Tag: blogtour

#BlogTour #BookReview The Traitor of Treasure Island by John Drake @EndeavourQuill

whatcathyreadnext4 Comments

The Traitor of Treasure Island Blog Tour Promo Banner

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for The Traitor of Treasure Island by John Drake. Thanks to Hannah at Endeavour for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my review copy.

The Traitor of Treasure Island (ebook) is available to pre-order for the discounted Kindle price of £1.99/$2.99 until 19th August 2019.

The Traitor of Treasure IslandAbout the Book

Buried for nearly three hundred years and now brought triumphantly to light by Dr Livesey, this is, at last, the true story of what happened on the fateful Treasure Island…

The truth about Captain Flint and his fabled death.

The truth about Long John Silver and his coveted wife.

And the truth about Jim Hawkins, that double-dealing turncoat of the first order: the traitor of Treasure Island.

Format: Paperback, ebook (341 pp.)    Publisher: Endeavour Quill
Published: 19th August 2019         Genre: Historical Fiction

Pre-order/Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk  ǀ  Amazon.com
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The Traitor of Treasure Island on Goodreads

My Review

Although John Drake’s reimagining of Robert Louis Stevenson’s much-loved classic can be enjoyed by those who’ve never read Treasure Island, readers who have will be best placed to recognise the author’s changes and flights of imagination. The latter include romantic attachments, illegitimate parentage and the resurrection of a notable figure.

Having said that, many of the best known characters from the original book remain such as Jim Hawkins, Long John Silver, Squire Trelawny, Dr. Livesey, Blind Pew and Ben Gunn. In some cases, however, they think and act rather differently than in Treasure Island. The author also introduces a ‘heroine in peril’ and a side story of cunning and ruthless revenge.

In his Q&A on YouTube (Part 1 and Part 2), John Drake explains he never really liked the character Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island and decided to make him ‘seriously bad’ in his reimagining of Stevenson’s original. Jim Hawkins certainly goes from ‘hero to zero’ being depicted as a coward, liar, womaniser and traitor. The author even gets his final revenge by setting Jim on the path to a future career in a now rather discredited profession. In the author’s hands, Dr. Livesey becomes the hero of the piece and the narrator (via his journal) of much of the action.

The author’s in-depth historical knowledge and extensive research is evident in the details of navigation, weaponry and procedures aboard a sailing ship of the time, and also in the action scenes. As such The Traitor of Treasure Island will appeal to fans of naval adventure fiction by the likes of Alexander Kent, Patrick O’Brien or C.S. Forester as well as to those familiar with Stevenson’s original.

The Traitor of Treasure Island is a swashbuckling, action-packed story complete with maps of buried treasure, mutinous crew and adventure on the high seas. In the words of Squire Trelawny: “For the thrill of it! For setting out into the wide seas and the world of wonders”.

I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Endeavour Media.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

In three words: Entertaining, action, adventure

Try something similar…Flint and Silver by John Drake (the first of his three prequels to Treasure Island)

John DrakeAbout the Author

John Drake trained as a biochemist to post-doctorate research level before realizing he was no good at science. His working career was in the television department of ICI until 1999 when he became a full-time writer.

John’s hobby is muzzle-loading shooting, and his interests are British history and British politics (as a spectator), plus newspapers, TV news, and current affairs. He is married with a son and two grandchildren.

Connect with John

Twitter  ǀ  Goodreads

The Traitor of Treasure Island Blog Tour Schedule

Blog Tour/Book Review: Motive X by Stefan Ahnhem

whatcathyreadnext

Motive X Blog Tour Poster

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Motive X by Stefan Ahnhem. Thanks to Vicky at Head of Zeus for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my review copy.

Praise for Stefan Ahnhem

‘Stefan Ahnhem is more gripping than Jo Nesbo, blacker than Stieg Larsson and more bleakly human than Henning Mankell’ Tony Parsons

Motive XAbout the Book

He strikes at random. His motive unknown. No one is safe…

Helsingborg police must solve the unsolveable. A wave of apparently random homicides is sweeping through their idyllic seaside town. The murders have no pattern, no order, no reason. The perpetrator is immune to psychological profiling; forensically untraceable; utterly invulnerable to modern police techniques.

The body count is growing. But lead investigator Fabian Risk is distracted by his mission to expose a corrupt colleague, and his boss Astrid is spiralling back into addiction. As the hunt for the solution becoming ever more desperate, their tight-knit team begins to unravel…

Motive X is both an explosive, multi-layered thriller and a fearless exploration of the darkest side of human nature. To enter Stefan Ahnhem’s world, with its interwoven plotlines and sprawling cast of characters, is to put yourself in the hands of a master storyteller.

Format: Hardcover, ebook (552 pp.)    Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2nd May 2019    Genre: Thriller, Crime

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk  ǀ  Amazon.com  ǀ Hive.co.uk (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find Motive X  on Goodreads

My Review

I don’t read a lot of crime thrillers, especially those involving serial killers and gruesome murders (unless they’re set in a historical time period). However,  you don’t need to be an expert in the genre to recognise an author who’s a master in the art of creating a gripping and skilfully plotted story. Such is the case with Motive X by Stefan Ahnhem, translated by Agnes Broome.

Motive X is the fourth in the series (if you count the prequel, The Ninth Grave) featuring Swedish police detective, Fabian Risk. I haven’t read any of the previous books in the series and, while Motive X can be read as a standalone, it appears to pick up almost seamlessly from the end of the previous book, Eighteen Below. (More on that subject later.) In addition, there are frequent references to events in that book and its predecessor, Victim Without A Face, so for those inclined to read the whole series, I’d say it’s essential to  start from the beginning otherwise you’re likely to feel as if you’ve come into the cinema part way through a movie.

In Motive X, private and professional lives overlap and collide as the investigations being conducted by Risk and his colleagues tip over into personal missions to expose wrongdoing. Of course, with that comes danger, possibly from unexpected directions. After all, investigating crime is a risky business. (Sorry, couldn’t resist that pun.)

The book weaves together multiple story lines and the short chapters create a feeling of pace throughout. The author is also adept at crafting a compelling last sentence of a chapter before switching the focus to a different story line, leaving the reader in a state of suspense. Throw in a serial killer whose next move may literally depend on nothing more than chance and you have a book that kept this reader turning the pages right to the end. Ah, the end. Well, you know what I said earlier about the book picking up seamlessly from its predecessor? So don’t expect everything to be neatly wrapped up at the end of this one.

Motive X sheds a light on an unexpectedly dark side of Swedish society: racism, anti-immigrant sentiment, far right extremism, Islamophobia and paedophilia.  At just under 560 pages, Motive X is a book to get your teeth into but which will more than repay the time investment. It’s a dark, enjoyably complex and gripping read.

Motive X is book 8 of my 20 Books of Summer. I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Head of Zeus.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

In three words: Fast-moving, complex, compelling

Try something similar…Killed by Thomas Enger or Faithless by Kjell Ola Dahl (click on titles to read my review)

StefanAhnhemAbout the Author

STEFAN AHNHEM is the internationally bestselling author of the Fabian Risk thrillers. He has worked as a screenwriter on Mankell’s Kurt Wallender series and serves on the board of the Swedish Writers Guild. He lives in Copenhagen.

Connect with Stefan

Facebook  ǀ  Twitter  ǀ  Goodreads