Rattle by Fiona Cummins

Rattle
By Fiona Cummins
Published by Macmillan (26 January 2017)
ISBN: 978-1509812264

Publisher's description

A psychopath more frightening than Hannibal Lecter.

He has planned well. He leads two lives. In one he's just like anyone else. But in the other he is the caretaker of his family's macabre museum.

Now the time has come to add to his collection. He is ready to feed his obsession, and he is on the hunt.

Jakey Frith and Clara Foyle have something in common. They have what he needs.

What begins is a terrifying cat-and-mouse game between the sinister collector, Jakey's father and Etta Fitzroy, a troubled detective investigating a spate of abductions.

My verdict
I loved Rattle and can't praise it highly enough - the writing is brilliant, the plot is brilliant... in fact, everything about it is brilliant. There aren't many serial killer books around at present, so it's certainly very different to other crime novels too.

The plot is chilling - children are going missing and it seems that there is a serial killer on the loose. He's evil, creepy and certainly someone to avoid - but that's not easy when you have something he wants and he'll do anything to get it.

Fiona Cummins writes atmospheric chilling prose - vivid descriptions of people and places that made my skin tingle - and has created a gripping plot filled with action, intrigue and believable characters. I held my breath for many of the final chapters. The book has clearly been well researched and I found the medical background fascinating (possibly because of my own interests in health and medicine). This is a crime thriller with unbelievable depth.

Rattle is stunning. I couldn't put it down - yet didn't want it to end. Just as well there's a sequel in the pipeline!

I received an Advance Reader Copy.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Dark Matter
By Blake Crouch
Published by Macmillan (11 August 2016)
ISBN: 978-1447297567

Publisher's description
Are you happy in your life?'

Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.

Before he wakes to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.

Before the man he's never met smiles down at him and says, 'Welcome back, my friend.'

In this world he's woken up to, Jason's life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that's the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could've imagined - one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

My verdict
It wasn't wise to finish reading Dark Matter in the early hours of the morning. This book totally plays with your mind. I couldn't sleep afterwards, as I struggled to comprehend what I had just read - and what could possibly have happened after that final page.

I'm not going to give away any of the story (as you can read the blurb above) - but Dark Matter is compelling, thought provoking and sheer brilliance. For much of the book, I couldn't breathe, I was exhausted and in a daze. This is a true rollercoaster ride of a page turner. It's hard hitting with a constant flow of action, thoughts, ideas and theories. There's plenty of physics in there - it is a science fiction thriller, after all - but Blake Crouch explains everything carefully in simple terms so that the story continues to flow.

At the heart of Dark Matter is the sliding doors concept mixed with time travel. The 'what ifs' in life. And 'what would you sacrifice for love?' But with sinister, terrifying undertones and a fight for survival. There's a film in the making - and that doesn't surprise me at all.

I received an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Gone Astray by Michelle Davies

Gone Astray
By Michelle Davies
Published by Macmillan (24 March 2016)
ISBN: 978-1447284178

Publisher's description

Lesley and her husband Mack are the sudden winners of a £15 million EuroMillions jackpot. They move with their 15-year-old daughter Rosie to an exclusive gated estate in Buckinghamshire, leaving behind their ordinary lives - and friends - as they are catapulted into wealth beyond their wildest dreams.

But it soon turns into their darkest nightmare when, one beautiful spring afternoon, Lesley returns to their house to find it empty: their daughter Rosie is gone.

DC Maggie Neville is assigned to be Family Liaison Officer to Lesley and Mack, supporting them while quietly trying to investigate the family. And she has a crisis threatening her own life - a secret from the past that could shatter everything she's worked so hard to build.

As Lesley and Maggie desperately try to find Rosie, their fates hurtle together on a collision course that threatens to end in tragedy . . .

Money can't buy you happiness.

The truth could hurt more than a lie.

One moment really can change your life forever.

My verdict
Gone Astray is a well-written cross between a police procedural and psychological thriller.

It follows a family whose lives changed drastically when they won millions of pounds and they start drifting apart. Money really doesn't buy happiness and isn't the answer to many of life's problems - and this is the main theme of the plot. When teenage daughter Rosie goes missing, family secrets and lies bubble to the surface.

Gone Astray is tightly plotted, and there were several twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end. I read most of the book in one sitting - it's fast paced, compelling and easy to read. The characters are believable and I enjoyed reading the investigation from the point of view of a Family Liaison Officer - providing an insight into their work.

This is the first in the DC Maggie Neville series - I really warmed to her as a character and look forward to seeing what's next in store for this troubled Family Liaison Officer. The author's experience as a freelance women's magazine journalist is apparent in her writing - mixing crime and family dynamics very well together to produce a great debut novel.

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

Luckiest Girl Alive
By Jessica Knoll
Published by Macmillan (16 July 2015)
ISBN: 978-1509814800

Publisher's description

Ani FaNelli is the woman who has it all: the glamorous job, the designer wardrobe, the handsome and rich fiancé. But behind her sharp edges and meticulously crafted facade lies the darkest of pasts . . .

When a documentary producer invites Ani to tell her side of the chilling and violent incident that took place when she was a teenager at the prestigious Bradley school, she hopes it will be an opportunity to prove how far she's turned her life around since then. She'll even let the production company film her lavish wedding, the final step in her transformation.

But as the wedding and filming converge, Ani's past threatens to come back and haunt her. And as her immaculate veneer starts to crack, she is forced to question: will breaking her silence destroy all that she has worked for - or, will it at long last, set Ani free?

My verdict
Luckiest Girl Alive is an intriguing and compelling book. It initially reads as a 'chick lit' novel. But as you turn the pages, you realise that the story goes far deeper.

On the surface, Ani seems to be living the dream - she's highly successful and about to marry well. But you soon discover that underneath that bitchy exterior she's not really the woman she appears to be. She's reinvented herself over the years, running away from her past and a shocking incident that happened to her as a teenager.

By switching between the backstory and the present day, the tension builds up, layer by layer. Until you worry about how the story is going to end. Ani isn't a particularly likeable character, even once you know what drives her. But the question is whether she's the 'luckiest girl alive'?

Luckiest Girl Alive covers a highly topical issue. It's vivid, highly emotional, thought-provoking and very frightening in how real it actually is. It's written with dark and twisted humour. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did, and by the end I couldn't put it down.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.