Tag: Blog Tour

Cover Reveal: The Blameless Dead by Gary Haynes

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I’m delighted to be taking part in the cover reveal for The Blameless Dead by Gary Haynes and to be spreading the word about this fantastic sounding book ahead of its publication in March 2019.

The Blameless Dead is described as ‘an epic, compelling, edge-of-the-seat drama that sweeps the reader from twentieth century Europe to modern-day New York, taking in some of the most important events of modern history and exposing them in honest and unflinching terms. Part murder-mystery, part historical novel and shot through with adrenaline-pumping action, this novel superbly demonstrates that, while the hostilities may cease and the peace be signed, the horror that is war is never really over.’

If that description gets your bookish juices flowing in the same way it did mine, why not add The Blameless Dead to your Goodreads To-Read shelf now?  I have and I’m really looking forward to reading the book and sharing my review as part of the blog tour next year.

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The Blameless DeadAbout the Book

In the dying days of World War Two, Pavel Romasko and his Red Army colleagues pick their way through the carnage and detritus of a dying Berlin. Stumbling upon the smoking remains of a Nazi bunker, they find something inside that eclipses the horror of even the worst excesses in the city above them…

As the war ends, retribution begins. But some revenge cannot be taken at once. Some revenge takes years.

And so it is, as post-war Europe tries desperately to drag itself back onto its feet, and soldiers attempt a return to normality, that retribution continues to ferment in the Gulags of the Soviet Union and beneath the surface of apparently ordinary lives.

Which is how, seventy years later, FBI agent Carla Romero and New York lawyer Gabriel Hall are enlisted to investigate a series of blood-chilling crimes that seem to have their roots in the distant past — even though the suffering they cause is all too present. And for one of them, the disappearance of young women is a particularly personal matter.

Gary Haynes author imageAbout the Author

Gary Haynes is a bestselling thriller writer, and member of the International Thriller Writers organisation. He studied law at university and passed his post-graduate legal qualifications before becoming a commercial litigator. He is a Freedom of Speech advocate and is interested in history, philosophy and foreign policy. Gary’s previous novels include the popular Tom Dupree series: State of Honour and State of Attack.

Connect with Gary

Website  ǀ  Facebook  ǀ  Twitter  ǀ  Goodreads

The Blameless Dead

#BlogTour #BookReview Sleeping Through War by Jackie Carreira

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Sleeping Through War

Today I’m delighted to be joining the blog tour for Sleeping Through War by Jackie Carreira.  Do check out the reviews by the other great book bloggers taking part in the tour (see bottom of this post) and find out why I’m not alone in my appreciation for this wonderful book.

Sleeping Through WarAbout the Book

It is May 1968. Students are rioting, civil rights are being fought and died for, nuclear bombs are being tested, and war is raging in Vietnam. For three ordinary women in Lisbon, London and Washington life must go on as usual. For them, just to survive is an act of courage. How much has really changed in 50 years?

Format: Paperback, ebook (224 pp.)
Publisher: Troubador/Matador
Published: 28th February 2018
Genre: Literary Fiction

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk  ǀ  Amazon.com  ǀ Wordery | Waterstones
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find Sleeping Through War on Goodreads

My Review

Sleeping Through War tells the stories of three different women and is set against the backdrop of world events in 1968, a turbulent time of student demonstrations throughout Europe, civil rights marches in the United States, political tension in Eastern Europe and the Vietnam War.     Although the backgrounds of the three women are different, they live in different parts of the world and there is no direct connection between them, their concerns are similar: home, family, worries about the future.  In addition, the church plays a role in all their lives.

Both Amalia, a single mother widowed in the war between Portugal and Angola, and Mrs. Johnson, with a son serving in Vietnam, are coping with the consequences of war.  Rose, a nurse recently arrived in England from St. Lucia, is engaged in a different kind of war – a war against racial prejudice and discrimination.  The author, Jackie Carreira, is a playwright and therefore used to communicating the stories of her characters to an audience through dialogue.  Her skill at this is evident from the stories told in the first person – by Rose and Mrs. Johnson – in which the reader gets a real insight into their thoughts and feelings through the distinctive narrative voice of each.

Having said this, Amalia’s story was probably the one I found most engrossing.  Left alone to support her son, she is forced to do whatever it takes to earn money to put food on the table, placing herself at the mercy of others as a consequence.

You would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by the letters Mrs. Johnson writes to her son, Rod, in which the cheerful snippets about domestic life back home barely disguise the despair she obviously feels at being parted from him.  A final revelation is heartbreaking, but not in the way you may have been expecting.

Rose was definitely my favourite character.  Although she encounters both casual and overt racism, she responds with kindness, understanding and tolerance to those around her, particularly towards her neighbour, Brenda.  I also loved her observations about the differences between her birthplace in St. Lucia and England – the cold and rain, the English fixation about discussing the weather, the queuing, the feigned politeness, and how ‘everything in London always looks so dull’.   I particularly liked her experience of attending a church service in London.  ‘I sing with everyone else during the hymns, but not as loud as I might have done at home.  The songs they sing in church here are all so slow.’ Rose felt so real to me in the end that it got to the point where I found myself thinking, ‘Yes, that’s exactly what Rose would do’ or ‘You go for it girl!’.

Sleeping Through War is an engrossing, beautifully written novel about the challenges facing three women in a time of upheaval and change.  It made me laugh, it made me cry, it taught me some things I didn’t know and it made me think.  Honestly, what more do you want from a book?

I received a review copy courtesy of the author and Rachel’s Random Resources in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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In three words: Touching, insightful, thought-provoking

Jackie CarreiraAbout the Author

Jackie Carreira is a writer, musician, designer, co-founder of QuirkHouse Theatre Company, and award-winning playwright. She mostly grew up and went to school in Hackney, East London, but spent part of her early childhood with grandparents in Lisbon’s Old Quarter. Her colourful early life has greatly influenced her first novel, Sleeping Through War.

Jackie now lives in leafy Suffolk with her actor husband, AJ Deane, two cats and too many books.

Connect with Jackie

Website  |  Facebook ǀ Goodreads

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