Showing posts with label DI KIM STONE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DI KIM STONE. Show all posts
Author | Angela Marsons
Publisher | Bookouture
Source | Review Copy
Pages | 320
Purchase | Amazon
My Rating |5/5
Two girls go missing. Only one will return. The couple that offers the highest amount will see their daughter again. The losing couple will not. Make no mistake. One child will die.
When nine-year-old best friends Charlie and Amy disappear, two families are plunged into a living nightmare. A text message confirms the unthinkable; that the girls are the victims of a terrifying kidnapping.
And when a second text message pits the two families against each other for the life of their children, the clock starts ticking for D.I. Kim Stone and the squad.
Seemingly outwitted at every turn, as they uncover a trail of bodies, Stone realises that these ruthless killers might be the most deadly she has ever faced. And that their chances of bringing the girls home alive are getting smaller by the hour . . .
Untangling a dark web of secrets from the families' past might hold the key to solving this case. But can Kim stay alive long enough to do so? Or will someone's child pay the ultimate price?
It's no secret that it is in fact Angela Marsons who corrupted my reading passion from chick-lit & romance and got me hooked on crime thrillers with a psychological twist. I fell head over heels in love with this addiction when I read her debut novel Silent Screams, and now, after reading Lost Girls - A D.I. Kim Stone Novel #3 I'm hooked again.
The thing with addiction is you are left with the question of; "Can I ever get clean?" and I have to say - if Angela continues writing the way she does - I'm done for! There's no way I can ever become 'clean' from this genre.
Lost Girls had my heart beating so fast and launching itself in my mouth I was almost begging the tormentors to stop and at the same time, I was desperate for Kim Stone to find the evil buggers and get them locked up!
I do firstly have to say that the ending - Angela - You did GOOD - REAL GOOD there! I did not expect that!! I was kept on the edge of my seat right up until the very end and then like a hit of something naughty - the come down leaves you feeling out of sorts (which is why I recommend having more than 1 of Angela's books to hand - that way you can continue your addiction reading feast immediately!).
When 2 girls go missing, best friends and under the age of 13 your heart really does begin to break. We see it all too often in the news, and Angela captures this torment spectacularly. I was close to vomiting at times when I read about the kidnappers stripping the children 'naked' and then getting the clothes left in their parents garden - whilst Kim Stone and her team are there I might add - ahem! However, apologies if this is a 'spoiler' for you, but I have to reassure you that the young girls weren't fully naked, they still had their swimming costumes on! It's not much but it does give you a sense of relief and reassurance. Perhaps?
As with any crime thriller with a psychological twist, I strived to work it out and crack the case - but Angela is just too good for me. I can't even begin to build a theory because Kim Stone comes along and smashes it to pieces when she connects the dots quicker than a bomb disposal expert can cancel the wiring of a timed bomb!
Lost Girls had a brilliant ending - one that left me breathless, screaming OMFG! in shock at exactly just who was involved in this awful crime, and one that also brought peace and solace to some families in the story.
Like I said, I had to start book 4 after this one because I simply was left wanting more. Excellent Work Angela! You've done it again!
Title: Silent Scream - A D.I. Kim Stone Novel (Book 1)
Author: Angela Marsons
Publisher: Bookouture
Availability/RRP : eBook/Kindle - £1.99 (You can pre-order now for £0.99) Paperback - £7.99
Publishing Date: 20th February 2015
A Page of Love Rating:
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
When a headmistress is found brutally strangled, the death marks the beginning of a spate of gruesome murders that shock the Black Country.
But as human remains are discovered at a former children’s home, disturbing secrets are also unearthed. D.I. Kim Stone fast realises she’s on the hunt for a twisted individual whose killing spree spans decades.
As the body count rises, Kim needs to stop the murderer before they strike again. But to catch the killer, can Kim confront the demons of her own past – before it’s too late?
DAWN'S THOUGHTS:
OMG!! I warn you now, this review may not be as calm and composed as my others because I am just too excited about this book, so it may be a long excited rant from me.
Firstly, this book is of a genre that I have NEVER read before, and therefore I have never thought about reviewing or showcasing here on A Page of Love. But I am so glad that I gave it a chance. I read it within a week, I could have read it much quicker but as a University student I was time limited. Anyway, when I first saw Bookouture debut the cover on Facebook, my first reaction was and after reading it still is;
This looks (and is) perfect for any fans of Broadchurch, or Suspects.
I'd now go as far to say that if you love watching programs such as; Rosemary & Thyme, Midsummer Murders, Lewis, perhaps a bit of CSI, then you will love this book.
I won't go into what you will read in this book for two reasons; firstly I really don't want to spoil it for you and if I began talking about the plot, then I know i'd ramble on and spoil it, and secondly, I have a small excerpt for you at the end of this review. What I will say is that I loved it from start to finish.
This book is set in the Black Country, an area I know and also an area my father worked in as a Police Officer. I can attest that this book is very very accurate in its location descriptions (names too!) and as I was reading it I found myself actually mind transporting myself to the location. The actual crime site is a place I know and when Angie spoke of looking across to the crematorium, I could easily imagine it as it was in that very crematorium that we held the service when my Father passed away in 2004 (which coincidentally was attended by hundreds of retired Police Officers/Inspectors etc) so it all felt incredibly real to me, if not a little raw. I know my Father would have been intrigued and very much eager to read this novel, and to be honest, I would have been listening to him begging me to speak to Angie about it all and then he would have rambled on about his 33 years of service in the force and told her all about the murders her attended... Throughout reading, it was almost as though I could hear him in my mind telling me all this.
Back to the book (I warned you i'd ramble a bit with excitement), The characters and the rapport between them is brilliant, the dialogue is believable, and the whole entire story kept me on the edge of my seat as I tried to crack the case with Kim Stone.
Kim, is a strong character, she is intuitive, she is gutsy, she is determined and she is passionate. She is everything that you'd want in a D.I. and I think Angie has created one of the top crime characters in our time. I really do. I think if she were to be transported to Broadchurch, she'd whip them all into shape!
At times the book was gruesome beyond belief (for me - a crime fiction virgin), especially when you read the 'thoughts' of the murderer and I felt my stomach churn, my eyes stung with the revolt of such crimes, but as much as that could have put me off, I had to take a reality check, that in fact we are sadly, living in times when crimes like this does happen, and the police force has to face this every day, and for that, I think Angie has written a very accurate account in fiction form. This made it believable, and when we read fiction, we want to be sucked in, and we want to believe in the characters, Angie has made that happen in Silent Scream.
I was guessing right up until the end about who had committed such acts, and whilst I shed tears towards the end, and I completely got the criminal wrong (clearly I don't have my Father's Nose for solving crime)... I had a damn good time reading it and I'm ready for the next case...the next book.
Please don't let us have to wait long Angie... You have converted me to actually wanting to read crime fiction.
I'll leave you to read the excerpt now, and encourage you to buy it, read it and PLEASE let me know your thoughts on this book.
"Five figures formed a pentagram around a freshly dug mound. Only they knew it was a grave. Digging the frozen earth beneath the layers of ice and snow had been like trying to carve stone but they’d taken turns. All of them. An adult-sized hole would have taken longer.
The shovel had passed from grip to grip. Some were hesitant, tentative. Others more assured. No one resisted and no one spoke. The innocence of the life taken was known to them all but the pact had been made. Their secrets would be buried.
Five heads bowed towards the dirt, visualising the body beneath soil that already glistened with fresh ice. As the first flakes dusted the top of the grave, a shudder threaded through the group. The five figures dispersed, their footprints treading the trail of a star into the fresh, crisp snow. It was done."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Angela Marsons was born and raised in the Black Country and still lives there, along with her long-term partner, as well as a bouncy Labrador and a potty-mouthed African Grey parrot. Although she has been writing since her early teens, Silent Scream is her first novel.
Angela discovered a love of writing at Primary School when a short piece on the rocks and the sea gained her the only merit point she ever got.
Angela wrote the stories that burned inside and then stored them safely in a desk drawer.
After much urging from her partner she began to enter short story competitions in Writer's News resulting in a win and three short listed entries.
She used the Amazon KDP program to publish two of her earlier works before concentrating on her true passion - Crime.
After many, many submissions Angela was signed in a 4 book deal to http://bookouture.comas their first crime author.
Her first book SILENT SCREAM will be published in February 2015.
Happy Thursday!!
I have a very special guest for you all today; Angela Marsons, author of the soon to be published Silent Scream. I'm reading this right now and I can't wait to post the review for you, and i'm even more excited about YOU getting a copy and letting me know what you think of it too!
Set in the Black Country, this is the DEBUT D.I. Kim Stone Novel, and even half way through... I want to know what D.I. Kim Stone's next investigation will be! Before I give it all away... i'm going to hand over to the Author herself, Angela to tell you a little bit more about Silent Scream.
***
Silent
Scream is the first book I've written based in my own area of the Black
Country. Stories written prior to this
had been focused on areas I thought a reader would find more appealing or
glamorous.
After all,
the Charles Dickens's novel, The Old Curiosity Shop, describes the factory
chimneys that "poured out their
plague of smoke, obscured the light and made foul the melancholy air".
And It is
widely felt that J.R.R. Tolkien based the grim region of Mordor on The Black
Country.
However, my
favourite anecdote is that when traveling through the area Queen Victoria would
gently lower her carriage blind.
So, why
would I chose to base Silent Scream in such a place?
When I
started Silent Scream I wrote it just for me, without any real intention of it
meeting the outside world. This gave me
the freedom to set the book wherever I wanted to and found that my own area
suited the main character very well.
I quickly
learned that the area is not named for the thick black smoke that poured from
industrial chimneys but for the outcropping coal seam that turned the soil
black.
By the
1620's there were 20,000 'smiths' within a 10 mile radius of Dudley
Castle. Many of which were individual
smallholdings used by families to supplement their income.
The area
has a rich heritage in manufacturing chains and anchors. The main anchor for the Titanic was forged in
Netherton and was pulled through the streets to Dudley Port by 20 shire horses.
As I
researched the history of The Black Country I found myself wanting to explore
the difficulties faced by the area since the decline of the steelworks and coal
mines, but keep a sense of its dark and industrial past.
It is now,
more than ever, a place I am proud to call my home.
Title: Silent Screams
Author: Angela Marsons
Publisher: Bookouture
Available from: 20th February 2015 in KINDLE FORMAT
PRE-ORDER NOW for only £0.99
In the first Book Preview/News for the Crime Fiction Genre, we have a Black Country based crime novel from Angela Marsons, who is a Black Country lady herself.
There is a BIG buzz on social media about this book and I think there is every right to be. The cover alone is very much one that draws you toward it with intrigue, and I think it would be perfect for any BROADCHURCH fan, or SUSPECTS fans alike!
So let's see what we can look forward to;
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Five figures gather round a shallow grave. They had all taken turns to dig. An adult sized hole would have taken longer. An innocent life had been taken but the pact had been made. Their secrets would be buried, bound in blood …
Years later, a headmistress is found brutally strangled, the first in a spate of gruesome murders which shock the Black Country.
But when human remains are discovered at a former children’s home, disturbing secrets are also unearthed. D.I. Kim Stone fast realises she’s on the hunt for a twisted individual whose killing spree spans decades.
As the body count rises, Kim needs to stop the murderer before they strike again. But to catch the killer, can Kim confront the demons of her own past before it’s too late?
Fans of Rachel Abbott, Val McDermid and Mark Billingham will be gripped by this exceptional new voice in British crime fiction.
Well it sounds thrilling doesn't it? I have to say that on my initial 'quick flick' of my Reviewers Copy, Angela has really embraced the Black Country in this novel and the location mentions are ones that anyone who has ever lived in the area, worked there (like my Father did in the Police Force), will instantly recognize.
Don't leave town as Angela will be right back here on A Page of Love in an EXCLUSIVE Interview that will leave no stone unturned, and we'll be able to gather up the evidence and send it to forensics so that we can read and review our very own copy!
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