Tag: crime

Blog Tour: In The Dark by Andreas Pflüger

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I’m delighted to be hosting today’s stop on the blog tour for In The Dark by Andreas Pflüger. Published on 2nd November, In The Dark’s protagonist, Jenny Aaron, has been described as a character to stand beside Silence of the Lambs’ Clarice Starling and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’s Lisbeth Salander.

I have a wonderful extract below that will introduce you to Jenny.

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In The DarkAbout the Book

Jenny Aaron was a government assassin, part of an elite unit tracking Germany’s most dangerous criminals.

She was one of the best, until a disastrous mission ended with her abandoning a wounded colleague and then going blind from her injuries.

Now, five years later, she has learnt to navigate a darkened world, but is haunted by betraying her colleague. When she is called back to the force to trace a ruthless serial killer, she seizes the opportunity to solve the case and restore her honour.

 

Format: Hardback (368 pp.)     Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2nd November 2017     Genre: Thriller, Crime

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

Find In The Dark on Goodreads

 

Extract from In The Dark by Andreas Pflüger

The stewardess asks again: ‘With milk?’

‘Black.’ Aaron reaches out her hand and feels the cup being placed in it. She hears the pilot’s voice: ‘In thirty minutes we will land in Berlin. It has already been snowing all morning. Please keep your safety belts fastened, we are expecting some turbulence.’

Aaron forces herself to drink the coffee.

Since she has been working for the BKA, the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation, in Wiesbaden, there have been several opportunities to travel to Berlin for work. The office has a branch in the district of Treptow, where the security group, the anti-terror centre and the ‘special unit’ department are based. But Aaron has always been able to avoid it.

She grew up in the Rhineland, but in her early twenties she made Berlin her home, which it still is in some way even today, even though she hasn’t been there for five years. She feels that quite clearly, with every kilometre closer to the city. Impatience floods through her, the joyful anticipation of arrival, a tingle. It irritates her, because on this return journey, the twenty-four hours that she will stay, fear is her luggage.

Five years. Aaron didn’t even close down her flat in Schöneberg; her father did that for her.

In Berlin she left behind only a few people that she misses. The life she led hardly allowed her to have friendships. Pavlik and his wife Sandra were, in fact, the only ones. When she moved to the nameless Department at the age of twenty-five, he immediately took her under his wing.

The only woman among forty men.

It was from Pavlik that she learned that everyone, however long they had been there, had nights when the shivering came.

That came as a great relief to Aaron: being hugged, and also being allowed to console others.

Nonetheless, in the years that have passed since Barcelona she and Pavlik haven’t spoken. They talked on the phone occasionally for the first few months. But they were both helpless. Pavlik tried to act as if nothing serious had happened in Spain, and took refuge in coolness because it was the only way he could deal with it. And Aaron could find no words to express what it means for her, she still can’t even today. Eventually they only heard each other breathing. And then the calls stopped.

Will I still recognize his voice?

‘We are now coming in to land at Berlin-Schönefeld. Please fold away your tables and put your seats in the upright position.’

‘Oh great!’

When Aaron’s neighbour furiously throws her coffee cup at her, she realizes that she has left it half full on the table, and must have spilled it over the man’s trousers.

‘Are you blind?’ he snarls.

‘Yes.’

Pflüger_Andreas(c)Stefan KlüterAbout the Author

Andreas Pflüger is a German screenwriter and author. He has written a number of episodes of the hugely popular German police procedural Tatort. In the Dark is published in eight languages.

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Book Review: Zenka by Alison Brodie

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Zenka_FinalAbout the Book

Ruthless, stubborn and loyal. Zenka is a Hungarian pole-dancer with a dark past.

When cranky London mob boss, Jack Murray, saves her life she vows to become his guardian angel – whether he likes it or not. Happily, she now has easy access to pistols, knuckle-dusters and shotguns.

Jack learns he has a son, Nicholas, a community nurse with a heart of gold. Problem is, Nicholas is a wimp. Zenka takes charge. Using her feminine wiles and gangland contacts, she aims to turn Nicholas into a son any self-respecting crime boss would be proud of. And she succeeds! Nicholas transforms from pussycat to mad dog, falls in love with Zenka, and finds out where the bodies are buried – because he buries them. He’s learning fast that sometimes you have to kill, or be killed.

As his life becomes more terrifying, questions have to be asked: How do you tell a crime boss you don’t want to be his son? And is Zenka really who she says she is?

Praise for Zenka:

‘A riveting read. Powerful. Spicy.’ -Midwest Book Review
5* ‘To say I loved this story would be a massive understatement.’ –Bloggers from Down Under
5* ‘Will warm your heart and chill your bones’ –Tome Tender BlogSpot
5* ‘Top of my list for best fiction this year.’ – Lauren Sapala, WriteCity
5* ‘You won’t be able to put this book down.’ –Laura Reading
5* ‘Brodie nails it again. Intelligent wit and outstanding writing.’ –Charlie Elliott, author of Life Unbothered

Format: eBook (299 pp.)                     Publisher:
Published: 6th November 2017         Genre: Suspense, Crime, Comedy

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

Find Zenka on Goodreads

My Review

Alison Brodie knows how to write a story full of verve, humour and memorable characters and she’s done it again with Zenka.

The story, full of twists and turns, is told largely from the point of view of Nicholas, the son of Jack’s first love, and Trevor, Jack’s accountant and trusted right-hand man. I particularly liked the relationship between Jack and Trevor – a kind of prickly bro-mance. ‘Every Christmas they would have lunch at a ludicrously expensive restaurant, go back to the office and watch The Italian Job (Jack’s choice) then Zulu (Trevor’s choice) while working through a giant box of luxury chocolates.’  Picturing this had me laughing out loud – the film choices of The Italian Job and Zulu were just so perfect! It probably helps that my husband’s name is also Trevor and that he would not be disappointed to watch either of those films on Christmas Day!

Every so often, Zenka, via her hilarious letters to her friend, Alina, pops up to act as the reader’s guide to the other characters and with her own very individual take on events in the book. From her letters, we get a sense of the inner steel behind the bubbly, colourful exterior. As the lady herself says, ‘Nobody can ignore Zenka Valentina Varga if she does not vant to be ignored!’ Actually, I would have been happy to have had more Zenka in the book. I particularly liked the scenes depicting Nicholas and Zenka’s first encounters.

Alison Brodie’s trademark comic touch is evident throughout the book and there are some great one-liners: ‘Jack and Zenka were busy concocting ways to “bring out the gorilla” in Nicholas but the truth was, they’d have more success turning Noddy into The Terminator.’

Alison Brodie does a great job of bringing together all the pieces of the jigsaw at the end of the book and slotting them into place to provide a satisfyingly complete and suitably festive picture – with a few surprises thrown in. Having had just a glimpse of Alison’s writing journey for this book, I know how hard she works on refining it so it’s good as possible. Well, all her efforts have definitely paid off with Zenka. If you love a crime caper with a touch of mystery, a sprinkling of romance and a healthy dose of black humour, this is the book for you.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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In three words: Funny, crime, lively

Try something similar…Brake Failure by Alison Brodie (click here to read my review)

AlisonBrodieAbout the Author

Alison Brodie is a Scot, with French Huguenot ancestors on her mother’s side. She is a writer and animal rights activist. Her books have been published in hardback and paperback by Hodder & Stoughton (UK), Heyne (Germany) and Unieboek (Holland). Alison is now a self-publisher.

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