#BlogTour: Sleep by C. J. Taylor @callytaylor @Sabah_K @AvonBooksUK #Sleep

Book Synopsis:

All Anna wants is to be able to sleep. But crushing insomnia, terrifying night terrors and memories of that terrible night are making it impossible. If only she didn’t feel so guilty…

To escape her past, Anna takes a job at a hotel on the remote Scottish island of Rum, but when seven guests join her, what started as a retreat from the world turns into a deadly nightmare.

Each of the guests have a secret, but one of them is lying – about who they are and why they’re on the island. There’s a murderer staying in the Bay View hotel. And they’ve set their sights on Anna.

Seven strangers. Seven secrets. One deadly lie.

Someone’s going to sleep and never wake up…

Sleep will be published in hard and ebook on the 4th April 2019. You can pre-order your copy using the link below.

My Review:

I’m a huge fan of this author so I was incredibly excited to be included on the blog tour for her latest book. I was definitely not disappointed as in my opinion this is her best book yet!

The book follows Anna as she tries to put her life back together after a tragic car accident she was involved in. I found Anna to be a very sympathetic character who, despite being at fault for the car accident I felt very sorry for as I didn’t feel she deserved what happens. I thought it was interesting that she was a slightly older character as most of the books I read in this genre tend to be younger.

The author cleverly uses the remote hotel setting to create a dark, creepy atmosphere that helps to add a lot of tension to the book as there is a feeling of anything could happen next. Due to Anna’s sleep deprivation the reader is never sure whether to trust her version of events and this helped keep me guessing as to what was going on. It also ensured that the book was very hard to put down as I wanted to keep reading to find out what happens next and who was the murderer.

The story is quite fast paced and there are lots of twists that took me by surprise. Just when I thought I had figured everything out something would happen this made the story go off in a completely new direction. I found I couldn’t put the book down, hiding in the toilet from the kids and thinking about it constantly when I wasn’t able to read it which is always the sign of a great book.

Huge thanks to Sabah from Avon for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book which I received in exchange for an honest review. If you like dark, twisty gripping reads then you’ll love this book!

About The Author:

C.L. Taylor is the Sunday Times bestselling author of six gripping psychological thrillers. They are not a series and can be read in any order:

2014 – THE ACCIDENT
2015 – THE LIE
2016 – THE MISSING
2017 – THE ESCAPE
2018 – THE FEAR
2019 – SLEEP

She has also written a Young Adult thriller, THE TREATMENT, which was published by HarperCollins HQ and is currently writing her second, which will be published in June 2020.

C.L. Taylor’s books have sold in excess of a million copies, been number one on Amazon Kindle, Kobo, iBooks and Google Play and have been translated into over 25 languages and optioned for TV. THE ESCAPE won the Dead Good Books ‘Hidden Depths’ award for the Most Unreliable Narrator. THE FEAR was shortlisted in the Hearst Big Book Awards in the ‘Pageturner’ category.

Cally Taylor was born in Worcester and spent her early years living in various army camps in the UK and Germany. She studied Psychology at the University of Northumbria and went on forge a career in instructional design and e-Learning before leaving to write full time in 2014. She lives in Bristol with her partner and young son.

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#BlogTour: An Italian Affair by Caroline Montague @CMontagueAuthor @AlainnaGeorgiou @orionbooks #AnItalianAffair

Book Synopsis:

Love. War. Family. Betrayal.

Italy, 1937. Alessandra Durante is grieving the loss of her husband when she discovers she has inherited her ancestral family seat, Villa Durante, deep in the Tuscan Hills. Longing for a new start, she moves from her home in London to Italy with her daughter Diana and sets about rebuilding her life.

Under the threat of war, Alessandra’s house becomes first a home and then a shelter to all those who need it. Then Davide, a young man who is hiding the truth about who he is, arrives, and Diana starts to find her heart going where her head knows it must not.

Back home in Britain as war breaks out, Alessandra’s son Robert, signs up to be a pilot, determined to play his part in freeing Italy from the grip of Fascism. His bravery marks him out as an asset to the Allies, and soon he is being sent deep undercover and further into danger than ever before.

As war rages, the Durante family will love and lose, but will they survive the war…?

My Review:

An Italian Affair is a wonderful, absorbing historical saga that just draws the reader into the story.

The characters are all very well developed, realistic and I felt I went on a real journey with them through the ages. I didn’t know much about Italian history between the wars so I thought it was fascinating to read about the rise of Mussolini and his fascist party. The historical detail for this time was brilliant and I felt that I could picture all the action, and the wonderful Italian countryside, vividly as if I was witnessing it all first hand.

There was a lot of action in this book which made the book hugely enjoyable and helped ensure the reader was thoroughly gripped, especially in the war years . Even though I knew how some of the things would play out from reading other books based in the second world war, I still found myself caught up in the action and holding my breath as things unfolded. Some of the events are truly heartbreaking especially as by the time it happened I had grown very fond of the characters involved. I actually had to stop reading the book for a little bit as the story had affected me so much.

The ending and the twist was truly shocking and took me completely by surprise which I always enjoy. I found myself flicking back through the pages to see if I should have guessed earlier.

This unbelievably is the author’s debut novel and I’m so excited to read more from this talented author, especially if she creates more stunning historical sagas like this one.

Huge thanks to Alainna from Orion for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Orion for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

About The Author:

Caroline won her first National Poetry competition at 10 years old and from that moment dreamed of being a writer. After juggling motherhood with modelling assignments, she founded an Interior Design Company working on many projects in the UK and abroad. Her second marriage to the widowed Conroy Harrowby brought four stepchildren into her life, giving her a wider audience for her imaginative bedtime stories. As a family they all live at the Harrowby ancestral home, Burnt Norton, which famously inspired T S Eliot to write the first of his “Four Quartets”. At last Caroline has the time to fulfil her dream of becoming a full-time author.

#BlogTour: The Forgotten Secret by Kathleen McGurl @KathMcGurl @HQDigitalUK @rararesources #TheForgottenSecret

Book Synopsis:

Can she unlock the mysteries of the past?

A country at war

It’s the summer of 1919 and Ellen O’Brien has her whole life ahead of her. Young, in love and leaving home for her first job, the future seems full of shining possibility. But war is brewing and before long, Ellen and everyone around her are swept up by it. As Ireland is torn apart by the turmoil, Ellen finds herself facing the ultimate test of love and loyalty.
 
A long-buried secret

A hundred years later and Clare Farrell has inherited a dilapidated old farmhouse in County Meath. Seizing the chance to escape her unhappy marriage she strikes out on her own for the first time, hoping the old building might also provide clues to her family’s shadowy history. As she sets out to put the place – and herself – back to rights, she stumbles across a long-forgotten hiding place, with a clue to a secret that has lain buried for decades.
 
For fans of Kate Morton and Gill Paul comes an unforgettable novel about two women fighting for independence.

The Forgotten Secret is available in ebook now for the fantastic price of £2.99. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

The Forgotten Secret is the first book I’ve read by this author, although I have heard lots of great things! So I was excited to be invited onto the blog tour for this, her latest book.

Firstly the author has clearly done her research into what was a turbulent time in Irish history as the period is vividly described so the reader feels like they are actually there experiencing everything alongside the characters. I’m ashamed to say I didn’t know much about The Irish War of Independence before reading this book so I was truly fascinated to learn more about it.

The dual timeline mystery was very well done and I enjoyed watching it all unfold. I did prefer Ellen’s story due to the historical detail but I found myself intrigued by Charlotte’s story too and trying to guess how the two stories would merge together. I liked that there weren’t any huge jumps or coincidences in how the two fit together which helped to make the story seem quite realistic.

The last part of the book is quite emotional, as you might expect due to its subject matter, and I found myself totally caught up in the story. By this time I felt that I had really got to know the characters well and I’d gone on a huge journey with them so the ending had a huge impact on me. I rarely cry in books but found myself sobbing as the end played out which I always think shows a lot of skill from the author that they’ve made you feel this way.

Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and to HQ Digital for my copy of this book via Netgalley. If you like absorbing, emotional dual timeline stories then you’ll love this book!

About The Author:

Kathleen McGurl lives near the sea in Bournemouth, UK, with her husband and elderly tabby cat. She has two sons who are now grown-up and have left home. She began her writing career creating short stories, and sold dozens to women’s magazines in the UK and Australia. Then she got side-tracked onto family history research – which led eventually to writing novels with genealogy themes. She has always been fascinated by the past, and the ways in which the past can influence the present, and enjoys exploring these links in her novels.
When not writing or working at her full-time job in IT, she likes to go out running. She also adores mountains and is never happier than when striding across the Lake District fells, following a route from a Wainwright guidebook.
You can find out more at her website: http://kathleenmcgurl.com/, or follow her on Twitter: @KathMcGurl.

#BlogTour: The Perfect Betrayal by Lauren North @Lauren_C_North @TransworldBooks @HJ_Barnes @annecater #ThePerfectBetrayal #RandomThingsTours

Book Synopsis:

‘I THOUGHT SHE WAS OUR FRIEND. I THOUGHT SHE WAS TRYING TO HELP US.’

After the sudden death of her husband, Tess is drowning in grief. All she has left is her son, Jamie, and she’ll do anything to protect him – but she’s struggling to cope.

When grief counsellor Shelley knocks on their door, everything changes. Shelley is beautiful, confident and takes control when Tess can’t bear to face the outside world.

But when questions arise over her husband’s death and strange things start to happen, Tess begins to suspect that Shelley may have an ulterior motive. Tess knows she must do everything she can to keep Jamie safe – but who can she trust?

The Perfect Betrayal is available now in ebook and in paperback on the 27th June 2019. You can purchase or pre-order this item using the link below.

My Review:

The Perfect Betrayal is a fantastic psychological suspense novel which manages to explore a serious subject in its pages.

The story starts off slow as the reader learns more about Tess, her situation and how she is coping with her husband’s death. However it soon builds up as strange, unexplained things start happening and the reader becomes increasingly aware that not everything is as it seems. The tension increases until it’s very difficult to put the book down. I found myself holding my breath at times as certain parts of the book play out.

Tessa is a very sympathetic character that I warmed to instantly and wanted to keep reading to check she was ok. The author’s descriptions of her grief and the love for her son are vividly described ensuring the reader is completely on her side. She’s a very relatable character as I can well imagine other mother’s acting in a similar way.

The twist was utterly brilliant and I definitely didn’t see it coming. It was one of those twists that made me gasp and flip back through the pages to see if I could have figured it out sooner!

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Hayley from Transworld for my copy of this book which I received in exchange for an honest review.

About The Author:

Lauren North writes psychological suspense novels that delve into the darker side of relationships and families. She has a lifelong passion for writing, reading, and all things books. Lauren’s love of psychological suspense has grown since childhood and from her dark imagination of always wondering what’s the worst thing that could happen in every situation. 

Lauren studied psychology before moving to London where she lived and worked for many years. She now lives with her family in the Suffolk countryside. Readers can follow Lauren on Twitter @Lauren_C_North and Facebook @LaurenNorthAuthor

#BlogTour: The Conviction of Cora Burns @novelcarolyn @noexitpress @annecater #TheConvictionOfCoraBurns #RandomThingsTours

Book Synopsis:

To believe in her future, she must uncover her past…

Birmingham, 1885.

Born in a gaol and raised in a workhouse, Cora Burns has always struggled to control the violence inside her.

Haunted by memories of a terrible crime, she seeks a new life working as a servant in the house of scientist Thomas Jerwood. Here, Cora befriends a young girl, Violet, who seems to be the subject of a living experiment. But is Jerwood also secretly studying Cora…?

With the power and intrigue of Laura Purcell’s The Silent Companions and Sarah Schmidt’s See What I Have Done, Carolyn Kirby’s stunning debut takes the reader on a heart-breaking journey through Victorian Birmingham and questions where we first learn violence: from our scars or from our hearts.

The Conviction Of Cora Burns is published on the 21st March 2019 in ebook and paperback. You can pre-order your copy of both using the link below.

My Review:

Wow this was an amazing historical novel which manages to be incredibly heartbreaking but ultimately uplifting. This is definitely a book which will stay with me for a long time, particularly due to the human stories told in its pages.

The historical detail in this book is brilliant and helps to transport the reader into Victorian England. It was a very harsh, brutal time to live in particularly if you were poor and the reality of this is obvious throughout this book. The author certainly doesn’t hold back on describing some of the miserable situations people found themselves in which was truly heartbreaking and deeply affecting to read about. As a mother I found the stories involving the children some of the hardest and most uncomfortable to read about, especially as one of the children was a similar age to my children. I made sure they all got extra hugs after reading this.

The mystery surrounding Cora’s past and the house she finds employment in is slowly unraveled in a very tantalisingly way. I enjoyed going on the journey with Cora and experiencing everything through her eyes. There were lots of twists that I didn’t see coming and helped keep me very intrigued as the various threads of the story are slowly pulled together. I felt very absorbed in the story and thoroughly gripped by everything going on. This was definitely one of the best historical books I have read recently!

The ending was brilliant and I found I had tears in my eyes whilst reading it. I was so glad it ended this way and felt it was a great way to end the book.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to No Exit Press for my copy of this book which I received in exchange for an honest review. If you like emotional, dark and gripping historical fiction then you’ll love this book!

About The Author:

Originally from Sunderland, Carolyn Kirby studied history at St Hilda’s College, Oxford before working for social housing and then as a teacher of English as a foreign language. Her novel The Conviction of Cora Burns was begun in 2013 on a writing course at Faber Academy in London. The novel has achieved success in several competitions including as finalist in the 2017 Mslexia Novel Competition and as winner of the inaugural Bluepencilagency Award. Carolyn has two grown-up daughters and lives with her husband in rural Oxfordshire.

#BlogTour: The Family Secret by Terry Lynn Thomas @TLThomasBooks @HQDigitalUK @rararesources #TheFamilySecret

Book Synopsis:

Will she find the truth?

England, 1940

After a sudden unexplained disappearance, Thomas Charles comes back into Cat Carlisle’s life with the suggestion she leave London – and the threat of bombs – to move to back her childhood village in Cumberland.

Back in her hometown Cat discovers her childhood friend, Beth Hargreaves, is suspected of murder. As Cat tries to prove Beth’s innocence, she discovers a scheme of deception that affects the whole village. Can she uncover the family truths behind the murder and expose the enemy hiding in plain sight?

Get ready for another gripping read from USA Todaybestselling author of THE SILENT WOMAN!

The Family Secret is available in ebook now and in paperback on the 16th May 2019. You can purchase or pre-order your copy using the link below.

My Review:

The Family Secret is a fantastic cosy mystery with some wonderful historical detail. I’ve always been a huge fan of books set in WW2 and the author does a great job of evoking the atmosphere of that period. I felt transported back to that time with the vivid descriptions helping the reader to picture the era in their mind.

The main characters are all strong females which is always a hit with me and I enjoyed reading about them. They were very clever, together woman who fought against the sexism that existed at that time in order to break out of the more traditional roles woman usually took. They were all extremely likeable characters that I felt completely supportive of and wanted to keep reading to find out what happens to them.

The story is very gripping and well plotted with the story unfolding at a great pace . It read a bit like a classic murder story and I liked that it managed to keep me guessing until the end. This is the second book in the series and while it could be read as a standalone it is probably best to read them in order as I think you will understand more about the characters.

Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and to HQ Digital for my copy of this book via Netgalley which I received in exchange for an honest review.

About The Author:

Terry Lynn Thomas grew up the San Francisco Bay Area, which explains her love of foggy beaches, windy dunes, and gothic mysteries. When her husband promised to buy Terry a horse and the time to write if she moved to Mississippi with him, she jumped at the chance. Although she had written several novels and screenplays prior to 2006, after she relocated to the South she set out to write in earnest and has never looked back. Now Terry Lynn writes the Sarah Bennett Mysteries, set on the California coast during the 1940s, which feature a misunderstood medium in love with a spy. When she’s not writing, you can find Terry Lynn riding her horse, walking in the woods with her dogs, or visiting old cemeteries in search of story ideas.

#BookReview: Knowing You by Samantha Tonge @SamTongeWriter @canelo_co @rararesources #KnowingYou

Book Synopsis:

An abrupt change; a new friendship; a dark secret…

Kind-hearted Violet has never fitted in, but despite being bullied at school is now content. She is dating ambitious Lenny, has her dream job in publishing and runs a book club at the local retirement home.

However, when her relationship with Lenny begins to falter, Violet, hurt and alone, seeks the advice of her new flatmate, Bella. She changes her image and with her head held high aims to show that she doesn’t need Lenny in her life to be happy and successful.

Her long-term friends Kath and Farah worry about Bella’s influence and slowly Violet starts to distance herself from them. When she was a child, her closest confidant and companion was a boy called Flint. Her mother didn’t approve of their closeness and he suffered a terrible end. She won’t let the same thing happen to Bella, no matter what anyone says…

Knowing You is about friendship and knowing who to trust with your deepest secrets; it’s about taking control of your life and not being afraid to stand out. Perfect for fans of Ruth Hogan, Gail Honeyman and Amanda Prowse

Knowing You is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase a copy of both using the link below.

My Review:

Knowing You is an emotional and powerful book that is very well written. In this book the author manages to address some serious, dark issues in a sensitive way but without ever making the story too complex or serious which might put some readers off.

Violets story is incredibly absorbing and heart wrenching at times and I found that I quickly warmed to her. Her story is, especially her childhood experiences, sadly quite common and as such made for a very emotional read. It was quite heartbreaking at times to see her try to deal with everything and how it continues to affect her.

This book managed to grip me from the start with its emotional and complex story which is impossible not to get caught up in. From the start I knew that I liked this book and I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next. The twist at the end was very surprising and I didn’t expect it which I always love. This is definitely a book that will stay with me for a long time.

Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Canelo for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

About The Author:

Samantha Tonge lives in Manchester UK with her husband and children. She studied German and French at university and has worked abroad, including a stint at Disneyland Paris. She has travelled widely.
When not writing she passes her days cycling, baking and drinking coffee. Samantha has sold many dozens of short stories to women’s magazines. 
She is represented by the Darley Anderson literary agency. In 2013, she landed a publishing deal for romantic comedy fiction with HQDigital at HarperCollins and in 2014, her bestselling debut, Doubting Abbey, was shortlisted for the Festival of Romantic Fiction best Ebook award. In 2015 her summer novel, Game of Scones, hit #5 in the UK Kindle chart and won the Love Stories Awards Best Romantic Ebook category. In 2018 Forgive Me Not, heralded a new direction into darker women’s fiction with publisher Canelo. In 2019 she was shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association romantic comedy award. 

http://samanthatonge.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamTongeWriter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaTongeAuthor

#BlogTour: The Scandal by Mari Hannah @mariwriter @orionbooks @orion_crime @AlainnaGeorgiou #TheScandal #5Stars

Book Synopsis:

When an young man is found stabbed to death in a side street in Newcastle city centre in the run up to Christmas, it looks like a botched robbery to DCI David Stone. But when DS Frankie Oliver arrives at the crime scene, she gets more than she bargained for.

She IDs the victim as Herald court reporter, thirty-two-year old Chris Adams she’s known since they were kids. With no eyewitnesses, the MIT are stumped. They discover that when Adams went out, never to return, he was working on a scoop that would make his name. But what was the story he was investigating? And who was trying to cover it up?

As detectives battle to solve the case, they uncover a link to a missing woman that turns the investigation on its head. The exposé has put more than Adams’ life in danger. And it’s not over yet.

The Scandal is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

I’m a huge fan of this series and I was very excited to read more from this wonderful author. Once again the author has written a fantastic, gripping book in what is becoming one of my favourite crime series.

Firstly the opening chapter in this book is utterly brilliant and hard hitting. The reader is immediately intrigued by the image of the woman running from an unknown threat, which brings lots of unanswered questions to your mind. The terror the woman is feeling is almost palpable and sent a shiver down my spine as I wondered what had happened. It helps to set the tone perfectly for the rest of this tense and atmospheric book.

The central partnership of Stone and Oliver just goes from strength to strength and I thoroughly enjoyed reading more about them. The relationship they have just seems to gel based as it is on mutual respect and trust. I loved the banter that exists between them and the fact that they can go from laughing with each other to being deadly serious when they needed to be.

The investigation concerning what happened to Adam was very intriguing and I enjoyed watching it unfold. The investigation seemed very realistic with no coincidences suddenly jumping out at you. Due to the lack of witnesses or forensic evidence the police have to build a case pretty much from scratch. It was fascinating to watch how they do that and how they discover links between things.

This book is incredibly gripping, fast paced and hugely enjoyable. I alternated between wanting to read more to find out what happens and wanting to slow down to savour this fabulously written crime book. I so hope there will be more books in this series!

Huge thanks to Alianna from Orion for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book via Netgalley. If you are looking for a fantastic crime series then you need to read these books!

About The Author:

Multi-award winning Mari Hannah is the author of the Stone & Oliver crime series, the Ryan & O’Neil series and the DCI Kate Daniels series. 

In July 2010, she won a Northern Writers’ Award for Settled Blood. In 2013, she won the Polari First Book Prize for her debut, The Murder Wall. She was awarded the CWA Dagger in the Library 2017 as the author of the most enjoyed collection of work in libraries. 

Mari is reader-in-residence at Theakston Old Peculier Crime Festival. She lives in Northumberland with her partner, an former murder detective. 

To find her or see where she’s appearing, visit her events page at: marihannah.com or follow her on Twitter @mariwriter.

#BlogTour: Past Lives by Dominic Nolan @NolanDom @headlinepg @annecater #PastLives #RandomThingsTours

Book Synopsis:

Waking up beside the dead girl, she couldn’t remember anything.
Who she was. Who had taken her. How to escape.

Detective Abigail Boone has been missing for four days when she is finally found, confused and broken. Suffering retrograde amnesia, she is a stranger to her despairing husband and bewildered son.

Hopelessly lost in her own life, with no leads on her abduction, Boone’s only instinct is to revisit the case she was investigating when she vanished: the baffling disappearance of a young woman, Sarah Still.

Defying her family and the police, Boone obsessively follows a deadly trail to the darkest edges of human cruelty. But even if she finds Sarah, will Boone ever be the same again?

Past Lives is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase a copy of both using the link below.

My Review:

Past Lives is a dark, intense page turner with some fantastic characters that just make this book!

The three main characters are all strong female ones that were wonderful to read about. I was especially drawn to Boone as I really admired the determination she showed in trying to solve the case, long after she had to. Roo was another very endearing character whose broken English I felt made her seem slightly more vulnerable though it did make me smile at times as it was quite entertaining. I enjoyed reading about the friendship that developed between the three and the way they worked together to solve their case.

The book covers the difficult subject of human trafficking which makes for a dark, harrowing read at times. The author doesn’t sugar coat the violence and terror that could be included in this situation which makes for quite uncomfortable reading, especially when it was aimed towards characters you have grown very fond of. All this combined makes the situation seem very real which makes reading it a very intense almost unbearable experience. I was on the edge of my seat sometimes as I watched everything play out.

The plot is quite a complex one though Broone’s amnesia gives the author the chance to go into more detail about some areas or go over things again seemingly for her sake but also cleverly gives the reader a chance to get things straight as well. The police investigation was very well described and I found the way it all developed very interesting to follow.

This was an incredibly intense, atmospheric read which I found very difficult to put down. The opening chapter is very intriguing and immediately throws up lots of questions that I wanted to find out the answers to. The short chapters helps give a frantic feel to the investigation and makes for an fast read.

This unbelievably is the author’s debut novel and I’m very excited to read more from this talented author.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Headline for giving me a copy of this book.

About The Author:

Dominic Nolan was born and raised in north London. PAST LIFE is his first novel.

#BlogTour: The Last Left Alive by Sarah Davis-Goff @SarahDavisGoff @TinderPress @annecater #LastOnesLeftAlived

Book Synopsis:

Raised by her mother and Maeve on Slanbeg, an island off the west coast of Ireland, Orpen has a childhood of love and stories by the fireside. But the stories grow darker, and the training begins. Ireland has been devoured by a ravening menace known as the skrake, and though Slanbeg is safe for now, the women must always be ready to run, or to fight.

When Maeve is bitten, Orpen is faced with a dilemma: kill Maeve before her transformation is complete, or try to get help. So Orpen sets off, with Maeve in a wheelbarrow and her dog at her side, in the hope of finding other survivors, and a cure. It is a journey that will test Orpen to her limits, on which she will learn who she really is, who she really loves, and how to imagine a future in a world that ended before she was born.

The Last Left Alive is available now in ebook and hardback. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

The Last Left Alive is a fantastically dark and gripping piece of dystopian fiction which I thoroughly recommend.

The thing I most liked about this book is how realistic it seems. So often in dystopian fiction everything seems quite rosy with some degree of the world we live in still existing and everyone miraculously having what they want. This isn’t the case in this story with the author painting quite a bleak picture of the world that exists and the groups of survivors that exist, stripped back to their most basic needs which I found fascinating to read about. I found I enjoyed exploring this world the author has created.

Orpen is a very intriguing main character who I immediately warmed to and who I enjoyed following as she navigates her way through this new world. She is very brave and feisty, though a little niave at times which made me want to just give her a hug, not that I think she’d want one! Her current predicament is interspersed with flashbacks from her childhood and it was quite heartbreaking to see the contrast between the two. Yes it was quite a basic life that she led but she was obviously loved and cared for which, compared to the present, was quite emotional to read about.

The story is quite fast paced and gripped me from the start with the vivid descriptions of the precarious position Orpen finds herself in. There is always a sense that there is danger lurking just out of sight waiting which keeps the reader on their toes as you are never sure where the danger is going to come from. It was very interesting to go on a journey through this world and to watch Orpen find her place in it.

This unbelievably is the author’s debut novel and I can’t wait to read more from her in the future. If you like dark, atmospheric and tense dystopian fiction then you’ll love this book. If you’ve never read any dystopian fiction then I urge you to start with this one!

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Tinder Press for my copy of this book which I received in exchange for an honest review.

About The Author:

Sarah Davis-Goff was born and raised in Ireland. After going to college in the US and UK, she eventually returned, and now lives in Dublin. ‘Last Ones Left Alive’ is her debut novel.