The Outsider by Jason Dean

Synopsis

Jason Strickland and his son are in witness protection, and have seven days before he testifies. He is being protected by US Marshal Angela Delaney, and she suspects a inside leak so seeks outside help from a old friend. James Bishop is a former marine, experienced in working protection but he never expected to see Angela again. However when he meets Strickland and his son, he immediately agrees to protect them. 

It's fast moving, and full of exciting set pieces. Dean clearly has the knack of creating twists and turns in thrillers, and also makes the characters believable and likable. It's necessary to make the lead character in this kind of story, empathetic but capable of great violence when they need to be, and Dean manages to make Bishop into a character that I could actually like a lot. 

Dean also creates a friendship between Clea, a character that helps Bishop and Strickland get quite far along in their mission and the two men. This is despite the fact that the relationship begins because Bishop pulls a gun on her. It's refreshing that the relationship between her and Bishop doesn't tip over into romance as well. 

Barney, Strickland's son is very composed despite all the things that he is put through over the course of the novel. He manages to keep a level head even after being kidnapped, and losing his mother, despite the fact that he is still a teenager. 

If you enjoy action packed stories with a lot of twists and turns, then this is definitely one to consider. 

Authors beginning with the letter H

A night in with Grace Kelly by Lucy Holliday

Synopsis

Libby Lomax has realised that her best friend Olly is the one for her, but he's happy and in love with Tash. Another conflict is the fact that she is trying to make her own business work, and making a bad first impression on her financial backer. Fortunately Libby meets Joel in a accidental meeting straight out of a romantic comedy. Soon afterwards Grace Kelly appears, and tries to help Libby see that happy endings aren't just for fairy tales. 

This is the last one in the trilogy that Holliday created to feature Libby. I read the first one in which Libby meets Audrey Hepburn and thoroughly enjoyed it. Libby is a avid film fan who grew up idolising the stars of Hollywood's golden years through her father. Holliday's version of Grace Kelly is initially reluctant to accept the idea of Libby being real, and persists in thinking of Libby as a figment of her own imagination. 

Libby is still surrounded by distinct and endearing characters such as Bogdan- the aspiring hairdresser who mixes up his idioms regularly. Nora- the always supportive best friend. Her sister and mother who focus on their own lives rather than Libby. Her mother has traits similar to Mrs Bennet from Austen's Pride and Prejudice, in that she wants her children to achieve big things, and form a attachment preferably with a wealthy man. 

Holliday made Libby into a very supportive and loving character in the first book, prone to putting others before herself, and keeps that trait intact in this one. Libby is there for her ex boyfriend Dillon, a relapsing alcoholic. He made a appearance in the first book, and was the obstacle between Olly and Libby, as he was her main love interest then. 

It's a lighthearted and well written novel, with a unusual secondary character in Grace Kelly. Holliday's Grace is unsure of whether she truly wants to be married to Prince Rainer, and has had a relationship with Cary Grant. I don't know if Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe interacted very much in reality, but Holliday has them banding together to save Libby's life, and also giving their own take on what is important in romantic relationships. 

I really enjoyed this one, and will be seeking out the second one so that I can fill in the gaps in Libby's story seeing as Holliday currently doesn't intend to write further adventures for her and Olly. 

Authors beginning with the letter L

Hidden Killers by Lynda La Plante

Synopsis

Jane Tennison is promoted from WPC to DC and joins Bow Street station, the move makes her conflicted. She doubts the way that her colleagues investigate crimes and deal with suspects. 

La Plante's Tennison has been a byword for strong female character within crime drama for years, and La Plante shows that strength even though this novel is set in Tennison's early career. I was glad of that, enjoying seeing such a strong and determined woman holding her own against men who typify 1970's views within the police force. 

It follows on from the first prequel, simply entitled Tennison, and some of the characters are referenced here. Jane is still coming to terms with the events of the end of Tennison, and interacts with other members of the team who are dealing with the same things. It's touching to see that she still values Kath in particular, but that she hasn't sunk under the weight of her emotions. Her family life has progressed as well, as her sister has got married, and there is a pregnancy within the course of the novel. 

I always enjoy La Plante's writing style, and the action does zip along swiftly. It's a well crafted detective story with plenty of twists and turns, and I will be very interested to see if she does another prequel. 

Review of I take you by Eliza Kennedy

Synopsis

Lily Wilder is a New York based lawyer who is planning her wedding to Will: a museum director. She loves him but finds monogamy a real challenge. 

Kennedy writes from Lily's 1st person point of view allowing the reader to get right into Lily's head from the first page. She's created a acerbic, funny and intelligent character who has a very complex family life. Her father has the same inability to settle down in a long term relationship with one woman, and the first three of his wives are attending Lily's wedding. The three women have developed a close friendship, despite the fact that they met because of Lily's dad's philandering. 

There are some distinctive and memorable characters. Ana: one of Lily's stepmothers is a congresswoman from California with a raucous laugh and is only five foot tall. Jane: another of her stepmothers is elegant and well groomed, as well as being very cultured. Freddie: Lily's best friend is a bisexual who has been engaged three times and has a high sex drive. 

Lily's kept a lot of her past hidden from Will and slowly it comes out through her interactions with those she left behind. She hasn't returned to her hometown in nearly thirteen years. Kennedy dripfeeds what might have been the reason that Lily has avoided Key West for so long, slowly allowing the reader to get to know who Lily is at the present point in the story. 

It is a very funny take on the genre, with a lead character who is rightly unapologetic about the fact that she likes to have sex. There are slight similarities with Bridget Jones, in that the main thrust of the story is about a thirty something and her relationships, with friends, family and romantic partners. Although for me Lily is more akin to Samantha from Sex and the city, even though Lily does ultimately find that she wants a long term future with Will. 

Kennedy is a honest and witty writer, creating believable, flawed but likable characters, and subverting some of the cliches of this genre. 

The Liar’s Chair by Rebecca Whitney

Rebecca Whitney has managed to craft a detailed portrait of a highly dysfunctional central romance in the middle of her debut novel. It’s a psychological thriller about a woman named Rachel who is trapped in a very controlling marriage with David. She has been conducting a long term affair when the novel opens, and happens to be returning from a assignation with her lover when she accidentally runs over a local homeless man.

The novel alternates between Rachel’s past and her present at regular intervals without losing the pace of the initial mystery. It’s a impressive feat especially as it’s Whitney’s first full length novel. However it’s not a novel that you can approach without full concentration, as it would be very difficult to fully understand the many twists and turns in the story if you’re not really focused.

The sections when Whitney reveals the depth of the dysfunction and cruelty which exists in Rachel’s marriage can be a little hard to take. The David character is cold, and subjects Rachel to physical violence and emotional cruelty which I found difficult to read about. There is a part about him leaving her locked up with his two pet dogs, and no real human sustenance. Whitney writes wholly from Rachel’s perspective, and maintains Rachel’s characteristics throughout, there didn’t seem to be anything in her reactions which seemed to be wildly out of character.

However Rachel isn’t a character that I could truly connect with, as the situations that she finds herself in, are wholly out of my sphere of experience. I did want to see her escape from the abusive marriage, but found her decisions to be a little unusual, as she tried to get away.

It’s a tribute to Whitney’s high standard of writing prowess that I found myself reading to the very end, and I even want to see what the second novel will be like. She is working on another psychological thriller, according to the author’s details.

Writing Sample 1

Sitting in the backseat, Jason shifted uneasily, the cool metal of the handcuffs biting into the skin of his wrists. He was all too aware of the police officer's stare, as the man's slate grey eyes swept over his face through the rear view mirror.
He was well used to people staring though, after the last eighteen months. First had come the pitying looks as the relationship between Kate and Adam became public knowledge on the campus, and then... He shook away the bad memories, and then realised that the police officer was talking "So you must be innocent,"
"What makes you say that?" the manners his parents had instilled in him, hadn't waned even though everything else from the past was gone.
"I've had loads of prisoners in my car. Right about now is when they all start saying 'I didn't do it.' 'I'm innocent'."
He struggled to hold back the snort of derision. "Well you ain't gonna hear that from me," The stream of traffic heading back into the city, caught his attention when three police cars with their sirens blaring, sped past on the other side of the reservation.
The police officer carried on talking over the splutterings from his radio, and he forced himself to listen. He didn't really care but it did distract him from his darker thoughts.
“Stop!!” Jason shouted, when he spotted the white clad figure swaying in the middle of the road, just ahead of their car.
            The police officer let out a curse, pulling the steering wheel as hard as he could to the left. The car skewed across the outer lane, plunging down the grassy verge and crashed into a thick tree.
            Jason lost consciousness, when his body was jolted into the back of the police officer’s seat, his head colliding with the head rest at a tremendous pace.
            The last thing he saw before everything turned black, was Kate’s bright eyes shining with love, like she had looked, the day after their wedding.
Jason strode into Salmon Enterprises with a broad smile on his face. “Good morning Stacey,” the receptionist looked astounded to see him there so early.
            “Morning sir,” her face lit up in a beaming smile. “I thought that you were taking the day off.”
            “I have an urgent meeting with Miss Reed, show her up the moment that she gets here would you?”
            “Of course sir,” he grabbed one of the mints sitting in the bowl on the desk, and popped it in his mouth, before he moved to the elevator. The memories of the previous night flooded through him, the way her lips felt against his, the touch of her hand, the smell of her hair, the way it had felt to have somebody backing him up, an equal who was just as fearless as he was. It had been years since he had felt that good, and that content within his own skin.
            The good feeling ebbed away when the doors slid open into his pent house office and he saw that Marcus Miller was waiting for him. “I know that the Millers have a very loose sense of business ethnics but I didn’t think even you would stoop to breaking and entering.” Jason circled the desk to stand behind it, he was unwilling to concede control to Marcus anywhere but especially in his own office.
            “The secretary let me in, she was very friendly and obliging,” a hint of sarcastic pleasure crept into his tone as he surveyed the younger man.
            Jason was relieved when the phone sprang into life, and the receptionist said “Mr Salmon, Miss Reed is here,”
            “Let her come up,” he tried to hide his delight, as he knew that Marcus would probably use the fledging relationship against him in a attempt to score some kind of advantage. The Millers had hated the Salmons for generations, but it had sunk to new depths of loathing when Jason was a toddler.
            The door opened and Kate walked through. She looked fresh faced and completely rejuvenated despite their very late night, and had changed into a pair of faded jeans and a bright yellow vest under a fitted jacket. “Kat! I didn’t realise that you were back in town,”
            Kate smiled back as she hugged the older man “I got back last week. I’ve left a couple of messages for Adam but he must be busy. I’ve not heard back. How is he?”
            “Oh he’s fine. He’s having a costume party on Halloween. You should come, I know he’d be pleased to see you,” Marcus felt a tingle of pleasure as he looked at Jason. The younger man couldn’t hide his disbelief and confusion at Kate’s evident connection with the Millers.
            “That sounds great. I have a few ideas of costumes Jason and I could wear,” Kate also glanced at Jason, reaching out to take his hand. The touch of her skin against his own, drove away some of the lingering anger he held towards Miller. He had never really understood how she managed to do that, calm him down with just one touch, but it had been something that he had felt since the first time she held his hand.
            “I will see you there then,” Marcus picked up his briefcase, and exited after pressing a soft kiss against Kate’s forehead.
            “How do you know the Millers?” Jason let go of Kate’s hand, the moment that he heard the lift descending.
Kate’s hand came to rest at the base of his spine, hearing the angry tone to his voice. “Marcus was a college friend of my dad’s. Adam and I were kind of brought up together, a lot of shared family holidays.” She replied.
“So there was never anything…”
“Romantic?” she laughed at the idea “You’ve met Adam right? Besides I’m not the type to cheat on my husband,” Jason couldn’t hold back the smile, as he saw the thin band decorating her left hand.
He leaned down to kiss her, breathing out “I can’t believe that Miller didn’t notice my ring,” against her soft lips.
“Do you really want to talk about him?” she slipped her deft fingers into the belt loops of his pants, pulling him tighter against her. The warmth of her lithe frame sank into him, through the thin cotton of his shirt and he was unable to stop the moan from escaping. “We could continue where we left off this morning…” her lips brushed against the skin of his jaw, and he was powerless to resist the longing she had managed to inspire within him.
One of his hands slipped to the buzzer connecting his office with his secretary’s. “Mr Salmon?”
“Hold my calls for the next two hours,” he managed to say, while Kate’s nimble fingers unfastened his shirt, giving her access to the expanse of his chest.
“Yes sir,”
Jason’s eyes flickered open, and he had to suck in a breath to suppress the pain surging through his head. Blood trickled into his eyes, making it hard for him to see. “Officer?” there was no response from the front seat, and then he heard the sound of gunshots echoing outside the car.
Acting on autopilot, he kicked out at the window of the police car. It took several moments before the glass shattered, enough for him to be able to crawl free. The thick grass was soft against his knees, but he still landed with a thump. The impact sent shockwaves vibrating through his spine, and he barely managed to regain his balance. Stumbling along, the blood from the wound at his crown, dripped onto his hands.
The sight of the crimson droplets sent his brain skittering back to the night of the Halloween party.
“Jason! Are you coming?” Kate’s voice came through the open door of their bedroom, and he readjusted the sash of his costume with a frown.
“Do we really have to?”
“Yes.” Her voice was firm but tinged with laughter, and he peered around the jamb of the bathroom door. The sight that met his eyes didn’t exactly make him want to leave the flat, and head to Adam Miller’s party. Kate wore a sheer cream outfit, the top was short enough to expose a wide expanse of toned stomach muscles to his eyes, and the trousers revealed her slender legs through the diaphanous fabric. She leaned over, finishing off her eye makeup, the thick line of kohl making her deep blue eyes stand out even more in her heart shaped face.
He caught hold of her hand as she reached out for the veil which sat on her bedside table, “Are you sure that we have to go? We could have fun all on our own,” his other hand caressed the skin of her back, but the look in his eyes leaving her with no doubt what kind of fun her husband was offering.
“We’ve had fun all on our own for the last ten weeks,” she wasn’t opposed to further exploration of Jason’s seemingly insatiable taste for her, but she did want to feel like she was still connected to the world. “It’s time to act like a ordinary couple once again.” She placed the slippers she had brought on her feet, using Jason as a balancing post. “It’s only a couple of hours, that you have to put up with Adam, and the party will probably be so packed you won’t even see him,”
“Promise?” he caught hold of her around the waist, pulling her closer as she straightened up once more.
“I promise.” She pressed a kiss to his nose, just as her phone vibrated. “That’s the taxi.”

They had only been at the party for twenty minutes, before Kate was engulfed by old friends, all eager to catch up with her. “Do you mind?” the look in her eyes, made him say no, even though he wished that she would stay at his side. He didn’t see anyone else that he wanted to talk to, but allowed his wife’s friends to pull her to the other side of the room.
Sighing Jason wound his way through the milling crowds, making his way to the makeshift bar. “Double whiskey,” he ordered from the bartender, a pretty redhead. She brought the drink over within seconds, despite the fact that several people had been waiting longer than he had.
“Something bothering ya?”
“No. I’m just not good with crowds,” sipping at his drink, he turned back to watch the dance floor, laughing when he spotted Kate. His wife was luminous, her features shining with the love of life that had attracted him instantly to her. She danced, alongside the gaggle of girlfriends that had commandeered her, all of them singing along to the pop song currently playing.
Her smile widened even further when they locked eyes, and she gestured for him to join them. The lack of confidence he had in his dancing ability was not shared by Adam. Jason’s fists clenched, when he saw the other man shimmying between Kate and one of her friends, Adam’s hand coming to rest proprietarily on her hip.
The sight of another man, let alone Adam touching Kate in such a way made Jason set the glass down on the bar. He was in motion almost before he knew what he was doing, reaching them within a minute. “Miller.” Kate shifted away from Adam’s fingers, leaning against her husband’s frame with a relieved sigh.
“Salmon.” Adam returned the curt greeting, “I didn’t think you were here,”
“I told you he was at the bar,” Kate interjected before Jason could snarl something back. “He was just getting us some drinks, right Jase?”
“Yeah, they’re waiting back at the bar,” his fingers tightened around hers, needing the calming effect as Adam’s smug smile didn’t ease. “Are you coming?” she nodded, letting him lead the way through the crowds in that direction.
“I’ll see you later Kate,” Adam called out, before they had gone more than a few steps. “Nice to see that you still fit into the costume I brought you,”
“What?” Jason stopped dead at those words.
“She didn’t tell you? I brought her that for her twenty first, when we were dating,”
“You and Kate were never dating Adam.” Julie broke in before Kate could recover her composure. “I was there remember? You were trying to get into her knickers but she wasn’t interested. Even after all the expensive stuff you gave her.”
“That’s not true.” Adam grabbed hold of Kate’s arm as she started to move again. The impact of his fingers against her skin made her wince, the look of pain on her features springing a protective urge to life within Jason. Without thinking, he balled up one fist, letting loose a blow to Adam’s nose that sent Adam falling backwards.


Copyright Emily Morris 2017

Authors beginning with the letter B

Image credited to Amazon.co.uk

Crazy is my superpower

AJ Mendez Brooks

I was a great admirer of AJ during her time in the WWE, as her character was a lot of fun to watch, and she was incredibly impressive within the ring. I was interested to learn more about her background, when I discovered the book, to see what had shaped her into the determined figure she seemed to be within the WWE Divas.

The first thing I loved about the way that the book was written was that it was very honest, with a dry wit running throughout. The details about her family background, particularly the section about her father nearly dropping a television set on her mother during a intense fight and then smashing it against a wall because AJ defended her, are dealt with candidly. Her father and mother clearly have had their own difficulties, but I never got the impression that AJ ever feels much anger towards them, for her unconventional childhood. The family evidently moved quite a lot, and there is a very affectionate portrait of the time that she lived with her grandparents on their farm. I loved a anecdote about her grandmother dealing with a rooster that they owned when it went to an neighbouring farm, and telling her 'You never betray a Mendez woman'.

AJ seemingly has always agreed with her father's idea of how to deal with people, adopting his philosophy 'Life is like a wheel. Some days you're on top and some days you're on bottom. What's the fucking difference?'. It's shown particularly when she relates the days she worked as a checkout girl, and allowed at least one elderly couple to use expired vouchers to buy essential items.

It was interesting to learn a little more about the WWE, and she talks about how protective some of the wrestlers were about her. In one ancedote Mark Henry lifted a crew guy off his feet, when the man was ogling AJ in the middle of stretching in preparation for a match. Beth Phoenix was evidently supportive as well, as AJ relates a behind the scenes conversation she heard Beth having with the Head of Talent Relations, telling him 'That was just her 3rd match in one night, and they were all great matches. I hope I'm not the only one who noticed that.' It was also touching to see exactly how close she really was with Kaitlyn, I had realised that they were genuine friends from AJ's reaction to Kaitlyn winning NXT season 3.

AJ ultimately comes across as a highly relatable woman, who has managed to deal with various difficulties in her early life with humour, grace and determination. I admire her even more than I did, when I just knew her as the WWE wrestler. The book deals with serious and evidently life shaping events and issues, with a light humorous writing style. There are various laugh out moments, and she is definitely a writer I would read again.

Mystery

Female Circus Acrobat Balancing on Rope — Image by ©Bernd Vogel/Corbis

I was given the task of creating a poem based on the photo of two boys sitting on a hill: this is what I came up with

Upon a hill after the sun has set

The boys take a seat

It was a shock when their parents let them go

They’re curious as to what feat

The woman will do this time

Her strength causes gasps to ring out

There was nearly a accident when the mime

Got distracted by the lout

The boys love the circus

Distracting them from sadness

And letting them forget

Just for a night, the madness

Monologue

I did this monologue based on a picture of a rather confused looking older man, who was staring directly into the camera. My writing tutor Mollie, challenged us as a group to write a monologue inspired by the person, and this is what I came up with. 

The thing staring back at me, takes me aback. Darkness seeps into the heavy lines beneath my eyes, the passage of years I have not allowed myself to feel spilling effortlessly across my skin.

Fingers come up slowly, the person staring back, mimicking my tentative exploration of the neatly clipped beard covering my chin.

When did the chestnut I was so proud of, turn into this murky non descript grey?

Did no one think that I would notice? I know that they have been keeping some things back from me, the shadows that have kept me captive for the last thirty years, have enabled me to hear the unspoken words in the silence.

I reach further up, the edges of my fingernails clacking against plastic, and return them to the case.

I shouldn't have gone to Specsavers.

We are Family

   
  “We’ve got to write about our families for homework mum,” Sam said “How on earth am I going to describe our family?” he screwed up another piece of paper, throwing it onto the floor in his frustration. His gaze returned to the large portrait of his extended family that hung above the fireplace, landing on the faces of his mother and father right in the middle.
      His mother paused in the middle of chopping the carrots for dinner “What do you mean?” a quizzical expression crossed her tanned features. “You know how to describe us. We’re a nuclear upper middle class family,”
       “We’re not exactly average,” Sam laughed as the air in the corner of the kitchen started to shimmer, and his broad shouldered father materialised. His dad was still clad in the sky blue leather uniform of the Amour Federation.
         A small cut bled over his dad’s left eye but his face still lit up the instant that he saw his wife. “Honey are you okay?” concern glinted in Sam’s mother’s dark blue eyes as she scanned her husband from head to toe.
          James stepped closer, brushing one hand over her cheek, “I’m fine it was just a bit of a rough patrol,” he assured her, before reaching out to grab a piece of carrot.
          Marie slapped her husband’s hand “Wash your hands first,”
 copyright E.Morris 2016