Five Minds - Guy Morpuss

 

Description

The Earth’s spiralling population has finally been controlled. Lifespans

are limited to eighty years, except for those who make an extreme

choice: to become a commune. Five minds sharing one body, each

living for four hours at a time. But with a combined lifespan of nearly

150 years.

Alex, Kate, Mike, Sierra and Ben have already spent twenty-five years

together in what was once Mike’s body, their frequent personality

clashes leading to endless bickering, countless arguments, and getting

themselves stranded on a Russian arctic freighter. Wanting to buy

upgrades for their next host body, they decide to travel to a Death Park

where games are played and time can be gambled like money. But

things go very wrong when Kate accepts a dangerous offer, and one of

them disappears.

It soon becomes clear that someone is trying to kill off members of

the commune. But why? Is one of them responsible? Or is an outsider

playing a deadly game? It’s hard enough to catch a murderer. It’s

almost impossible when you might be sharing a body with them...

 

Review

Just WOW! and WOW again!

This book had it all for me. Futuristic sci-fi, action, a crime (or two) to solve and an extremely clever plot.

Imagine a future where you have to decide how you wish to live, whether it be in human form as a worker or in an android (andi). Or maybe as a Hed (Hedonist) living a life of luxury but only until you are aged 42. If you want to live for 150 years you can share a body with five other minds and form a commune. 

The book centres around a commune in a host body. They've been together for 25 years when we join them. Already my head was pondering the equity and rationale of occupying one body. Each has a set time of day for four hours that they inhabit the body. Although they can express disapproval (and they do) of  where or how the previous mind left the body, there's not much they can physically do to stop this. They can only communicate with each other through messages. At one point it did get little long winded as each of them had to let the others know what had happened in their time line. As a reader you already knew so you were waiting for them to catch up with you.

Wanting upgrades for their next host body they go to Death Park, and Alton Towers it is not! It reminded me slightly of the Hunger Games as they begin to play the games in the Death Park. I often find that action can be written so descriptively it's hard to know what is happening, or it is too long winded. Not so with this book. The action scenes are succinct and put you right in the moment. I could vividly see it all playing out in my minds eye. 

Not everything is explained at the outset as to how this world works, even the commune aren't sure at times. So just go with it and discover as you read. After all this is an imaginary future world created by the author, and only he knows what is going to happen! 

I think I may have just read the book of the year for me and the future Agatha Christie. This story is certainly going to stay with me.

I'm giving this unique book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Random Things Tours for the ARC and the invite to the tour.

Author

Guy Morpuss is a London-based barrister and QC, whose cases have featured

drug-taking cyclists, dead Formula 1 champions and aspiring cemetery owners.

He lives in Surrey with his wife and two children.

Find him on Twitter @guymorpuss, or at guymorpuss.com.

Tales from the Coffee Pot - Jim Ody

So pleased to be on the Book Tour today with Zooloosbooktours.

Book Blurb

For the first time, the best of Jim Ody’s published short-stories are together in one anthology, including four previously unreleased.
Twelve twisted tales that touch on psychological/thriller, horror and YA, including:
A detective sent to a travelling circus to find a missing boy; A guy with a mysterious trunk must meet a stranger at a motel to survive; A doll turns up and becomes a little girl’s best friend. Then things turn strange; A surprise birthday party is memorable, if only the birthday boy survives; and a group of orphans find the world is about to end…

1 The Reveal
2 A Moth in The Jar
3 The I-Scream Van
4 Teaching Tom
5 Boat Trip
6 The Trunk
7 The Day
8 A Doll Named Sasha
9 Surprise Party
10 The Orphans
11 Hide & Seek
12 Virgin Women From Outta Space

Review

A wonderful collection of stories for those who like their coffee dark and strong!

Some of these stories have been previously published, but they were all new to me. Quite often I find with short stories I can read a few at a time. Not so with these, as I was thinking about the last one still so much that I couldn't concentrate on the next one. Some of them really do mess with your mind.

Each one has a twist of sorts and sometimes more. I didn't even try to second guess what was going to happen as they are so off the edge of the page that I doubt you could. Difficult to choose a favourite but I think The I-Scream Van had the edge for me, but only just.

The fabulous descriptive and atmospheric writing will put you right in the scene and the action, even if sometimes you might wish it wouldn’t.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Zooloosbook tours for the invite to the tour and the ARC to review.

Author

Jim writes dark psychological/thrillers, Horror and YA books that have endings you won’t see coming, and favours stories packed with wit. He has written over a dozen novels and many more short-stories spanning many genres. 

Jim has a very strange sense of humour and is often considered a little odd.  When not writing he will be found playing the drums, watching football and eating chocolate. He lives with his long-suffering wife, three beautiful children and two indignant cats in Swindon, Wiltshire UK.

Follow him at:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/JimOdyAuthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimodyauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jim_Ody_Author

Amazon UK : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Coffee-Pot-Jim-Ody-ebook/dp/B0927KV4VK

Amazon US : https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Coffee-Pot-Jim-Ody-ebook/dp/B0927KV4VK

High-Rise Mystery - Sharna Jackson

 

Description

The detective duo everyone is dying to meet!

Summer in London is hot, the hottest on record, and there's been a murder in The Tri: the high-rise home to resident know-it-alls, Nik and Norva. Who better to solve the case?

Armed with curiosity, home-turf knowledge and unlimited time - until the end of the summer holidays anyway.

The first whodunnit in a new mystery series by Sharna Jackson.

Review

Wow! Great book, these kids are so smart!

I'm so far out of the demographic for this book but I saw it recommended and thought I would give it a go. I listened to it on audio. Although it is not read by the author the narrator reads with so much enthusiasm and has such fabulous voice skills that it was just wonderful.

At first I thought that I had been misled and the duo were not actually going to solve a crime, merely play act. How wrong I was and I have to say I never guessed the ending either. I think this book is so inspiring for any young readers although they do get themselves into some scrapes.

My favourite part was the teen speak. At one point they find a cheque and their friend explains to them "it's like Paypal for olds" absolutely hilarious from my point of view, to the recommended audience just every day chat!

I certainly picked up a few new phrases and this is where the audio came into its own as it really brought them to life. 

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to borrowbox and my local library for the audio book to listen to.

The Ice Maiden - Jane Badrock

 

I'm delighted to be on the Book Tour for this book today.

Book Blurb :- 

Who is Maddie?

If she doesn’t find out…she’ll die.

Tormented by visions of a woman’s death, 

maths student Maddie’s search for answers

leads her to question her own origins

and puts her life in danger.

Who’s trying to kill her?

Why?

It’s the most critical problem she’ll ever have to solve…

And she’s only got three weeks.

Review

I found the book blurb on this one to be intriguing - and it certainly was...

Maddie is 20 and a uni mathematics student. A number of tragic events occur in her life, the first being the death of her Mother. This begins a quest to find out who she really is, but also to uncover who the woman is that she keeps seeing in her dreams. Helped by a dream scientist she begins to unpick the recurring dreams, but what is a dream and what is real?

The book has an enormous amount of self talk by Maddie. This initially threw me a little as I am not used to reading this amount of internal dialogue. I can say however that by the end of the book this style of writing made total sense. Also don't expect the book title to make any sense for quite some time!

This became a real page turner around half way through with so many red herrings that I began to suspect everyone of having a hand in the events that began to plague Maddie. I even suspected those I should have put in the clear, but so many weird things began to happen in the book that I started to doubt what was real and what was in Maddie's dreams. 

A satisfying ending which had me rethinking what I had read. It's a very clever storyline.

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Zooloo's Book Tours for the invite and the ARC to review.

About the author

Jane writes novels, short stories and poems, usually with a good dose of humour in them. She's probably owes it all to her late grandmother who, she's just found out, also wrote short stories and poems. She tends to get an idea and then run with it whether it be a 100 word short story or an 80 thousand word novel. It all depends on the voices in her head at the time…

Follow her at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janebadrockauthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janebadrock/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/janebadrock

Amazon : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jane-Badrock/e/B07HZ2HD3Q

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18510015.Jane_Badrock

Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B098F578W2

Amazon US - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B098F578W2

Going South - Tom Larsen

So happy to be on the blog tour for this book today.

Description 

Harry wants out. The daily grind has ground him down and his dreams are fading fast. Desperate times call for desperate measures and as a last-ditch resort he fakes his own death to claim on the insurance planning to set himself up on Easy Street.

Wife Lena has her doubts. Harry’s always had a hand in the hustle, but going for broke was never his style. She goes along for the ride just to see how far he’ll take it, down Mexico way, returning “widowed” and soon-to-be wealthy, waits out the weeks till they can reunite.

Only Harry sounds funny on the phone. And she knows how he gets when he’s been drinking.

Then there’s the irreversible nature of death to consider.

Harry’s scheme is seamless but the schemer has a flaw, and instead of getting what he wants might just get what he deserves.

'Going South explores conscience and consequence with a slowly building tension . . . the reader feels like they're hanging on a frayed rope with no idea when it might snap'
-ARC Reviewer

Review

When the book began I found it to be written in such an authentic fast paced American style of dialogue, that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to stick with, but I'm so glad I did.

Harry hates his job and his life and he wants to jack it all in and live a life of leisure. Except his wife, Lena, a mental health nurse and he have no other income, so he can't. Harry comes up with a plan to fake his death down in Mexico with the help of his wife. But to do that they need a body...

Lena begins the book with such a wonderful wry sense of humour. I felt I wanted to take notes and be able to recite some of these one liners myself someday. Maybe it comes from working in a mental health hospital that she's got this defence in humour. All I know is it is just genius comedic writing. I say she begins that way, because as the toll of what they've done becomes more and more pressing on her, some of that sassiness that was so great in the beginning is lost.

Told from the perspective of two killers and what the guilt of that can do is the basis of this story. It felt like real life as they go through plan B, D and D (and more) when things don't work out according to their plan. The book has a real raw American dialogue at times and I did have to google a few things which I was not familiar with, others, I just went with them.

The end was not what I expected. I'm not even sure it's what I hoped for because by then I was as wrung out by it all as Harry and Lena were.

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Random Things Tours for the invite to the blog tour and the ARC to review.

Clothes ... - Alexandra Shulman

I'm so thrilled to be on the Blog Tour for this book today.

Description

In Clothes... and other things that matter, Alexandra Shulman delves into her own life to look at the emotions,  ambitions, expectations and meanings behind the way we dress.  

From the bra to the bikini, the trench coat to trainers, the slip dress to the suit, she explores their meaning in women’s  lives and how our wardrobes intersect with the larger world - the career ladder, motherhood, romance, sexual identity,  ambition, failure, body image and celebrity. 

By turns funny, refreshingly self-deprecating and often very moving, this startlingly honest memoir from the ex Editor of British Vogue will encourage women of all ages to consider what their own clothes mean to them, the life  they live in them and the stories they tell. 

Shulman explores the person our clothes allow us to be – and sometimes the person they turn us into. 

‘The pieces I write about have been chosen because they have at some time or other meant something to me. A  few are utterly idiosyncratic, others part of many women’s collections. Ultimately, though, this book is entirely  personal. How much can be traced through the contents of our wardrobes – in my case, 549 pieces? These clothes  are the story of my life and my preoccupations; like everyone’s, they are unique.’

Review

I loved this book so much. I could have read it in one sitting, but instead I rationed myself, as I knew I was going to miss it when it ended.

I was hoping this book would contain some social history around clothes and I wasn't disappointed on that score. What I wasn't expecting was that a former editor of Vogue would be so unassuming. Early in her Vogue career she notes not feeling worthy of a bespoke outfit by Catherine Walker (the stuff of dreams) but later on she overcame that, as bespoke Manolo shoes were regularly made for her!

I found myself nodding along and agreeing with her observations about fashion. life today and when I was younger. So much of the book resonated with me and two words I have not heard since my childhood, namely trews and midi (skirt length) and both got a mention. 

To read these pages was like sitting down with an old friend and reminiscing. The book is not in a chronological order. It is led by the meandering through her wardrobe and the memories that pieces of clothing evoke. Whether that be from years ago or more recently. Her time at Vogue is referenced throughout, but this is not a diary of her time there. 

I found this book to be deliciously absorbing. So many fascinating facts, some I already knew, but others I didn't and this had me researching further myself.  The mention of the pins (brooches)  and memories of wearing them had me breaking off reading to seek out (and buy) the referenced Madeliene Albright book,  I get so excited when one book leads to another. There is also an excellent bibliography at the end of the book which I intend to check out.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars and will be re reading it very soon. My thanks to Random Things Tours for a copy of the book to review and for the invite to the tour.

About the author

A Beginner's Guide to Murder - Rosalind Stopps

 

Description

Grace, Meg and Daphne, all in their seventies, are minding their own business while enjoying a cup of tea in a café, when seventeen-year-old Nina stumbles in. She’s clearly distraught and running from someone, so the three women think nothing of hiding her when a suspicious-looking man starts asking if they’ve seen her.
 
Once alone, Nina tells the women a little of what she’s running from. The need to protect her is immediate, and Grace, Meg and Daphne vow to do just this. But how? They soon realise there really is only one answer: murder.
 
And so begins the tale of the three most unlikely murderers-in-the-making, and may hell protect anyone who underestimates them.

Review

Trigger warnings for:  Kidnapping, rape, physical and emotional abuse

I'm always keen to read a book celebrating older people, but this just didn't do it for me. 

Three ladies in their seventies are minding their own business in a coffee shop when a young girl (Nina) comes in and asks for their help. If I had known what Nina was running from I would probably not have chosen to read this book. 

Whilst I applaud the older characters and their fight to show they are not to be written off by society the parts of the book that followed Nina made for gruesome and all too realistic reading. While it might have been slightly comedic at times for most of it I found it to be a very dark book. 

I did enjoy the friendships that were forged in the face of adversity and each of the three women all had a reason for helping Nina from their past.  However the plot was dragged out for too long in my opinion and I got a little bored with all the going back and forwards over the time line. The ending was dramatic but for me it came far too late.

I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.