Book Review: Trust Me by Angela Clarke

The Blurb

YOU SAW IT HAPPEN. DIDN’T YOU?

What do you do if you witness a crime…but no-one believes you?

When Kate sees a horrific attack streamed live on her laptop, she calls the police in a state of shock. But when they arrive, the video has disappeared – and she can’t prove anything. Desperate to be believed, Kate tries to find out who the girl in the video could be – and who attacked her.

Freddie and Nas are working on a missing persons case, but the trail has gone cold. When Kate contacts them, they are the only ones to listen and they start to wonder – are the two cases connected?

Dark, gripping, and flawlessly paced, Trust Me is the brilliant third novel in the hugely popular social media murderer series.

My Review

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, Avon and author Angela Clarke for the ARC. Trust Me was published on 15th June, so I apologise for only posting my review now. Life gets in the way.

Trust Me is the third novel in Angela's Social Media Murders series, the first two being Follow Me and Watch Me.

Angela is proving to be a great crime writer. This book, along with her others, keeps you guessing all the way through, and it is wonderful to see how her writing has developed along with the recurring characters. She definitely knows how to scare me to death!

Crime-fighting friends Freddie and Nas are back, and still struggling to be accepted by their male colleagues. There's a hint of romance in the story too for both women, adding an extra layer of drama to an already adrenalin-filled read.

This time live-streamed video is used to scare us to death. Those who see it aren't quite sure if it's real, but Kate, a teacher with a sad past, believes she has seen a girl brutally murdered and refuses to be ignored.

We're dragged along at full-speed in another race against time with Freddie and Nas, fraught with peril and danger that had me holding my breath and gripping onto my Kindle for dear life.

Gritty and hard-hitting, sometimes it's a little bit too real for comfort, but then no one expects a crime novel to be warm and fluffy.

I cannot wait for the day I watch this series on TV from behind my cushion!

Be warned, after reading this you might find yourself thinking back wistfully to the days before social media ruled our lives...

Buy Trust Me here!

About the Author

Angela is an author, playwright, columnist and professional speaker. 

Her debut crime thriller Follow Me (Avon, HarperCollins) was named Amazon’s Rising Star Debut of the Month January 2016, long listed for the Crime Writer’s Association Dagger in the Library 2016, and short listed for the Good Reader Page Turner Award 2016. Follow Me has now been optioned by a TV production company. 

The second instalment in the Social Media Murder Series Watch Me (Avon, HarperCollins) was published January 2017. And the third Trust Me (Avon, HarperCollins) is out June 2017. 

Angela’s humorous memoir Confessions of a Fashionista (Ebury, Penguin Random House) is an Amazon Fashion Chart bestseller. 

Her play, The Legacy, enjoyed its first run at The Hope Theatre in June 2015. 

An experienced and entertaining speaker, Angela has given talks, hosted events, and masterclasses for many, including Noirwich Crime Writing Festival, Camp Bestival, Panic! (in partnership with Create, the Barbican, Goldsmiths University and The Guardian), Meet a Mentor (in partnership with the Royal Society of Arts), Northwich Lit Fest, St Albans Lit Fest, BeaconLit, and the London College of Fashion. She also hosted the current affairs radio show Outspoken on Radio Verulam in 2015, and has appeared regularly as a panel guest on BBC 3 Counties, BBC Radio 4, and the BBC World Service, among others.

In 2015 Angela was awarded the Young Stationers' Prize for achievement and promise in writing and publishing. She also works for The Literary Consultancy critiquing manuscripts and mentoring. Angela, a sufferer of the debilitating chronic condition Ehlers Danlos III, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, volunteers with Womentoring, Meet a Mentor and at HM Prisons. She is passionate about bringing marginalised voices into the industry. You can find out more about her at www.AngelaClarke.co.uk.

Twitter: Angela Clarke

Book Tour! Wild Life by Liam Brown

I'm excited to be the last spot on the Blog Tour for this exceptional tale of survival. Thank you to the author and the publisher, Legend Press, for a proof copy in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb:

When a troubled advertising salesman loses his job, the fragile wall between his public and private personas comes tumbling down. Fleeing his debtors, Adam abandons his family and takes to sleeping rough in a local park, where a fraternity of homeless men befriend him.

As the months pass, Adam gradually learns to appreciate the tough new regime, until winter arrives early, threatening to turn his paradise into a nightmare.

Starving, exhausted and sick of the constant infighting, Adam decides to return to his family. The men, however, have other plans for him. With time running out, and the stakes raised unbearably high, Adam is forced to question whether any of us can truly escape the wildness within.

Thank you to the author and the publisher, Legend Press, for a proof copy in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever wanted to escape the rat-race? Ever had that feeling that life would be so much simpler if we could just walk away from everyone and everything? That's just what Adam does. At the end of his tether, feeling worthless and bereft of any self-control, self-worth or hope, he walks away from his family and multitude of problems.

He is saved by Rusty, who introduces him to a hidden paradise, a band of brothers who survive (barely) off the land and their own hard work. Their simple lifestyle is brutal, as they fight against nature to survive.

I loved Rusty, who is determined that no one should disrupt their way of life; I was scared stiff of their yoga-loving leader Marshall (I envisaged him as Negan from The Walking Dead), and felt both sympathy and irritation for Adam, who had destroyed his own life.

I found Wildlife to be compelling reading. I devoured it in a couple of sittings. From the premise it should be a bleak, depressing tale, but it is nothing like that. It's fast-paced, with a sense of menace and unease that had me turning the pages with trepidation. My heart was in my throat as the story progressed, as the men's basic instincts threaten to over rule their humanity, culminating in  terrifying scenes which left me shaken long after I finished reading the book.

You can buy Wildlife here (other retailers are obviously available!). And you should!

Book Review - The Wacky Man by Lyn G Farrell

I am taking part in my first ever blog tour for this amazing book! I've got a fabulous Q & A with Lyn G. Farrell, the author of The Wacky Man, to share with you all. 

But here is my review. The Wacky Man was the winner of the 2015 Luke Bitmead Bursary, the UK's biggest prize for unpublished authors. And here's why:

My new shrink asks me, ‘What things do you remember about being very young?’
It’s like looking into a murky river, I say. Memories flash near the surface like fish coming up for flies. The past peeps out, startles me, and then is gone…

Amanda secludes herself in her bedroom, no longer willing to face the outside world. Gradually, she pieces together the story of her life: her brothers have had to abandon her, her mother scarcely talks to her, and the Wacky Man could return any day to burn the house down. Just like he promised.

As her family disintegrates, Amanda hopes for a better future, a way out from the violence and fear that has consumed her childhood. But can she cling to her sanity, before insanity itself is her only means of escape?

Wow. Just wow. This is the compelling, brutal story of a teenager in a family broken by the father's violence. I say brutal, but the descriptions of the violence are not gratuitous at all, but written as matter-of-fact, as Amanda and her family have accepted their lot. Outside intervention has little effect, our heroine is apparently beyond help. The contrast between some of her teachers, who consider her nothing more than a big problem for them, and those who do care - Mr Kramm and 'shrink' Mr Broeder - is vivid, and heart-breaking.

Amanda is an intelligent, articulate young woman, despite her avoidance of education. It is harrowing  that there are children such as Amanda out there. We all know it happens, but this book brings it to the forefront of your mind. Some people are unfortunately unsalvageable, and we see the obstacles in the way of those who try to help them rather than leaving them to rot in society.

Despite, or perhaps in spite of, the harrowing story, I highly recommend this novel. It is not a misery memoir - it is so much more, so well written that I could not put it down. Amanda's voice prevents it from being depressing even though she is close to losing her mind, and her situation is so very heartbreaking.

The author wrote this book not to evoke sympathy and hand-wringing, but to be a voice for children like Amanda who are so often not heard.

It's bloody brilliant.

Thanks to the publisher Legend Press for an advanced reading copy.

Book Review: The Teacher by Katerina Diamond

You think you know who to trust?You think you know the difference between good and evil? You’re wrong … 

A LESSON YOU WILL NEVER FORGET

The body of the head teacher of an exclusive Devon school is found hanging from the rafters in the assembly hall.

Hours earlier he’d received a package, and only he could understand the silent message it conveyed. It meant the end.

As Exeter suffers a rising count of gruesome deaths, troubled DS Imogen Grey and DS Adrian Miles must solve the case and make their city safe again.

But as they’re drawn into a network of corruption, lies and exploitation, every step brings them closer to grim secrets hidden at the heart of their community.

And once they learn what’s motivating this killer, will they truly want to stop him?

I received a copy of this novel thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, Avon, in return for an honest review.

Sexual fetishes, gruesome torture devices, nothing is left to the imagination in this gory tale of a string of murders and corruption. We are warned of the nature of the violence, and it doesn't disappoint - which I find quite sad  because it should be shocking. Nothing is particularly shocking these days.

I initially found The Teacher quite difficult to get to grips with as there were a lot of characters introduced in a lot of different scenes, I got quite confused and almost gave up trying to work out who was who.

The two DSs on the case, Miles and Grey, are among the many in the story trying to escape their past. Grey in particular is well-drawn, but it takes a while to warm to Miles, who has been left quite numb by previous events.

Once I got to grips with what was going on, I mostly enjoyed the story. There is tenderness, in amongst the violence, and there are couple of sex scenes which are surprisingly gentle and provide a stark contrast to the rest of the book. 

I was disappointed as I guessed the identity of the murderer early on, and despite the reasoning behind their behaviour, I found the ending of the story rather unbelievable.