Second Life – S J Watson

Psychological Thriller
4*’s

Meet Julia, a woman who has a nice husband, a lovely home and a teenage son, she is also a recovering alcoholic. As the novel opens she goes to a viewing of her most successful photo and has to confront the fact that her early promise hasn’t been fulfilled and she vows to do more than simply take commercial photos as she has been doing.

Julia’s life is shattered when her younger sister Kate is murdered in what seems to be a random act in a backstreet in Paris. After the funeral she visits Anna, Kate’s flatmate who lets her know that Kate had been in the habit of meeting men on-line for sex. Struggling with her grief and fighting the urge to drink Julia is being less than supportive to Connor her son who is also struggling to come to terms with the loss of Kate. Having found the site-name and password to the sex-site she decides to log on, after all she doesn’t really believe that her sister was taken in some random accident and she becomes convinced that she can track down Kate’s killer. For some reason she isn’t in contact with the police, leaving her masterful husband to talk to the consulate and relay the information on the investigation.

I found the first half of this book to be quite slow-moving with endless scenes of angst and repetition as Julia talked herself round in circles, hiding details not only from her husband but her friends too, however once I got into the second half the tension ratcheted up along with the pace and I became quite immersed in the book and could quite easily kept reading to the end in one sitting. S J Watson certainly knows how to create good characters, I didn’t necessarily feel much sympathy for Julia, quite frankly her actions were only ever going to end in disaster, but I did care what happened and I believed in her even though she made some unbelievably stupid choices. I really enjoyed this author’s debut novel, Before I Go To Sleep, and the same style that invites compulsive reading is evident in this book and the mystery just as well executed.

This book also touches on a very modern phenomenon, cyber-sex and it was an education to see how Julia struggled to work out the etiquette to this other world. There are some steamy sex scenes in this book and although none of them were too graphic, there moments when I felt distinctly uncomfortable. Now in my reviews I usually avoid talking about the ending being wary of giving spoilers, however I just know that this one will divide opinion amongst its readers so I’m just going to say, I liked it precisely because I can’t help but mull over the how and why, which is why I enjoy psychological thrillers.

I will be recommending this one to those readers who like good writing, don’t need to like or agree with the main character and like a book to offer something in the way of a surprise.

I’d like to thank the publishers Random House for allowing me to experience some of the pitfalls of modern life from the safety of these pages in return for my honest opinion. Second Life is published today, 12 February 2015

Musing Mondays (February 9)

Hosted by Should Be Reading
Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

• I’m currently reading…
• Up next I think I’ll read…
• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I can’t wait to get a copy of…
• I wish I could read ___, but…
• I blogged about ____ this past week…

Todays random question is:

Do you have people in your life (face-to-face) that are readers like you? Or, do you find that you have to reach out to those online in order to find like-minded folk?

I am lucky in that I have a number of people I know that are voracious readers including my daughter, friends and work colleagues and so I am able to discuss books we’ve read, share books and recommend new authors to each other. However, I like the interaction I have with other book-bloggers which tend to me more focussed and frequent.

I am currently reading a book that is hard to categorise, Lay Me Down by Nicci Cloke .

Blurb

London: 31st December, midnight. For Elsa and Jack, a stolen kiss becomes a shot at real happiness. Eight months later, they board a plane to begin a new life in San Francisco, where Jack has found his dream job working on the Golden Gate Bridge.
But this is not your average boy-meets-girl love story, for Jack’s new job comes with an extraordinary obligation. No one told him about the Jumpers – the men and women who try to leap from the bridge to their deaths every year. One in particular begins to haunt Jack, bringing back memories he thought safely buried. As he becomes more and more preoccupied, and Elsa, alone in a new city, becomes increasingly isolated, both retreat into their pasts, back down the paths that led them to that New Year’s Eve. And the fragile love between them starts to unravel… NetGalley

I have just finished Second Life by S J Watson, author of Before I Go To Sleep which takes a look at what happens when someone, in this case a female, is leading a double-life.

My review for this book will be posted later this week

Next I am going to read another psychological thriller; Hidden by Emma Kavanagh,  which is due to be published on 23 April 2015.

Blurb

HE’S WATCHING
A gunman is stalking the wards of a local hospital. He’s unidentified and dangerous, and has to be located. Urgently.
Police Firearms Officer Aden McCarthy is tasked with tracking him down. Still troubled by the shooting of a schoolboy, Aden is determined to make amends by finding the gunman – before it’s too late.
SHE’S WAITING
To psychologist Imogen, hospital should be a place of healing and safety – both for her, and her young niece who’s been recently admitted. She’s heard about the gunman, but he has little to do with her. Or has he?
As time ticks down, no one knows who the gunman’s next target will be. But he’s there. Hiding in plain sight. Far closer than anyone thinks…Goodreads

What are you reading this week?

Friday Finds (January 9)

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).

It’s been a while since my last Friday Finds and I have some great additions to share with you. Through NetGalley I have been lucky enough to receive copies from three authors whose previous books I’ve enjoyed.

Firstly, Second Life by S J Watson, the author of Before I Go To Sleep which I awarded 4 stars to back in 2011 and has recently been made into a film.

Blurb

She loves her husband. She’s obsessed by a stranger.
She’s a devoted mother. She’s prepared to lose everything.
She knows what she’s doing. She’s out of control.
She’s innocent. She’s guilty as sin.
She’s living two lives. She might lose both . . NetGalley

Second Life is being published by Random House UK on 12 February 2015

Secondly, Follow The Leader by Mel Sherratt is being published by Amazon on 10 February 2015 and is the second in the DS Allie Shenton series, a shame because I haven’t read the first one, Taunting the Dead although I did enjoy Watching Over You last year

So I purchased Taunting The Dead

Blurb

Nine out of ten murders are committed by someone the victim knows. So when Steph Ryder has her head bashed in within earshot of her family and friends, D.S. Allie Shenton begins her investigation close to home.
Soon the lies, backtracking, and secrets multiply as each of the suspects tries to cover up their actions on that fateful night. Before long, Allie homes in on Steph’s ambitious and powerful husband, Terry. Convinced he’s hiding something, she interviews him again and again—only to find that she is falling, despite herself, for his smooth charms.
As the trail grows hotter, along with Allie’s feelings, the web of deceit pulls tighter and more bodies begin to pile up. Allie must race against time to uncover the shocking truth before she becomes the killer’s next victim. Goodreads

… to enjoy Follow The Leader

Blurb

A man’s body is found on a canal towpath. In his pocket, a magnetic letter in the shape of an E.
Days later, a second victim is found, this time with the letter V tucked into her clothing.
As the body count rises, the eerie, childlike clues point to a pattern that sends DS Allie Shenton and her colleagues into full alert.
The race is on. Allie and the team must work quickly to determine where the killer will strike next. The rules are simple but deadly—to catch the killer, they must follow the leader. NetGalley

And lastly The Shut Eye by Belinda Bauer. Amazon kindly informs me that I purchased Blacklands by Belinda Bauer back in August 2010, I then read all of her subsequent novels including the fantastic Rubbernecker although I haven’t yet read The Facts of Life and Death which was published in 2014.

Blurb

Five footprints are the only sign that Daniel Buck was ever here.
And now they are all his mother has left.
Every day, Anna Buck guards the little prints in the cement. Polishing them to a shine. Keeping them safe. Spiralling towards insanity.
When a psychic offers hope, Anna grasps it. Who wouldn’t? Maybe he can tell her what happened to her son…
But is this man what he claims to be? Is he a visionary? A shut eye? Or a cruel fake, preying on the vulnerable?
Or is he something far, far worse? NetGalley

The Shut Eye will be published by Random House UK on 12 March 2015

I also have a copy of I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh which is due to be published by Little Brown Book Group UK on 23 April 2015.

Blurb

A tragic accident. It all happened so quickly. She couldn’t have prevented it. Could she?
In a split second, Jenna Gray’s world is shattered. Her only hope of moving on is to walk away from everything she knows to start afresh. Desperate to escape her past, Jenna moves to a remote cottage on the Welsh coast, but she is haunted by her fears, her grief and her memories of the cruel November night that changed her life for ever.
DI Ray Stevens is tasked with seeking justice for a mother who is living every parent’s worst nightmare. Determined to get to the bottom of the case, it begins to consume him as he puts both his professional and personal life on the line.
As Ray and his team seek to uncover the truth, Jenna, slowly, begins to glimpse the potential for happiness in her future. But her past is about to catch up with her, and the consequences will be devastating . . . Goodreads

I have also been lucky enough to receive a proof copy of Sarah Hilary’s second book No Other Darkness after her wonderful debut Someone Else’s Skin, the first in the Marnie Rome series (and one of the top ten reviews most read by you guys)

Blurb

No Other Darkness finds Marnie on a case that hauntingly echoes her own family tragedy. Detective Inspector Marnie Rome and her partner Detective Sergeant Noah Jake are investigating the recent discovery of two dead boys in a bunker beneath a London garden. Terry and Beth, under whose garden the bodies were discovered, have two children of their own, and are also fostering a difficult boy named Clancy. Clancy reminds Marnie of her foster brother Stephen, who murdered her parents. Is Marnie’s past blinding her to the truth? Only one thing is certain: when Terry and Beth’s biological children vanish, Marnie can’t waste a moment finding them. Goodreads

So that concludes my finds for this week!

What have you found to read? Please share in the comments box below.