Girl on Fire by Tony Parsons

A friend of mine passed ‘Girl on Fire’ on to me recently so, as I was in a bit of a crime and thriller mood, I decided I would sneak it in before the end of February. I mean, as we are in a leap year and there is an extra day, I may as well use some of it reading.

‘Girl on Fire’ introduced me to DC Max Wolfe (although not his first case), and I was quite taken with this character. A single parent who loves his dog, his job and follows his moral compass, even when the odds may be stacked against him or his case.

Max Wolfe is caught up in the events of a terrorist attack on a local shopping centre, and becomes involved in trying to draw out those who were responsible but also those who believe that they have a right to carry out vigilante justice. There appears to be danger around every corner, from many different sources but Max Wolfe always keeps his sense of fair justice, which makes him a fascinating character to read about as he faces so many troubles and dangers in his work.

I actually found this quite a thought-provoking read, as there was a study of character along the way as it considered what influences people to carry out some of the actions that they do. And how different people view right and wrong, justice and injustice – how do we form our morals and values?

My only tiny frustration with this book with the punctuation of the flow occasionally to explain a piece of police jargon or abbreviation. Although I appreciate as readers we may not have fully understood these things without that little explanation, I just occasionally felt that it interrupted my flow when I was fully immersed in a moment in the story. But I think that was probably just my personal preference when I read rather than a criticism.

I think I would like to read more about Max Wolfe and will be keeping an eye out for more books which feature him in the lead, because I am keen to see where his character came from and where his character is going. Only six more books to read – so many books, so little time.

The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas

After the Book Taster introduced us to the books of Claire Douglas, I had made a decision that I need to read her backlist. So, one of my reads in February was ‘The Girls who Disappeared’ (as I found it at a little bit of a bargain price).

This was another great twisty thriller, with atmosphere built from the first page, and a fantastic strong female lead in the form of the journalist Jenna Halliday.

This is a small-town mystery. Twenty years earlier, Olivia Rutherford was in a car accident with her friends, but when she wakes up, the other girls have gone. For twenty years, there has been no explanation for what happened that night, but as the anniversary approaches, Jenna Halliday wants to do a true crime podcast in an attempt to see if it exposes any new information. However, it seems that some people in this small town will go to extreme measures to ensure that nothing new is exposed – or to ensure that any other secrets are exposed.

The small-town setting adds to the claustrophobic atmosphere, as does the forest and the road where the accident happened. Claire Douglas is excellent at using the setting to add to the tension of the story that is being told.

As it is a thriller, it is quite hard to say too much about the plot of the book, other than you are left feeling that everyone has a secret that they are trying to keep hidden, and you never really know who is genuine as a character. It is a quite a ride from start to finish – with a fantastic reveal when we reach the conclusion.

The Fury by Alex Michaelides

Last year, one of my favourite thrillers was the dark academia novel ‘The Maidens’ from Alex Michaelides. So, when I saw that ‘The Fury’ was out, I knew I had to grab a copy, because I could not wait to see what Alex Michaelides was treating us to next.

This book did what Alex Michaelides does well, it had a fantastic narrator who you suspect is unreliable from the first page but draws you straight into the story. You just have to know what is going to happen next and what exactly the narrator’s motive is. This is a story of obsession, power and secrets, interwoven with the myths of the Greek islands. All of which results in a number of twists and turns that take the reader on quite an adventure.

Although I did work out one of the twists (I am not sure it is particuarly hidden), the joy of the story is finding out what led to that twist or that decision. The book is fascinating as the motive behind every characters actions is what keeps you reading. How much does each character know about the other, who is really working together, and what is the fact and what is the fiction?

The setting of a Greek island becomes as much part of the story too. It is a great setting as the heat of the island adds to the tense atmosphere of our collection of shady characters. An isolated, private island always seems to be a great setting for a thriller after all (‘And Then There Were None’ by Agatha Christie has to be one of the best examples of that, if you have not read it – you should, when you have read ‘The Fury’, of course).

All of this has not stopped ‘The Maidens’ from being my favourite by Alex Michaelides, but this was another great read that had me hooked. And I enjoyed the references made to some of the other novels.

This is going to be a great read for those who enjoy a thriller as we enter the warmer months, if you can wait that long to pick it up.

One Last Secret by Adele Parks

Book and Pudding Club’s pick for January was ‘One Last Secret’ by Adele Parks. This was the first book that I had read by this author.

This was quite an intense thriller, and was certainly not quite what I expected (as someone who does not read blurbs) – Dora has been working as a high-class escort in London; a career path she chose after the birth of her child, Dottie. But now Dora has met Evan and it is time for her to make a change: she is engaged and there is no need for her to work any more. However, she is asked to do one last job: fly to a Chateau in France and pretend, just one more time, to be the girlfriend of one of her clients. What sounds like an idyllic weekend away soon becomes a nightmare for Dora – and, slowly, secrets are revealed and everything starts to unravel.

This is quite a claustrophobic read (and does need to carry a few trigger warnings), and it all adds to the intense atmosphere of the story. I am not sure that it is a book I would have picked up without book club, but I did find it a compulsive read – and it would certainly make a fantastic TV series.

As a book club discussion, we realised how invested we actually all became in the story, as we wanted a prequel and a sequel to the story, and we think there is so much more we could find out about Dora and some of the truths that came out in this book. So, this is certainly a book that makes a great discussion point – even if you are not a huge fan of the story, it creates so many points that are worth discussing.

I am not sure that I would necessarily read more books by Adele Parks, as, although I did enjoy this one, I would not have picked it up without book club – and, with so many books to read, I am not sure they will ever necessarily be at the top of the wishlist. Sometimes it is good to end on a high.

The Woman Who Lied by Claire Douglas

The Book Taster got us off to a thrilling start for 2024 with the January pick of ‘The Woman Who Lied’ by Claire Douglas. This is my first book by Claire Douglas and I am pretty sure that it will not be my last.

This was a fantastic page-turning thriller (yes, I have used that cliche phrase) and a great concept for a thriller too. Emilia Ward is an author of detective fiction and she is about to publish her final book with her famous chracter, Detective Miranda Moody. However, this does not quite become the celebration it should, as she suddenly seems to be living the story she created in her book. Was this story really from her imagination? Where did the inspiration for her final Detective Moody story really come from? And is Emilia’s perfect life about to come crashing down around her?

I found this a very well-plotted thriller. There are some fantastic red herrings woven into the plot. You are led down all sorts of paths, just like Emilia, only to find that you are completely off course. And, for me, that is the sign of a fantastic thriller. I did not reach the correct conclusion, and actually really enjoyed how this book ended, as I had not seen it coming. Although I admit that I do not read these to attempt to solve them, I read them to be able to have some complete escapism from the real world, and that is exactly what this book was for me.

I am looking forward to hearing Claire Douglas talk about her writing and her books at our book club meeting. And I will definitely be reading some of the backlist, because I always enjoy a good thriller.

Tell No One by Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben is an author (as usual) I suspect I should have started reading a long time ago. In fact, my ‘100 Books Bucket List’ prompted me to pick up ‘Tell No One’, as I thought it would probably be something that I would enjoy – after all, I have watched the various Netflix adaptations of Coben’s work.

I found ‘Tell No One’ an absolute (cliche, I know) page-turner. There was so much going on in this thriller and it was cleverly constructed. Harlan Coben sends you down one road, feeling as though you know what is afoot, only for things to never be quite as they seem. Characters who seem insignificant suddenly become incredibly significant, and those that you have written off as surely not being involved are suddenly more involved than you could ever imagine.

As a thriller, I can not give too much away in my post. But very briefly, David Beck’s wife, Elizabeth, was murdered, and her murderer has been convicted. However, eight years later, the events of that tragic night are thrown into doubt and David’s life is turned upside down as he seems to be in the spotlight for her murder. What did happen that night eight years ago? And why is it all coming back to haunt David and his family?

This was as thrilling as I expected it to be, and I honestly found myself not being able to put the book down – even reading it until the very last minute that I stepped off the train on my commute each day. I can see why this book is on the poster of 100 books that are worth a read, and I will definitely be seeking out more of Harlan Coben’s books, especially when I am seeking out a clever thriller.

The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell

When I popped this book into Storygraph, I was surprised to see that one of the adjectives used to describe it was ‘funny’. However, as I read this novel, I realised that, actually, there is some humour in this book; a dark humour, but almost a satire of how ‘the other half’ live – all woven into a great crime story.

I was kindly sent this book by a Bookstagram buddy and, when I saw that it had been chosen as Waterstones’ thriller novel of the month for October, I knew that it was time to pick it up and give it a read. And I was hooked by the tagline on the front: ‘You know how they live. This is how they die.’

I really enjoyed this book. As with all thrillers it is quite hard to write blog posts, as you do not want to give away any of the twists or the thrills. However, what I enjoyed about this book was the slightly cynical look, that almost became a satire of the rich/poor divide. How it may appear that some of those with privilege can sometimes manipulate the situation in order to achieve what they want while never considering the consequences of their actions or some of the devastation that they leave behind them.

Detective Caius Beauchamp was a great character and is someone that I would like to read more about in other books. Especially as you feel that the story leaves you with a desire to find out a little more about this man. And our villian Rupert Beauchamp (no relation but, sadly, historically these families were linked – with Rupert’s as lords and masters and Caius’ as far less…) is a very well-created enemy of the peace, but is also almost a caricature of ‘the other half’ and how they live.

There are some uncomfortable topics in this book, so please consider this before you read it, but as a rule this is a great thriller, and I hope we will see more from the pen of Charlotte Vassell.

The Drift by C.J. Tudor

My lovely bookstagram buddy ‘Life in Two Worlds’ sent me ‘The Drift’, as I had spotted that she had been reading it. And I feel very lucky that she did – this is a fascinating read and such a clever concept for a book.

I absolutely cannot give any spoilers in this post. So, this is going to be a very difficult post to write as the twist in this book is just perfect, and I absolutely did not see it coming – and I am still thinking about it now. What an incredible author C.J. Tudor is to have been able to write such a book with such a twist, and keep it all so well structured, while never losing that thread.

This is a virus novel: there is an outbreak of a dangerous virus and we follow a number of different characters as they deal with their experiences in an isolated area of the world. The characters are all fighting for survival in some way or another, and experiencing the paranoia that is established between those who are thrown together, and just want to be able to survive at whatever cost. The sense of place is fantastically created, so you feel you are among them in their snow drift, or stuck in the cable car – and you feel the tension as the characters do.

However, this is all I can really say about this story’s plotline, because you truly need to read this to appreciate the skill that has gone into writing this book. Although it is a bit of a slow burn and probably needs quite some concentration, it is a book that I recommend if you like a well-written thriller that leaves you guessing until the very end.

And I must remember to read more of C.J. Tudor’s books.

The Night of the Flood by Zoe Somerville

I am ashamed to say that ‘The Night of the Flood’ has been on my tbr pile for well over a year. This was a book I picked up after the 2022 ‘Tasting Notes Live’ event where I heard Zoe Somerville speak. I finally picked it up in August from ‘The Unread Shelf Project’ prompt of ‘Immerse’, as I felt this book would be a rather atmospheric read that would transport me back to the Norfolk of the early 1950s.

This book was inspired by the real floods which hit the Norfolk coastline in 1953 – and they become the setting for a fantastic slow-burn thriller. However, the thing that really drew me into this story was the backdrop of the Cold War. It was so interesting that this was a book about civilians (rather than a pure spy story) during the time and how much of an influence this unknown quantity of what was happening actually created such an atmosphere of fear and paranoia. It is always in the background of this story, haunting the characters and making Jack such an enigma of a character (I am still not sure if I warmed to him or not as I read this story). This is, of course, combined with the hangover from the Second World War – the idea that life is precious and can be sadly cut short – emphasised, again, by the tragedy of the floods.

There is also a great study of the taboos of British society at the time. And that some of these taboos, combined with the fear generated by the Cold War, were adding to the anxiety felt by many as they attempted to live their lives – the way they were expected to, even if it was not the way they truly wanted to.

I became truly hooked on this book once I was immersed amongst its pages. I found the characters and their experiences fascinating – against such a historic background. Zoe Somerville creates so much atmosphere with her writing that you can almost imagine being there and really witnessing what is taking place, which made it a perfect choice to the prompt of ‘Immerse’.

I will definitely be looking out for ‘The Marsh House’ and adding that to my tbr pile.

The Retreat by Sarah Pearse

The thriller fascination just seems to be carrying on this summer. I was lucky enough to be gifted ‘The Retreat’ as a birthday gift from a fantastic friend, so I picked it up pretty quick.

I had an interesting conversation with someone who suggested that the previous book, ‘The Sanitorium’, was a little far-fetched as a thriller, with some actions from the characters being questionable and probably thrown in to add more to the story. Now, I cannot comment as I have not read that book, but it was a surprise to me as I felt that this was not the case with ‘The Retreat’.

‘The Retreat’ reminded me of the classic crime stories of the locked room. A destination, rather claustrophobic, with a set number of characters, but murders are being committed (or very suspicious accidents). Sometimes, it seems that these crimes should be simple to solve but, of course, they always seem to be the most complex.

This is a very atmospheric novel – and the island is as much a character of this book as the people are. There is also a current and an historic crime that become part of the investigation, which adds another dimension to the story.

There may be a couple of actions by Elin Warner that some may consider questionable, but also I feel that they fit into the personality of the character that has been created. And do any of us know what someone may do in some situations.

I would be interested to read ‘The Sanitorium’, as the concept intrigues me and I wonder if the author’s writing has been honed – but, let us be honest, both books have been a big hit, so as we always say, one of the joys of books is that we all have different opinions and thoughts about them.