Playing with Fire by Tess Gerritsen

Playing with Fire by Tess Gerritsen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 288

Publisher - Ballantine Books

Blurb from Goodreads

A beautiful violinist is haunted by a very old piece of music she finds in a strange antique shop in Rome.

The first time Julia Ansdell picks up The Incendio Waltz, she knows it’s a strikingly unusual composition. But while playing the piece, Julia blacks out and awakens to find her young daughter implicated in acts of surprising violence. And when she travels to Venice to find the previous owner of the music, she uncovers a dark secret that involves dangerously powerful people—a family who would stop at nothing to keep Julia from bringing the truth to light.


My Review

I read the ebook of this so I am not sure how the printed version will work but I feel I must mention a few things. The chapters are split between Julia and Lorenzo, present day Julia & Lorenzo is in Venice just before and then during, World War 2. The page for the start of the chapters have music note paper along with either Julia or Lorenzos name, earmarking whose chapter it is. The beginning of the book, before the story starts, has a beautiful old black and white photograph, I may be able to post it with this onto the actual blog post.

Julia find herself a piece of music whilst in Rome, when she plays it, on her violin, her daughter becomes violent. Julia is becoming increasing anxious and finds herself being under scrutiny by her family and health care professionals. She needs to get to the bottom of this piece, where did it come from and why is it stirring up so much trouble.

Lorenzo is a magnificent violinist, he creates music, is successful and falling in love. However Lorenzo finds himself in the times of the reign of Hitler and from his family being respected and part of the community, to shunned and at the hands of the Germans. The stories flip between Julia & Lorenzo, then and now & a dangerous path Julia can't get off of to get to the end of her goal.

I don't know what I expected of this book, I love Tess Gerritsen, especially Rizzoli/Isles so I requested this without reading the blurb. Then when I realised it was about music I was like oh no, I won't like this. However, the music, whilst is a big part of the story, it isn't the whole part. Family dynamics, murder, secrets, World War 2, mass murder, love, friendship and illness to cover just some of the issues covered in this story.

I could have read this in one sitting, I think Gerritsen has captured such a horrific subject, from Lorenzo's time frame and done it well. There are some big twists you don't see coming and the storytelling draws you in. There is an encounter with animal cruelty, some of the scenes from Lorenzo's time are harrowing so just a heads up for people who find such things upsetting. That said it is a very good story, I just wish it had been longer. 4/5 for me this time, thanks so much to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

View all my reviews

Review - Playing With Fire by Coral Russell

Playing with Fire by Coral Russell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Blurb From Goodreads

Scare easily? Are you often frightened out of your sleep? Does the mere mention of ghosts prickle your skin?

These seven authors imaginations are fired up by the scariness of the unknown.

Find a comfy spot, sit back and enjoy nine tales to tickle your taste for terror.

Susan Evelyn - Best Served

Revenge is sweet they say. But is Anna going to be able to hold the right ones accountable?

3197 Words

Robynn Gabel - Widows of the Night

Step inside a child's world that is filled with monsters. In her struggle to search for and figure out what love is she will discover what a monster really is.

3375 WORDS

Nomar Knight - Bitten

Rob Compton is unemployed and on the verge of getting a divorce when his pet German Shepherd, Shotgun, comes home intent on having him for lunch. Once bitten, Rob decides to show his wife what 'death do us part' really means.

2937 Words

CAV Laster - Playing with Fire

During what seems to be the end of the world for others, Kalen discovers his has only begun. Appalling secrets unravel his world and force him to fight for his survival. Will Kalen be able to handle the truth?

5285 words

Coral Russell - Devil of a Ghost Tour

Lynn and Lee Hoyt decide a local ghost tour would be a fun date night. In an abandoned hotel on the tour, a demon and his minions have been waiting for just the right couple to come along. Can the ghost hunters, Hector and Marcos, save them before it's too late?

9751 words

Coral Russell - Key to a Haunting

Allen has lost everything, when his father gives him a downtown building to renovate. Trouble is, it's haunted. He calls in the Paranormal Posse to help, but can Hector and Marcos learn the truth in time to finally put the dead to rest?

9824 Words

Coral Russell - Amador Lockdown (excerpt)

Something has moved into the Amador Hotel and is wrecking havoc with anyone who tries to stay. Hector, Marcos, Bev, and Tony of the Paranormal Posse are called in to either debunk the stories or get rid of whatever is causing the problems. Hector's life is an uproar and while he tries to keep his professional and personal life separate, whatever is haunting the Amador Hotel has other plans.

Brian Fatah Steele - Flawed

When three generations of Gastlins gathered one weekend at a newly purchased home in 1998, they had no idea it would be their last reunion. Every family has its secrets, its little faults, but the skeletons came bursting out of the closets and grew infectious. Blood may be thicker than water, but it can still spill just as easily.

4328 WORDS

Brian Fatah Steele - The Stuff Dreams Aren't Made Of

When your only hope is to suffer less than the day before, when misery is a normal state of being, and when atrocities greet all your senses every day, you only have to find new ways to dream.

1327 WORDS

Chryse Wymer - This Dark Magic

Charlie Landers is a reporter for the Capital City Gazette when his hometown turns deadly. It begins with a blackout, and escalates to a crime rate so high that it's a miracle that anybody has lived to tell about it. Finally, he must do something when not only his life but the life of a loved one is threatened. In this quirky dark fantasy, Charlie Landers must navigate a dangerous world of black magic in order to save his little corner of the universe.

9780 Words

Chryse Wymer - Living with Murder (excerpt)

Kirk and Mary Miller live a simple life in the year 2035...until their college-aged son turns up dead. Their son's murderer is convicted and jailed, but a year later, The Agency for Privately Imprisoned Criminals becomes involved. The Agency had been formed when prison overcrowding grew out of control.(less)


My Review

These are a great collection on horror stories, I don't usually like reading a collection purely because you always get a mixed bag and more so with a mix of authors. I loved the second story and would have given it 5 stars alone Robynn Gabel - Widows of the Night.

The first story I liked but there is so much left unanswered that I think it would make for a great novel, explaining why she thought there might have been vampires or werewolves and how did she become like she is. I would love to read more on this one.

There are a few stories where Hector and Marcos feature and whilst I liked them I think they probably deserve a book on their own so we can get a full picture on them rather than snippets.

The others I enjoyed however there was one or two which was excerpts from books and that I don't like. I hate reading one or two chapters from a book and being left hanging (which is why I never read sneaks of the next book when you finish a novel) however some people do enjoy this which might up the rating to a 5 for some. I initially gave this a 3 of 5 overall but I think taking into account the stories I really liked it is more fair to give a 4 star rating.

This book is available on Amazon for only £0.77, a bargain for a great wee collection

View all my reviews