books – Page 2 – An Average Life

Book Review; Insomnia- Sarah Pinborough

Not your standard thriller novel!

Page Count 336

Publication date March 2022

Publisher Harper Collins

Synopsis

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-Emma Averell loves her life—her high-powered legal career, her two beautiful children, and her wonderful stay-at-home husband—but it wasn’t always so perfect. When she was just five years old, Emma and her older sister went into foster care because of a horrific incident with their mother. Her sister can remember a time when their mother was loving and “normal,” but Emma can only remember her as one thing—a monster. And that monster emerged right around their mother’s fortieth birthday, the same age Emma is approaching now.

Emma desperately wants to keep her successful life separate from her past, so she has always hidden her childhood trauma. But then she’s unable to sleep, and now losing time during the day, also one of the first symptoms her mother showed. Is the madness in her blood, just as her mother predicted? Could she end up hurting her family in her foggy, frenetic state? Or is she truly beginning to lose her mind?
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Book Review; Our Lady Of Mysterious Ailments- T L Huchu

Can magic heal their maladies?

Page Count 368

Publication date March 2022

Publisher Pan Macmillan

GoodReads link

Synopsis

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-Ropa Moyo’s ghostalking practice has tanked, desperate for money to pay bills and look after her family she reluctantly accepts a job to look into the history of a coma patient receiving treatment at the magical private hospital Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments. The patient is a teenage schoolboy called Max Wu, and healers at the hospital are baffled by the illness which has confounded medicine and magic.

Ropa’s investigation leads her to the Edinburgh Ordinary School for Boys, one of only the four registered schools for magic in the whole of Scotland (the oldest and only one that remains closed to female students).

But the headmaster there is hiding something and as more students succumb Ropa learns that a long-dormant and malevolent entity has once again taken hold in this world.

She sets off to track the current host for this spirit and try to stop it before other lives are endangered.

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Book Review; The Night Shift- Alex Finlay

Page Count 368

Publication date March 2022

Publisher Head of Zeus

GoodReads link

Synopsis

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-It’s New Year’s Eve 1999. Y2K is expected to end in chaos: planes falling from the sky, elevators plunging to earth, world markets collapsing. A digital apocalypse. None of that happens. But at a Blockbuster Video in Linden, New Jersey, four teenage girls working the night shift are attacked. Only one survives. Police quickly identify a suspect who flees and is never seen again.

Fifteen years later, in the same town, four teenage employees working late at an ice cream store are attacked, and again only one makes it out alive.

Both surviving victims recall the killer speaking only a few final words… “Goodnight, pretty girl.”

In the aftermath, three lives intersect: the survivor of the Blockbuster massacre who’s forced to relive her tragedy; the brother of the original suspect, who’s convinced the police have it wrong; and the FBI agent, who’s determined to solve both cases. On a collision course toward the truth, all three lives will forever be changed, and not everyone will make it out alive.

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AnAverageLife’s Top 10 Titles of 2021

This year was a difficult one for reading motivation, my current average book rating is 3.9. Even so, of the 53 titles I finished over the past year I awarded five star ratings to 19 of them! I’ve painfully narrowed those down to my top 10 below;

10. Demon – Matt Wesolowski

The latest in Scott King’s Six Stories continues this series five star streak.

9. False Witness – Karin Slaughter

A fantastic standalone novel from the queen of crime fiction.

REVIEW HERE

8. The Watchers – A M Shine

I adored this scary twist on traditional Irish folklore.

REVIEW HERE

7. Dead Ground – M W Craven

After a late start to the Poe series I’m now a full fledged addict!

6. Near The Bone- Christina Henry

My ultimate fairytale reteller Christina makes it to the top 10 again!

REVIEW HERE

5. The Once & Future Witches – Alix E Harrow

A truly epic tale with a magical, diverse heart.

REVIEW HERE

4. Cunning Folk– Adam Nevill

Never found a Nevill novel I haven’t loved.

3. Mirrorland – Carole Johnstone

An intense, imaginative debut

REVIEW HERE

2. The Night Will Find Us– Matthew Lyons

1. The Last House On Needless Street- Catriona Ward

OF COURSE this was my number one of 2021, no question about it.

REVIEW HERE

Did you pick up any of my top ten last year? Do you plan to?

Let me know your thoughts or drop the links to your own reviews in the comments so I can take a look!

Roxanne

Book Review; Real Easy- Marie Rutkoski

Page Count 320

Publication date January 2020

Publisher Headline, Tinder Press

GoodReads link

Synopsis

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It’s 1999 and Samantha has danced for years at the Lovely Lady strip club. She’s not used to mixing work and friendship―after all, between her jealous boyfriend and his young daughter, she has enough on her plate. But the newest dancer is so clueless that Samantha feels compelled to help her learn the hustle and drama of the club: how to sweet-talk the boss, fit in with the other women, and make good money. One night, when the new girl needs a ride home, Samantha agrees to drive: a simple decision that turns deadly.

Georgia, another dancer drawn into the ensuing murder and missing person investigation, gathers information for Holly, a grieving detective determined to solve the case. Georgia just wants to help, but her involvement makes her a target. As Holly and Georgia round up their suspects, the story’s point of view shifts between dancers, detectives, children, club patrons―and the killer.

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10. Demon – Matt Wesolowski

9. False Witness – Karin Slaughter

8. The Watchers – A M Shine

7. Dead Ground – M W Craven

6. Near The Bone- Christina Henry

5. The Once & Future Witches – Alix E Harrow

4. Cunning Folk– Adam Nevill

3. Mirrorland – Carole Johnstone

2. The Night Will Find Us– Matthew Lyons

1. The Last House On Needless Street- Catriona Ward

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