Clear My Name -Paula Daly.

I have been a fan of Paula Daly's works for a long time and have read all of her books. I was thrilled to get a proof of her new book to review from Hilary Barnes at Transworld Publishers.

At first glance it seems a straightforward premise, a person in prison claims she didn't commit the crime and Innocence UK are asked to act and prove Carrie Kamara didn't stab Ella Muir, her husband 's girlfriend to death.

The main protagonist is Tess Driscoll a driven, complex and compelling investigator who is forced to join forces with new trainee investigator Avril Hughes,whilst they are chalk and cheese as characters their relationship grows steadily and young sweet Avril soon proves to be much steelier and with a lot more resolve than Tess gives her credit for at first.

Paula Daly is a master a drawing the reader deep into the story very quickly and I found myself caring desperately for Carrie and her daughter Mia and fan girling at the determination and passion Tess shows about her work. I couldn't put the book down and when I was away from it I found myself thinking about all the possible outcomes there could be.

I cannot urge people enough to go any get this book when it's published in August. I cannot remember the last time I simply sat and read a book so quickly.

There are many twists and turns in this story that will keep you guessing right to the very end. I won't lie it took my breath away.

I passed the book into my sister who raced through it and pronounced it 'the best book I've read in years '  It will be passed along to my other sister who I know will love it as well.

I hope that Tess Driscoll is a character that we see again and I have already cast her in my mind if it gets picked up by television.

Do yourself a favour pre-order now, cancel all plans and sit back and be amazed.

The Wrong Child by Barry Gornell

On face value alone the cover and synopsis of this book sounds intriguing but not spectacularly original.....never has the phrase never judge a book by it's cover seemed so relevant. Nothing could have prepared me for what lay inside


Barry Gornell’s book is a chilling, dark and atmospheric tale of a boy named Dog who was the last child left standing after an horrific event killed all the other 21 children in a school.

This is a bleak and harrowing story that will chill your bones and leave you with a feeling that you have walked into a world where a permanent brooding mist shrouds everyone and everything.

Set in winter in an unnamed remote village in in Scotland, this novel alternates between two timelines; the present day and seven years earlier approaching the disastrous event. I found it difficult to pin down an exact time, it could be now or 20,30,40 years ok.

Douglas ‘Dog’ Foster is a young man, living alone on the edge of the village on marshland. At the beginning of the book it becomes clear that from the moment of his birth Dog was not easy to love. 

Dog was never a popular child and the village is both appalled and disgusted that he was the only survivor. Knowing he was an odd child has not helped the attitude of villagers, and Dog has spent the last seven years living alone and being ostracised and demonised by the community.

Then, seven years after the disaster, on the anniversary of the children’s deaths, when the villagers form their annual pilgrimage to the school to commemorate the dead with a candlelight vigil beside the 21 trees they have planted in memoriam, they are confronted by a sight that horrifies them.

For Dog is there, making a display of himself. For the community, this act of heresy is an outrage too far. One of the bereaved parents strikes him dead and the others implicate themselves with the crime by silently burying him.

It is now that we begin to see the impact that their children’s deaths have had on the individuals in this community. Marriages have been wrenched apart, alcohol, drugs and sex have all played their part in tearing at the moral fabric of this community and even the priest has not been immune from the septic nature of the poison the seeps through this place.

Then someone burns down Dog’s cottage and another body is found. Dog’s parents are told of his death and they return to understand his death after 7 years of staying away and leaving him to fend for himself.

How they interact with those who used to be their neighbours and friends;why they left and whether they can find out and handle the truth about their son’s death is where the heart of this story lies.

This is not an easy book to read and it asks some extraordinarily hard questions of the reader.

What’s really interesting about the prose here is that it is completely non-judgemental, yet you find yourself judging your own thoughts and feelings as well as those of the protagonists.

This is a harsh, uncompromising and unflinching book which is a compelling and fascinating study in morality and redemption. That Gornell is a hugely talented novelist is beyond doubt. The Wrong Child will stay with me for a long time to come. It affected me deeply.

A Brand New Adventure

This is  something I've wanted to for a long time now.I love reading with a passion and this is going to be my place for reviewing and getting down my thoughts. It's crowded field but I hope with some good luck and friendly authors and publishers it will be all good!

Now to decide what to first

Voila!

Watch this space!

Update


Just received this from Orion Publishing .Can't wait to start reading it :)