantica, it’s the start of a vacation of a lifetime with her new love, Pete. On their first night they explore the ship, eat, dance, make friends, but when Caz wakes the next morning, Pete is missing.

And when she walks out into the corridor, all the cabin doors are open. To her horror, she soon realizes that the ship is completely empty. No passengers, no crew, nobody but her. The Atlantica is steaming into the mid-Atlantic and Caz is the only person on board. But that’s just the beginning of the terrifying journey she finds herself trapped on in this white-knuckled mystery.

**********

Continue reading “Book Review; The Last Passenger- Will Dean”

Page Count 300

Publication date October 2023

Publisher Orbit

GoodReads link

Synopsis

**********

A man awakes on a boat at sea with no memory of who he is or how he came to be there. He’s not alone – there are six others. None of them can remember their names, but all bear the scars of recent surgery.

When a message appears on the onboard computer – Proceeding to Point A – the group agrees to work together to survive whatever is coming.
But as the boat moves through the mist-shrouded waters, divisions begin to form, and the group is plagued by questions. Who is directing them, why have their memories been wiped, and what are the screams they can hear beyond the mist?

**********

Continue reading “Book Review; Red River Seven- A J Ryan”

Page Count 352

Publication date February 2023

Publisher Bantam Press

GoodReads link

Synopsis

**********

It was supposed to be an easy job.

All Detective Constable Edward Reekie had to do was pick up a dying prisoner from HMP Grampian and deliver him somewhere to live out his last few months in peace.

From the outside, Glenfarach looks like a quaint, sleepy, snow-dusted village, nestled deep in the heart of Cairngorms National Park, but things aren’t what they seem. The place is thick with security cameras and there’s a strict nine o’clock curfew, because Glenfarach is the final sanctuary for people who’ve served their sentences but can’t be safely released into the general population.

Edward’s new boss, DI Montgomery-Porter, insists they head back to Aberdeen before the approaching blizzards shut everything down, but when an ex-cop-turned-gangster is discovered tortured to death in his bungalow, someone needs to take charge.

The weather’s closing in, tensions are mounting, and time’s running out – something nasty has come to Glenfarach, and Edward is standing right in its way…

**********

Continue reading “Book Review; The Dead Of Winter- Stuart Macbride”

Page Count 416

Publication date October 2022

Publisher Hot Key Books

GoodReads link

Synopsis

**********

-For sixteen years, Selestra has been trapped in her tower on the Floating Mountain, preparing to take her mother’s place as the King’s Witch, who foretells deaths in the Festival of Predictions. Outrunning your fate earns a wish and the chance to steal the King’s immortality. But die and your soul is forfeit. And though thousands have tried, nobody has ever beaten death.

A soldier in the King’s army, Nox is an unlikely candidate for the Festival, but, driven by revenge, he is determined to steal the King’s immortality and kill the entirety of his court, starting with Selestra.

Yet when Selestra touches Nox in her very first prediction, their fates become entwined, and death seeks to take both their souls. Only by working together can they survive long enough to escape the dark fate and the immortal King that now hunts them.

**********

Continue reading “Book Review; Princess Of Souls- Alexandra Christo”