Force Of Nature - Jane Harper BLOG TOUR

Synopsis:

Five women go on a hike. Only four return. Jane Harper, the New York Times bestselling author of The Dry, asks: How well do you really know the people you work with?

When five colleagues are forced to go on a corporate retreat in the wilderness, they reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking down the muddy path.

But one of the women doesn’t come out of the woods. Five women go on a hike. Only four return. Jane Harper, the New York Times bestselling author of The Dry, asks: How well do you really know the people you work with?

When five colleagues are forced to go on a corporate retreat in the wilderness, they reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking down the muddy path.

But one of the women doesn’t come out of the woods. And each of her companions tells a slightly different story about what happened.

Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk has a keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing hiker. In an investigation that takes him deep into isolated forest, Falk discovers secrets lurking in the mountains, and a tangled web of personal and professional friendship, suspicion, and betrayal among the hikers. But did that lead to murder?

Review:

Following The Dry, Jane has picked yet another superb setting for The Force Of Nature, Giralang Ranges, and it comes with it's own history, that of Martin Kovac, a serial killer that still haunts the area, continuing to haunt everyone's memories and nightmares.

Five women are on a corporate team building hike run by Executive Adventures, only four make it to the end. Federal Agent Aaron Falk of the Melbourne Financial Investigations Unit returns, this time with colleague, Carmen Cooper. They have been looking into financial corruption and money laundering at Bailey Tennants, the company of which the 5 women work for, and no one knows that Alice Russell is in the process of accessing and handing over crucial documents over to Falk and Cooper. 

When Aaron receives a voicemail from Alice from which he makes out the words 'hurt her' and as Alice is the one team member to not make it to the end of the trail with her team, Aaron feels guilty, suspecting the worst thinking that they endangered her life. The couple come across so human and real because Falk and Cooper are constantly concerned about what happened to Alice but their bosses are only persistent in demanding to get a hold of the documents she was going to hand over no matter what.

It's safe to say I've missed Aaron Falk since our first trip in Australia during the draught of his home town, so it was a lovely reunion even if not exactly on the best of terms. Its lovely to see Aaron as part of a pairing once again. Carmen seems like just the perfect match for him in a professional matter when it comes to with ways of thinking etc..Carmen also proves to be instrumental in Aaron coming to terms with the guilt he holds when it comes to the death of his father, a man well acquainted with the Girlang Ranges.

The story follows the search for Alice and the parallel narrative that tells us what happened amongst the group of lost women as they struggle in the dense bush land, cold, wet, hungry, thirsty and desperate to survive.

Jill Bailey is the head of her team during the hike due to her executive position in the company, this is as hard as always because throughout Alice is constantly hacks away at her authority in her efforts to return to Melbourne to be with her daughter, Margot. It's clear quite quickly that Alice is not nice, holding tightly to her mean and nasty streak that just gives rise to a host of suspects with a motive to do away with her on the hike. 

Alice has a dark history with Lauren Shaw that goes back to their schooldays. Lauren is a vulnerable woman, unable to cope at work as her daughter, Rebecca, whom we find out had descended into the deep depths of misery with mental health issues after an incident at school. Beth is on probation after leaving prison having battled drug addiction and in the process of trying to mend her battered relationship with her twin, Breanna. As the women's situation deteriorates, the rifts, rivalries, conflicts, resentments and jealousies surface, destined to lead to violence. Aaron slowly begins to piece together the mystery of the missing Alice.

Jane Harper once again gives us a strong image of the location in the Girlang Ranges with her beautiful and detailed descriptions of the landscape and the dangers within it, with the howling winds and driving rain. Jane' psychological insights make her complex characters and their development authentic to the reader. Her writing is so vibrant that I felt I was right there with the lost women as they stumbled their way through the bush, hunger and fear contributing to their downward spiral as they turn on each other and Alice. The strongest recurring theme is the issue of just how far parents are prepared to go for their children. It's a beautiful underlining theme if I must say so.

Jane yet again blew me away with Force Of Nature, The Dry swept me off my feet and I'm pretty sure FON just made sure I didn't get back up on my feet. It's a thoroughly enjoyable read, gripping you with each page turn. I cant recommend this book any more than The Dry, just if you ever pick up a copy be prepared for the twists and turns the books take, allow all of the factors throughout the story to take a hold of you and try your best to figure it all out before you get to the end because as always I did horrific at trying to piece together what had happened until I read it out. I can not leave out the fact once I finished the book and closed the pages I held it to my chest and just sat there stammering like an idiot it had taken that much of an effect on me. It's an easy 5/5 for me and I can't wait to read more of Janes writing as she clearly has such a way with words.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jane Harper is the author of The Dry, winner of various awards including the 2015 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, the 2017 Indie Award Book of the Year and the 2017 Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year Award. Rights have been sold in 27 territories worldwide, and film rights optioned to Reese Witherspoon and Bruna Papandrea. Jane worked as a print journalist for thirteen years both in Australia and the UK and lives in Melbourne. Force of Nature is Jane’s second novel.
Janeharper.com.au

For further information please contact Grace Vincent, Senior Publicity Manager Grace.Vincent@littlebrown.co.uk / 020 3122 6590

Breaking Bones by Robert White - BLOG TOUR

Synopsis: 

The Streets of Pretson are alive with music and banter.
But nothing can drown out the sound of breaking bones. 

Inseparable since childhood and feared by their community, Tony, Eddie and Frankie are beyond the reach of justice. 

The brutal gang, The Three Dogs, are a law unto themselves. 

Detective Jim Hacker has watched The Dogs grow from thuggish youths to psychotic criminals. He seems to be the only one who wants to see their empire fall. 

Meanwhile Jamie Strange, a young Royal Marine, finds himself embroiled in the lives of The Three Dogs when his girlfriend, Laurie Holland, cuts off their engagement… to be with the most dangerous of The Dogs: Frankie Verdi. 
Jamie Vows to save Laurie, before Frankie damns them both

Every dog will have its day. 

Review:

The prologue we receive allows us as the reader to see the back story and understand a few things and sets us up pretty neatly for what we can expect throughout the story. The plot itself isn't seen to be particularly fast-paced, but it works, delivering a well developed and complex storyline

Character-wise, I found them to be fascinating and this made me want to follow their character arc's to the end. For me and many other people I suppose, characters are what drive a story.  They are there to be loved no matter their overall appearance of being portrayed as villains or the goodies. You can have the best plot in the world but without the right characters to carry it, it can fall flat, right on its face per say. 

There were interesting characters in this novel, but I’ll only write about a few that are really key to me, beginning with The Three Dogs themselves: The novel centres around a criminal gang The Three Dogs. All the way from their early years adolescence through to their adulthood criminal empire. The Three Dogs as a gang, form an interesting mixture of violent gangsters. Preston’s answer to the Krays but set in the 1980s.

The leader of The Three Dogs is Frankie Verdi. A violent psychopath, with no respect for anybody outside of his gang. He's pretty much a terrifying individual, one you would hope never to meet,(and thankfully I havent yet).

Tony Thompson is the biggest in size of all of them, but with learning difficulties, he is merely just the muscle of the organisation and I would say that Tony is the only one of The Dogs that even comes close to having any empathy/sympathy for others.

Finally, we have Eddie Williams, Eddie is a complex character indeed, He is a man living with a secret and a deep obsessional love for womaniser Verdi. He is ruthless with his ambition and devoted to the gang.

All three ‘dogs’ have a extremely strong bond of brotherhood. One that has already withstood many tests. By adulthood the bond is simply unbreakable. Making them an untouchable, savage and brutal gang!

Detective Jim Hacker, the police man working on bringing The Dogs down, is hard-working and I admired his stamina in wanting to deliver justice. Jim Hacker is close personal friends with Harry Strange, meeting when Hacker worked the investigation into Harry’s wife’s death. Harry’s young son Jamie is in the Royal Marines and throughout the novel he comes to face war in the Falklands and the troubles of Northern Ireland but usually with his best friend and fellow squaddie Richard ‘Birdman’ Valance, by his side.  However Jamie is dumped by fiancé Laurie Holland, as he returns to camp after his mother’s funeral and Laurie has set her sights on Frankie Verdi, a decision she will no doubt come to regret.

Laurie’s character has had a turbulent and abusive childhood, leading her to believe that access to power, respect and fear will bring safety! Laurie is sadly misguided in this belief.

As the plot unravels we see all of the characters mature and develop; Jamie experiences the brutality of war, which changes every man it touches, The Three Dogs rise in their criminal enterprises and Laurie learns some harsh truths, as the life of a gangster’s moll. This novel is incredibly detailed, and I most definitely recommend! It has violence, gangs, drug empires and portrays the life of a violent gang kingpin. It vividly depicts how the love of money is the root of all evil! Its an easy 5/5 from me and if you're into gang stories or Martina Cole, Roberta Kray and Stephen Leather. 

About The Author:

Robert White is an Amazon best selling crime fiction author.

His novels regularly appear in the top ten downloads in the Crime and Action and Adventure genres.

Robert is an ex cop, who captures the brutality of northern British streets in his work. He combines believable characters, slick plots and vivid dialogue to immerse the reader in his fast paced story-lines.

He was born in Leeds, England, the illegitimate son of a jazz musician and a factory girl.

He hated school, leaving at age sixteen.

After joining Lancashire Constabulary in 1980, he served for fifteen years, his specialism being Tactical Firearms.

Robert then spent four years in the Middle East before returning to the UK in 2000.

He now lives in Lancashire with his wife Nicola, and his two terrible terriers Flash and Tia.

BOOK TOUR; Power Struggle ( Detective Madison Knight Series #8) - Carolyn Arnold

Synopsis:

One hit man who’s back for revenge.
One detective who’s not going down without a fight.

It’s been ten months since Detective Madison Knight almost died at the hands of Russian Mafia hit man Constantine Romanov. She hasn’t seen hide nor hair of him since he escaped police custody and fled to Russia soon after his arrest, except now her latest murder investigation gives her reason to believe he’s back in town. Seeing as the victim is the man who killed her grandfather, her perspective may be a little skewed, but with the MO smacking of Constantine and the victim’s connections to the mob, she finds it hard to be objective. Still, she’s doing her best to consider all the evidence.

When she receives a threatening letter from Constantine, however, her suspicions are confirmed. And he’s made it abundantly clear that not only does he plan to finish what he started but he has her family and loved ones in the crosshairs, too. Madison vows to do whatever it takes to save them, but as the hours race by, the body count rises. And the stakes only get higher when Madison’s sister, Chelsea, goes missing.

Now, Madison’s only play is to take Chelsea’s disappearance for what it really means: Constantine is calling Madison out for one final showdown. And they won’t both survive…

Review:

10 months previous to where this story begins, Madison Knight was almost killed by a Russian mob hit man by the name of Constantine Romanov and she is just about managing to pull herself back together. With the help of her therapist and the love from her boyfriend she is managing to get better. But suddenly Romanov is back and he wants to finish what he started. 

He announces his arrival to Madison via a letter, in which he threatens to kill her family and all those that she loves. The whole police department and Madison are out looking for him but when Madison's sister, Chelsea goes missing Knight knows that the end is coming.

Having not read this series before now, as it makes a great stand alone I can only assume that this instalment is a brilliant addition to the series. The characters are well defined and I just wished I had read the other books in the series to watch the characters grow and more particularly see Madison tested in her personal and work life. I feel as though if I had read more than one of these books that I would have formed a stronger bond with the characters although this time I felt I had a strong bond with Madison anyway

Although I read this book as a stand alone, and it worked really well, I would recommend starting at the beginning so those things that make a good series aren't missed. 

It's hard not to love a book with a cold hearted villain so with that point alone the book is a high recommendation from me but it's exciting and put me on edge ever so slightly, bodies fall and there's just a great book to be read right there and I can't give it any less than a 5/5. One day maybe I'll go back and read this series from the start. Only having read one book from Carolyn in the past, from her Brandon Fisher FBI series, it's easy to see that Carolyn has a way with words and creates such wonderful and enjoyable books.  Any of Carolyn' work is an easy recommendation to anyone wanting to dip their toes into reading crime or to anyone who already loves reading crime novels and wants to add another book or indeed another 3 series of them to their book shelves. 

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng - Blog Tour Review

Synopsis:

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned -- from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren -- an enigmatic artist and single mother -- who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town--and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.

Review:

Little Fires Everywhere absorbed me by the very first page, I had very little to no idea what I was really going in to when I opened this book and that added to my excitement of actually reading it. LFE begins with a fire destroying the Richardson house, and from there the action takes us back to the day that Mia and Pearl arrived in Shaker Heights which really pulled me in and held me down.

Set in the suburb of Shaker Heights, where everything is carefully planned and controlled by it's many rules that the residents must stick to. Your house depending on its type can only be painted a certain colour, your rubbish cant be collected from the front of your house and grass must be cut promptly just to name a few of the restrictive rules. Its clear to see from the to see that any person to move into Shaker Heights who doesn't always fully conform or never does, the effects they would have would cause great damage.

Mrs. Richardson lives by the rules which having been raised by them is no surprise, and she has raised her four children (Lexie, Trip, Moody and Izzy) to abide by them as well. She rents a little apartment in the suburb to Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl who are in comparison, less fortunate. Mia is a free spirited artist who lives her life to the fullest. These women have one thing in common and only this thing and that is that they love their children immensely and accept each other's as their own. These mothers relationships with each other and their family and everyone in the town is threatened when a custody battle ensues between a friend of the Richardsons, Mrs. and Mr. McCullough, who are in the middle of adopting a Chinese American baby and a friend of Mia's, Bebe, who is the birth mother. The battle wrecks havoc on the town and causes incredible strife between the families involved.

As the youngest child of my family this book gives me such an insight and with remain with me for a long time, it has an effect I cant quite explain but it has helped me see things in an ever so differently light which was no surprise but at the same time it was just as much of a surprise.

Little Fires everywhere brought laughter and plenty of tears. It is just that kind of read. I can't recommend this book enough, it's captivating, compelling and full of heart. Celeste Ng's has a wonderful ability to intertwine characters and storylines in a way that is both brilliant and beautiful. I loved every second of this book and cant recommend it to anyone enough, its a definite 5/5 from me and I hope anyone, mother or child would pick up this book and dive into the deep behind the bonds of parent and child.

Thanks to Grace Vincent for allowing me onto this book tour. For this day the following blogs are also taking part.

Inkitt launches a free program to help you turn your idea into a novel within 30 days.

Have you ever thought about writing a novel? There are millions of people in the world who have ideas floating around in their heads that they want to write down but never find the time. Inkitt, the world’s first reader-powered book publisher, will be launching their first ‘Writers Write Program’ on November 1st to help you turn your idea into an original novel. The 30-day program is completely free and filled with special benefits such as:

• Free, 30 min private sessions with professional writing coaches (including the editor of The Martian)
• Events and tips with bestselling authors like Andy Weir, Lauren Kate, and Gayle Forman
• A variety of community features such as the choice to get a writing buddy who you can exchange manuscript feedback with.

“Our intention is to enlarge the writing community by encouraging more people to become writers,” said CEO of Inkitt, Ali Albazaz. “The program is completely free so for us this isn’t about making money; it’s about encouraging talented and committed writers to keep going and finish what they started.”

If you are serious about taking on the challenge or want to finish (or start!) a manuscript then make sure to get your spot in the program now. There is less than a week left before it starts.

For more information click here. 

How To Stop Time - Matt Haig

Synopsis:

I am old. That is the first thing to tell you. The thing you are least likely to believe. If you saw me you would probably think I was about forty, but you would be very wrong.

Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret.

He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen a lot, and now craves an ordinary life. Always changing his identity to stay alive, Tom has the perfect cover - working as a history teacher at a London comprehensive. Here he can teach the kids about wars and witch hunts as if he'd never witnessed them first-hand. He can try and tame the past that is fast catching up with him.

The only thing Tom mustn't do is fall in love.

Review:

Matt Haig is a wonderful writer, i mean most of the bookish community know that right? if not all of it. So when i heard How To Stop Time was coming out and people were so pleased with the book itself I couldn't not grab a copy and i honesty can't even say I regret it.

We follow Tom who is 400+ years old yet he looks 40, we follow him as he tries to get on with life in London as he takes up a job as a History teacher. Being how old he is he has experienced alot of history and you can see how incredible Matt is just by even making this a concept.  We get to see the past of Tom as he journeys through time and history to help us understand his character and it's incredible to see the interactions and pieces of history woven so neatly into a story.

The characters we see and interact with throughout the story seemed to take up a place in my heart, both whether they were particularly nice or not, they still had a part of me.  We see several famous people woven through time in this book, great famous people whom i shall not name in case it may ruin part of the book for you.  To create such a wonderful character such as Tom and those whom he meets in the current time is brilliant and to go as far as to interpret and portray people of the past is amazing.

Matt shows off his incredible writing talent in this book, taking us on a roller coaster ride that is a hell of a lot of fun. Reasons To Stay Alive had me hooked on Matt and to then go on to read The Humans and now How To Stop Time, I don't think I'll be walking away from Matt's writing anytime soon.

How To Stop Time is a tale of belonging, love, loss and so much more. Rich in history and love its surely a book you wont want to put down until the last page has been turned. Its yet again another great book from an amazing Author and i hope that if you haven't picked up a copy.read it yet that you will  I hope you'll fall in love with it as quickly and as easily as I did.  Easily a 5/5 from me without any doubt.

Introducing; Have It, Haven't Read It Yet Tote Bag

More Info and Buying Link: http://daydreamersthoughts.co.uk/introducing-have-it-havent-read-it-yet-tote-bag/ 


PRE-ORDER RULES
So I am selling these tote bags from today until 29th October 2017. After that date, this bag will no longer be available to purchase meaning this bag will be totally exclusive!

However, the bag also has not yet been created. Because I want to make sure that this will work and not fail, I will only be creating this bag if I reach a minimum number of sales. So if you’re REALLY excited for this bag and want to make sure that you get one, make sure to spread the news that it’s available to buy!

So while the button below does say “Buy Now”, what you’re actually doing is pre-ordering the bag. It will then be sent to your address after the 29th October 2017.

You will get a FULL REFUND if the bag does not get made.

I will also let you know if we’re nearing the date and we’re close but not quite at minimum. I will also advise you as soon as the bag is definitely, 100% going to be made!


THE MINIMUM SALE
I need to sell 50 bags


THE REP SEARCH
To help sell the products, I am also doing an Instagram rep search! If you have an Instagram and want to get involved, all you need to do is share my rep search image and tell the world I’m looking for reps!

If you wish to be a rep, share the image with some of your own images and in the description, let me know why YOU would make a perfect rep.

Every Rep will get every product I create to share/review on their Instagram/blog! And they may even be invited to view the products BEFORE EVERYONE ELSE.

Reps will be decided as soon as I reach my minimum sale target.