Tag: thriller

Book Review – Girl Friends by Alex Dahl @AriesFiction

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Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Girl Friends by Alex Dahl. My thanks to Andrew at Head of Zeus for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my review copy via NetGalley. Do hop over to Instagram and check out the posts by my tour buddies for today, Kim at StratosphereGirl and Chloe at The Secret Book Review.

About the Book

Book cover of Girl Friends by Alex Dahl

THEY CAN BUILD YOU UP

Charlotte has it all: the successful career, the loving family. But, secretly, she is dangerously bored of her life. So when she meets free-spirited Bianka, it feels like fate – Bianka is exactly the person that Charlotte needs.

OR TEAR YOU DOWN

On a girls’ trip to Ibiza, home is forgotten as Charlotte dives head first into a life that is looser, wilder. She feels free, but there are devastating consequences: someone doesn’t return home.

As the aftermath of the holiday rips through her life back in London, Charlotte soon regrets ever breaking out of her carefully constructed routine – and begins to wonder whether meeting Bianka was really an accident at all…

Format: ebook (374 pages) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 11th April 2024 Genre: Thriller

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My Review

If your guilty pleasure is reading novels about wealthy people whose carefully constructed lives fall apart, then you will love Girl Friends. The story unfolds from the point of view of three characters: Charlotte, Bianka and Bianka’s stepson, Storm.

Charlotte has become an online sensation as the ‘Keto Queen’. She’s a self-confessed control freak whose image is carefully curated and whose domestic life is rigidly organised. But behind the facade, everything’s not so perfect. Her marriage to bank executive Andreas has become stale and passionless so she lives for her boozy get togethers with her friends Anette and Linda, fellow Scandinavian ex-pats. When Andreas asks her to cosy up to Bianka, the wife of his boss Emil, she agrees but, boy, does she not realise what she’s getting herself into.

If Charlotte is an expert at controlling herself then Bianka is an expert at controlling others. And, it transpires, she has a history of it. (As the book progresses, we get little suggestions that experiences earlier in Bianka’s life might have contributed to her need to control.) Bianka fawns over Charlotte wanting to learn every detail of Charlotte’s life but without giving away too much about her own. What she does divulge is, one suspects, often complete fiction carefully designed to create a bond between them. Bianka dresses to stand out, seems assured in any social situation and proves up for anything. It’s that adventurous spirit that proves irresistible to Charlotte.

Charlotte’s decision to invite Bianka to the annual ‘girls only’ trip to the family villa in Ibiza doesn’t go down well with Anette and Linda but by this time Charlotte is too dazzled and besotted by Bianka to care. Egged on by Bianka, long afternoons dozing on the terrace, morning yoga sessions and trips to fancy restaurants are soon replaced by wild, hedonistic parties where all forms of intoxication are available. From that point on it’s like watching an impending train crash. But who is the driver, who is the passenger and will anyone else be injured in the process?

In case you think I’ve forgotten Storm, I haven’t and, in fact, his was a storyline I really enjoyed. He is much the most empathetic character in the book, although that wouldn’t be difficult. Why is it, he wonders, that his father and, in particular, his stepmother Bianka are so reluctant to mention Storm’s mother Mia, or the circumstances of her death, supposedly the result of a freak accident in the mountains. As he digs into the past, memories that he’d previously suppressed start to emerge and what they reveal is shocking.

With its mix of intrigue and glamour, Girl Friends is like an exotic cocktail but one that will leave you with an almighty hangover in the morning and perhaps yearning for the carb hit of a piece of garlic foccacia. I confess I wasn’t a fan of the epilogue-type ending which seemed a little farfetched. But that apart, Girl Friends is the perfect beach read or book to get you through a long, otherwise tedious journey.

In three words: Glamorous, twisty, dark
Try something similar: Her Perfect Life by Sam Hepburn

About the Author

Alex Dahl is a half-American, half-Norwegian author. Born in Oslo, she studied Russian and German linguistics with international studies, then went on to complete an MA in creative writing at Bath Spa University and an MSc in business management at Bath University. A committed Francophile, Alex loves to travel, and has so far lived in Moscow, Paris, Stuttgart, Sandefjord, Switzerland, Bath and London. She is the author of five other thrillers: After She’d Gone, Cabin Fever, Playdate, The Heart Keeper, and The Boy at the Door, which was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger. 

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Book Review – The Shadow Network by Tony Kent @eandtbooks

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About the Book

Book cover of The Shadow NetWork by Tony Kent published by Elliott & Thompson

How do you take down an enemy when no one believes they exist?

When the lawyers of alleged war criminal Hannibal Strauss are caught up in a terror attack in The Hague, barrister Michael Devlin immediately suspects all is not what it seems. Teaming up once more with Agent Joe Dempsey, they must find who’s behind it all before any more innocent lives are lost.

With their key witness on the run and assassins on their tail, their only lead is a the Monk, a legendary and mysterious foreign agent with a fearsome reputation. But what is his stake in this dangerous game? And just who is part of his shadowy network of spies? Caught in a complicated web of lies, secrets and double agents, there’s no one Dempsey and Devlin can trust but themselves.

Format: Hardcover (464 pages) Publisher: Elliott & Thompson
Publication date: 15th February 2024 Genre: Thriller

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My Review

I was introduced to the formidable Joe Dempsey and his friend, lawyer Michael Devlin, when I read the previous novel in the series, No Way to Die. Dempsey, the perpetual loner, had the key role in that book, alongside the most trusted member of his hand-picked team, Eden Grace. I was pleased to see Eden return in this book and she proves herself just as accomplished and fearless as before.

The Shadow Network is the epitome of a page-turner: the short chapters give it real pace and the frequent shifts between different points of view make you feel you’re witnessing events in real time. The author is adept at ending a chapter with a killer last line meaning you’ve simply got to read on, and there are plenty of developments that I certainly didn’t see coming.

The storyline is cleverly constructed to reflect contemporary events – although I hope not too closely – incorporating global conspiracies, political extremism and media manipulation. The idea of a cunning, ruthless mind pulling strings to influence world events is pretty scary. (Since I can never pass up an opportunity for a John Buchan reference, there’s a similar concept in his early novel, The Power-House. It features a character who possesses an immense intellect that is unconstrained by common notions of morality, wielding the levers of power for malevolent ends.)

If I had to sum up the storyline of The Shadow Network in a phrase, it would be ‘don’t trust anyone’ – except, of course, Dempsey or Devlin. Another might be ‘never turn your back on someone’.

Tony Kent’s bio claims his previous experience brings ‘a striking authenticity to his thrillers’ and there’s certainly plenty of ‘striking’ in this one, with fist fights galore which make you wonder just how much more a body can take. A lot more is the answer when it comes to Dempsey. And even Devlin has to call on the darker, more violent instincts he’s long fought to suppress. (The source of these will be apparent if you’ve read earlier books in the series.)

The Shadow Network is what I like to call a ‘planes, trains and automobiles’ read. In other words, the ideal book to get you through a long journey. Actually, reading it on a train journey may not be a good idea as you might miss your stop. And thinking about it, listening to it while driving could be problematic since it will definitely make you want to steer clear of underground car parks. As a passenger, fine, although rather than ‘Are we there yet?’ you might find yourself asking ‘Are we there already?’. A beach read then? Definitely, although slap on the factor 50 in case you lose track of time.

My thanks to Emma at Emma Finnigan PR and Elliott & Thompson for my proof copy.

In three words: Action-packed, gripping, fast-paced
Try something similar: Hunter Killer by Brad Taylor

About the Author

Tony Kent is the author of Killer Intent, Marked for Death, Power Play and No Way to Die. As a practising criminal barrister and former boxer, he draws on his experiences to bring a striking authenticity to his thrillers. Ranked as a ‘leader in his field’, Tony has prosecuted and defended in the most serious trials during his twenty years at the Criminal Bar, and appears as a criminal justice expert on a number of TV shows, including Meet, Marry Murder; My Lover, My Killer and Kill Thy Neighbour.

Tony is the founder director of Chiltern Kills, which launched in October 2023. He lives just outside London with his wife, young son and dog.

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