Book Review: Last One at the Party by Bethany Clift

The end of everything was her beginning.

It’s December 2023 and the world as we know it has ended.

The human race has been wiped out by a virus called 6DM (‘Six Days Maximum’ – the longest you’ve got before your body destroys itself).

But somehow, in London, one woman is still alive. A woman who has spent her whole life compromising what she wants, hiding how she feels and desperately trying to fit in. A woman who is entirely unprepared to face a future on her own.

Now, with only an abandoned golden retriever to keep her company, she must travel through burning cities, avoiding rotting corpses and ravenous rats on a final journey to discover if she really is the last surviving person on earth.

And with no one else to live for, who will she become now that she’s completely alone?

Book Review: The Prank by L.V. Matthews

What happens when reality TV goes wrong? El Greene is about to find out.

El lives a quiet life in London until a chance encounter leads her to discover a link between a hit reality TV show and her father’s death.

El realises she can orchestrate the perfect revenge but her pursuit soon turns to obsession and she doesn’t seem to know how to stop. Her drive for destruction means risking her life, and the lives of those closest to her…

Book Review: The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

This is the story of a murderer. A stolen child. Revenge. This is the story of Ted, who lives with his daughter Lauren and his cat Olivia in an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street.

All these things are true. And yet some of them are lies.

You think you know what’s inside the last house on Needless Street. You think you’ve read this story before. But you’re wrong.

In the dark forest, at the end of Needless Street, something lies buried. But it’s not what you think…

Book Review: The Last Thing To Burn by Will Dean

He is her husband. She is his captive.

Her husband calls her Jane. That is not her name.

She lives in a small farm cottage, surrounded by vast, open fields. Everywhere she looks, there is space. But she is trapped. No one knows how she got to the UK: no one knows she is there. Visitors rarely come to the farm; if they do, she is never seen.

Her husband records her every movement during the day. If he doesn’t like what he sees, she is punished.

For a long time, escape seemed impossible. But now, something has changed. She has a reason to live and a reason to fight. Now, she is watching him, and waiting…

Book Review: From Venice With Love by Rosanna Ley

It’s not often that I fan-girl over an author, but if I had to choose an author to fan-girl over, then it would absolutely be the magnificent Rosanna Ley. It’s been a fairly long time since I last devoured a Ley novel, so it’s fair to say that I’d quite forgotten what it was like to be in the hands of such a skilled and capable writer. Rosanna transports her readers in a way I don’t feel is done very often. I mean, sure, there are plenty of talented authors out there who will whisk you away from reality for a couple of hours, allow you to forget about your worries and anxieties, and it really is incredible, don’t get me wrong. But what Rosanna manages to do feels as though it is on an entirely different level to simply ‘whisking’ one ‘away’. I’m very much of the persuasion that Rosanna Ley is in a league all of her own.

The Dentist by @TimJRSullivan – Exclusive extract from THE DENTIST / Chapter One

Today, I’m delighted to be sharing a rather exciting *exclusive* with you all on The Book Babe. The Dentist by Tim Sullivan is due to be released in just under a week, and I can’t wait! I’ve had my eye on this one for what feels like quite a long time now, so I’m excited that it’s almost here! Tim kindly agreed to me sharing the first chapter of the first novel in what is set to be an excellent series here on the blog today, so I was thrilled to do just that. It is certainly sure to whet your appetites for this exciting crime thriller, so grab yourselves a drink, sit back, and allow yourself to be introduced to DS George Cross. And huge thanks to the author, Tim Sullivan, for making this possible today. Roll on the 15th, Tim!

Book Review: For Better, For Worse by Jane Isaac

For Better, For Worse by Jane Isaac was a truly gripping, gritty and addictive crime thriller, one which I found impossible to put down and impossible to ignore. With such a riveting and plausible plot, coupled with the fantastic cast of characters, I found myself glued to this story from the very first page and completely wrapped up and lost to the investigation which took place. With such a dark and twisted premise, and a murder which leads DC Beth Chamberlain down numerous sinister avenues, I was hooked and found myself eager for more clues to be discovered, for more answers to be found. With a killer reluctant to stop until they’ve completed their mission, this brilliantly-executed police procedural from Isaac had me on the edge of my seat and I enjoyed every moment of it.

Book Review: The Sister-in-Law by Sue Watson

My oh my, what a thrill-ride of a read this was. It’s been a long time since I read one of Sue Watson’s books. Only a couple of pages into ‘The Sister-in-Law’, all of the reasons as to why I’ve always been such a huge fan of Watson’s work came flooding back to me. I loved this book. From first page to last, back to front, this was INCREDIBLY ADDICTIVE, SINISTER, CREEPY, DARK, COMPELLING, and DEEPLY, DEEPLY DEADLY.

In ‘The Sister-in-Law’ by Sue Watson, readers are whisked away to a stunning white-washed, charming villa on the Amalfi coast to spend two weeks alongside the Taylor family. Clare, who is a nurse, over-worked and desperate to fix her marriage with the eldest of the Taylor’s sons, Dan, is incredibly excited to be spending two weeks of uninterrupted time with her family beneath the Greek sun. The in-laws are there too, Joy and Bob, so it’s a real family get-together, a yearly tradition for the family, and a chance for Joy and Bob to spend some quality time with the grandchildren as well.

Once everyone is settled, there’s only one person left to arrive. The youngest of the Taylor sons, Jamie. A globetrotter and single, Jamie rarely stays in one place for long. He has nothing to tie him down and is adored immeasurably by his mother, not forgetting his nieces and nephews. Joy absolutely dotes on him, and when he finally arrives, she is over the moon to see him. Except, Jamie isn’t alone as everyone had expected him to be. The slim, stunning blonde that stands beside Jamie is introduced to the family as Ella. And she’s not just a friend or girlfriend that Jamie happened to meet whilst on his travels. Oh no. Jamie has married Ella, and now, she’s a Taylor, too.

Ella’s arrival in the beautiful and serene villa changes everything, and I absolutely loved watching as this strange change of circumstances took over the Taylor family. I also loved how the chilling atmosphere was so at odds with the gorgeous surroundings. It worked really well. Obviously unaware that Jamie had even met anyone special, never-mind married them, Joy is taken aback by this turn of events, and it quickly becomes clear that she’s not the only one. Ella’s unexpected arrival is like a tidal wave crashing down on Clare’s much-anticipated break with her family, and it isn’t long before the plot of this novel begins to take a strange and disturbing turn towards something much darker, and much more dangerous.

I was hooked. Hooked, I tell you. As soon as Ella arrived, Watson had me captivated as the plot progressed and with each new chapter, new tensions and shockwaves hit. It was riveting. I didn’t want to look away for a single second for fear of postponing some new and shocking revelation within the white-washed villa walls. Watson absolutely nailed the suspense in this story. There was so much mystery behind Ella, and Clare just couldn’t figure the woman out. It’s only when Ella begins picking at her, downright insulting Clare to her face, that she realises that something’s not quite right, and she sets out to discover who Ella truly is. In some of the scenes, I had to applaud Clare for her ability to not snap. She’s a much more patient woman than I could ever be in that situation, and as Ella only continued to become more and more brave with the comments she made, the sly remarks and threats when no one else could hear, the tension continued to climb and climb and I honestly didn’t know how much more I could take. It was highly-entertaining, but also so, so fascinating, watching as these two women, complete opposites of each other, came together under the same roof and circled each other. I just couldn’t understand what Ella’s issue was, but I was dying to find out.

Alongside the simmering suspense between Clare and Ella, there were also the issues regarding Clare and Dan’s marriage, and hints towards something else that had happened in Clare’s past. I really loved the detail Sue went into whenever Clare reminisced about her and Dan’s past together. This is one of the reasons I adore Sue’s writing so much. She manages to describe things so beautifully in only a few sentences, and this goes for everything within this story. The character’s personalities, their appearances, descriptions of the villa and the food that they prepare and eat. Watson’s turn of phrase is just so delicious and moreish, addictive and powerful, and I don’t think I’ll ever get my fill of it.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I loved every single page and found myself utterly devoted to Clare’s story and how it would all come to an end. I powered through the pages, desperate to reach the final conclusion, mind absolutely blown to smithereens from all that had happened in just two weeks. It was exciting, sharp, exquisitely-paced and superbly written. A thriller with all of those much-desired qualities, a cast of brilliantly-crafted characters and so much tension, I felt like I was going to burst at the seams. This was a pressure-cooker of a story, ready to blow at any given minute.

‘The Sister-in-Law’ by Sue Watson is being given a five out of five rating from me. With thanks to the publisher for the advance reading copy of this book, that of which has no reflection on my giving a fair and honest review.

---

THE WIFE: Clare is ready for a break. It’s been a tough year and now she wants to put her feet up. Arriving at the Italian villa for their summer holiday, she decides it’s high-time her husband and his family did some of the work. After all, her husband owes her.

THE HUSBAND: Even though Dan had his head turned by someone else, he’s realised the error of his ways. He’s here now, and he says it’s for keeps… Clare can trust him, can’t she? At least he’ll have his brother there, to keep him in line…

THE BROTHER: Jamie is the prodigal child, back in the family fold again after years of travelling abroad. But when he gets to the villa, he’s not alone. He’s brought a wife, someone none of them have met before.

THE SISTER-IN-LAW: Ella is everything Clare isn’t. Glamorous. Young. Influential. But she knows a secret about Clare. Something that has the power to break the whole family apart.

And there’s someone who will do whatever it takes to make sure that this deep secret never comes to the surface.

You can purchase your copy of ‘The Sister-in-Law’ by Sue Watson here.

Book Review: Little Friends by Jane Shemilt

Little Friends by Jane Shemilt is a brilliantly-executed, turbulent novel, one which turned out to be much darker and more emotionally fierce than I had originally anticipated. I haven’t read many of Shemilt’s novels before, but this has solidified her as an author who I’ll definitely be returning to. Incredibly addictive yet distressing at times, this is a fascinating novel which focuses on the children of a group of adults, who perhaps are not being watched as closely as they should be. With a certain sense of dread that positively drips from the pages, this novel swallowed me whole and spat me out at the end without apology. Shemilt touches upon many topics within Little Friends and provides the reader with a hefty amount of food for thought, including domestic abuse, grief and loss, and marital affairs. There’s plenty to ensure you keep turning the pages, which is exactly what I did. Shemilt had me hook, line and sinker with this one, I couldn’t put it down.