The One by John Marrs

The One by John Marrs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 418

Publisher - Del Rey

Source - friend sent me

Blurb from Goodreads

How far would you go to find The One?

A simple DNA test is all it takes. Just a quick mouth swab and soon you’ll be matched with your perfect partner the one you are genetically made for.

That’s the promise made by Match Your DNA. A decade ago, the company announced that they had found the gene that pairs each of us with our soul mate. Since then, millions of people around the world have been matched. But the discovery has its downsides: test results have led to the breakup of countless relationships and upended the traditional ideas of dating, romance and love.

Now five very different people have received the notification that they’ve been “Matched.” They’re each about to meet their one true love. But “happily ever after” isn’t guaranteed for everyone. Because even soul mates have secrets. And some are more shocking than others…

A word-of-mouth hit in the United Kingdom, The One is a fascinating novel that shows how even the simplest discoveries can have complicated consequences.



My Review

Mandy, Christopher, Jade, Nick and Ellie are our main characters and we alternate bouncing between them and chapters. The One is around everyone being able to swab and send off your DNA and you are notified when they find The One, you exact DNA match. You have to pay to get their details and there have been mixed reactions. Happy couples split up, families torn apart and your match isn't always your matched gender. We see the book follow the stories of the five main characters and how taking the test & finding their The One impacts on their lives.

So if that wasn't enough to wet your whistle one of them is a murderer, serial killer, brutally murders women purely for his own kicks, the women doesn't even get names because it is their routine/accessibility that matters to him so he can fulfil his sick urges.

The book centres around relationships and how finding your "The One" can impact your life, some get their happy ever after, some will never be the same and how would something like this impact on a sociopathic serial killer.

My reading mojo is a bit up and down, I read this in one day, I do like Marrs writing, he makes some of the most shocking characters, shady people and scenarios, car crash style you struggle to look away from. I am super nosey so when I get interested in a story line I just want to sink into it and see where it goes. Short chapters too which always makes me happy especially if you are struggling with your concentration, 4/5.

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Silent Parade by Keigo Higashino

Silent Parade by Keigo Higashino
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 4 days

Pages - 352

Publisher - Abacus

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Detective Galileo, Keigo Higashino’s best loved character from The Devotion of Suspect X, returns in a complex and challenging mystery—several murders, decades apart, with no solid evidence.

A popular young girl disappears without a trace, her skeletal remains discovered three years later in the ashes of a burned out house. There’s a suspect and compelling circumstantial evidence of his guilt, but no concrete proof. When he isn’t indicted, he returns to mock the girl’s family. And this isn’t the first time he’s been suspected of the murder of a young girl, nearly twenty years ago he was tried and released due to lack of evidence. Chief Inspector Kusanagi of the Homicide Division of the Tokyo Police worked both cases.

The neighborhood in which the murdered girl lived is famous for an annual street festival, featuring a parade with entries from around Tokyo and Japan. During the parade, the suspected killer dies unexpectedly. His death is suspiciously convenient but the people with all the best motives have rock solid alibis. CI Kusanagi turns once again to his college friend, Physics professor and occasional police consultant Manabu Yukawa, known as Detective Galileo, to help solve the string of impossible to prove murders.



My Review

So this is book four in a series, I haven't read the others and started here, I think reading the earlier books may well have given me a bit more connection to the characters. Imagine your beloved daughter going missing and her remains found a few years later in a house fire. Everyone knows the killer and their guilty but they get off because of evidence issues. What is worse is it isn't the first time he has been connected to something like this and also went free then. If all of that isn't bad enough the arrogance of the killer to be around and taunt the family with his presence.

So the book splits a bit, we have the family of the victim, hard working, family orientated and very loved in their community. The police investigated, the guy visiting the family at their workplace and just being a very smart but lacking any kind of morality, hate him! A big festival happens locally and what do you know the bad guy dies under suspicious circumstances. The police are looking into it and with his connection to the local girls death the suspects are plentiful.

It is a busy book and I liked the professor helping out with the investigation, unofficially of course. There are a fair few players and despite us jumping around them it wasn't overly difficult to follow. I liked it I didn't love it, not sure if that would have changed had I read the earlier books. This was my first time reading this author, I would read them again, 3/5 for me this time.

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Written In Blood by Chris Carter

Written in Blood by Chris Carter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time take to read - 3 days

Pages - 496

Publisher - Simon & Schuster UK

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

IF HE WRITES YOUR NAME DOWN, IT'S A DEATH SENTENCE . . Los Angeles, December 4th - exactly three weeks until Christmas day. Angela Wood, a master in the art of pickpocket, has just finished for the day - six hundred and eighty-seven dollars – not bad for less than fifteen minutes work.

As she celebrates her profitable day with a cocktail, one of the patrons in the lounge she’s in catches her attention by being rude to an old man. Angela decides to teach him a lesson, and steals the man’s expensive-looking leather bag.

Inside is no money ... no laptop computer ... nothing of any value ... at least not to Angela. Just a black, leather-bound book, surprisingly heavy. Curiosity takes over and in the comfort of her apartment, Angela quickly leafs through the pages.

That is when the worst nightmare of her life begins.
This is no ordinary book.
Read it at your own peril.



My Review

An exceptional thief decides to punish someone for their rudeness and steals something that puts her life in danger. A serial killer that wasn't on anyone's radar, killings follow seemingly no pattern or victimology. When Angela tangles with a cold calculated killer and takes what is his she tries to offload to the police and go about her business. Unfortunately for her she has no idea who she has robbed and Hunter and co may have to face a killer like none they have faced before.

This is book eleven, you could well pick this up as a standalone but the books are so good I would say go read them. Hunter is one of the best detectives, he has been head hunted by the FBI he is that good. Him and partner Garcia are up against a killer that has no fear, no set pattern and a unique insight into the killers crimes.

Brutal in how some of the killings are yet one or two have vibes of previous book kills or themes. I still really enjoy Carters books, the chapters are short, the storyline engaging and in this one very much cat and mouse yet it isn't always the police playing the role of the cat. Always interesting to hear from a cold killer and the *motives* of this killer is chilling, 4/5 for me. Looking forward to book twelve, can't believe that is me caught up with the whole series!

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The Art of Dying by Ambrose Parry

The Art of Dying by Ambrose Parry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 416

Publisher - Canongate Books

Source - Netgalley

Blurb from Goodreads

Edinburgh, 1850. Despite being at the forefront of modern medicine, hordes of patients are dying all across the city, with doctors finding their remedies powerless. But it is not just the deaths that dismay the esteemed Dr James Simpson - a whispering campaign seeks to blame him for the death of a patient in suspicious circumstances.

Simpson's protégé Will Raven and former housemaid Sarah Fisher are determined to clear their patron's name. But with Raven battling against the dark side of his own nature, and Sarah endeavouring to expand her own medical knowledge beyond what society deems acceptable for a woman, the pair struggle to understand the cause of the deaths.

Will and Sarah must unite and plunge into Edinburgh's deadliest streets to clear Simpson's name. But soon they discover that the true cause of these deaths has evaded suspicion purely because it is so unthinkable.


My Review

Let me start off saying this is book two in a series, I didn't realise and I don't think I have been hampered by not reading book one. There are a few throwbacks and brief recaps of things that happened with book one so you can get away with starting with this one, if starting mid series doesn't make you twitchy.

The time is 1850, the place is Edinburgh and as is nature, people are dying. However some of them are not as should be and one well respected doctor, doctor Simpson, one of the patients was his. With a smear campaign kicking off and whispers of wrongful death of this patient, his understudy Will Raven reluctantly looks into the case and finds more than he bargained for. Will is prompted into action by Sarah, once a house maid to Doctor Simpson, now married to a doctor herself, Sarah has always been interested in medicine. At a time when women should be seen and not heard, married and tied to the sink, Sarah has always been supported and encouraged by doctor Simpson so she has a dual interest in the case.

The book has quite a few layers to it, Will and Sarah have a past, Sarah is now married, Will is very career focused and being involved with a house maid, for him, would negatively impact his career. Yet now he is back, Sarah is in a very different social standing and Will is having to battle his actions and consequences. Investigating who would have it out for doctor Simpson, the mysterious deaths and one of my fave things about this book, medicine back then! Add to all that we get wee snippets from the killer, an insight into their mind and what they are doing, I think when this is done well it really adds to a story. I do like a book is woven with historical facts, considering I never used to bother with historical fiction I do find myself enjoying them more as I get older. I also like books where you learn stuff as you go coupled with the fact is it set somewhere I have visited! Medicine itself is always evolving, practices changing, attitudes and procedures so I do like when you read of things past and then go off to read more in depth around X subject. I liked this one so much I will be buying book one and looking out eagerly for the next in the series, 4.5/5 for me this time. If you like murder mystery, medicine, books in the past, relationships and investigation this one will tick all the boxes for you!

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Class Murder by Leigh Russell Blog Tour

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Class Murder by Leigh Russell (an author who has fabulous taste in colours, her favourite colour also happens to be mine, purple!).





Class Murder by Leigh Russell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 353

Publisher - No Exit Press

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

With so many potential victims to choose from, there would be many deaths. He was spoiled for choice, really, but he was determined to take his time and select his targets carefully. Only by controlling his feelings could he maintain his success. He smiled to himself. If he was clever, he would never have to stop. And he was clever. He was very clever. Far too clever to be caught.
Geraldine Steel is back for her tenth case. Reunited in York with her former sergeant, Ian Peterson, she discovers that her tendency to bend the rules has consequences. The tables have turned, and now he's the boss.

When two people are murdered, their only connection lies buried in the past. As police search for the elusive killer, another body is discovered. Pursuing her first investigation in York, Geraldine Steel struggles to solve the confusing case. How can she expose the killer, and rescue her shattered reputation, when all the witnesses are being murdered?



My Review

This is the 10th book in the Geraldine Steel series, I have picked some of the previous book sup out of reading order however I advise starting at the beginning. There is so much history that is relevant to this book I think to enhance enjoyment of the book I would definitely go back to the beginning.

Geraldine finds herself trying to settle after relocating in York, happy to be reunited with fellow officer Ian Peterson, now her superior, there are mixed emotions. Geraldine's private life has in recent times proven to be challenging, having a knock on effect on her job and she is trying to deal with that, new living arrangements, changes at work and now a vicious killer is on the loose.

We open to the killer as a child and flip around in modern day with the police investigation, insights from the killer and the victims. The police need a link, they need a motive and maybe then they can get a break on the case. Some aspects of the book are frustrating from the police point of view and what they come up against with the people they are investigating. I guess that is a true representative of what some of the force come up against in any investigation, let alone one so serious.

I said in my review of book 9, the family side of the story really hit me from an emotional stance, this book, whilst is does refer to family, the drive is more on the killer, victims, police investigation side f things. I always mention this with Russell's book but I love the Acronym glossary she uses at the front of a book. How many times do we read acronyms and forget what they mean and you are back tracking on the pages to find what they mean. May not be a big thing to some but I love it. Class murder itself is a riveting story, pulling the reader in from page one, 4/5 stars for me this time. I really need to go back and buy the couple of books I missed from this series! Have read more than a handful of Russell's work I can say, hand on heart, she is going from strength to strength and I cannot wait to read what is next for Geraldine Steel.

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Normal by Graeme Cameron

Normal by Graeme Cameron
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 304

Publisher - MIRA

Blurb from Goodreads

He lives in your community, in a nice house with a well-tended garden. He shops in your grocery store, bumping shoulders with you as you pass him and apologizing with a smile. He drives beside you on the highway, politely waving to let you into the lane ahead of him.

What you don't know is that he has an elaborate cage built into a secret basement under his garage. And the food that he's carefully shopping for is to feed a young woman he's holding there against her will--one in a string of many, unaware of the fate that awaits her.

This is how it's been for a long time. It's normal...and it works. Perfectly.

Then he meets the checkout girl from the 24-hour grocery. And now the plan, the hunts, the room...the others. He doesn't need any of them anymore. He needs only her. One small problem--he still has someone trapped in his garage.

Discovering his humanity couldn't have come at a worse time.



My Review

Our main character is just your average chap, living within your community, in a nice house and looks after his garden. He is polite but not intrusive, you don't feel threatened by him at all he is so nondescript. However, you should be threatened, within that lovely normal house and well tended garden is a concealed cage, underneath the garage. Those who see it will never get to tell as our main character is a controlled mix somewhere between a psychopath and a sociopath. He is the perfect predator, he acts as he needs to, blends in to the normal, giving off an nonthreatening vibe and then he pounces! This is his normal, he hunts, he kills, he blends in and is aloof, his life is all about the hunt and kill. Until he comes across a girl in a supermarket checkout, something about her stops him in his tracks and suddenly he wants to be in her company & not to kill or eat her. As he starts to get to know Rachel and discover his humanity, he finds himself becoming "normal" however, his previous captive, Erica, is still alive in his basement and causing him to ask almost as many questions of himself as Rachel is.

This is a bizarre, freaky, chilling tale. We know virtually nothing about our main character except he is something between Hannibal Lecture and Dexter Morgan. I think this works well because he could be just about anyone, we have no actual name or description so the reader could picture him to be literally anyone. This works well in one way however it also leaves so many questions, if he has no job how does he afford everything, where is your usual nosy neighbour who spots this single chap with no job or set schedule. He kills for pleasure, his life evolves around the selection, hunt and murder. He is focused and never left any traces for the police, however, since kidnapping Erica, everything has changed. He doesn't bump her off immediately like so many before her, he goes home with a girl called Annie and strikes up a "friendship" with her, Rachel enthralls him and all this knocks him off his game. He comes under the notice of the police, he is questioning everything and his life is completely turned on its head. As a cold blooded killed, sometimes cannibal everything goes well, however once he starts to normalize thats when things start to go pear shaped for him.

I think the idea is fresh and it is interesting to get behind the mind of a killer, to see him transform from a single focused individual with only one objective, to becoming one who starts to see humans as more than sport. You need to suspend belief as some of it is a tad out there and I had a lot of questions left, however its a well written book that will draw you in. I most certainly would read this author again and maybe he will write more on the characters from this tale in their own right. 3/5 for me this time, thanks so much to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review and introducing me to a new author. You can get your hands on a copy of this from 31st of March, 2015 onwards from all good retailers.

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