Tag: NetGalley

Book Review – The Trap by Ava Glass @avaglassbooks @penguinbooksuk

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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for The Trap by Ava Glass which was published in paperback by Penguin UK on 1st August 2024. My thanks to Amanda at Moonflower Books for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my digital review copy via NetGalley. If you get the chance, do check out the reviews by my tour buddies for today.

About the Book

Book cover of The Trap by Ava Glass

How far would you go to catch a killer?

This is the question UK agent Emma Makepeace must ask herself when she is sent to Edinburgh for the upcoming global G7 Summit.

The Russians are in town and Emma and her team know a high-profile assassination is being planned. But who is their target?

There is only one way to find out. Emma must set a trap using herself as bait.

As the most powerful leaders in the world arrive and the city becomes gridlocked, Emma knows the clock is ticking.

Format: Paperback (416 pages) Publisher: Penguin
Publication date: 1st August 2024 Genre: Thriller

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My Review

The Trap is the third book in the series featuring intelligence agent Emma Makepeace. It can definitely be read as a standalone thanks to references for new readers to events in the previous two books – The Chase and The Traitor – and to Emma’s own quite complicated personal history. (These would be spoilers if you were intending to go back and read the first two books). Of course, the main thing you need to know about Emma is that it is not her real name, just her cover name. Her real name is known only to a select few and she’s quite used to adopting other identities, all of which have been carefully created by the Agency, the outfit for which she works.

The plot involving a possible assassination attempt on a leading politician, an important summit at which decisions will be made about sanctions against Russia and the leaking of sensitive information to the press makes it feel bang up-to-date. As does the impressive digital technology at the Agency’s disposal. However there’s also space for some ‘old school’ techniques, including one which wouldn’t be out of place in an Agatha Christie novel.

Emma’s become used to working along. In fact, she prefers it that way having been badly let down in the past by someone she believed she could trust. I liked the fact that on this occasion she is required to pair up with someone else and, that contrary to her instincts, there’s a lot of value to be gained from the partnership. Cue perhaps a more permanent arrangement in the next book?

The Trap has everything you’d expect in a good spy thriller: some really bad guys to go up against, exotic locations, a race against time and a final showdown. I enjoyed being reunited with some of the team from previous books, including Ripley, Emma’s enigmatic boss, Martha, creator of a thousand disguises and Zach, the tech wizard.

And through the character of Emma we see the challenges of being a spy: never being able to reveal your occupation to others; having to lie to friends, family and lovers; living a double life with a name that is not your own; being constantly on your watch.

The Trap is another accomplished, nail-biting thriller from the author who has been dubbed ‘The new queen of spy fiction’.

In three words: Exciting, pacy, dramatic
Try something similar: Dead Line by Stella Rimington

About the Author

Author Ava Glass

Ava Glass is a former crime reporter and civil servant. Her time working for the government introduced her to the world of spies, and she’s been fascinated by them ever since.

She lives in the south of England.

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Book Review – The King’s Mother by Annie Garthwaite

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About the Book

Book cover of The King's Mother by Annie Garthwaite

1461. Through blood and battle Edward has gained England’s throne – king by right and conquest – eighteen years old and unstoppable. Cecily has piloted his rise to power and stands at his shoulder now, first to claim the title King’s Mother.

But to win a throne is not to keep it and war is come again. As brother betrays brother, and trusted cousins turn treacherous, other mothers rise up to fight for other sons. Cecily must focus her will to defeat every challenge. Wherever they come from. Whatever the cost.

For there can be only one King, and only one King’s Mother.

Format: Hardcover (400 pages) Publisher: Viking
Publication date: 11th July 2024 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

Although the book is pitched as a battle between four women – Cecily Neville, Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort and Marguerite of Anjou – to see their sons become of King of England and therefore be in a position to claim for themselves the title of King’s Mother, the book is really Cecily Part 2 as we see events entirely from her point of view.

As in the earlier book, she’s a schemer and a behind-the-scenes fixer whose favourite game is chess and is not averse to creating her own rules in order to win. She frequently finds herself having the task of cleaning up her sons’ messes. For example, suppressing knowledge of her eldest surviving son Edward’s secret ‘marriage’ to a young noblewomen that might, if it was discovered, threaten the legitimacy of future offspring and, in the process, the succession.

When it comes to Cecily’s second son, George, Duke of Clarence, lets just say that if he’d have written his autobiography it probably would have been entitled ‘Spare’ so visceral is his anger at being continually passed over for the wealth and status he believes he deserves. It leads him to make some disastrous decisions having been manipulated by others for their own ends that see him eventually put to death for treason. An habitual drunkard, the manner of his death – possibly at his own request – is said to have been drowning in a butt of Malmsey, although the author gives us a slightly different angle on this.

Cecily’s youngest son, the man who will become Richard III, gets a flattering portrayal. He’s a skilled soldier, able administrator, loving husband and doting father who would surely never dream of doing away with two young princes.

For the first half of the book, although exerting what influence she can, Cecily is pretty much an observer of events. I’ll be honest, I found myself yearning for a little less historical detail, a bit more pace and something that would make me more invested in all the women’s stories. I did get that in the latter part of the book as Cecily jockeys for position with Elizabeth and Margaret Beaufort who, it turns out, is a pretty good chess player herself. Marguerite of Anjou, although having a key role in events, remains rather in the shadows throughout.

Even if I couldn’t be quite as enthusiastic as other readers, The King’s Mother completes the fascinating story of the life of a woman who was at the heart of events during a turbulent period of England’s history.

I received a digital review copy courtesy of Viking via NetGalley. The King’s Mother is book 4 of my 20 Books of Summer 2024.

In three words: Detailed, fascinating, assured
Try something similar: The Queen’s Rival by Anne O’Brien

About the Author

Author Annie Garthwaite

Annie Garthwaite turned to fiction after a 30-year international business career, fulfilling her lifelong ambition to write an account of Cecily Neville, matriarch of the House of York during the Wars of the Roses and mother of Edward IV and Richard III. Her obsession with Cecily and her family began in school and never left her. Setting off in the world of work, she promised herself that, at age 55, she would give up the day job and write. She did just that, completing her novel while studying for a creative writing MA at the University of Warwick. Cecily, her debut novel, even before it’s publication was named a ‘top pick’ by The Times and Sunday Times. (Photo: Author website)

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