Monthly Archives: February 2018

Author Influences with N.M. Brown

Grab yourself a cuppa, relax and enjoy this week’s Author Influences with N. M. Brown.

Which authors/books did you like to read as a child?
The first children’s book I remember reading was The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I still find it magical and engaging even now. To me, that strange wardrobe serves very much like books. You open it in the ordinary world and then you vanish into somewhere extraordinary.

Were you good at English at school? Did you like it?
I honestly didn’t always attend class. I was always too much of a daydreamer to cope with school – tending to sneak off to slump on a beanbag in the school library. But when I did attend class – if reading or composing fiction was involved- I generally enjoyed it. I always found composition fairly effortless, and couldn’t understand how my classmates would often struggle to write stories. To me, being given the chance to create a story was always like being given an opportunity to slip out the confines of school for a while.

What genres do you like to read? Have they had an impact on the genre you write?
I like to read everything from crime fiction to magical realism. As a teenager I loved getting lost in Clive Barker’s worlds, but I grew to appreciate the rich storytelling of writers such as John Irving and Joyce Carol Oates. However, I generally enjoy most novels that featured an aspect of mystery, and this is reflected in my own writing. I think that a good story will hook the reader with an engaging character who has a discovery they want or need to make. That way, the reader can accompany them on their journey.

If you were to write a different genre what would it be and why?
Some type of Gothic Horror possibly. I like the freedom it presents to establish the everyday and then create another world below it.

Did any author’s work encourage you to pick up your pen and write and if so who, what and why?
More than anyone else, Ray Bradbury inspired me to write. He was not only a clever writer, he also invested real affection and warmth in his writing. If my protagonist- Leighton Jones – elicits any love from the reader at all it is probably thanks to Ray.

Are there any authors who, as soon as they publish a new book, you have to get it?
Not so much authors now as particular books. However, new titles by masters like John Irving and Bill Bryson still excite me, and although I don’t catch every novel he writes, I thought Stephen King’s Joyland was exceptional and pulled me back in time with both the style and content.

Which books have you read that have made you think ’Wow, I wish I had written that’ and what was it about the book?
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind it was practically dripping with description. It felt like such a rich evocation of place and time, that every time I read a few pages, I felt like I was somewhere else. If I could write something like that, I would be very proud of my work.

Have any of your plots/characters been influenced by real life events/people? (Be careful, I don’t want you getting sued!).
The basic premise of The Girl on the Bus is based upon a genuine trip I once made. I was travelling from Inverness to Stirling by coach when I fell asleep, and awoke later to find that I and the few strangers on the bus were in the middle of a desolate landscape. Like most crime authors, I began to imagine countless scary possibilities – and the novel was born.

Thank you for taking part. N. M. Brown’s latest book The Girl on the Bus is out now and can be purchased HERE.

The Blurb

A retired detective and a young woman are about to face their worst fears.
Vicki Reiner is emotionally isolated and craves the fleeting happiness she experienced in the years prior to her college graduation. In an attempt to recapture this, she invites her old friend, Laurie, for a break at her deserted beachside home. However, despite booking an online bus ticket, her friend never shows up.
Unable to accept the bizarre circumstances of the disappearance, Vicki approaches the police who dismiss her concerns before enlisting the reluctant help of Leighton Jones – a newly retired detective who is haunted by the death of his teenage daughter.
Despite trying to remain detached from the case, Leighton is drawn to Vicki and her search for justice.
The unlikely pair face numerous obstacles but using a combination of methods they track down the answers across the dusty freeways of North America. Soon Vicki and Leighton will find themselves in grave danger.
Will they ever discover what happened to Laurie?
And can they both escape with their lives?

About N. M. Brown

Norman has enjoyed writing for more than two decades. He has always considered a combination of decent fiction and good coffee as providing the best way to unwind and slip out of ordinary life for a while.
Having grown up Central Scotland, he studied English at Stirling University, where he began penning poetry, drama scripts and short stories. However, his real commitment to writing resulted from spending a snowy winter attending a series of fireside writing workshops in Perth.
More recently, Norman’s love of crime fiction led him to create the weary detective Leighton Jones. Having based his debut novel around this character, Norman felt so intrigued by him that he decided to give Jones at least two more outings.
Aside from his family, Norman’s other passion is cooking, which may explain why culinary elements always seem to creep out of his kitchen and into his stories.

Connect with N. M. Brown

www.nmbrownfiction.com
www.facebook.com/nmbrown

Blog Tour – Blue Night by Simone Buchholz *Review*

I’m delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for Blue Night by Simone Buchholz today. Before I share my thoughts, here is what the book is about.

The Blurb

After convicting a superior for corruption and shooting off a gangster’s crown jewels, the career of Hamburg’s most hard-bitten state prosecutor, Chastity Riley, has taken a nose dive: she has been transferred to the tedium of witness protection to prevent her making any more trouble. However, when she is assigned to the case of an anonymous man lying under police guard in hospital, Chastity’s instinct for the big, exciting case kicks in. Using all her powers of persuasion, she soon
gains her charge’s confidence, and finds herself on the trail to Leipzig, a new ally, and a whole heap of lethal synthetic drugs. When she discovers that a friend and former colleague is trying to bring down Hamburg’s Albanian mafia kingpin single-handedly, it looks like Chas Riley’s dull life on witness protection really has been short-lived…

My Thoughts

Blue Night by Simone Buchholz marks the start in a cracking new series featuring Chastity Riley, Hamburg’s state prosecutor. Recently demoted to the witness protection department following her whistle-blowing on a colleague, Chas is feeling unfulfilled in her new role. However, things are about to change when an unknown man who is unwilling to talk arrives at the local hospital following a severe beating in which almost all of his bones are broken and a finger has been taken from one of his hands, and Chas is tasked to look after him.

The prologue hit me like a sucker-punch, as Buchholz’s description of someone taking a beating is poetic in its prose for such an horrific event. The short sentences work really well in delivering the brutality of the attack while simultaneously mesmerising you. The rest of Blue Night continued to be written in a way that is so unlike most of the books I have recently read. I have to admit that it took me a while to settle into its rhythm as Buchholz has a really unique way of writing and each chapter contains flashbacks from various characters in the book. Initially I wasn’t sure what I made of it, but as the book progressed and I became accustomed to the style and structure I began to really enjoy it. I ended up really liking the way Buccholz has structured the book as she adds different characters to the back stories in each chapter enabling you to view things from different perspectives. The way she knits it all together towards the end is brilliant.

I would describe the first half as slow-burning while we get to know Chastity, her friends and colleagues and as she attempts to build up a trusting relationship with the man she has been charged to look after. The second half of the novel, for me, had more pace and its grittiness really drew me in. The subject matter that Buchholz deals with is seamy, sordid and the observations she makes are depressingly spot on making it realistic. The ending … wow!

I really warmed to Chastity Riley and the rest of the characters in the book. Buchholz has effectively given just enough about each character to make you want to find out more about them and I look forward to the next book in the series.

Blue Night is a really unique read and I grew to love the structure and style. Beautifully written and seamlessly translated, Buchholz offers something refreshingly different to what’s on the market currently and I urge you to check it out.

About the Author

Simone Buchholz was born in Hanau in 1972. At university, she studied
Philosophy and Literature, worked as a waitress and a columnist, and
trained to be a journalist at the prestigious Henri-Nannen-School in
Hamburg. In 2016, Simone Buchholz was awarded the Crime Cologne
Award as well as runner-up for the German Crime Fiction Prize for Blue
Night, which was number one on the KrimiZEIT Best of Crime List for
months. She lives in Sankt Pauli, in the heart of Hamburg, with her
husband and son.

Blue Night was published on eBook on 24 December 2017 and paperback on 28 February 2018 by Orenda Books. Grab a copy HERE.

My thanks go to Simone Buccholz, Karen at Orenda Books and Anne Cater at Random Things Blog Tours for my advance copy and for inviting me to take part in the blog tour.

 

 

Author Influences With Mark Tilbury

Chase away those mid-week blues with some bookish chat. Mark Tilbury joins me for this week’s Author Influences.

Which authors/books did you like to read as a child?
I loved Enid Blyton, particularly the Famous Five. I used to devour the adventures of the four children and their dog, Timmy, then write my own stories. I can’t really remember much about them, but I can guess they were probably in a very similar vein, and the plots were more than likely nothing short of plagiarism.
I also loved Agatha Christie as I got a bit older. She used to live about a mile away from me on the edge of town. We’d sometimes go carol singing at her house at Christmas hoping to see her and have untold riches bestowed upon us. No such luck!

Were you good at English at school? Did you like it?
I loved English. I was naturally good and didn’t really have to work too hard to get good marks. To be honest, there’s quite a gulf between being good at English and creative writing, as I’m learning on a daily basis.

What genres do you like to read? Have they had an impact on the genre you write?
I love horror, dark humour and psychological thrillers. I think my novels are a combination of all three, although they are predominantly psychological thrillers.

If you were to write a different genre what would it be and why?
I’d like to have a go at children’s books one day. I have an idea for a series, so you never know. The birth of my first grandson in January seems like an excellent reason to seriously think about doing so.

Did any author’s work encourage you to pick up your pen and write and if so who, what and why?
Without doubt Stephen King’s Misery. Annie Wilkes was the first antagonist I’d ever read who made me think wow! This is someone who really inspires me. Her contradictions. The way she hated profanity, yet could chop a man’s foot off and make him suffer. Annie had the lot for me.

Are there any authors who, as soon as they publish a new book, you have to get it?
Stephen King is the usual, but there are so many great authors out there. Shani Struthers, Mel Comley, Mark Wilson, Sarah England, Tony Forder and David MacCaffery.

Which books have you read that have made you think ’Wow, I wish I had written that’ and what was it about the book?
As I said earlier, Misery by Stephen King. Also The Green Mile because of the way King ties the whole book up with the characters in the prison. I could probably list at least half a dozen of his books. But my favourite is From the Corner of his Eye by Dean Koontz. The antagonist, Junior Caine, made me laugh and scream in equal measure. This book has everything, and I urge anyone who hasn’t yet read it to do so.

Have any of your plots/characters been influenced by real life events/people? (Be careful, I don’t want you getting sued!)
The Abattoir of Dreams was influenced by some bigwig being named as an abuser by a guy who used to be in a children’s home. Then, the guy said he’d made a mistake and got the wrong man. As far as I was concerned, the abused guy was leaned on and forced to retract his accusation. It got me to thinking how these disgusting bastards get away with it just by virtue of their standing in society. It made me so angry, The Abattoir of Dreams poured out of me in less than three months as a result.

All my other stories have been purely a product of my imagination, but I’m sure there have been many influences on a subconscious level.

Thank you for taking part, Mark. 

Mark’s latest book, The Liar’s Promise, is out now. You can grab a copy HERE.

The Blurb

How does a mother protect her child from the unknown?
During a visit to a local theatre, four-year-old Chloe Hollis becomes hysterical. But her mother, Mel, doesn’t realise that this is just the beginning of the nightmare. In the coming weeks, Chloe talks of The Tall Man – Of death.
At her wit’s end, Mel confides in Charles Honeywell, the headmaster at the school where she works. But what Mel doesn’t know is that Charles is linked to what is happening to her daughter.
Will Mel learn the terrible truth? And can she overcome her own tragic past and save her daughter before it’s too late?
The Liar’s Promise is a story of past lives and future torment.

About Mark Tilbury

I grew up in a small town in Oxfordshire, but moved to the beautiful county of Cumbria two years ago with my girlfriend. I have two daughters and a beautiful grandson, George who is nine months old.
I’ve had a love of writing from an early age, but it was only a few years ago, with the introduction of Amazon kindle, that I started to seriously attempt to get published. I self-published my first two novels, The Revelation Room and The Eyes of the Accused, and then Bloodhound Books published my third book, The Abattoir of Dreams and republished the first two. My fourth novel, The Liar’s Promise was published by Bloodhound on 28th November.

My blog: www.marktilbury.com
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Review – Anna: One Love, Two Stories by Amanda Prowse

The Blurb

One Love, Two Stories.
Anna Cole grew up in care, and is determined to start a family of her own. Theo Montgomery had a loveless childhood, and wants only to find his soulmate.
Then, one day, Theo meets Anna, and Anna meets Theo. Two damaged souls from different worlds. Is their love for each other enough to let go of the pain of their pasts? Or will Anna and Theo break each others’ hearts?
There are two sides to every love story. This is Anna’s.

My Thoughts

I’m going to start this review by saying I absolutely loved Anna: One Love, Two Stories by Amanda Prowse. Two stories about one love affair, Prowse introduces us to Anna, one half of Anna and Theo, in the first book in this duet.

Beginning in 1977 when Anna is a child, Prowse takes our hand and guides us through Anna’s life. This gives us unique insight to all of Anna’s thoughts and feelings in order for us to understand how she grows in to the adult she becomes and the impact this has on her side of the relationship she has with Theo. Now, I’m not a person who cries or gets upset easily but Prowse broke me at chapter 2! This is a testament to her skill as a writer and the talent she has for portraying raw emotions in such a way that you feel them alongside the character.

From the outset you are invested in Anna and her journey. I adored her and by the end of the book I felt as though I was saying goodbye to an old friend. As a self-confessed people-watcher, I love getting under the skin of people and understanding their nuances and what makes them tick, Anna appealed to me greatly as it is about life and one person’s take on their relationship. Prowse has created a well-rounded character in Anna and one who is believable and authentic. Anna is very much a character-based book that gets right to the core of the emotions felt by our heroine via Prowse’s beautiful use of words. Anna is seeking her sense of belonging and she believes she has eventually found it in Theo and the possibility that with him she can finally have the family she has longed for. Of course, relationships involve two unique individuals and, as a result, the course of love rarely runs smoothly.

I really enjoyed the way Prowse takes you through the decades in Anna. I adored the suspicion that Anna and her work colleagues had about moving from the typewriter to the computer. The various time periods came through credibly in Anna as Prowse doesn’t try too hard to get it across. Subtlety in her descriptions ensured that it came across naturally and not contrived.

I really can’t wait for Theo to come out as Prowse leaves you with just enough knowledge about him for you to be intrigued and to find out his side of the story. Having the two sides of one relationship split over two books is a great idea and Prowse pulls it off wonderfully.

Beautifully written and completely all-absorbing, Anna is a wonderfully emotional portrayal of life and all the ups and downs it can bring. Be prepared to devour Anna’s story, and ensure you have a box of tissues at hand as you will need them. Just gorgeous!

Anna: One Love, Two Stories is published on eBook on 8 March 2018 and paperback on 4 October 2018 by Head of Zeus. You can pre-order your copy HERE.

A huge thank you to Amanda Prowse for my advance copy of Anna.

Author Influences With Liz Mistry

It’s Wednesday which can mean only one thing … it’s time for this week’s Author Influences. I am delighted to be joined by Liz Mistry for today’s book chat.

Which authors/books did you like to read as a child?
I was a Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys fan or if you go earlier than that I loved Mr Pinkwhistle followed by The Famous Five and the Secret Seven. In my teens I loved Agatha Christie and Alastair MacLean.

Were you good at English at school? Did you like it?
Loved it and was good at it. Did Catcher in The Rye for my sixth-year study dissertation (Scottish after Higher qualification). Loved EM Forster and Jane Austen.

What genres do you like to read? Have they had an impact on the genre you write?
I read mainly crime fiction but I read a wide selection of Crime Fiction genres sub genres. I love YA crime and I love futuristic and paranormal crime. My favourite though are noir police procedurals.

If you were to write a different genre what would it be and why?
Eek! Maybe try my hand at futuristic crime…. Maybe not.

Did any author’s work encourage you to pick up your pen and write and if so who, what and why?
Every author I loved over the years contributed to my writing bug. Nowadays Northern noir writers like Stuart MacBride and Val McDermid or US writers like Michael Connolly or Harlen Coben or Canadian Linwood Barclay.

Are there any authors who, as soon as they publish a new book, you have to get it?
Stuart MacBride definitely. Also, JD Robb who writes futuristic police procedurals with a dose of romance. MJ Arlidge too and Val McDermid and James Carol and Graham smith and…. The list is endless. Too many really great books and too few hours.

Which books have you read that have made you think ’Wow, I wish I had written that’ and what was it about the book?
I recently read Mark Billingham’s Love Like Blood and was ‘Wow that is so good’. It wasn’t just the book itself that got me. It was the message from the book about Honour Killings and FGM. A brilliant book full of rage and passion!

Have any of your plots/characters been influenced by real life events/people? (Be careful, I don’t want you getting sued!)
Everything I write is influenced to a greater or lesser extent by people I meet, conversations I over hear and things I’ve done. Hopefully my creative juices make them unique enough to not be obvious.

Massive thanks for taking part, Liz. I have a copy of Love Like Blood and will have to push it up the TBR pile after hearing this.

Liz’s latest book, Untainted Blood, is out now and you can grab a copy HERE.

The Blurb

In a city that is already volatile, tensions mount after a Tory MP in Bradford Central is discredited leaving the door open for the extreme right-wing candidate, Graeme Weston, to stand in the resultant by-election.
However, Graeme Weston is not what he appears to be and with secrets jeopardising his political career, he must tread very carefully.
Meanwhile, a serial killer targets Asian men who lead alternatives lifestyles and delivers his own form of torture.
As DI Gus McGuire’s team close in, the deranged killer begins to unravel and in an unexpected twist the stakes are raised for Gus.
Are the murders linked to the political scandals or is there another motive behind them?
DI Gus McGuire and his team are back and this might be their toughest case yet.

About Liz Mistry

I am an author from Bradford but originally from Scotland. My gritty crime novels draw on the richness of Bradford’s diverse cultures. My writing is influenced by Tartan Noir writers like Stuart MacBride and Val McDermid.
I completed an MA in Creative Writing at Leeds Trinity University. My three novels are Unquiet Souls, Uncoiled Lies and Untainted Blood.
Twitter:
FB : Website: https://lizmistrycrimewriter.wordpress.com/

Author Influences With Jan Harvey

Welcome, welcome to another Author Influences. This week we are joined by Jan Harvey for the mid-week book talk.

Which authors/books did you like to read as a child?
I was eight when I read The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe. I very quickly read the whole set of Narnia books and then read them over again. I loved them and still do.

At the end of The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe C.S.Lewis says he hopes one day I will pick up my copy again, blow the dust off it and read it to my own children. I was so looking forward to that but my son sadly didn’t like the Narnia books at all and I can’t express how disappointed I was, because Harry Potter had won the day!

Were you good at English at school? Did you like it?
I loved it. I was hopeless at maths and science (I still am) but I adored English and Art. I have always loved all things cultural. When I was twelve the school took us to see Twelfth Night, it was my first Shakespeare play. I was completed hooked and knew my life would be about art, theatre, music and literature. As for science? Well I married a physicist who tells me maths is beautiful so we can cover all bases between us, it’s very handy for Trivial Pursuit.

What genres do you like to read? Have they had an impact on the genre you write?
I love mystery novels, a good thriller and any book that is beautifully written. I just picked up The Loney, I have absolutely no idea what it’s about but I loved the cover and when I started reading it I was hooked, because the writing is exquisite.

All the books I have read have impacted on my own novel. I think a writer takes a lot in subconsciously, which then comes out in her work. Good books will do that to a person.

If you were to write a different genre what would it be and why?
I’d write a thriller. I have no idea if I’d be good at it, but people have commented that my novel, The Seven Letters, is ‘unputdownable’ and that’s because each chapter leaves you in suspense. Put it this way, I would enjoy giving it a go.

Did any author’s work encourage you to pick up your pen and write and if so who, what and why?
Daphne du Maurier. Her writing is so beautiful I often go back and re-read a paragraph to enjoy it again. When my friend Myra told me that she had done that with The Seven Letters I thought, ‘I’ve done it. I’ve achieved the highest praise possible.’

Are there any authors who, as soon as they publish a new book, you have to get it?
Barbara Erskine, queen of the time-split novel. Also Kate Morton who is a masterful writer and plotter. The House at Riverton is in my top ten. However, the contemporary author I simply ‘can’t wait to read’ is Patrick Gale, he is awesome.

Which books have you read that have made you think ’Wow, I wish I had written that’ and what was it about the book?
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. Nicole uses language so creatively that she is a true master. I buy spare copies of the book from second hand shops to give to people who need a good read.

Have any of your plots/characters been influenced by real life events/people? (Be careful, I don’t want you getting sued!)
Oh, that would be telling! One of my characters has elements of a well-known actor who I have admired since childhood and another, Madame Odile, was written for a famous actress who kept coming into my mind. I know she would play her so perfectly.

Film companies have already shown interest so you never know what might happen. I have learnt one thing about writing a book, you have no idea what will happen next, it is tremendously exciting.

Thank you for taking part, Jan. I am the same as you in that I loved English but am hopeless at maths and science. Great choices with The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Du Maurier.

Jan’s debut novel, The Seven Letters, is out now. You can grab a copy HERE

The Blurb

Claudette Bourvil is a shy country girl recruited by the Resistance to work in Paris. Claudette must quickly learn to survive in a city ravaged by war as she works undercover in a bordello for the cold, calculating Madame Odile. Claudette falls in love with one of the visitors to the bordello. Fritz Keber is a Nazi officer. He is complicated, sophisticated, powerful and, at the same time, a lost soul. He does not tell Claudette that he is linked to Madame Odile and when she finds out his dark secret she is horrified. It is she who is forced to pick up the pieces. Claudette falls foul of timing, betrayal and the need to do what is right. She is wrongly punished and pays a heavy price. In England, 2014, Connie Webber witnesses her friend the playwright, Freddie March, commit suicide. A kind stranger, Matt Verney, comforts her and becomes her friend. Together they sort out Freddy’s belongings and uncover the mystery of his mother. They find seven letters which lead them to Paris and one of the former prostitutes who tells them she remembers a maid who was with the French Resistance. Connie and Matt trace Freddy’s mother to the quiet village in Normandy where they find out the terrible truth of how she died…

 

About Jan Harvey

Jan Harvey was born in Ormskirk, Lancashire in 1961. After a career as a magazine editor/designer working on various business publications she became an author five years ago. The Seven Letters is her debut novel and her fans will be pleased to hear that her second novel is underway. The two books are linked by Paris, the city that inspires her work.
www.janharveyauthor.com

Blog Blitz – Past Echoes by Graham Smith *Review*

I’m de-bloody-lighted to be taking part in the blog blitz for Past Echoes by Graham Smith. This is the third in Smith’s Jake Boulder series and I’m pleased to have been able to follow it from the start. Here is what this latest instalment is about and what I thought of it.

The Blurb

Tasked with finding a beneficiary and revealing a dead woman’s secret, Jake Boulder travels to New York with his girlfriend Taylor. He also has to find his estranged father for a life-saving transfusion.
Once there he becomes embroiled in a web of mystery, deceit and violence which sees him pitted against a professional assassin known only as The Mortician. Boulder must use every drop of his courage and cunning to survive the chaos that envelops him.

My Thoughts

Past Echoes sees the welcome return of doorman and private investigator, Jake Boulder, in the third book of the series. Can you read this book as a standalone if you haven’t yet managed to catch the previous books? I guess you can, but it would probably make more sense following the other two books.

Smith takes a slightly different path with this Jake Boulder novel, venturing outside of Jake’s home town of Casperton and to the bright lights of New York to find the beneficiary of a will and reveal a long-hidden secret. Jake also has to find his estranged father to try and save the life of his half-brother. Jake quickly ends up in a situation out of his control and pitted against a deadly hitman.

Past Echoes starts with a bang as we meet Jake in a violent situation with four men and this sets the tone for what might be the darkest and most brutal Boulder novel yet. Personally, it’s a case of the more brutal the better as I like to be shocked and Smith certainly managed to pull it off making me wince on more than one occasion. The pace is unrelenting from the outset and Smith ensures that you have to read just one more page.

Alfonse takes more of a back seat in this novel and we start to get more of a glimpse into what shaped Jake’s character. Jake’s father features heavily in Past Echoes and I really enjoyed finding out about him, despite him being a loathsome character. As the situation Jake finds himself spirals, he ends up having to make decisions that are bound to have an impact on him and I look forward to seeing where Jake ends up next. Will he continue to be the Jake we know and love or will his recent experiences, coupled with the potentially shared character traits he has with his father, turn him into a more bitter and less caring character?

A great addition to the Boulder series, Smith has ensured with Past Echoes that you want to keep following Jake on his journey. Another fast-paced, gripping and dark read.

Published on 1 February 2018 by Bloodhound Books. Grab a copy here.

You can read my reviews of the first book, Watching The Bodies, here and the second book, The Kindred Killers, here.

Huge thanks to Sarah Hardy at Bloodhound Books and Graham Smith for my advance copy and for inviting me to take part in the blog blitz

Catch the rest of the blitz…

Blog Tour – Nucleus (Tom Wilde #2) by Rory Clements *Excerpt*

I’m delighted to be joining the blog tour for Nucleus by Rory Clements today. Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to read the book so instead of my review I am sharing an excerpt. Grab a cuppa and enjoy.

The Blurb

The eve of war: a secret so deadly, nothing and no one is safe

June 1939. England is partying like there is no tomorrow, gas masks at the ready. In Cambridge the May Balls are played out with a frantic intensity – but the good times won’t last… In Europe, the Nazis have invaded Czechoslovakia, and in Germany the persecution of the Jews is now so widespread that desperate Jewish parents send their children to safety in Britain aboard the Kindertransport. Closer to home, the IRA’s S-Plan bombing campaign has resulted in more than 100 terrorist outrages around England.

But perhaps the most far-reaching event of all goes largely unreported: in Germany, Otto Hahn has produced the first man-made fission and an atomic device is now a very real possibility. The Nazis set up the Uranverein group of physicists: its task is to build a superbomb. The German High Command is aware that British and US scientists are working on similar line. Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory is where the atom was split in 1932. Might the Cambridge men now win the race for a nuclear bomb? Hitler’s generals need to be sure they know all the Cavendish’s secrets. Only then will it be safe for Germany to wage war.

When one of the Cavendish’s finest brains is murdered, Professor Tom Wilde is once more drawn into an intrigue from which there seems no escape. In a conspiracy that stretches from Cambridge to Berlin and from Washington DC to the west coast of Ireland, he faces deadly forces that threaten the fate of the world.

Excerpt

The Cavendish, in the heart of Cambridge, was where men had first split the atom. The lab had long been at the very heart of experimental particle physics and Geoff Lancing was one of its leading lights.
Wilde studied Flood. What he saw was a career man who hadn’t quite made it to the top, but still managed to wield influence. Perhaps he had spent too long on campus, not enough time on the parade ground.
‘We need to know what’s going on there,’ Flood continued. ‘The world of atomic physics is a small place. There are questions to which we would like answers. For instance, do Britain’s top men believe this superbomb is possible? How difficult is it to make? Who are the real brains – the leaders in the field? We’d like to hear what you can find out. And we’d like to hear it in layman’s terms. Simple as that.’
‘Then I’ll keep my eyes and ears open.’
‘Come on, Wilde,’ Flood said. ‘We know your background. You may not call yourself a spy, you may not be part of any agency, but goddamn it, professor, you’re in the thick of it already! You take briefings from Vanderberg at the US embassy, you watch your contemporaries like a bird of prey . . .’
‘Take briefings from Jim Vanderberg? He’s a friend, that’s all, an old college friend. We just talk, shoot the breeze like friends do.’
Flood held up a defensive hand and grinned. ‘No one’s accusing you of anything, professor. You do good work. We’ve got a pretty good idea what you did at the back end of ’36. You’re just the sort of guy we need.’
Did Flood really know Wilde’s role in those events? The foiling of the conspiracy to prevent the abdication of Edward VIII had been a closely guarded secret. Wilde shrugged. ‘I suppose I should be flattered.’
Roosevelt clapped his hands. ‘Good man. We don’t want to be caught off guard. If anyone looks like they’re going to get a superbomb, I want to know about it.’ He glanced at his watch and Wilde began to rise, as did Colonel Flood. The interview was over. Ten short minutes in which they had covered the likelihood of war, the possibility of an atomic superbomb and the pleasures of jazz. All that and good White House coffee. The President put the dying butt of his second cigarette in the ashtray groove, then leant across and shook Wilde’s hand warmly. ‘Good to meet you, professor. Keep in touch. I need a clear, unbiased voice over there in the dark days that lie ahead of us. Missy LeHand is my gatekeeper and she will tell you exactly how to contact me. I’d value your view over those of a dozen diplomats. Just keep everything short and to the point. On the science matter, communicate with Dexter.’
‘Certainly, Mr President.’
‘And perhaps you’d send me a signed copy of your new book.’
‘It would be my pleasure, sir. I think you’ll find that Sir Robert Cecil was every bit as ruthless in his own way as Walsingham.’
‘Power politics! Nothing changes down the ages.’
Flood walked towards the door. ‘I’ll show the professor out, Mr President.’
‘Thank you, Dexter.’

Published on 25 January 2018 by Bonnier Zaffre, you can grab a copy HERE.

My thanks go to Rory Clements and Emily at Bonnier Zaffre for allowing me to share an excerpt.