Tag Archive | Harper Collins

Those People Next Door by Kia Abdullah

Aug3

Out Now In Paperback – It’s Top Notch!

Those People Next Door by Kia Abdullah is a totally gripping contemporary crime drama that consumed me from the start.

Kia Abdullah is a marvelous author whose novels are always top notch. She writes gritty fiction that is always heart breaking.

In Those People Next Door we witness, with horror, the lengths that some people will go to in order to destroy others. Instead of offering olive branches, it is bitter barbs. These barbs sink in, destroying characters from the inside out as we see the damage that hurt and bitterness can do. Characters lose their morality incredibly quickly.

Once more Kia Abdullah introduces the reader to an urban neighbourhood. It is supposed to be a safe haven but proves more deadly than the estates the family left behind.

The reader sees the tensions that simmer and boil over, as tolerance is a thing of the past. There appears to be a role reversal as we witness teens acting more grown up than the adults, as they unite over common ground.

Continue reading →

Maidens Of The Cave by Lloyd Devereux Richards

Aug1

The Thinking Man’s Crime

Maidens Of The Cave by Lloyd Devereux Richards is an absolutely marvellous contemporary crime suspense that had me glued and guessing from the start.

The plotline is intricate, well thought out and executed. It is definitely a thinking man’s novel. There is no time to sit back and relax as the reader is immediately plunged into the action. We know the nickname of the perpetrator from the start but we do not know who it is.

We see that our upbringing shapes the adults we become – for good or evil.

The leading lady is well drawn, likable and realistic. She is tenacious in her search for the truth, preferring to go against her boss rather than have a death on her conscience.

This is a book with heightened tension throughout as the reader fears for the safety of the characters. I read with baited breath and rapidly rising heartbeat!

Continue reading →

Tough Crowd by Andi Osho

Jul20

The Main Event

Tough Crowd by Andi Osho is a wonderful contemporary novel about family, friends and love.

Family is important. There are many different types of family. We see one where the matriarch rules the roost, with a poison tongue. Vicious barbs still hurt a life, even as an adult. It requires courage to stand up and speak out.

We see a split family where each parent is doing their best. As a new girlfriend of a single Dad, it is hard to be accepted by the family. Clashes with a teen are inevitable. Trying too hard to appear in control takes its toll. It is okay to ask for help. We need to be brave enough to be truthful when life overwhelms.

We follow characters trying to break into the comedy circuit. It’s a difficult nut to crack, but being anecdotal and true to oneself is always good advice.

Continue reading →

You Were Always Mine by Christine Pride & Jo Piazza

Jul20

Fiercely Protective

You Were Always Mine by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza is a really powerful, contemporary novel that consumed me from the start.

Once again, the two authors have produced a marvellous novel, after their fabulous debut book We Are Not Like Them.

Where to begin?… I loved so much about this book it is hard to know what to discuss first. This is a book about love, social injustice, racism, prejudice and pre-conceived ideas leading to judgement.

Cinnamon, the leading lady, is very likable. She is a product of the school of hard knocks but is an over-comer. She was brought up in the social care system which failed her on every level. She saw close up just what was wrong with the system. Now an adult, she is determined to change the system from within, determined that no child in her care will ever feel unwanted.

As an African American woman, Cinnamon has been a victim of both open, and convert racism. “ ‘You know, Cinnamon, you’re the first coloured friend I have ever had’, with the proudest look on her face like she’d earned the hardest Girl Scout badge.” The reader’s heart just weeps.

To see a black woman with a white baby, American society assumes she is the nanny. To see a black man with a white baby, American society assumes he is an abductor. But to see a white couple with a black baby, American society applauds. Clearly something seriously needs to change.

Continue reading →