All Of Us Are Broken by Fiona Cummins

All Of Us Are Broken by Fiona Cummins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out as able over 3 days

Pages - 320

Publisher - Macmillan

Source - ARC

Blurb from Goodreads

It’s been a long time since the Hardwicke family has been on holiday. But thirteen-year-old Galen has wanted to see the wild dolphins at Scotland’s Chanonry Point for as long as she can remember, and her mother Christine – a lone parent since her beloved husband left – is determined she gets her wish. But their serene trip is about to be interrupted.

When DC Saul Anguish is called to investigate the shooting of an ex-police officer in Midtown-on-Sea, Essex, he quickly discovers that this is the first in a string of killings by Missy and Fox, a damaged young couple hell-bent on infamy, their love story etched in blood. In pursuit, Saul follows their trail north.

The paths of the Hardwickes' and the deadly couple are about to collide. When Saul and his forensic linguist partner, Blue, arrive on the scene, they witness the unthinkable: a mother forced to make an impossible choice.

Saul must uncover the truth about the couple. But can he find the strength to lay the ghosts of his past to rest before they break him?



My Review

Christine Hardwicke is doing her best, for her and her two kids Galen (teen girl) and Tom younger boy, since her husband left. In a bid to fix her broken family they head for a holiday to a the Scottish Highlands. Fox and Missy are a modern day Bonnie and Clyde, they know how things will play out but all they care about is each other and noone and nothing is getting in their way!

Ooft explosive, breath holding at points, shocking, edge of your seat moments peppered throughout the book. We jump between chapters and characters to lead up to the opening chapter, an unimaginable standoff and not everyone is likely to come out alive dun dun duuuuuuuuun.

We also have DC Saul and side kick/partner forensic linguistic partner. We met them before in another book (if you haven't read it fear not you can pick up here but absolutely get the other cos its fantastic and you are missing out) - they are very different law official people and have a unique but strong bonded relationship, prepare some gasps if you don't already know their story. All of the above end up on the same path, Saul investigating, Fox and Missy causing murder/mayhem and chaos and the poor Hardwickes just are wrong place wrong time.

Cummins has a talent for sure, drops you right into an action or shocking scene then taking us back to get to know the players. It is brutal, fast faced, no one is safe and you will struggle to put it down when real life duties come a calling, 4.5/5 for me.

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Into The Dark by Fiona Cummins

Into the Dark by Fiona Cummins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - as able in and out over 4 days

Pages -

Publisher - Pan Macmillan

Source - ARC Netgalley

Blurb from Goodreads

Into the Dark is the new dark and gripping crime thriller from Fiona Cummins about revenge, greed, ambition and the true cost of friendship.

THE PLACE: Seawings, a beautiful Art Deco home overlooking the sweep of the bay in Midtown-on-Sea.

THE CRIME: The gilded Holden family - Piper and Gray and their two teenage children, Riva and Artie - has vanished from the house without a trace.

THE DETECTIVE: DS Saul Anguish, brilliant but with a dark past, treads the narrow line between light and shade.

One late autumn morning, Piper’s best friend arrives at Seawings to discover an eerie scene – the kettle is still warm, all the family’s phones are charging on the worktop, the cars are in the garage. But the house is deserted.

In fifteen-year-old Riva Holden’s bedroom, scrawled across the mirror in blood, are three words:

Make
Them
Stop.

What happens next?


My Review

The Holden family have disappeared, the house in a state as if the family only just left. The police are investigating, things may not be as they seem and are the family? Concern ramps up when a blood stained message is found in the teenagers room, what happened to the Holden's and where are they now?

The timeline flips around the disappearance, days, hours, weeks before and with each jump we get a different glimpse of the people they are. What was happening in their lives, interactions, actions and secrets. Present day takes us into the investigation, DC Saul and colleagues and the missing wife Piper's best friend Julianne. Pretty much all of these characters have some kind of secret to hide, aren't exactly the nicest of people, seriously some of them are super weird!

It took me a little bit to settle to and get my head around it, a fair few characters, storylines and as I said timelines surrounding the missing family. I have a lot going on at home so my concentration is all over the place and hooking into a book just now is a struggle. I was pulled in pretty quickly (as I do with Cummins books) because I am a total nosey reader. I want to know what went down, how, why and when you get a book that teases out the information and reveals it secrets layer by layer you absolutely get invested. The characters aren't nice people, some of the behaviours are indeed shocking *gasp* which makes you reluctant to put it down. I would like to see some of the characters again because what on earth could X Y Z do next, this may just be wishful thinking as I don't think Cummins does series but they say a good author leaves the reader wanting more, 4/5 for me this time.

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When I was Ten by Fiona Cummins

When I Was Ten by Fiona Cummins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 367

Publisher - Macmillan

Source - Netgalley

Blurb from Goodreads

She had lived a lie for thirteen years, and the perfect life as she had known it was about to change forever.

Everyone remembered Sara and Shannon Carter, the little blonde haired sisters. Their Dad was the local GP and they lived in the beautiful house on the hill. Their best friend, Brinley Booth, lived next door. They would do anything for each other but everything shifted on that fateful day when Dr Richard Carter and his wife Pamela were stabbed fourteen times with a pair of scissors in what has become the most talked about double murder of the modern age.

The girls were aged ten and twelve at the time. One, nicknamed the Angel of Death, spent eight years in a children’s secure unit accused of the brutal killings. The other lived in foster care out of the limelight and prying questions. Now, on the anniversary of the trial, a documentary team has tracked down one of the sisters, persuading her to speak about the events of that night for the first time.

Her explosive interview sparks national headlines and Brinley Booth, now a journalist, is tasked with covering the news story which brings to light fresh evidence and triggers a chain of events which will have devastating consequences.



My Review

A child running from a horrific murder then present day - we flip from Catherine, mother to Honor and wife to Edward. She is everything you want to be, attentive, caring, worried about the change in her daughter who is becoming withdrawn, moody and night terrors, Edward is also behaving differently. Brinley is a reporter, never really sinking her teeth into anything worthwhile, dreaming of being with her colleague but noone looks at her like that nor takes her seriously. When a story comes about taking us back to a horrific family murder, Brinley has her chance to be involved in a real story but can she keep her past and present apart and how much will she risk to get what she wants?

Ooft this book has loads going on, as well as jumping from characters we also head back into the past, to the family of the murders. Two sisters living in what seems a perfect home, respected parents of the community - what would drive one of them to murder?

The book teases out the story as we go along, what does Catherine have to do with it and what is the deal with her husband, he is behaving cagey. The storyline that goes back to the siblings is hard reading in parts due to the subject matter. When we are in the present I want don't want to flip to the past and when I am in the past I don't want to flip to the present. It makes for compelling reading and keeps you guessing, where is this going, what does X have to do with Y?

This is my third book for this author and found there is another I have missed, now ordered and on route. For the people who work everything out I think you will enjoy this because it will keep you on your toes. For those who enjoy suspense/thriller/shocking then this is a book for you, 4.5/5 for me, looking forward to the one I missed and whatever she is working on next!

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The Collector by Fiona Cummins

The Collector by Fiona Cummins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - < than 1 day

Pages - 400

Publisher - MacMillan

Source - Fellow book worm

Blurb from Goodreads

The Collector by Fiona Cummins is the gripping sequel to Rattle.

Jakey escaped with his life and moved to a new town. His rescue was a miracle but his parents know that the Collector is still out there, watching, waiting…

Clara, the girl he left behind, is clinging to the hope that someone will come and save her.

Life has fallen apart for Clara's mother as she starts to lose hope.

The Bone Collector has a new apprentice to take over his family's legacy. But he can't forget the boy who got away and the detective who had destroyed his dreams.

Detective Etta Fitzroy's life collapsed when the Collector escaped. With Clara still missing, and a new wave of uncannily similar murders beginning, will she be able to find him again?

The Collector is back and this time he has nothing to lose . . .


My Review

First if you haven't read the first book, "Rattle" I suggest you do otherwise you have missed so much of the back story. This is the sequel and we have the same characters from the first book, the Bone Collector isn't happy he has lost all of his collection and is looking for the one who got away. He needs an apprentice, he needs new specimens and he knows exactly who and what he wants, nothing will stop him this time! On the other side is the officer who tangled with the collector and can't settle knowing he is still out there. What follows is a race against time, a cat and mouse game, who will survive?

We open with a news article covering the wee girl who went missing, then skip to young Saul, a troubled kid who has to look after his alcohol dependent mother, keep face with his friends and deal with his emotions. Someone is watching Saul and has great plans for him. Detective Etta Fitzroy's still picking up the pieces from her losses on the Bone Collector case, starting to rebuild her life when the past reaches out, the game is on.

Saul is a huge part of the story, Etta actually doesn't play a huge part. We get a microscopic look into Saul's life, follow the Bone Collector in his quest, snapshots with Etta and little Clara Foyle's mother as she struggles to accept her daughter is gone. The story grips the reader from pretty much the opening chapter because we have had the back story (so again if you haven't read Rattle please check it out) and we need to see what comes next. I love getting a story where you follow the bad guy and their plans/skulduggery. I am looking forward to the next from this author, 4/5 for me this time!

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Rattle by Fiona Cummins

Rattle by Fiona Cummins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days on and off

Pages - 352

Publisher - MacMillan

Blurb from Goodreads

A psychopath more frightening than Hannibal Lecter.

He has planned well. He leads two lives. In one he's just like anyone else. But in the other he is the caretaker of his family's macabre museum.

Now the time has come to add to his collection. He is ready to feed his obsession, and he is on the hunt.

Jakey Frith and Clara Foyle have something in common. They have what he needs.

What begins is a terrifying cat-and-mouse game between the sinister collector, Jakey's father and Etta Fitzroy, a troubled detective investigating a spate of abductions.

Set in London's Blackheath, Rattle by Fiona Cummins explores the seam of darkness that runs through us all; the struggle between light and shadow, redemption and revenge.

It is a glimpse into the mind of a sinister psychopath. And it's also a story about not giving up hope when it seems that all hope is already lost.


My Review

Jake Frith is a special little boy, he has a medical condition that means he needs to be extra careful and not hurt himself. For this reason he has come under the watchful eye of "The Bone Collector" a ruthless killer with one purpose in mind and nothing will get in the way of his goal. Etta Fitzroy is investigating abductions and soon finds herself in a cat and mouse game with a dangerous killer.

For a debut novel this book really packs a punch, we explore a rare medical condition, Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP) and it is evident how much research the author has sunk into that aspect of the book. I love fiction where you learn something and with anything else, if I come across something I don't know or don't know in detail I will go off and read about it so that ticks boxes here. The object of the killers desire is bone malformation and in this tale, two particular children fit the bill which will make some readers feel uncomfortable. There is also animal abuse mentioned, abuse to children and some of the scenes are very dark, creepy and chilling to say the least.

Etta makes for a great character as she has many flaws, she is determined to get the job done and will do whatever it takes to get the results she needs. I think this really brings the character to life and it shows a writers strength and ability to lift characters off the page. Cummins is definitely worth keeping an eye out for, I hope to see more in the series and look forward to her next offering, 4/5 for me this time.

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