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Book Review : The Gift
by Louise Jensen

The story is written in the first person from the point of view of Jenna, a young woman who has suffered heart failure and who’s been given a second crack at life with a donor heart. Jenna’s new heart previously belonged to Callie and, overwhelmed…
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Book Review : The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter by Cherry Radford

The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter is the third novel by Sussex writer Cherry Radford but an enjoyable first for me. I did not know what to expect but was initially attracted by the excellent reviews. The title may have a ring of historical…
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Book Review: Her Secret by Kelly Florentia

Her Secret is Kelly Florentia’s second novel featuring the life and times of Louboutin-loving 40-something girl about town, Audrey Fox. Having enormously enjoyed my first encounter with Audrey in No Way Back, I was excited to hear of the…
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Book Review : Maria in the Moon by Louise Beech

Maria in the Moon is like one of those magic eye pictures popular in the 90s: It takes a while to see what you are looking at, but once you do, you’ll never see just a row of dots again.  It’s a clumsy analogy and I’m certain that Louise…
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Book Review: The Girlfriend by Michelle Frances

I’ve just read and thoroughly enjoyed ‘The Girlfriend’ by Michelle Frances, published by Pan Macmillan. It’s a psychological thriller with the ‘thriller’ aspect ramping right up in the last third of this uncomfortable yarn. The…
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Book Review: The Gift Maker by Mark Mayes

Sometimes, when a book (or a film) is accompanied by much hyperbole, the event itself can be a letdown; not so in the case of Mark Mayes’s exquisite debut novel, The Gift Maker.  The book’s blurb is an accurate teaser of what you’re getting…
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Book Review: Love and a Dozen Roast Potatoes by Simon Wan

Simon Wan’s Love and a Dozen Roast Potatoes is an autobiography with a fresh take.  Dates, names and places are unimportant; instead the author takes an acerbic yomp (or more of a techno-twitch) through the decades, luxuriating in the 90s…
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Book Review : Close of Play by P J Whiteley

I have just read and thoroughly enjoyed PJ Whiteley’s Close of Play. Set in the late 90s, there are dual themes running here: First to emerge is our hero Brian Clarke’s devotion to cricket (the clue is in the title). Brian describes himself…
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Book Review: The Life Assistance Agency by Thomas Hocknell

Thomas Hocknell’s debut novel The Life Assistance Agency skilfully combines two genres. It’s an adventure thriller; tense, suspenseful and threat-laden with twists a plenty, but the supernatural theme of the book means that it will also…
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Book Review: 183 Times a Year by Eva Jordan

Eva Jordan’s debut novel 183 Times a Year is the story of beleaguered mum Lizzie and angst-ridden teenage daughter Cassie’s relationship and their chaotic ‘blended’ family. Thanks to a first person narrative by Lizzie and Cassie alternately,…