Being a parent is hard work and I find myself increasingly busy. All the time. I don’t really have a hobby as such, but I try to make time to read as much as I can fit in (or before I fall asleep!)
It’s something I’ve always enjoyed and although I’m finding that my tastes and author choices have expanded in recent years, I do love a good crime thriller. It’s something about getting lost in the story and the impatience of wanting to find out what happens next.
Here are two books I have devoured recently:
Dead at First Sight ~ Peter James
This is the next installment of the Roy Grace series, and features all of your favourite supporting characters too. The story picks up quite soon after the last book, including the latest developments in cases like the Black Widow and super-villain Tooth.
Grace’s latest case involves ‘romance fraud’, when older people are scammed out of their savings by fraudsters pretending to be potential love interests. Although for us tech-savvy youngsters it seems like something we’d never fall for, for lonely older people it’s easy to understand how they could get pulled into a scam. That’s what comes across so well in the book, you get different angles on the story; from both the police and the victims of the crime. At times you really feel bad for the characters, they could easily be your aunt, uncle or grandparent.
Alongside the main case, we also find out what is happening in Roy Grace’s personal life, particularly revolving around his son Bruno and wife Cleo. The way that these stories are playing out slowly is both exciting and frustrating, I just want to know what happens! If you’ve read previous Grace novels, you’ll be rooting for a happy ending eventually for the family, but I’m just not convinced that it’s going to happen…..
Harlan Coben ~ Run Away
After many years, this has actually been the first Harlan Coben novel I’ve read, although I have come across TV adaptations of his work. And I certainly wasn’t disappointed. I found the story to be a brilliant read, even with multiple twists and turns and unexpected actions.
The novel begins with a father who’s teenage daughter has gone missing, after taking up with a drug addict boyfriend. By chance, he comes across his daughter playing guitar in Central Park, a shell of the girl he knew before. But she doesn’t want to come home.
You then embark on a rollercoaster adventure to find her, and find out why she ran away. I say rollercoaster because that what it feels like as the reader; one minute you’re taking a sedate walk in Central Park and then wham bam you’re in a shoot out in a drug den! The action doesn’t stop there and the pace continues throughout the rest of the book. It was really one of those books where you’re upset when you have to stop reading!
*I was provided with digital copies of these novels in exchange for an honest review.
