The Marriage Trap by Sheryl Browne.

Diana is married to Robert and their daughter Karla is married to Jason, giving them two grandchildren, Holly and Josh. However, the adults in this story have some very sharp words will each other and are not living in married bliss. Follow these three generations of people as they try to muddle through the hustle and bustle of family life.

The cover of The Marriage Trap claims this novel is a psychological thriller. I did NOT find this book thrilling but found it to drag on and on. I thought The Marriage Trap was a MISERABLE read. All four adults were unhappy with their marriages and the mood was dreadful. The story got off to a BAD start in the first chapter when you are thrown into the situation of Jason leaving Karla. Then chapter two begins and the timeline goes back three whole months. From hereon you are given a day by day account of both marriages. It was off putting to read in the first chapter that Jason is leaving Karla and the rest of the book is background to that day. All four adults have their faults and you do not develop an empathy for any of them. Your gut feeling very quickly becomes that you are very glad you are not married to any of them.

There are plenty of secrets and lies to be revealed but each one takes forever, a hint here and a hint there until many chapters later you find out what the hints were all about.

I found the mood of this book very annoying, the three generations were living a miserable existence. There was no joy in their lives, making this novel a very sad read. The Marriage Trap did not stimulate me and I did not find it entertaining. I failed to engage with the story and found it a turn off. I think this book would put off any single people thinking of marriage.

In the acknowledgements at the end of The Marriage Trap, Sheryl writes…

Final thanks to every single reader out there for buying and reading my books. Authors write with you in mind.

...However, I did not enjoy reading The Marriage Trap. I found the domestic misery a chore to read. I was very disappointed with The Marriage Trap, I simply did not like the story. Having been happily married myself for the past 28 years, I thought the adults were behaving dreadfully towards each other. I think Sheryl has made a mistake by publishing such a negative novel.

I did like that each adult had their own chapters that represented their points of view. Sheryl can write very good novels as I thought her last book called The Second Wife was an OUTSTANDING 5 star read. Sadly The Marriage Trap left me COLD and I can only vote this latest from Sheryl the minimum score of 1 star. Sheryl can produce the goods, so hopefully better luck next time for her readers but if this was their first read, they may move onto other authors.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Bookouture for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay.

There are 63,000 passenger elevators in New York City. What could possibly go wrong?

Linwood starts off his latest novel with a plunge as the reader is launched into a very busy and crowded New York. The tension starts from the first page as you are thrust through short chapters and as each scene quickly unfolds you do not know what is going to happen next.

There are tons of content in this thriller, there is no padding and as you wade through this avalanche of data it becomes clear Linwood’s writing quality is spot on.

Elevator Pitch is a plot based thriller with an abundance of characters thrown in. The head count is very high but each character is concisely introduced no matter how small or large a part they play in this story. New York is a very busy city and this novel really conveys the buzz on the street.

Linwood explores the everyday threat of terrorism to the citizens of New York. Threats from the Middle East like ISIS plus home grown activists like the Flyovers. Henry Olsen explained the concept behind Flyovers in 2017 when he wrote…

Although originally coined by a citizen of flyover country, the term has become a pejorative description of the interior states of the USA and is largely attributed to coastal and liberal Americans who – in more ways than one – are said to ‘look down’ on these lands and their peoples during their high altitude journeyings from one fashionable seaboard metropolis to another.

...Linwood has little snips of subtle humour sprinkled throughout his story, for example…

“But isn’t that exactly what you have reduced the so-called coasters to? A cliche? Sushi-eating, latte-drinking, gluten-avoiding, Prius-driving elites?”

Barbara sat back on the bench. Oh, no, she thought. She’s gone to the dark side. She’s working for Facebook.

But Twitter was not typically where one posted photos of friends. It was for mouthing off, something Barbara did plenty of.

...I loved how Elevator Pitch is quite topical, it includes real past events and has many, many social observations. I loved the realism of this story and found the threat of everyday terrorism the man in the street has to live with, very engaging. Elevator Pitch showed just how much some people use a mobile phone and how it has become an integral part of their lives. This was quite shocking and a sad but true reflection on how society has developed with many people so absorbed and attached to their mobile phones. They may be connected but can miss out on the really important things happening around them.

I loved reading Elevator Pitch and found it a great, entertaining and thrilling book. I think that Linwood is at the top of his game and that Elevator Pitch is an OUTSTANDING read that gets 5 stars from me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Harper Collins UK for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

The Tree of Rebels by Chantelle Atkins.

Okay guys, let’s jump into the next century and become the role of Lissie Turner, a 13 year old girl living in the UK and asking lots of questions about our society and what lies beyond the fence surrounding her town.

WOW! What the devil has gone on? Has our world gone mad? When did the Old World collapse and the new world begin? Can 13 year old Lissie Turner uncover the truth?

Okay guys, the concept is GOOD. There are many conflicts and wars around the world today and nobody knows how our future will unfold. Many, many lies have been told in the past, YES listen at the back Tony Blair, Iraq did NOT have Weapons of Mass Destruction in 2003.

So onto the Tree of Rebels. Ah, I thought this book was a DRAG, it rambled on and on, poor old Grandma Elizabeth on her death bed, telling the same old stories time and time again. Lissie Turner being a typical annoying teenage girl, sorry Louise but Chantelle Atkins hits the button with the naivety of modern teenage girls and their smartphone, grab a Coke from Grandad’s fridge attitudes.

I found the plot to The Tree of Rebels very SHALLOW and the handful of critical points or issues were repeatedly reviewed, time and time again. This book seemed to be going nowhere and not a lot happened. The concept of the fall of the Old World, the development of the new world with the possibility of false histories was NOT developed properly. It was just hints that lies may have been told. I hoped this novel would get better as the pages dragged on but it continued to be a POOR 2 star read all the way to the end. I was clearly not entertained by this book and found the whole reading experience a big disappointment. At 61 years of age, I know that I am not in the target group for a YA novel but if this is what teenagers choose to read, I feel reading will become nothing more than a passing fad for them. Still, I read The Tree of Rebels to the very end only to find nothing much happened and then to be told this sad, sorry tale would be continued in the next book. The ending was like watching 90 minutes of football to end with a no goal score draw. Yes, I could have done better things with my time, those reading hours lost forever wading through a bloated novel with very little content.

The Tree of Rebels was written in 2017 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Behind the Smile by Mary Grand.

Lowri is involved in a car accident and her face has become scarred for life. But this is not the only scar that Lowri will carry as she tries to make a new life for herself upon the Isle of Wight.

I really enjoyed reading Behind the Smile and in the back of my head was the song by Fleetwood Mac in 1987 which went “Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies.” Many characters in this novel told lies and right from the start my empathy was with Lowri as lots of people were stringing her along.

Behind the Smile explored a lot of issues, not just honesty and lies. It explored how people cope with disfigurement, miscarriage, Facebook and gambling. Lowri’s smile had been destroyed because of her facial injuries but this story showed how people can be very different Behind the Smile they present to the world. The inclusion of Facebook in this novel is good. People use Facebook in many different ways and we should all be aware that Facebook posts do not give the full story. Facebook is a channel that can be used in many different ways, some are very subtle. Behind the Smile of your Facebook page, you can influence peoples’ opinions. It can be tempting to play the Facebook game and tease people too. Because there are so many lurkers on Facebook who do not click the “Like” button, you can be sure to get your message across. Facebook can be a very good back channel to work within the workplace. I am amazed at how long our supervisors spend on Facebook checking what our drivers have been posting. 

I like Mary Grand’s writing style and she tells a good story in that lovely way that Welsh women have. There is something very homely I find about her novels, even though Behind the Smile is set in her new patch on the Isle of Wight. Yet again the lead character has a cocker spaniel, just like the author! It’s the old thing, write about what you know, in Mary’s case, Wales, the Isle of Wight and cocker spaniels.

Lowri even had a trip back to Merthyr Tydfil…

...She looked at the departure board, found the platform for Merthyr and began her ascent up the steps. Standing on the platform, she listened to the valleys voices: the harsh consonants, and long soft vowels. ‘What you been buying then?’ said one girl.

‘Oh, been to Primark. You know, for thirty quid I got three skirts and two tops. Lush eh?’

‘You going to that band in The Red House tonight?’

‘Guess so. You?’

‘Yea.’

Lowri smiled, already feeling at home.

...And I thought I was listening to the cleaners in Llantrisant depot.

Behind the Smile is Mary’s 3rd novel and I found it to be a BRILLIANT read. Her quality writing gets the top score of 5 stars from me. The story has a happy ending and the last paragraph will have you crying for Lowri.

Behind the Smile was written in 2018 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Hidden Chapters by Mary Grand.

Catrin is 50 and she goes to stay at a holiday home in a small village along the Gower in south Wales. Follow her as she and her family have some drama thrust into their lives when an old face from the past suddenly appears.

Hidden Chapters is a character driven novel of family drama. The central character is Catrin as she has a lot to cope with. We also have interesting family members too, Lloyd her father, Gareth her husband plus their two daughters Bethan and Lowri. Dog owners will enjoy the inclusion of Safi, a new pet for Catrin’s birthday. And then we have an old face from the past adding emotion and history to the tale.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Hidden Chapters. I found it to be better than other character driven family dramas because it had a unique angle that was developed and explained. This added value to this novel is something we don’t generally hear a lot about in mainstream fiction. Catrin’s youngest daughter Bethan was born Deaf.

Don’t get me wrong, Hidden Chapters is NOT a book about hearing OR disability, it is one of secrets and lies. I enjoyed the pace of this novel and the depths of emotions that were skillfully woven into the plot. I quickly developed an empathy for all the characters and enjoyed how life’s challenges were explored. We have adoption, education, adult dreams about their future, loss of a loved one and how to deal with secrets and lies.

I found Hidden Chapters to be a warm cosy read with a lot of love flowing out of the pages. It was a very pleasant and pleasing read for me. I think it is easy for men to put themselves into Catrin’s shoes. 

Mary Grand taught Deaf children in Croydon and Hastings which gave her some great insights that she was able to use in Hidden Chapters. I thought these extras added a lot to this novel. It put the character of Bethan and her hearing into perspective. It was nice that Mary did not make hearing a focus of her novel but included it as part of life. I am a coach driver on the National Express network and we support Deaf passengers. I found these sections of Hidden Chapters to be a great refresher with my job as Deaf passengers can so easily miss out and we do not want to add any more stress to their journey. I would like to quote some sections of Hidden Chapters about hearing that I thought particularly should be highlighted…

...The Man serving might mumble or look away so that Bethan couldn’t lip read him or, if he saw hearing aids, and actually realised she was Deaf, he might over-enunciate in some kind of pantomime, making lip reading impossible. Of course, he might be the kind of person who refused to even try to communicate, who would stare at her blankly, and claim that he could not understand her simply because of her intonation was a bit flat and nasal.

‘It was easy. Do you know I ordered a round of drinks in the pub the other night? Orange juice for me, of course,’ Bethan added, grinning in a way that did nothing to reassure her mother. ‘Anyway, this woman behind the bar kept saying ‘What?’ to me, and looking at Sabrina to ask her what I was saying. Sabrina, of course, refused to play. In the end, the woman gave me a piece of paper and a pen, and told me to write down my order, so I wrote, ‘You’re a stupid cow,’ and handed it back to her.’

‘Dad told me the girl is, what do they call it now? Hearing impaired. Is that right?’ 

‘Actually, Bethan prefers to say she is Deaf. There are people you see that say the word impairment means something needs to be fixed. She was born Deaf.’

‘Lowri tells me you do music. How does that work? Is is all done by vibration?’

Bethan tutted. ‘It’s far more complicated than that. Hearing is only a small part of enjoying music. It’s multi-sensory, a physical thing. Music is a feeling, an emotion. A deaf person feels music within the vibrations in the same part of the brain that hearing people use when the melodies you love get caught in your head.’

‘She’s done well, hasn’t she? We’re so proud of her. It’s been a lot of hard work. People don’t realise how much effort she puts in. Take lip-reading. Actually, only about thirty per cent of English is visible on the lips, and she needs lots of other cues to really follow what you are saying. It’s why they call it speech reading now, Bethan is watching teeth, cheeks, eyes, facial expressions, and body language to piece together what you’re saying.’

‘To start signing with Bethan was a big decision. You see, there were plenty of professionals who said that if I signed with Bethan she would never learn to talk.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes. The idea is, you see, that she has this tiny bit of hearing, her residual hearing, and she must work hard at using that. They said that if she signed she wouldn’t, and so would never learn to talk. The way I saw it, Bethan was getting very frustrated. It didn’t seem fair, so I found someone prepared to teach us, and that is the way we went. The expression they used then was ‘total communication’, when you use speech and signing in parallel. I think it’s called something different now.’

When he had gone, she looked at Bethan. ‘How ignorant can you get?’

‘I’ve had worse. One waiter asked me if I needed a menu in Braille.’

‘Good grief.’

‘You get used to it.’

Bethan was signing with Lowri. Catrin watched in awe, struck with the beauty of the signing, understanding again why signing had been described as dancing with words. As Catrin watched, she experienced a deep sense of calm. There were no more ghosts, no more hidden chapters.

...So I found Hidden Chapters to be a lovely warm cosy read that ticked all the boxes for me. Yes, I shed the odd tear along the way but that is due to strong story-telliing by a quality author. Well done Mary, your second novel gets the top score of 5 stars from me.

Hidden Chapters was written in 2016 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Free to Be Tegan by Mary Grand.

Tegan is 27 years old and suddenly she is thrown out of her home within The Last Week Community in London. Tegan has lived with this religious cult for 22 years, so how will she manage alone in the big wild world? Thankfully relatives living near Aberystwyth in west Wales give her a hand to cope with modern secular life. Follow Tegan on her journey to Wales, freedom and love.

I was put onto Mary Grand by a friend on Goodreads which was welcome as she had not crossed my radar before. Mary was born in Cardiff where I have lived since 1991, so I felt a connection there. When I started to read this book, I fell in love with Mary’s writing style. My wife Gail has lived in Cardiff all her life and Mary writes the way Welsh women talk and tell stories. That local character and voice really shines through, even to an Englishman living in Wales, like myself. Free to Be Tegan was her debut novel.

Free to Be Tegan is NOT a mystery or a thriller. The plot is very obvious because of the strong hints from the very beginning. There are no surprises in this story. But what you do get is a warm, cosy, loving tale of a young woman thrown into modern day life from one of religious oppression.

I liked the way this story was told. The writing is articulate and of quality. Character development is good and I quickly developed an empathy for Tegan. Nicely explored within the story was the place for women within religion and society in general. Religious cults were explained and how leavers can adjust to mainstream society. But all this was told in a light, gentle and loving manner.

Being an Atheist I found the religious aspects of this story funny. But then most of this book is told in a light mocking tone for example…

‘I hope you’re right.’ Hannah looked at her watch. ‘OK, you two, out of here. Someone needs to make an effort for this evening. I shall be wearing this season’s Ralph Lauren. Impressive, eh?’ She looked at their blank faces. ‘No, you don’t get it, do you? Might as well be Primark.’

...And...

She tried to block out the cold rainy days back in Wales, those endless bloody fields, people always wrapped up in layers of clothes.

...So as I read through Free to Be Tegan, her life got better, she recovered from her time with the religious cult and she found love in Wales. This story has a happy ending. The really nice thing about this book is the feel good factor that leaps out from the pages. From the start, although Tegan has been thrown out onto the streets of London, there is hope that family back in Wales would make things right. 

Ah, there’s lovely. I think that Free to Be Tegan is a 4 star TIDY read. Thanks Mary for writing such a good, loving family story that can be enjoyed by both men and women.

Free to be Tegan was written in 2015 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Rope Enough by Oliver Tidy.

The subtitle for Rope Enough is (The Romney and Marsh Files #1). Oh, I thought, that rings a bell, Romney Marsh, I have heard of that before, isn’t it a nature reserve in Kent? Yes indeed, “Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about 100 square miles (260 km2).” according to Wikipedia. So Oliver Tidy does have a dry sense of humour for his police procedural crime thriller set in Dover along the Kent coast in England.

The central character of this novel is Detective Inspector Romney and he is an old school policeman. To balance this out is the new copper on the block, Detective Sergeant Joy Marsh and she is the modern face of British policing.

I enjoyed reading Rope Enough as it ticks all the boxes for a regular police procedure crime thriller. Character development was good, the plot was good and I liked the way this story was told. I think it would make a good television drama. Oliver shows great talent with the format of his book which made for a very comfortable read. I thought the pace was right and I was impressed that the crimes featured were very unusual. I thought it was brilliant how the motive for the crimes was fully explored and explained.

All the odds and ends were tidied up at the end which left me with a good impression of Case Closed. Rope Enough covers a lot of ground but Romney and Marsh get to the bottom of these crimes by using their very good detective skills. This was not a case of some police specialist finding the key to these crimes but good old fashioned thinking of “what if?”.

I found Rope Enough a very entertaining read and it gave me all I want from a novel. Rope Enough gets the top score of 5 stars from me and whenever I glance at a table, a smile spring’s to my face.

Rope Enough was written 2012 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.