The Burning Girl – Lisa Unger

Novella
4*’s

The Burning Girl is the second in a set of three novella’s featuring Eloise a psychic medium who only realised she had this power following a car accident in which caused the death of her husband and one of her daughters. This was the basis of the first book in this series, The Whispers.

The Burning Girl starts ten years on from the end of The Whispers, a device that allows the author to introduce some new characters most notably Agatha a commercial psychic who listens to, and advises Eloise when the visions she sees and the voices she hears gets too much for her. When Eloise notices the smell of burning in her house the vision that becomes clear is particularly horrifying but the scene is from many years ago so what is this ghost trying to tell her? Eloise isn’t after fame or fortune. Far from it, her psychic powers have made her neighbours wary of her and her remaining daughter has moved far away. Eloise sees the visions to help solve crimes and since her power is elusive and can’t be summoned up she alone must find the link between the past and the present in this episode.

For a novella there is a lot packed into this story which is pleasingly backed up with authentic characterisation. I’ve said before that I’m not a big fan of the supernatural but I think the fact that Eloise is a reluctant psychic has helped me get over this aversion and allowed me to thoroughly enjoy this series. Lisa Unger is a master storyteller which means that the pace and the plot work in harmony to give an unusually satisfying read considering the length of the book; I didn’t feel cheated by the brevity at all.

I’m not entirely sure that this was quite as satisfying as the first book in the series as there were far more loose ends in this one which I hope will be tidied up in the third and final part due to be published in 2015; The Three Sisters. Lisa Unger has chosen to set The Three Sisters some ten years on from The Burning Girl and I will definitely have to read this part to see what happens to Eloise next.

I’d like to say a big thank you to the publishers Gallery, Threshold Pocket Books for giving me a copy of this book in return for this honest review. The Burning Girl will be published on 25 November 2014 in the US and is due for release in the UK in February 2015.

WWW Wednesday (November 19)

Hosted by Miz B at Should be Reading

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

I am currently reading Ignoring Gravity by Sandra Danby a book which I came across in excerpt format when I stumbled across the author’s blog.  Ignoring Gravity is about to be published on 21 November 2014.

Blurb

Rose Haldane is confident about her identity. She pulls the same face as her grandfather when she has to do something she doesn’t want to do, she knows her DNA is the same as his. Except it isn’t: because Rose is adopted and doesn’t know it.
‘Ignoring Gravity’ connects two pairs of sisters separated by a generation of secrets. Finding her mother’s lost diaries, Rose begins to understand why she has always seemed the outsider in her family, why she feels so different from her sister Lily. Then just when she thinks there can’t be any more secrets…
This is the first in a series of novels about Rose Haldane, identity detective. Amazon

I recently finished the thought-provoking The Perfect Mother by Nina Darnton which is based upon Emma, an American girl who while studying in Spain is a suspect in the murder of a local boy. Narrated by Jennifer, her mother, this book skilfully describes how she has to realign her image of her daughter to fit the facts of the case. My review will follow shortly.

Next I am going to read The Burning Girl by Lisa Unger ,the second in the three part set of novellas by this author which started with The Whispers.

 

Blurb

Ten years after Eloise Montgomery discovers her psychic abilities, she is a full-fledged working psychic, with a partner and a business. Now, in The Burning Girl, she’s discovering some disturbing things: secrets about her genealogy that are, perhaps, best left in the past; that her granddaughter Finley has powers of her own; and that not all of Eloise’s visitors actually want to be helped. Some of them are just looking for trouble…Goodreads

What are you reading this week?

The Whispers – Lisa Unger

Novella
4*’s

I normally shy away from books which have a supernatural theme but when I saw the first part of a novella trilogy, written by the author of In The Blood, a psychological thriller which I really enjoyed, as much for the fact that this was a book that gave me many different issues to think about whilst being a cracking good read. So I decided to unstick my feet from the mud and give this a go!

Lisa Unger wastes no time in revealing her chief protagonist, Eloise to her readers, a likeable character who has a husband who cherishes his family, an awkward elder daughter, Emily, as well as Amanda the youngest daughter who shares her mother’s outlook on life. All too soon this picture is smashed to pieces as Alfie and Emily die in a car crash. This awful event causes Eloise to have psychic visions that she doesn’t want, like or know how to react to but the visions she has can’t be ignored and Eloise needs to act, fast.

I loved the writing and I was so totally engaged in this short story that I was completely ok with the psychic parts, helped in no small part that these were linked to a mystery and the fact that Eloise was more sceptical of them herself. Lisa Unger is careful to keep the threads running through the book so Eloise is supporting Amanda while she comes to terms with the awful tragedy as well as suffering from grief herself. I found all the interactions from the beginning where a typical family was getting ready for work and school to those after the car crash perfectly pitched. The pace of this novella was good although the end came far too soon for my liking and I will need to pick up the next in the series, The Burning Girl, to find out what happens to Eloise next.
So, not only did I read a novella, the first one this year, but it also had spooky stuff in it and I liked it confirming that Lisa Unger is a truly talented writer indeed.

I’d like to thank the publishers Gallery for my copy of this novella that is due out on 27 October 2014, although in the UK Simon & Schuster have a publication date of 4 December 2014, in return for my honest review.

My review of In The Blood

WWW Wednesday (October 22)

Hosted by Miz B at Should be Reading

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

I am currently reading Soul of Discretion by Susan Hill which is the eighth book in the Simon Serrailler series.

Blurb

The cathedral town of Lafferton seems idyllic, but in many ways it is just like any other place. As part of the same rapidly changing world, it shares the same hopes and fears, and the same kinds of crime, as any number of towns up and down the land.
When one day DC Simon Serrailler is called in by Lafferton’s new Chief Constable, Kieron Bright, he is met by four plainclothes officers. He is asked to take the lead role in a complex, potentially dangerous undercover operation and must leave town immediately, without telling anyone – not even his girlfriend Rachel, who has only just moved in with him.
Meanwhile, Simon’s sister Cat is facing difficult choices at work that will test her dedication to the NHS. But an urgent call about her and Simon’s father, Richard, soon presents her with a far greater challenge much closer to home.
To complete his special op, Simon must inhabit the mind of the worst kind of criminal. As the op unfolds, Lafferton is dragged into the sort of case every town dreads. And Simon faces the fight of his life. Amazon

I have just finished the novella The Whispers by Lisa Unger which tells the tale of Eloise Montgomery who develops psychic powers following the death of her husband and eldest daughter. This is the first part of a three part series which are being published a month apart.
My review will follow shortly…

Next I am going to read The Night Hunter by Caro Ramsay

Blurb

Elvie McCulloch’s sister Sophie has been missing for 57 days. She went out for a run – and never came home. Several young woman in the area have disappeared in similar circumstances, and Elvie’s family fears the worst.
As Elvie is driving to her new job late at night, the naked, emaciated body of a young woman crashes from high above onto an oncoming car. Elvie recognises her as Lorna Lennox, who has been missing for weeks. But why was she up there? Where had she been all this time? And why was she running for her life?
Teaming up with retired detective Billy Hopkirk, who has been retained by the mother of one of the missing girls to find her daughter, Elvie determines to find out the truth. But as the pair alternately collaborate with and infuriate investigating police detectives Anderson and Costello, they find themselves up against a terrifying enemy. Someone who has killed before. Someone who will kill again, for pure enjoyment. Someone they call The Night Hunter. NetGalley

What are you reading this week?

Teaser Tuesday (October 21)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week is from The Whispers by Lisa Unger

Blurb

It’s a day like any other for Eloise Montgomery–until tragedy strikes. While she is recovering from a horrible accident that takes the lives of her husband and oldest daughter, and as she works to help her younger daughter move forward, Eloise experiences her first psychic vision. Though she struggles to understand her newfound gifts, Eloise finds a way use them to save lost women and girls–for whom her help may be the only way out…Amazon

My Teaser

“How are my beautiful girls this morning,” said Alfie,” entering the room like sunlight. And, each of them like heliotropes, turned to face him with a smile.
Alfie was the favourite parent and always had been. He was the tree-climber, the player of “dangerous tricks,” the storyteller, the tear dryer, the bear-hugger. He was the nightmare slayer, the surprise party thrower Oh how they all adored him.

Taken from just a couple of pages into the story, what do you think? Want to know more?

Please share your teasers in the comments box below!

 

Friday Finds (October 17)

Hosted by Should be Reading

FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

So, come on — share with us your FRIDAY FINDS

This week I have two novella’s by Lisa Unger, first up is The Whispers

Blurb

It’s a day like any other for Eloise Montgomery—until tragedy strikes. While she is recovering from a horrible accident that takes the lives of her husband and oldest daughter, and as she works to help her younger daughter move forward, Eloise experiences her first psychic vision. Though she struggles to understand her newfound gifts, Eloise finds a way use them to save lost women and girls—for whom her help may be the only way out…NetGalley

and the second being The Burning Girl

Blurb

Ten years after Eloise Montgomery discovers her psychic abilities, she is a full-fledged working psychic, with a partner and a business. Now, in The Burning Girl, she’s discovering some disturbing things: secrets about her genealogy that are, perhaps, best left in the past; that her granddaughter Finley has powers of her own; and that not all of Eloise’s visitors actually want to be helped. Some of them are just looking for trouble… NetGalley

I also have a copy of The Soul of Discretion by Susan Hill which is the eighth in the Simon Serrailler series, I think I read one and two some years ago! I know I swore I wouldn’t join series part-way in but I weakened…

I’ve also got a copy of The Heart of Winter by Emma Hannigan after enjoying the author’s previous book The Summer Guest which I read earlier this year.

 

Blurb

Holly Craig’s family have lived happily in Huntersbrook for generations but when times grow hard, even she must admit defeat and sell off their once-successful stables.
The three Craig children, Lainey, Joey and Pippa find themselves locked in a fight to keep their beloved Huntersbrook; dare they transform it into one of Ireland’s most sought after countryside venues?
Renovation work is well underway when life rears its ugly head and everything stops in its tracks. The Craig family is forced to reassess what matters and although they no longer live at Huntersbrook, can the house work its magic even so … and lead them into the light once more? Goodreads

and lastly I have a copy of Interlude by Rupert Smith

Blurb

A compelling examination of how secrets can tear one family apart; the tale moves from the repressed society of 1930s England where the consequences of two men s actions still reverberate through their families in the present day. Bored housewife and mother Helen has always known her grandfather Edward was a famous author, but her parents had severed connection with him whilst she was still young, refusing to discuss the matter. After embarking on a whirlwind affair with her writing tutor, Helen decides to visit her reclusive grandfather and discover more about the identity of the mysterious Rose in his most famous novel, Interlude, who has baffled critics for years. Their brief meeting reveals little but when her grandfather dies and makes Helen his executor, she discovers a stash of his diaries and an unpublished manuscript. They reveal a long hidden secret and a forbidden love affair with devastating consequences for her whole family. Helen s journey is interspersed with Edward’s works which slowly reveal the ambiguity of truth and the depth of deception that permeates the family.
A stirring look at not just the treachery of family secrets but of how truth can be buried within a text and how society imposes limits on love. Amazon

What have you found to read this week?

In The Blood – Lisa Unger

Psychological Thriller
4*’s

For lovers of mystery this book contains the lot; a missing girl, a disturbed young boy, a mother at her wits end and a journal! The journal is inserted throughout the book and it is for the reader to deduce who wrote it.

Set in Florida, Lana Granger is studying at a small college when the time comes for her to branch out from the life of academia and supplement her inheritance with a part-time job. When a babysitting job is advertised on the notice board it seem like fate has worked in her favour and she starts work with Rachel and her disturbed son Luke.
The problem is that Lana is living a life of lies. She is hiding her past, a past that includes her deeply troubled childhood spent living in an unhappy household. Lana is determined to keep her previous life a complete secret which results in her feeling threatened when her friend goes missing and the police turn up asking questions that Lana would rather not answer.

This book is full of twists and turns with a real underlying theme of nature versus nurture to tease the reader. Although I had a good idea on the whodunit early in the book, I was searching for the reason why, which was a little more elusive. This being the case there was a number of twists to keep me reading as the entire jigsaw of characters played their parts in the race to lay the blame at each other’s door for every minor event that took them up to that point.

As well as the murder this novel also explores our interest in murderers that spawns media attention, how a pretty young adult will hold the front page much more effectively than one full of piercings, how the internet makes it hard to hide and stay hidden as well as touching on the issues surrounding the death penalty, giving the reader a fair bit apart from the crime to ponder on.

I was lucky to receive a free copy of this book from the publishers Simon and Schuster UK in return for this review. In The Blood was published in the UK on 13 February 2014 and I’m off choose one of Lisa Unger’s previous books to add to my shelf!