📚Recommended for those who enjoy a slow burn, believable #romance’. @CathyRy reviews Dark Highland Skies by @lizzie_lamb for Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT

Today’s team review is from Cathy.

Cathy blogs here https://betweenthelinesbookblog.wordpress.com/

Rosie’s Book Review Team

Cathy has been reading Dark Highland Skies by Lizzie Lamb

Halley Dunbar has returned to Lochaber in the Scottish Highlands from her home and job in Hawaii, after a long absence, to represent her family and organise her great uncle Tam’s funeral, as well taking on the emotional task of sorting out his belongings. She used to stay with Tam every summer when she was a teenager in his bothy by Loch Morar, which was part of Sir Montgomery Strachan’s estate. Tam had been the laird’s batman and he and Sir Monty had shared a special and long standing friendship. Sir Monty had gifted the bothy to Tam despite his wife’s strong objections.

Halley is devastated that she left it too late to see the great uncle she loved, and although they did keep in touch over the years, it wasn’t the same as in person. After her last visit and the resulting trauma, Halley found it impossible to return. Now she wished wholeheartedly she had tried to explain why she felt the need to stay away. There was nothing to keep here in Scotland now and she planned to leave straight after the funeral.

‘Luckily, the moment she set foot on the silver sands, the clouds parted, and the pale light of a gibbous moon showed the way to the old salmon bothy. Straightening, Halley looked across the loch towards the lights on the far shore and despite her earlier resolution, memories crowded in thick and fast. Voices. Laughter. The touch of a hand on her skin. A Judas kiss. Now she could finally admit that putting her uncle’s affairs in order wasn’t the only reason for making this trip.

She had ghosts to lay.’

Halley hoped she could avoid meeting any of the Strachan family but an unexpected encounter with the eldest of the laird’s children, Hector, put paid to that in a very unexpected way. Hector, or Tor as he is known, is trying to come to terms with his experiences and a severe injury in Afghanistan, also the resulting PTSD, by living alone in his converted Airstream. Halley and Tor both have issues to work through, and with questionable activity going on there’s never a dull moment.

Halley’s plans to steer clear of the Strachans took a further knock when she learned how devastated Sir Monty was by Tam’s death and that he wanted to do as much as he could with regard to the funeral. She found herself becoming involved with the family as her old friend Rowan, who had succeeded her father as undertaker, introduced her to Tor’s sister, Lexie. Her friendship with Tor blossomed and she couldn’t help but like Sir Monty. But her life and work were thousands of miles away and she wanted to get back to it.

I always enjoy Lizzie Lamb’s books for the beautiful settings and sense of place, also the wonderful, sometimes quirky, well developed characters and of course the writing. The characters are engaging, with a couple of exceptions, and realistic. I enjoyed the historical details also. Recommended for those who enjoy a slow burn, believable romance, great characters and stories set in Scotland.

Book description

Astrophysicist Halley Dunbar has spent her career peering into the space hoping to find the one-in-a-billion exoplanet outside our solar system capable of sustaining life. Such a find would be the climax of her scientific career and establish her as a force majeure in a male-dominated world. When her great-uncle dies, she travels to Lochaber in Scotland to arrange his funeral, reluctant to leave her research and her million-pound telescope behind in Hawaii. In Scotland, she encounters an assortment of characters who make her realise there’s more to life than searching for something that might not exist. The years are ticking by and Halley (35), starts to question the life she’s chosen. When the laird’s son, Tor Strachan, rocks up, he turns her world upside down and Halley discovers, not the new exoplanet she’s spent her academic life searching for, but the one-in-a-billion man who can make her happy. Forced to question her life choices, Halley wonders if she’ll be able to return to stargazing and leave behind a place and a man she’s come to love. However, Afghan veteran Tor has demons of his own to confront before he can be the man Halley deserves. And, as for Halley, she has secrets of her own; ones she can’t share with anyone, including Tor.

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Rosie’s #BookReview Team #RBRT @SassyKebkerr reviews #NewRelease HIDING by @jmortonpotts

Today’s team review is from Karen B, she blogs here http://sassyredheadbookreviews.wordpress.com

Karen has been reading Hiding by Jenny M Potts

A different read for me, with a different twist at the end. Not what I expected at all.

Keller is looking to get pay back for his father’s sentencing after a heist gone wrong with the murder of an ex judge. He wants retribution for his father taking the fall for the disaster that occurred that day in NC.

Rebecca wants answers as to where her parents are and what happened to them. When she begins to dig around in old newspapers she only ends up with more questions.

This book goes back and forth between years with the history of what happened and present day. The story is well written and the back and forth between the years is done well.

This thriller will keep you hoping for the best for both of these young people who are thrown into this predicament because of their parents. This story shows that things aren’t always as they seem and that we may not always have the power to make our lives out to be what we hope for. I give this story a 4.5 star review. Although, the end left me with more questions than answers.

A gripping psychological thriller with chilling twists, from a unique new voice.

Keller Baye and Rebecca Brown live on different sides of the Atlantic. Until she falls in love with him, Rebecca knows nothing of Keller. But he’s known about her for a very long time, and now he wants to destroy her.

This is the story of two families. One living under the threat of execution in North Carolina. The other caught up in a dark mystery in the Scottish Highlands. The families’ paths are destined to cross. But why? And can anything save them when that happens?

Jenny Morton Potts was born in a smart, dull suburb of Glasgow where the only regular excitement was burglary. Attended a smart, dull school where the only regular excitement was the strap. Worked in smart, dull sales and marketing jobs until realising she was living someone else’s life.

Escaped to Gascony to make gîtes. Knee deep in cement and pregnant, Jenny was happy. Then autism and a distracted spine surgeon who wanted to talk about The Da Vinci Code, wiped out the order. Returned to wonderful England – and unlikely ever to leave again – Jenny, with assistance from loyal hound, walked and swam her way back to manageable health.

Jenny would like to see the Northern Lights but worries that’s the best bit and should be saved till last. Very happily, and gratefully, partnered for 28 years, she ought to mention, and living with inspirational child in Derbyshire.

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Rosie’s #BookReview Team #RBRT The Unrivalled Transcendence of Willem J. Gyle by @James_D_Dixon

Today’s team review is from Judith, she blogs here http://judithbarrowblog.com/

Judith has been reading The Unrivalled Transcendence of Willem J. Gyle by James Dixon

My Review:

I finished The Unrivalled Transcendence of Willem J Gyle thinking this has to be made into a film. And I’m ashamed to say I finished the book almost a week ago and have dithered on how to review because the emotion that it has stirred in me prevented a rational and objective/subjective ‘putting down words here’. Which delay does the author, James Dixon, no favours at all, I know.

All I can say is that this is a brilliantly compelling read: the author’s stark but totally gripping style, the twists and turns of the story, the layering of the protagonist’s character and the many other characters that people this book and  the multiplicity of themes, all make The Unrivalled Transcendence of Willem J Gyle a novel that stands out…unrivalled in my opinion, especially as  it is a debut novels. But it also hits home… hard. This is a  harsh indictment of our times, of our country, of our humanity. Over the top? I don’t think so (having worked for a short while among such disadvantaged people – I believe the author has researched well.)

A little slow to begin with, the pace of the story then moves inextricably towards the protagonist’s decline, from bewildered homelessness, which instills pity in the reader to a brutal callousness and a total lack of empathy for and with those around him; his thoughts and actions shock and sicken. And yet, for me, the sympathy still hovers for Willem.

A word on the title: at a time when many titles are of one or two words I found this one intriguing. (I’d maybe suggest cut out the word “Unrivalled”?)

And the cover? Loved the way the protagonist blends in with the brickwork behind him; much as he disappears from the view of those that pass him by.

Would I recommend The Unrivalled Transcendence of Willem J Gyle? You bet!! All I can say to anyone, whatever their usual preferred genre is …  please do read it.

In a Scotland beset with depression, Willem is one victim among many. He loses his job, his mother dies and he is forced out of the flat they shared. Seeing no other option, he takes to the streets of Edinburgh, where he soon learns the cruelty felt outside the confines of his comfortable life. Stories from his past are interwoven with his current strife as he tries to figure out the nature of this new world and the indignities it brings. Determined to live freely, he leaves Edinburgh, hiking into the Scottish Highlands to seek solitude, peace and an unhampered, pure vision of life at nature’s breast.

The Unrivalled Transcendence of Willem J. Gyle is at once a lyrical, haunting novel and a set piece in the rage of an oppressed, forgotten community. J. D. Dixon’s sparse, brutal language captures the energy and isolation of desperation, uniting despondency and untrammelled anger in the person of his protagonist.

J. D. Dixon was born in London in 1990. He studied English Literature and History at Goldsmiths College, University of London, before pursuing a career as a writer. He currently lives with his wife, the psychologist Dr Lauren Hadley, in Edinburgh.

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Rosie’s #BookReview Team #RBRT Action adventure Ryan Kaine: On The Rocks by @KerryJDonovan

Today’s team review is from Noelle, she blogs here http://saylingaway.wordpress.com

Noelle has been reading Ryan Kaine: On The Rocks by Kerry J Donovan

I was completely mesmerized by Kerry Donovan’s first book in the Ryan Kaine series. It left me panting with the exertion of reading it, so of course I had to read the sequel. I hope this is a long series.

Ryan Kaine on the Rocks was slower paced (but only slightly) from the first book and is a more than worthy continuation, since it picks up where the first left off.

Martin Princeton is trapped on a ledge halfway down a cliff in the wilds of Scotland. He is severely injured, bleeding and, without a heavy jacket, freezing to death. He is preparing himself to die. He was there because he had to get away from the mourning for his brother, who was killed in a plane crash. A  crash that had been orchestrated by Ryan Kaine.

When news of Martin’s disappearance reaches Kaine, he abandons the effort to clear his name and instead, in an act of contrition, heads to the Highlands to find Martin. Still hampered by injuries from his previous confrontation with the people behind the crash, and with an unofficial bounty on his head, Kaine goes to the site of the rescue organization and manages to convince the rescue team of his good intentions without alerting them to his identity. He must first find out everything about Martin’s route in the mountains and the people who were with him, treading a fine line to keep himself anonymous. What he brings with him is an intimate knowledge of the area, mountaineering skills, and special forces training, which allows him to strike out on his own to find Martin.

Kerry Donovan is in his element. He clearly knows the Highlands and its people and has an intimate knowledge of mountain climbing and rescue. His descriptions of the area are compelling – I could feel the wind and the rain – but the author never loses sight of the plot and shoves the story forward at an exhilarating pace. You are never unaware that the clock is ticking, both for the boy and for Kaine, who has to keep his butt out of jail while engaged in the search.

Once again, his characters are fun, even the really bad ones. The clashes between the locals and the English armed response team which arrives to take over the search are both humorous and confrontational. How could you not like a villain named William (Buffalo Bill) Cody? Donovan writes good, tight dialogue for these characters, spartan almost, but smooth.

This is escapism at its best, and once again, my only minor complaint is that at his age, Kaine is nearly superhuman in his strength and ability to endure pain. I will admit I got slightly lost in the descriptions of the mountaineering and climbing gear, but I’m sure aficionados of this sport will have no complaints.

So, I’m again looking forward to the next Kaine outing, and I rate this book up there with the best in its genre. What a fun, breathless read!

Ryan Kaine is back in the action-packed sequel to the hit adventure thriller, Ryan Kaine: On the Run. 

Fresh from finding evidence that might clear him of terrorism charges and still carrying the scars of battle, Ryan Kaine heads to Scotland to help find missing schoolboy, Martin Princeton.

Facing arrest for shooting down civilian aircraft, Flight BE1555, and killing the 83 people aboard, Kaine is desperate to help find the boy. Why? Martin’s brother was on that plane and Kaine has vowed to protect the families of the victims–The 83.

Hunted by the authorities, can Kaine escape capture long enough to find the boy, or will the police and his more dangerous enemies find him first?

From the pen of Kerry J Donovan, Ryan Kaine: On the Rocks, is a powerful, action-packed novel set in the mountainous highlands of Scotland.

Ryan Kaine is a new addition to the great military action characters in the tradition of Lee Child, Mark Dawson, Chris Ryan, and Matt Rogers.

Kerry J Donovan was born in Dublin. Kerry earned a first class honours degree in Human Biology, and has a PhD in Sport and Exercise Sciences. A former scientific advisor to The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, he helped UK emergency first-responders prepare for chemical attacks in the wake of 9/11. This background adds a scientific edge to his writing. He is also a former furniture designer/maker. He is the author of a sci-fi/thriller, The Transition of Johnny Swift, which reached #1 on the Amazon Bestsellers List in December 2014.

A citizen of the world, he now lives in the heart of rural Brittany with his wonderful and patient wife, Jan. They have three children and four grandchildren (so far), all of whom live in England. An absentee granddad, Kerry is hugely grateful for the development of video calling.

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Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT @CathyRy reads #Thriller Ryan Kaine: On The Rocks by @KerryJDonovan

Today’s team review is from Cathy, she blogs here http://betweenthelinesbookblog.com

Cathy has been reading Ryan Kaine: On The Rocks by Kerry J Donovan

Following on from book one – Ryan Kaine: On the Run – Ryan is making a mad dash up to Scotland to help in the search for sixteen year old Martin Princeton, whose brother was a passenger on the doomed civilian aircraft. The events that transpired in the first book continue to take a heavy toll on Ryan, the guilt he feels is overwhelming at times which is why he’s determined to do all he can to see Martin safe and back with his parents. Martin has gone missing during a school camping trip in the Scottish Highlands and is in a desperate life and death situation.

Hunted by the police and with his picture in the press, Ryan does as much as he can to disguise himself, helped by the fact he had taken a beating which resulted in some facial disfiguration.

Ryan’s vow begins with Martin Princeton. And so, in the guise of Sergeant-Major Peter Sidings, Ryan joins the Lodge Farm Mountain Rescue Centre, hoping there’s no-one there who might recognise him. He’s a moral, considerate man who, although not technically to blame for the disaster that changed his life, still feels the full weight of guilt, responsibility and a need for reparation.

Kerry Donovan’s tightly plotted and twisty narrative is full of tension and action, with everything taking place over a two day period. A couple of characters from the first book make brief appearances but in the main it’s a whole new cast. Siblings Drew and Iona McTay are fabulously well drawn, and add a contrast to the severity of the story line. Both are tough and decent, in their element and sitting well in the rugged landscape. The wonderful highland setting, with its dangerous terrain, adds to the suspense and helped give one character in particular his just deserts. Emotions run high throughout, not least from the loose cannon heading the armed response team. I had no idea how it was all going to play out.

I always enjoy the more rounded picture that a narrative with multiple perspectives gives and, although the majority is from Ryan’s point of view, we do get other characters’ viewpoints. Kerry Donovan continues to impress with engaging writing, great plotting and characterisations. Looking forward to the next adventure with Ryan Kaine.

Ryan Kaine is back in the action-packed sequel to the hit adventure thriller, Ryan Kaine: On the Run. 

Fresh from finding evidence that might clear him of terrorism charges and still carrying the scars of battle, Ryan Kaine heads to Scotland to help find missing schoolboy, Martin Princeton.

Facing arrest for shooting down civilian aircraft, Flight BE1555, and killing the 83 people aboard, Kaine is desperate to help find the boy. Why? Martin’s brother was on that plane and Kaine has vowed to protect the families of the victims–The 83.

Hunted by the authorities, can Kaine escape capture long enough to find the boy, or will the police and his more dangerous enemies find him first?

From the pen of Kerry J Donovan, Ryan Kaine: On the Rocks, is a powerful, action-packed novel set in the mountainous highlands of Scotland.

Ryan Kaine is a new addition to the great military action characters in the tradition of Lee Child, Mark Dawson, Chris Ryan, and Matt Rogers.

Internationally bestselling fiction author, Kerry was born in Dublin. He spent most of his life in the UK, and now lives in the heart of rural Brittany with his wonderful and patient wife, Jan. They have three children and four grandchildren (so far), all of whom live in England. An absentee granddad, Kerry is hugely thankful for the advent of video calling.

The cottage is a pet free zone (apart from the field mice, moles, and red squirrels).

Kerry earned a first class honours degree in Human Biology, and has a PhD in Sport and Exercise Sciences. A former scientific advisor to The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, he helped UK emergency first-responders prepare for chemical attacks in the wake of 9/11. This background adds a scientific edge to his writing. He is also a former furniture designer/maker.

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Rosie’s Team The Unrivalled Transcendence of Willem J Gyle by @James_D_Dixon #TuesdayBookBlog

Today’s team review is from Terry, she blogs here http://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.co.uk/

Terry has been reading The Unrivalled Transcendence Of Willem J Gyle

5 stars

What a find.  This book is seriously good.  I mean, seriously.  I’d recommend it to anyone, whatever your usual genres of choice.

Willem J Gyle is a bit slow.  But he gets by.  He lives with his mother, who takes care of all his needs, including finding him a job on a construction site which suits his size and strength, and where he makes friends.  He loves his mam, his dog, and the football on the telly.  Then, in just a few days, his world comes crashing down, and Willem finds himself homeless.  Having neither verbal skill nor knowledge of how ‘the system’ works, he is unable to find anyone to help him, and drifts into a life on the streets and, inevitably, crime.  Much to my surprise, his darker side comes to the fore, but is this innate psychopathy, anger at the world, an expression of pain for all he has lost, or just a primal instinct for survival?  I thought it was a combination of all those elements.

Winding up in a community of other homeless people, which he considers, at first, to be ‘no more perfect place … outside the law, above the law’, he soon finds out that it’s a reflection of the ‘real’ world, corrupt, with the weaker members suffering.  And on he walks….

Although the blurb appealed to me, I was dubious at first; the book starts off well-written but whimsical, which, coupled with the too-long and pretentious title, made me wonder if it would be slow-going.  But four pages in I was completely hooked, and stayed that way until the end.  J D Dixon has a real gift, the innate sort that cannot be learned from classes, ‘how to write’ books, blog posts, or anything else.  To me, writing talent is all about being able to create characters and worlds that absorb the reader completely, needing no wordy description, and JDD has this in spades.  He writes in a spare fashion, which I like.  He doesn’t explain, or over-emphasise.

The book is raw, rough in places, and sometimes shocking. It’s also immensely sad. It’s just – great. One of the best debut novels I’ve ever read.

In a Scotland beset with depression, Willem is one victim among many. He loses his job, his mother dies and he is forced out of the flat they shared. Seeing no other option, he takes to the streets of Edinburgh, where he soon learns the cruelty felt outside the confines of his comfortable life. Stories from his past are interwoven with his current strife as he tries to figure out the nature of this new world and the indignities it brings. Determined to live freely, he leaves Edinburgh, hiking into the Scottish Highlands to seek solitude, peace and an unhampered, pure vision of life at nature’s breast.

The Unrivalled Transcendence of Willem J. Gyle is at once a lyrical, haunting novel and a set piece in the rage of an oppressed, forgotten community. J. D. Dixon’s sparse, brutal language captures the energy and isolation of desperation, uniting despondency and untrammelled anger in the person of his protagonist.

J. D. Dixon was born in London in 1990. He studied English Literature and History at Goldsmiths College, University of London, before pursuing a career as a writer. He currently lives with his wife, the psychologist Dr Lauren Hadley, in Edinburgh.

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Rosie’s Review Team #RBRT Ryan Kaine: On The Rocks by @KerryJDonovan #TuesdayBookBlog

Today’s team review is from E.L. Lindley, she blogs here http://lindleyreviews.blogspot.co.uk/

E.L. has been reading Ryan Kaine: On The Rocks by Kerry J Donovan

Ryan Kaine: On the Rocks by Kerry J Donovan is the second book in the Ryan Kaine series and picks up where On the Run finished. Ideally it’s probably best to read the series in order but there are enough hints at the back story to make this novel work as a standalone. This is also helped by the fact that Kaine is on new territory with a new cast of characters.

Donovan builds the tension from the onset with the use of times and dates as chapter headings which emphasises the fast pace of the novel as the action takes place over a 48 hour period. What’s more the clock is ticking because a teenage boy is in peril and needs to be rescued before the elements take their toll on him.

The injured boy, Martin Princeton, provides the link to On the Run as the end of that novel saw Ryan Kaine pledging to redeem himself for the part he played in the shooting down of a plane which cost 83 lives. Martin’s brother was one of the victims and so Kaine feels duty bound to help him and consequently save his family from yet more heartache. The rescue mission takes him to the Scottish highlands where Martin has seemingly wandered off and become lost or worse.

The change of location injects the story with a renewed energy and the clash of cultures between the English interlopers and the local people provides lots of humour. The English characters, with the exception of Kaine, tend to be authority figures who have little respect for the locals or the difficult conditions that they will have to navigate. One such character is William (Buffalo Bill) Cody, head of an armed response unit who has been relocated from London due to his trigger happy approach.

There are references to characters from the previous novel but they play little part. Kaine is still hoping for a relationship with Lara Orchard who helped him in On the Run. She is being looked after by his friend, William “Rollo” Rollason while DCI Jones is working to clear his name. This novel belongs to the new characters, however, most of whom make up the mountain rescue team.

Iona McTay is a great female character, a tough no-nonsense doctor who goes out of her way to help Kaine. Her brother, Drew McTay, is a red-headed giant of a man with a good heart and strong moral code. Along with Gregor Abercrombie, the team leader, they form the heart of the rescue team and bring humour and warmth to what could otherwise be a harsh, violent, action story. The villains as I said are mostly the authority figures and Donovan offers a stark contrast between effective policing as represented by the officers on the ground simply doing their jobs and the careerists who don’t really care about anything other than how they look in the media and the impact this will have on their careers.

The main character is the eponymous Ryan Kaine, a 43 year old ex military officer. Despite the fact that he is tough and capable – if they were to make a film I envision Jason Statham – Donovan reveals him to be a kind, caring man who tries to do the right thing. He hates hurting people and mourns the loss of life, even if the individual may not deserve it. As he points out, “That’s someone’s son.” Early on in the novel Kaine defends a Sikh couple against a couple of racist thugs which puts him firmly on the right side of morality. Donovan maybe offers a wry political comment as the victim reflects how racism has intensified post Brexit.

Donovan chooses to write his novel in 3^rd person which works extremely well as it allows for multiple viewpoints. Although the story is mostly from Kaine’s perspective we also get chapters from the members of the rescue team, Cody and Martin Princeton. This allows the tension to build as Donovan takes advantage of the fact that only Kaine and the reader are aware of his true role in the plane explosion.

I really enjoyed On the Run but I think On the Rocks is even better. Donovan is obviously a talented writer who takes his reader on an intense journey of both action and emotion. He seems to have settled into Ryan Kaine’s story so that the novel flows easily and engages the reader throughout. I can’t recommend this series enough if you enjoy action, adventure with a character who is not perfect but is willing to lay his life on the line for his beliefs.

Ryan Kaine is back in the action-packed sequel to the hit adventure thriller, Ryan Kaine: On the Run. 

Fresh from finding evidence that might clear him of terrorism charges and still carrying the scars of battle, Ryan Kaine heads to Scotland to help find missing schoolboy, Martin Princeton.

Facing arrest for shooting down civilian aircraft, Flight BE1555, and killing the 83 people aboard, Kaine is desperate to help find the boy. Why? Martin’s brother was on that plane and Kaine has vowed to protect the families of the victims–The 83.

Hunted by the authorities, can Kaine escape capture long enough to find the boy, or will the police and his more dangerous enemies find him first?

Internationally bestselling fiction author, Kerry was born in Dublin. He spent most of his life in the UK, and now lives in the heart of rural Brittany with his wonderful and patient wife, Jan. They have three children and four grandchildren (so far), all of whom live in England. An absentee granddad, Kerry is hugely thankful for the advent of video calling.

The cottage is a pet free zone (apart from the field mice, moles, and red squirrels).

Kerry earned a first class honours degree in Human Biology, and has a PhD in Sport and Exercise Sciences. A former scientific advisor to The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, he helped UK emergency first-responders prepare for chemical attacks in the wake of 9/11. This background adds a scientific edge to his writing. He is also a former furniture designer/maker.

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