Tedious and uninspiring

Benedicta O'Keeffe  affectionately known as "Ben", works and lives in Glendara, Inishowen a peninsula in County Donegal. We quickly establish that she had a sister Faye murdered by an individual known as Luke Kirby. He has served a prison sentence for manslaughter and is now released. On a business trip to Dublin Ben encounters, on a chance meeting, Kirby and immediately feels intimidated and frightened. Back in Glendara the body of a local barmaid, Carole, is discovered by Ben and her boyfriend Molloy, a sergeant in the local Garda Siochana, on an early morning xmas walk. In a separate incident the local hostelry "The Oak" is destroyed in a fire and arson is suspected......

I do have a few problems with the telling of this story: The synopsis for the book on all the usual forums ie Amazon, goodreads etc states that Ben was chilled to the bone when she encountered Kirby in Dublin by something that he whispered as she walks away? what could this startling revelation be? Did he threaten to kill her? In fact all he said was..."Looking good, babe" Again the book abstract refers to all kinds of strange and sinister happenings in Glendara boldly declaring that someone is out for revenge with devastating consequences! Yes the pub is destroyed and a body is discovered and I was set for a wave of murder and serial killing in this quiet Irish backwater. However apart from these two brief incidents the majority of the book descends into Agatha Christie territory where all the residents are introduced and displayed as possible suspects. Remember Luke Kirby? if you thought this story was about him and some big revenge plot...forget it...he is not mentioned again until 70% of the story is told. As we analysed the lives and loves of the residents of Glendara I became totally confused as to who they were and what actually was happening? Of course Kirby was involved and as I trolled through endless encounters and descriptions, I became thoroughly dismayed and disillusioned with the direction the book was going (or indeed if it had a direction)....You will not be surprised as to the culprit but the secret (so the author would have me believe) is discovering his accomplish and their reasons. If you enjoy this type of lumbering storyline then The Well of Ice is perfect for you, to me the whole experience was akin to watching paint dry and apart from the beautiful west Donegal setting I found little of merit. I received a gratis copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written.

The evil that men (and women) do

Absorbing and sickening in equal amounts this biography and evaluation of the life of notorious killer Rose West is essential reading for anyone interested into the thinking and deranged mind of serial killers. The early years of Fred and Rose is a harrowing tale of constant physical and sexual abuse in a world where there were few if any boundaries. What goes around comes around is the central theme and children will often imitate the teachings of parents whether that be good or bad. If the young are witness to and the object of incest, beatings, and even murder it is not surprising that they may choose to adopt this way of life as some code of practice. However no amount of bad upbringing can excuse the crimes committed by Fred West and Rose Letts. Crimes that spanned a period of some 25 years and never once did anyone suspect what this lovely chatty couple at 25 Cromwell Street were involved in behind closed doors. It was only after a flippant remark made by the younger West children when in care..."their father had joked that he'd put them under the patio like their big sister"...that social workers and finally the police in the guise of DC Hazel Savage demanded entry to Cromwell Street where the lives, deaths and torture of so many innocents was soon to be discovered under the patio.

This was never an easy read and yet once started I found it impossible not to finish so fascinated and shocked was I by the content, simply astounded by the evil that man or woman can perform and see as normal or accepted. The whole experience is best summed up in a quote from the early chapters...."I think the human race is pretty rotten. The more I see of it, the more rotten it becomes."...

Roller coaster ride

Laura works as a volunteer at an organization called End of the Line, a type of Samaritans, where distressed and suicidal people can speak and share their problems. Laura and her co workers are not there to advise or suggest but rather act as a kind of online friend or last resort to those who find the burdens of modern day living too much to cope with. However it soon becomes apparent that Laura is more than happy to counsel and indeed support those who wish to end their lives, indeed she is a woman of inner conflict possessing more issues than those she wishes to help.

The opening is dynamic; a young couple hand in hand, mobile phones held tightly to ears, jump to their deaths from a well known beauty spot. At the "end of the line" the last person they speak to is Laura who appears to have actively encouraged this double suicide to happen. I am disclosing very little if I tell you that one of the jumpers, Charlotte, is married to Ryan and he is determined to find the truth. Why would his beautiful and pregnant wife commit such an act when she had so much to live for. Thus starts a cat and mouse game between Ryan and Laura told in snappy short chapters in the first person. There is no doubt about that this is a very effective piece of storytelling especially as the author peels away the layers and presenting a somewhat troubled Laura. There are many surprises and unexpected moments and yet I could not help feel somewhat drained to the many (and I mean many) twists and turns before the final revelations. Having said that it is a good read and I will certainly search out more from this author...that is when I have sufficiently recovered from this present roller coaster ride!

When all that's left is hope

A beautifully written harrowing story of one man's will to survive in Auschwitz concentration camp during the 2WW. Lale Sokolov is transported from Slovakia to Auschwitz in 1942; an educated man fluent in many languages who also happens to be a Jew. His proud bearing and individuality immediately sets him apart from his fellow detainees and when he is offered the privileged job as tatowierer "the tattooist" he readily accepts. His job is quite simply to "mark" his fellow prisoners as and when they arrive, stamping them with a 5 digit number that will forever remind them (that is those who survive) of the hell of Auschwitz. He uses his position to help and befriend where possible fellow inmates and early on in his arrival meets and falls instantly in love with a young woman called Gita.

The centre of this remarkable story is the relationship of Lale and Gita and how they managed to sustain their love whilst all around death and slaughter is the order of the day, and it seemed only a matter of time before they met the same fate. We witness firsthand the cruelty of man and the barbaric acts carried out on the weak by those who saw themselves as true followers of the Fuhrer adhering to his orders by cleansing society of undesirables. The reality was that they themselves were no better than murderers and robbers. Yet Lale's account is much more than this; it is a story of hope and endurance and a beauty that emerges when all around is painted in black. As a reader you cannot help but be affected by this account the simplicity of the story telling only adds to the poignancy of the moment the sense of dread, the unexpected and the wait for the knock when death comes calling.

Many thanks to the good people at netgalley for sending me a gratis copy in return for an honest review and that is what I have written.

Enjoyable read with soap opera overtones

This review contains minor spoilers...On first blush Save Me reads like a soap opera examining the lives of many characters, focusing on emotional relationships to the point of melodrama...Ellie loves Matt but falls for inept and deranged Gareth. Holly, sister to Ellie, not only has an affair with Matt but also with socially unbalanced Gareth. Ellie's stepfather Billy made advances towards Ellie in her youth but has much more serious issues to confront as the story develops. Matt is hyper-sensitive, suffers from depression and is unable to acquire or hold down a job. And so the soap continues but having said all that I really enjoyed reading "Save Me" it's not a book of any real literary intent or a story that examines in any dept the characters but it doesn't purport to be this. It's simple light reading, a book that you can happily return to at any point without having lost the main thread, a book for the summer vacation, or reading as you journey by train or bus.

I think the author creates a very evil and controlling Gareth because it is his story that is the centre of all the events as they unfold...."See what you've made me do now? he hissed when her body went limp and her eyes rolled to the back of their sockets. That was your fault, not mine! All I'm trying to do is help you, so why did you have to start fighting with me?" Many thanks to the good people at netgalley for a gratis copy in return for an honest review. It surprised me I usually prefer to be educated in my choice of reading but sometimes it is best to just enjoy without being over critical.

Tight plotting great characterization stylishly executed conclusion

What a superb tightly plotted story that kept me reading from page 1 right to the smartly executed conclusion. JP(John Paul) Carney enters the home of rich Dublin socialites Harry McNamara and his beautiful wife Julie. In one insane moment he attacks Harry and bludgeons him to death with a golf club whereupon he immediately surrenders himself to the custody of the local garda siochana. What on the surface appears to be an open and shut case is a much more complicated and deeply rewarding account scrutinizing the lives of three individuals ensuring a course of action that will destroy everything they hold to be honest and true.

I love this style of storytelling where events unfold through first person account of the parties involved. Julie met Harry at the night of the Trinity ball where a mutual infatuation led speedily to a marriage of convenience; he the flamboyant, charismatic owner of his own finance company, she the attractive career driven graduate..."That was us at the beginning of our fairytale. But here's the thing about fairytales. Sometimes they're darker than you can ever imagine. Another world away JP Carney has survived into adulthood with little help from a boozing father Seamie and a mother Betty who abandoned the family home leaving JP to care and comfort his sister Charlie. But a dark event will occur and a murder will be committed where the question of responsibility is explored in this dark, unmissable teasing psychological thriller.

The tempo and pace of the novel is a credit to the author Jo Spain expertly teasing and drawing the reader into her web of intrigue and deceit before producing a magical and totally unexpected ending. I loved it!. Many thanks to the publisher Quercus and the good people of netgalley for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written.