Tag: blogtour

#BlogTour #BookReview #Ad Cut Adrift by Jane Jesmond @VERVE_Books

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Cut Adrift - blog tour posterWelcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Cut Adrift by Jane Jesmond. My thanks to Hollie at Verve Books for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my digital review copy. Cut Adrift is available now in paperback, ebook and audiobook format.

Cut AdriftAbout the Book

Risk everything, trust no one.

Jen Shaw is climbing in the mountains near Alajar, Spain. And it’s nothing to do with the fact that an old acquaintance suggested that she meet him there…

But when things don’t go as planned and her brother calls to voice concerns over the whereabouts of their mother, Morwenna, Jen finds herself travelling to a refugee camp on the south coast of Malta.

Free-spirited and unpredictable as ever, Morwenna is working with a small NGO, helping her Libyan friend, Nahla, seek asylum for her family. Jen is instantly out of her depth, surrounded by stories of unimaginable suffering and increasing tensions within the camp.

Within hours of Jen’s arrival, Nahla is killed in suspicious circumstances, and Jen and Morwenna find themselves responsible for the safety of her daughters. But what if the safest option is to leave on a smuggler’s boat?

Format: Paperback (320 pages)             Publisher: Verve Books
Publication date: 28th February 2023 Genre: Thriller

Find Cut Adrift (Jen Shaw #2) on Goodreads

Purchase links
Bookshop.org
Disclosure: If you buy a book via the above link, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Hive | Amazon UK
Links provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

Cut Adrift is the second book in the series featuring self-confessed adrenaline junkie Jen Shaw, the sequel to On the Edge which  was a Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month. I don’t think it’s essential to have read On the Edge to enjoy Cut Adrift but it would probably help to understand the cause of the fractures in the Shaw family, the impact of which forms a secondary, albeit minor, plot line.  The latter – a wrangle over the sale of the family home in Cornwall – felt like a distraction to me but might have more significance for those who’ve read the first book.

The plot of Cut Adrift is inspired by the very contemporary issue of the smuggling and exploitation of refugees. The author takes her time to build up a picture of the desperate situation faced by people – often women and children –  forced to flee war-torn countries such as Libya and Syria. The dramatic prologue brilliantly brings this to life. Such people are easy prey for smugglers and people traffickers but can also be used as cover by those with more sinister motives.  Having made it across the Mediterrean to the island of Malta, they face long waits to have their asylum claims processed, in the meantime being placed in crowded camps with limited access to medical care. And the influx of refugees is causing problems for Malta as well with rising anti-migrant sentiment. I think we can all call to mind parallels with the situation closer to home.

Cut Adrift focuses on a small group of refugees, including Nahla, a friend of Jen’s mother Morwenna. A journalist and activist, Nahla has been forced to flee Libya with her two daughters, Aya and Rania. (The author does a terrific job of conveying the trauma of such an experience through the character of Aya.)  Unfortunately, whilst Nahla thinks she may have reached safety, that’s not the case.  She’s witnessed something that’s placed her in danger, but what exactly is it?

The death of Nahla trailed in the blurb doesn’t take place until around a third of the way through the book but from that moment on the thriller element really comes to the fore in a series of dramatic scenes that sees the very particular skills of Jen and her mother put to the ultimate test.

Jen finds herself once again in the company of Nick Crawford whom she met in the first book. Although attracted to each other, Jen is frustrated by Nick’s reluctance to talk about his work. As she says at one point, ‘I was sick of lies and secrets and uncertainty. Sick, sick, sick of them.’ She starts to find out more when there occurs what I like to term a ‘Casablanca moment’ – as in “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world,she walks into mine” – but what she discovers doesn’t necessarily put her mind at rest. Who is this man who can seemingly adopt multiple identities? Is he ever really himself?

Jen is a brilliant character. She’s fearless, independent-minded, tough, determined but quite solitary and introspective. When we meet her at the start of the book she’s attempting to rein in her wilder instincts for fear of hurting others and trying to leave behind what she describes as ‘the madness of last summer’ when she’d lurched from one crazy night to another. (Those who’ve read the first book have the advantage over me as far as the cause of this is concerned.) Jen’s the sort of woman who when told to do something, including for her own safety, is likely to do the exact opposite. It’s this that makes her such a great protagonist of a thriller such as Cut Adrift.

A third book in the Jen Shaw series is promised in 2024 which is just as well because, appropriately given Jen’s love of climbing, Cut Adrift ends on a tantalising cliffhanger.

In three words: Compelling, action-packed, contemporary

Try something similar: The Bone Road by N. E. Solomons

Jane JesmondAbout the Author

Jane Jesmond writes crime, thriller and mystery fiction. Her debut novel, On The Edge – the first in a series featuring dynamic, daredevil protagonist Jen Shaw – was a Sunday Times Best Crime Fiction of the Month pick. Cut Adrift has been named as a Times Thriller Book of the Month.  A Quiet Contagion, which Jane describes as ‘an unsettling historical mystery for modern times’, will be published by VERVE Books in November 2023.

Although Jane loves writing (and reading) thrillers and mysteries, her real life is very quiet and unexciting. Dead bodies and dangerous exploits are not a feature! She lives by the sea in the northwest tip of France with a husband and a cat and enjoys coastal walks and village life. Unlike Jen Shaw, she is terrified of heights! (Photo: Author website)

Connect with Jane
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#BlogTour #BookReview #Ad Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow

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Dead of Night final bannerWelcome to the final stop on the blog tour for wartime thriller, Dead of Night by Simon Scarrow. My thanks to Jess at Ransom PR for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Headline for my review copy. If you’ve been keeping up with the posts by the other bloggers taking part in the tour, you’ll be aware of the praise heaped on the book so far: ‘A gripping page turning thriller‘, ‘An absolute must-read for fans of historical crime fiction‘ and ‘a story full of intrigue, tension and danger‘

Dead of NightAbout the Book

BERLIN. JANUARY 1941. After Germany’s invasion of Poland, the world is holding its breath and hoping for peace. At home, the Nazi Party’s grip on power is absolute.

One freezing night, an SS doctor and his wife return from an evening mingling with their fellow Nazis at the concert hall. By the time the sun rises, the doctor will be lying lifeless in a pool of blood.

Was it murder or suicide? Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke is told that under no circumstances should he conduct an investigation. The doctor’s widow, however, is convinced her husband was the target of a brutal hit. But why would anyone murder an apparently obscure doctor? Compelled to dig deeper, Schenke learns of the mysterious death of a child. The cases seem unconnected, but chilling links soon begin to emerge that point to a terrifying secret.

Even in times of war, under a ruthless regime, there are places in hell no man should ever enter. And Schenke fears he may not return alive . . .

Format: Hardback (432 pages)           Publisher: Headline
Publication date: 2nd February 2023 Genre: Historical Fiction, Thriller

Find Dead of Night on Goodreads

Purchase links
Bookshop.org
Disclosure: If you buy a book via the above link, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops

Hive | Amazon UK
Links provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

Being an avid reader of wartime thrillers I’m not quite sure how I managed to miss Blackout, the first book in the series, when it was published in 2020. I shall certainly be snapping up a copy at some point as, although Dead of Night can definitely be read as a standalone, there are lots of things I’d love to know more about, especially the book’s protagonist, Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke. For example, how Schenke’s relationship with Karin Canaris came about and his involvement with Ruth, a young Jewish woman, who seemingly played a pivotal role in events in the previous book.

Most of us, I imagine, are aware of the vile actions of the Nazi regime towards Jewish people but perhaps less so about the atrocities committed against other sections of the population in pursuit of Hitler’s warped and perverted ideology. (As the author notes, sometimes fiction can do a better job of shedding a light on such things than ‘dry tomes of history’.) It’s just such an atrocity that Schenke uncovers in the course of his investigation. But is it an act of personal revenge or something more sinister?

I thought Schenke was a brilliant character. He has a strong sense of justice and isn’t afraid to bend the rules if he believes it is right. It places him in all sorts of risky situations, even threatening the safety of those close to him, something that is never far from his mind. Bringing criminals to justice and forcing them to face the consequences of their actions is what he believes in, it’s what drives him but sometimes, perhaps, even he has to face the possibility he hasn’t the power to do so – at least not yet.  He tries to comfort himself with the thought, ‘There will be a reckoning for the evil that is being done, but I fear that won’t come for some time. Months . . . years . . . who can say? In which case, it is our duty to survive and bear witness.’

Writing about the inspiration for Dead of Night, Simon Scarrow describes it as being the story of how ‘an extreme ideology prepares the ground for unthinkable and unconscionable actions’. I expect we can all think of contemporary parallels. Navigating such a situation while keeping his integrity intact is the dilemma Schenke faces. He’s a patriot but one who has become ashamed of what his country is doing. It’s these difficult choices that make the book so powerful, exposing as it does some of the darkest deeds of the 20th century. 

Dead of Night is a skilfully crafted, completely engrossing historical thriller that will delight fans of the genre. I really hope there will be more books in the series.

In three words: Compelling, assured, chilling

Try something similar: The Pale Criminal by Philip Kerr

Simon ScarrowAbout the Author

Simon Scarrow is a Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author with several million copies of his books sold worldwide. After a childhood spent travelling the world, he pursued his great love of history as a teacher, before becoming a full-time writer. Best known for his Roman adventure stories, Simon took to writing WW2 thrillers, and last year Blackout set in WW2 Berlin, was chosen as a Richard and Judy Book Blub pick.

His Roman soldier heroes Cato and Macro made their debut in 2000 in Under the Eagle and have subsequently appeared in many bestsellers in the Eagles of the Empire series, including Centurion, Invictus and Day of the Caesars. Many of the series have been Sunday Times bestsellers. (Photo: Twitter profile)

Connect with Simon
Website | Twitter | Facebook