Yesterday by Felicia Yap

Yesterday
By Felicia Yap
Published by Wildfire Books (10 August 2017)

Publisher's description

There are two types of people in the world: those who can only remember yesterday, and those who can also recall the day before.

You have just one lifeline to the past: your diary. Each night, you write down the things that matter. Each morning, your diary tells you where you were, who you loved and what you did.

Today, the police are at your door. They say that the body of your husband's mistress has been found in the River Cam. They think your husband killed her two days ago.

Can you trust the police? 
Can you trust your husband? 
Can you trust yourself?

My verdict
Yesterday is very different from the norm. It's a traditional murder mystery that's set in a dystopian society - a cross between fantasy and crime. A debut thriller that's sure to do well this summer and beyond.

In Yesterday, society is split into two tiers - monos and duos - based on their memory capacity (one day or two) as they grow up. Monos are deemed as inferior to duos and given more lowly jobs, yet many strive to improve their status. Everyone has to make sure their digital diaries are as in-depth as possible to 'remember' past events. Some memories can be learned and memorised as fact. The reliance on technology means it's easy to manipulate the past, creating 'false' memories and therefore 'false' facts. Not easy, then, if you're trying to investigate a murder.

The plot focuses on a rare mixed marriage, between duo Mark and mono Claire. When a woman is found dead, she has links to Mark. Can Claire trust her husband? On reading her own diary, can she even trust herself? And will Hans, the police officer investigating the crime, discover the truth?

The dystopian society isn't that dissimilar from our own, filled with prejudice, infidelity, secrets and lies. It's more a parallel society than an alternative one, with some clever references to companies and industry figures that we're all familiar with. I found this fascinating and would love to know more about how the society worked, in terms of structure and jobs and building personal and professional relationships.

Yesterday is a fascinating exploration into memory - how it shapes us, defines us and directs us - and also into social divide. The complex plot is an intriguing murder investigation, based mainly on diary entries and with several twists. The story alternates between four characters' points of view. I didn't particularly like any of the characters (Hans, the detective, was the most likeable for me), but then it's not easy to get to know them that well due to their limited memory spans. They can't really get to know each other that well either, which creates the tension and unease.

What made this book so different for me is the concept of investigating a murder when no one can remember much of the past. It's a perfect thriller for the big screen, with its high concept core and focus on technology. I reckon, like many of the bestselling psychological thrillers (Girl On A Train, Gone Girl, Before I Go To Sleep, to name just three), it will create much discussion among readers in years to come.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from the publisher.

The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis

The Wolf Road
By Beth Lewis
Published by The Borough Press (23 March 2017)
ISBN: 978-0008145484

Publisher's description

Trapper was my family even though I didn’t know a sure thing about him… Trapper was the kind a’ family you choose for yourself, the kind that gets closer’n blood.

He was what I chose and I chose wrong.

Lost in the harsh forest as a child, Elka was taken in and raised by the man she calls Trapper, the solitary hunter who taught her all she knows. So when Elka sees the Wanted poster in town, her simple existence is shattered. Her Trapper – Kreagar Hallet – is wanted for murder. Even worse, Magistrate Lyon is hot on his trail, and she wants to talk to Elka.

As winter sets in, Elka flees into the vast wilderness, determined to find her real parents. But Lyon is never far behind, and she’s not the only one following Elka’s every move. Soon Elka must confront the darkest memories of her past- and end Trapper’s killing spree for good.

My verdict
The Wolf Road totally 'wowed' me, and not many books do that. It's intelligent and unique and filled with raw emotion.

Set in a post-apocalyptic Canada, after what seems to be a nuclear war, it's about a girl's epic journey searching for her parents, who abandoned her as a young child. While this is a dystopian novel, it also has a 'Western' feel to it and reads as a thriller in places too, with a mystery at its heart. Definitely a 'cross-genre' book.

The story is narrated in the first person, through the eyes of Elka - in her own language, her own voice, all of her thoughts, feelings and emotions spilling onto the page. A man (Trapper) rescued her after her grandmother died. He taught her how to hunt and survive in the harsh climate and stark surroundings, yet he never became a father to her, remaining distant and aloof over the years. When she discovers something terrible about him, she runs away, realising that maybe Trapper, and their life together, wasn't what it seemed.

The Wolf Road is about Elka discovering who she is and what she believes in and trying to make sense of her past and present. It's very dark, although there are some lighter moments. The writing is beautiful, with highly vivid descriptions of the wilds. This is a fight for survival in a place where food is scarce and danger lurks around each corner.

The Wolf Road is a book that will linger with you for days after finishing it - simply stunning!

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher through Lovereading.

Zero by Matt Brolly - Book Extract - Blog Tour

I am delighted to be today's stop on the Blog Tour for Zero by Matt Brolly. Zero was published as an e-book by Canelo on 21 November 2016.

Read the extract from Chapter 2

Inspector Kate Swanson knew the junior officer standing by the courtroom doors watching her. Flaherty was flushed with excitement, so desperate to get Swanson’s attention that for one horrendous second she thought he might shout over to her. Swanson turned her attention back towards Judge Livermore. The accused, William Crampton, sat to Swanson’s right, on a separate table with his lawyer. Little more than a child, he had been arrested six months ago for petty theft after stealing a bottle of vodka from an off-licence, a dare from his fellow gang members. Dressed in a maroon jumpsuit, his narrow eyes stared straight ahead. Swanson listened to the familiar sound of the verdict followed by the equally familiar sentence. There was only ever one sentence.

Any breach of the criminal law, however minor, was subject to an effective death sentence. After spending time in the holding zone, convicts were placed in the glass pods which journeyed throughout the city. The journey took thirty days, but after eight days the water supply was removed. No one had ever survived the pods. Luis Ciucci had been the first prisoner to be podded, not long after Swanson was born. Ciucci had murdered his wife’s lover in a crime of passion. His podding had been symbolic. People had sympathy for Ciucci, and the council knew it. It would have been easier to pod someone everyone loathed, a multiple murderer, a rapist or child molester, but this way they signaled to society that whatever your crime, whatever the mitigating circumstances, you were going to the pods.

The boy barely reacted. Swanson had seen the weary look of resignation countless times before. No doubt the hope had been ground out of him during his probationary incarceration. Even after all these years in the force, all the prosecutions she’d been involved with, the verdict was still difficult to hear.

‘Court dismissed,’ said the judge.

Flaherty was by her side in seconds. In his grey-blue uniform, he looked like a schoolboy playing dressing-up games. He smelt of nicotine and sweet aftershave. He pulled at the grey clip-on tie dangling from his throat. ‘Ma’am,’ he said.

‘What is it?’ asked Swanson.

‘It’s Judge Lloyd, Ma’am. He’s missing.’ Flaherty’s voice was an octave higher than normal.

‘Would you care to elaborate, Flaherty?’ suggested Swanson.

‘He didn’t turn up for court today and there’s no sign of him at his house. His car is still parked in his garage.’ Flaherty was smiling.

‘And?’

‘Chessington wants you over there. As soon as you finish here.’

Swanson glared at him.

‘Ma’am,’ he said.

Swanson packed her files away. Five foot eleven with long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail, she was wearing her standard formal issue: a black pleated skirt, white blouse, and black jacket. On her left lapel shone three silver crowns. Her voice was deep and guttural, the legacy of a childhood throat infection which had permanently damaged her vocal cords.

The public defender, Dave Legg, walked over and shook her hand, holding on longer than was necessary. ‘Another victory, Inspector Swanson,’ he said. ‘It must make you proud, putting away such hardened criminals.’

Swanson understood the man’s sarcasm, his despair at losing another client, but couldn’t show any weakness. ‘Defeat makes you so bitter, Dave.’

‘It is not the defeat, Inspector. It is the consequences of defeat which trouble me.’ He held her gaze, trying in vain to look nonchalant, then walked away. He had left a gold plated pen on his desk which Swanson placed into her pocket.

Outside, she barged through a group of journalists each barking questions at her. She made eye contact with one of their number, Jane Sutton who she occasionally shared information with. She nodded to the woman before entering her car.

As Swanson drove through the city to Judge Lloyd’s house, she tried not to think about the sentence just handed down to the young petty thief. The policy of Zero Tolerance, ZT, was fixed legislation. Its powers could not be withdrawn, only extended. At present, any breach of criminal law, subject to a fair trial before judge and jury, was subject to the death penalty. Swanson had been working in the police force for the last eight years and had never known a society without the pods.

She reminded herself that she didn’t make the policy. Her job was to uphold the law, however draconian that law appeared to be. In her judgement, the petty thief, Crampton, didn’t deserve to die. She empathised with the young man, and even with his obnoxious lawyer. Maybe one day there would come a time when the law was not so severe, but until then, she had a job to do.

About the book

Zero

By Matt Brolly

Published by Canelo (E-book - 21 November 2016)

Publisher's description

A zero tolerance policy results in the death penalty for all crimes, no matter how minor.

When a judge is kidnapped, and a ransom note demands the release of all prisoners awaiting execution, kleptomaniac Detective Inspector Kate Swanson is put on the case.

But soon her boss also disappears. Under increasing pressure from her superiors, and caught between the security services and the growing social unrest, Swanson must race to find a man whose murdered wife and daughter link the missing men.

Can she find him before it’s too late?

Buy from Amazon UK here.

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