Portraits Of The Dead by John Nicholl.

19 year old Emma Jones is reported missing by her mother. Emma is a student at Cardiff University and is living in a shared house nearby. Detective Inspector Gareth Gravel of West Wales Police is on the case to find Emma, in case she is in danger.

Portraits Of The Dead is told from 4 points of view. Detective Inspector Gareth Gravel, Detective Sergeant Rankin, Emma Jones - the victim and the bad guy. I liked how the story was told from multiple points of view.

I thought Portraits Of The Dead got off to a very good and creepy start. The tension was there and I feared that Emma may not get out of this story alive. However, as this story progressed, my enjoyment slowly and steadily dwindled.

Frustrations began to rise as I progressed through this novel. The police find that Emma has left her flash new phone behind in her shared student house. This gives the story a contemporary feel but then the dates are woven into the plot. May 1998 - but why? These modern fancy, flash smartphones were not around in 1998, which is a problem and I think that new books should be set in the current day. Who would want to buy a new book that is set 20 years ago? Okay, making his story 20 years old allows John Nicholl to ignore smartphones and social media but he could so easily have claimed that Emma chose to be off the grid.

Another problem I had was the use of the fictitious town of Caerystwyth where the police station is that DI Gareth Gravel worked from. The rest of the book included the real locations of Cardiff and real places in Carmarthenshire like Ferryside, Llanelli and Llansteffan. However, Caerystwyth Wood, Trinity Fields, Jobe’s Well Road and Castle Lane, Llansteffan are all fictitious and do not exist. This was very frustrating for me as I have lived in Cardiff since 1991 and for our holidays we rent a Sea View Chalet at the Carmarthen Bay Holiday Resort, near Kidwelly. I love walking my dog along the Gwendraeth and pottering all around Carmarthenshire. I could imagine the scene of Caerystwyth Wood actually taking place at Penybedd Wood, which is a lovely short stroll for Charlie the Pug. Why of why did John Nicholl not use real locations to add value to his novel? It is so blindingly obvious that Caerystwyth should be Carmarthen. It is as obvious as reading Heddlu and straightaway knowing the Welsh organisation involved - and I was born in England.

I thought the characterisation within Portraits Of The Dead was fair. I thought the plot was okay. I did like the explanation of the bad guy’s motives from his point of view. However, I feel this novel does drag on a little and there is nothing special about it.

At the end I felt a little cheated, crime thrillers are generally solved by the police but not this one. The ending did make me smile though!

I thought Portraits Of The Dead was an okay, 3 star read. It passes the time but I could not recommend it to anyone. This is the first of a proposed series but I shall not be bothering if John Nicholl writes another book.

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

Toxic by Jacqui Rose.

And welcome to Essex, all human life is here. In Toxic we have a range of characters who are NOT the most law abiding in the county. We have a gypsy lifestyle with their mobile home site, some criminals involved in drugs and theft, plus an ex-prostitute and ex-wifes thrown into the mix. What we have is one violent but very exciting thriller about people who live on the wrong side of the law.

I found Toxic to be a refreshing change from your average British crime thriller. In Toxic you only read about the bad guys. There are no good guys in this story AND the police do not get involved as these people look after their own.

Toxic is a violent novel and Jacqui has chosen her title well. She sets the scene straight off and the torture will make your eyes water. There is no please or thank you in these conversations, they are vulgar as the characters believe actions are stronger than words.

The dialogue used in Toxic is local which adds to it’s realism. How Jacqui managed to write paragraph after paragraph of conversation between characters with the same poor grammar, is a wonder. Each character says “me” instead of “my” when they speak! I also loved the Cockney slang sprinkled throughout this novel, my favourite being…

“Ten per cent is just a sniff of a cockerel’s arse.”

...I also loved the attitude of this book, my favourite comment from one of the characters was…

He didn’t impress anyone. Women wanted real men. Flash cars and a bit of bling not a gutless muppet and a pub lunch with a ten-year-old Ford Focus parked outside.

...Although Toxic is written by a woman, Jacqui tells a great misogynistic tale from a man’s point of view. Henpecked husbands are going to love Toxic, where the male characters are strong and put their women firmly in their place. I liked the humour of the man’s world and could engage with the resentment many of the men felt towards women.

Toxic was a refreshing and thrilling read. There were many shocks as the nitty gritty of gypsy life was revealed. Toxic created a big impression with me as the characters lived a life far away from the mainstream. Toxic was violent but in your own private pleasure, simply a joy to read. I thought this book was a great escape into another world and it gets the top score of 5 stars from me. I have NOT read a Jacqui Rose novel before but after reading Toxic, count me in!

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

The Tattoo Thief by Alison Belsham.

Buzz!!! Buzz!!! and the tattoo machine inks another person having given their consent to the tattooist to make their mark. However, there is a thief about who steals tattoos off people, leaving them for dead.

This crime thriller is set around Brighton and in her debut novel, Alison Belsham gives the case to newly promoted DI Francis Sullivan. What is nice about this police procedural, is that there are separate chapters from the point of view of the 4 main characters. DI Francis Sullivan and DS Rory Mackay give their view as the case progresses plus you also get chapters from tattooist Marni Mullins and the bad guy who is stealing the tattoos from the victims.

I enjoyed reading The Tattoo Thief and liked all the bits that Marni told the reader about her job as a tattooist. Most crime thrillers dwell on the job of the police officers and it was very nice to have detail about a very different day job. This gave The Tattoo Thief added value. Characterization of Francis, Rory and Marni was good and I liked the chemistry that built between the 3 of them.

I thought the plot of The Tattoo Thief was okay but found the ending with all it’s racing action disappointing. Getting the location of where the bad guy may be living, chasing there page after page followed by more charging around was rather tiresome and lacked a WOW! factor compared to finding the first victim in the beginning. The final chase for the bad guy did not grab me at all, although the thought of Marni naked did brighten my mood.

I liked The Tattoo Thief and thought the beginning, the structure and the character development and chemistry to be good. For a debut novel Alison Belsham has done very well and I think her book is a GOOD read that gets 4 stars from me.

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

Black Canyon by Jeremy Bates.

Brian is 11 years old and goes camping with his parents to visit the Black Canyon within the Gunnison National Park in Colorado. This novella tells the story of how Brian got along on this lovely trip with his mam and dad.

I really enjoyed reading the Black Canyon, which is odd because it is narrated in the first person by Brian who is only 11 years old. But this novella is told in a very adult fashion. Jeremy Bates is rather clever because he starts his novella from the viewpoint of Brian looking back on his family camping trip in Colorado. This allows Jeremy the scope to write Brian’s story in a very adult way, using the understanding of our world and an extensive vocabulary that an 11 year old would not be able to deliver. Nice one Jeremy, which means we can get a child’s story without it being childish, sugary sweet or Disney-like.

There is some lovely subtle humour in this novella, for example…

My mom kept calling one of the women she worked with a skank. I wondered if maybe she meant “skunk.” Sometimes when she was drinking she didn’t always pronounce her words correctly.

… So we have a nice camping trip with mam and dad. What could go wrong? Slowly doubts are thrown into the story and you begin to wonder how 11 year old Brian is enjoying his trip with mam and dad. Then little doubts develop about Brian’s personality and his relationships with people around him. I loved how Jeremy weaved these little doubts into the story which made me suspect what may happen. I thought it was great how Brian explained in his own words just why things had worked out the way they had.

I am NOT a fan of novellas as I prefer a BIG read that can last me for days on end. That way I really get into a story, live the book and type up a review during my weekly rest period. However, the Black Canyon is an EXCEPTION. I thought this novella was BRILLIANT and the plot was very well thought out indeed. I loved this book and it was simply a joy to read. Well done Jeremy, you have written a wonderful novella with no boring bits or padding out of the tale. I think the length of this story is spot on and what is nice is that the location, although real, is not the key, it is the event of a family camping trip. Although the Black Canyon is a SHORT read, it certainly packs a punch and I can find nothing wrong with it, so it gets the top score of 5 stars from me.

The Catacombs (World’s Scariest Places #2) by Jeremy Bates

The Catacombs are a network of tunnels beneath Paris which are said to extend more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) and reach depths of 30 meters (100), too deep for phone coverage. Follow 4 characters who go on an underground adventure to explore hidden treasures etc in this hidden world beneath the streets of Paris.

I thought this thriller from Jeremy Bates was okay. The structure of this novel is similar to his previous book, the Suicide Forest and offers the same huge vocabulary that helps make this story such an adult read. Jeremy manages to capture the atmosphere of the catacombs very well indeed when he writes…

I tried to imagine what it would be like to walk alone in utter blackness, with only your hand on the wall to guide you, your mouth dry from dehydration, your throat and lungs burning from the rank air and the countless hours of screaming for help, your feet weeping with blisters, your legs jellied with exhaustion, nothing around you but tunnels and more tunnels, ad infinitum.

Yes, it is clearly very scary being lost in complete darkness within 300 km of tunnels below Paris knowing that nobody can hear you scream. I felt Jeremy explained these fears very well indeed as our 4 characters tried to exit the nightmare they had become trapped within.

The plot of The Catacombs was okay and was a regular urban legend of a hidden community. The main problem I had with The Catacombs was that I read it straight after Suicide Forest. I thought that Suicide Forest was a GOOD 4 star read and in comparison The Catacombs was simply not as good. For me The Catacombs was an okay 3 stars read because it lacked the wonder threaded within the script of the Suicide Forest.

Suicide Forest (World’s Scariest Places #1) by Jeremy Bates.

If you go out into the woods today. You’re sure of a big surprise. But this is no picnic time for teddy bears. A group of 7 people enter Aokigahara Jukai, which is near Mt. Fuji in Japan. The Japanese call it the “Sea of Trees” but others refer to it as the Suicide Forest. They are taken there by a guy called Honda who said “According to our myths, it was once the site of ubasute. Families would abandon their young or elderly there during periods of famine, so there would be less mouths to feed. Because of this, many Japanese think the forest is now haunted by yurei, or souls of the dead.”

I liked how Jeremy has done his research, for Suicide Forest is a real location. He also includes the local culture and words, for example a bento box and ramen shops. Jeremy really got the atmosphere of the Suicide Forest, giving it a creepy yet very real feel to it. I really enjoy walking my dog through woods but this is not a walk in the park for these 7 people who abandon the regular tourist trail.

Suicide Forest is written in the first person of Ethan Childs, who is an English teacher. I liked the little bits thrown into the story about teaching English to the Japanese and the funny things they can say. English is a great living language and I loved the bit were Ethan had words with Tomo - “Have lunch,” I corrected him vacantly. I didn’t usually do this outside the classroom, but “take lunch” always irked me, one of those expressions the Japanese favored that just sounded wrong.

I found Suicide Forest to be a GOOD read that plays on the urban legend horror theme. I liked how it was a first person narrative so that the reader feels they are at the center of the action. Suicide Forest is an adult book that fully explores the issue of suicide but is not preachy or religious. The quality of Jeremy’s writing is good and he has a very wide vocabulary, forcing me to click many a word on my Kindle, to be sure of it’s meaning.

Suicide Forest kept me entertained but I did NOT enjoy it as much as The Taste of Fear, another of Jeremy’s books. Because of the background, the choice of a real location and the urban legends attached, Suicide Forest for me was a GOOD 4 star read.

The Taste of Fear by Jeremy Bates.

The Taste of Fear is a thriller set in Africa, where American movie star Scarlett Cox and her husband, hotel tycoon Salvador Brazza have a short holiday break with many problems.

I have NOT read any of Jeremy Bates novels before and started reading The Taste of Fear with open eyes. What a lovely surprise I got from reading this book. Jeremy creates such great suspense and tension, your alarm bells are constantly ringing with the next threat on Scarlett or Salvador. Not only that but the reader gets the story from the assassin and the terrorist who are on their trail. So you know how the net is tightening around Scarlett and Salvador but they are blissfully enjoying their holiday in Tanzania. Then Scarlett and Salvador become involved in plots against them in this fast paced thriller that chills with suspense and tension.

I found the writing quality in The Taste of Fear to be top class. There is a very wide use of vocabulary and quite often I had to pull up the dictionary on my Kindle to be sure, for example “spelunker”. I loved how it was not just a plot driven novel but had lots of background and explanations about the detail of what was going on in the moment. All this extra information about how things are done, brought so much added value to my enjoyment of this book. Some of the characters were Mai-Mai rebels - and a quick search on the internet proves these people do exist in the Congo and Jeremy has truly done his research and has not made the bad guys up from his imagination. The whole story was told in a very adult way.

I liked the characters that Scarlett and Salvador met along the way. Jeremy knows how to develop colourful characters and no character became a drag. I liked the dialogue between ALL the characters and enjoyed the dark humour said between them. I really liked how this book was not politically correct and that Jeremy felt comfortable including snips that really made me chuckle, for example…

It made her wonder what early man had thought when he came down from the trees and was confronted with this new and alien world full of opportunity and danger.

The baboons watched the Land Rover pass with their sparkling black eyes, unalarmed, likely used to seeing their distant cousins come this way.

But a lot of these well-armed government-backed guerilla groups became consumed with their unbridled power, ultimately raping and pillaging and participating in rampant cannibalism, with a special taste for the local pygmy population.

“Not bad for an old man,” Zamir said, rolling his shoulders to get the feeling back in his arms. “Not bad for a Jew,” Fitzgerald shot back.

… I was really impressed with The Taste of Fear and thought it was an OUTSTANDING read that gets the top score of 5 stars from me. I became engaged, engrossed and entertained by this story. However, I will NOT look at a barbecue the same way again!