Second Life by S.J. Watson (TLC Book Review)

Second Life

Author:  S.J. Watson

Published:  June 2015

Publisher:  Harper

Pages:

Genre:  Fiction/Suspense

Source:  a complimentary copy was provided by TLC Book Tours and the publisher in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Before I Go to Sleep, a sensational new psychological thriller about a woman with a secret identity that threatens to destroy her.

How well can you really know another person? How far would you go to find the truth about someone you love?

When Julia learns that her sister has been violently murdered, she must uncover why. But Julia’s quest quickly evolves into an alluring exploration of own darkest sensual desires. Becoming involved with a dangerous stranger online, she’s losing herself . . . losing control . . . perhaps losing everything. Her search for answers will jeopardize her marriage, her family, and her life.

A tense and unrelenting novel that explores the secret lives people lead; and the dark places in which they can find themselves Second Life is a masterwork of suspense from the acclaimed S. J. Watson.

Julia has a loving husband and son, a career as a photographer and a secret.  Jayne has a lover, likes playing games, taking risks...within reason.  Jayne also has a husband and a son and is Julia's secret.  Jayne is Julia's alternate - the person she becomes in her determination to find her sister's killer and if that means taking on an alternate lifestyle, she's willing.  She'll play the games ... have an affair.  But then she begins to have feelings for Lukas.  Lukas has secrets too.  There's a side of him that seems sinister but then he can explain or make her think she's misjudged him.  He's playing the mind games and because she doesn't follow her gut, doesn't question him until it's too late, she's trapped.

Worried her husband will find out and she may lose her son, Julia is thrown deeper into a life of betrayal, of sinister mysteries, of life and death and she can't get out.  Not without betraying herself.  It may be too late... too late for her marriage and too late for herself.  

Before I Go To Sleep was a spell-binding, page turner that was, incredibly, S.J. Watson's first novel.  Now he has returned with Second Life, another that is truly "unrelenting" in its narrative and plot.  It's hard to put down.  The antagonist is well-hidden and the reader may guess the identity of the killer and yet, you wonder.  There's an odd clue here and there, hidden...almost unseen.  It's not until the very end, the last three pages in fact, that real truths are revealed.  

Though at times I could have yelled Julia for being so daft; there are times I understand her and feel compassion for her situation.  Watson has developed Julia with keen attention to the frailties of humanity.  Her strengths and weaknesses are imbalanced, just as anyone in crisis can be, so her actions and reactions appear viable.  Her priorities become out of whack, the deeper she delves into her deception. Her husband Hugh can see the lack, he calls her on it more than once but he has no idea, no inkling of what is really going on at all. At the end, he is just as surprised as anyone how the plot unfolds.  Second Life is another testament to Watson's ability to develop a good supporting cast in a plot that twists and conceals and shocks at its final reveal.

For suspense, mystery and psychological thriller lovers; Second Life should be the next book on your TBR list.

Warning:  explicit language and sexual situations

Meet the Author:

S. J. Watson was born in the Midlands and lives in London. His first novel was the award-winning Before I Go to Sleep, which has sold over four million copies in more than forty languages around the world. It was recently adapted into a major motion picture starring Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, and Mark Strong.

Find out more about S.J. at his website, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Dangerous Denial by Amy Ray (book review)s

Dangerous Denial

Author:  Amy Ray

Published: April 2014

Publisher:  Barking Rain Press

Pages: 212

Edition: advance reader's copy

Source:  A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Denying the past proves deadly for BK Hartshaw and Trevor Mayhew in this gripping noir novel where nothing is as it seems.

BK is a rising star at a public relations firm, and tonight’s charity ball should be a high point in her career. But a closely guarded secret threatens to destroy her chance for happiness with the only man she’s ever loved… a man who is also hiding a deadly secret.

Trevor has tried to put the past behind him, pretending it never happened. But the conniving father he’s been running from for years has finally found him—and is determined to settle the score once and for all.

BK and Trevor’s deeply buried secrets are about to catch up with them—and everyone they know and love. Who will pay the ultimate price for their dangerous denials?

My Thoughts:

Revenge is a dish best served cold.  Or at least it proves to be at a charity ball fundraiser for abused women and children where Lenny shows up for the ultimate vengeance against his estranged son.  under the guise of a robbery.  The author then takes us back in time to meet a young manipulative and dangerous young man who masters a plan to get the girl he wants. Unfortunately this involves her giving birth to a boy that is not his own and Lenny's abuse of the young boy Trevor ensues. When child protective services doesn't intervene, Trevor's maternal grandmother takes him and together they hide away in another city.  

Dangerous Denial takes a few trips back and forth in time which is essential to plot development but at times seems disjointed and the transitions rough, leaving the reader to fill in blanks in relation to how scenarios may have played out.  It's not necessarily altogether a bad thing as it contributes to the mystery that so intricately plays out with great suspense.

Trevor is not the only character with a deeply troubling past though.  BK, Beatrice Katherine, was teased relentlessly as a child by her older sister and step-sister but likely even more detrimental to her self-esteem were the comments her mother made about her weight.  Self-conscious about her body image and feeling responsible for her father leaving, BK determines not to be fat and develops anorexia.  When BK's mother remarries, BK and her older sister are sent to live first with an aunt and then to private school where BK meets again her best friend Shelby.

It all converges at the ball BK is in charge of for a client, an entrepreneur whose goal it is to raise funds for a facility for abused women and children.  That evening Shelby is kidnapped and Lenny is on scene to put an end to his "son's" life.  As bullets are fired, BK collapses and readers believe there is more than one intended victim in the room that night.

Amy Ray's debut novel is hard to put down while being difficult to read.  The victimization of a young child is truly heart-wrenching, in both Trevor's (in greater measure for the sheer brutality of it) and BK's cases.  The beginning chapters develop the disturbing background which culminates in a twisted and suspenseful climax. Easily read in one sitting, Dangerous Denial demonstrates this new writer's ability to create characters and situations that are difficult, a plot that ensnares, and most of all, it evokes an emotional response from the reader.  Well done for a debut novelist.  

Dangerous Denial is Amy Ray’s first published novel. Early in 2015, she will have a short story published in Love Free or Die, the fourth book in the New Hampshire Pulp Fiction anthology series.

Before embarking on a writing career, Amy owned an old fashioned five and dime store where, in addition to regular priced merchandise, she had a display of items that actually retailed for five or ten cents each. She lives near the short but picturesque seacoast in New Hampshire with her husband and daughter. In her spare time she enjoys packing boxes for Operation Christmas Child, reading, knitting, and tap dancing.

Find out more about Amy at her website, and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

Black Chalk by Christopher J. Yates

Black Chalk

Author:  Christopher J. Yates

Published:  April 2014

Publisher:  Random House UK

Pages: 352

Genre: Fiction/suspense

Source: A complimentary copy was provided by the author, publisher and TLC book tours in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

The author has the first two chapters on his website here-http://www.christopherjyates.com/book/.

One game. Six students. Five survivors.

It was only ever meant to be a game.

A game of consequences, of silly forfeits, childish dares. A game to be played by six best friends in their first year at Oxford University. But then the game changed: the stakes grew higher and the dares more personal, more humiliating, finally evolving into a vicious struggle with unpredictable and tragic results.

Now, fourteen years later, the remaining players must meet again for the final round.

My Thoughts:

Black Chalk is psychologically breathtaking!  

Six friends who met in university devise a game which shall challenge each of the six mentally and emotionally.  The prize is monetary.  The rules are obscure, the game a combination of cards and dice and personal challenges, the consequences demeaning; but it's all in good fun.  No one is supposed to get hurt...but then they do.

"Yes, that’s what we said about the Game all those years ago. It’ll be so much fun!"

 "...whether I win or lose, I hope this story will serve as my warning to the world. A cautionary tale. My confession."

I was positively mesmerized by this book.  It's like being a bystander at a horrific accident.  You know it can't end well but you can't look away.  You are entranced.  Black Chalk twists and plays mind games with you, the reader.  When you think you know, you've picked up some clue, then Yates yanks it away and takes you back to where you once were.  And of course, like a gambler, you cannot let it go.  You delve deeper, you cannot let go, until the end.  

It's been at least a year since I've found a book so masterfully written, psychologically twisted, and spell-binding.  My applause to Yates for achieving what I consider a rarity among talented authors.  Truly mind-bending.

Black Chalk has been compared to Donna Tartt's Secret History, Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy, and The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer by other reviewers.  I might add another in The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Woods (reviewed here) a psychological suspense about the fine line between genius and madness.  If you enjoyed any of these titles, enjoy a good puzzle, and like to be challenged, then definitely pick up a copy of Black Chalk!! 

Meet the author:

Christopher J. Yates studied law at Wadham College, Oxford from 1990-93 and initially pursued a career in law before he began working in puzzles, representing the UK at the World Puzzle Championships. Since then he has worked as a freelance journalist, sub-editor and puzzles editor/compiler. In 2007 he moved to New York City with his wife, and currently lives in the East Village.

For more information on Christopher, please visit his website, christopherjyates.com.

The Reckless Engineer by Jac Wright

The Reckless Engineer

Author:  Jac Wright

Published:  November 2013

Publisher:  Soul Mate Publishing

Pages:  340

Genre: Classic mystery, legal thriller

ISBN 9781619353213

Edition: e-book (PDF format)

Source:  A copy was sent directly to me by the author to facilitate an honest and unbiased review.

Jack Connor's lives an idyllic life by the Portsmouth seaside married to Caitlin McAllen, a stunning billionaire heiress, and working at his two jobs as the Head of Radar Engineering at Marine Electronics and as the Director of Engineering of McAllen BlackGold, his powerful father-in-law Douglas McAllen's company in extreme engineering in Oil & Gas.  He loves his two sons from his first marriage and is amicably divorced from his beautiful first wife Marianne Connor.  Their idyllic lives are shattered when the sexy and alluring Michelle Williams, with whom Jack is having a secret affair and who is pregnant with his child, is found dead and Jack is arrested on suspicion for the murder.

Jeremy Stone brings in London's top defence attorney, Harry Stavers, to handle his best friend's defence.  While Jack is charged and his murder trial proceeds in the Crown Court under Harry’s expert care, Jeremy runs a race against time to find the real killer and save his friend, if he is in fact innocent, in a lurid saga of love, desire, power, and ambition.

My Thoughts:

The Reckless Engineer is a relatively short novel as an e-book at 182 pages, but it is packed with drama beginning with a phone call to Jeremy from Jack Connor.  The two men had worked together previously in an engineer firm, with whom Jack is still employed, and had become friends.  Jack had Jeremy's back during a dark time and now he was requesting a return favour. Desperately seeking help after being arrested under suspicion for the murder of his pregnant mistress, Jack turned to Jeremy who hooked him up with a top defence attorney.  It doesn't end there for Jeremy though.  His curiosity finds him sleuthing the countryside in compromising situations in his efforts to clear his friend.  It's his path to discovery that keeps you turning the pages.

Jac Wright gathers together a group of possible suspects but you will likely not guess who did the deed and framed Jac.  That twist comes at the end and you realize Wright had dropped cleverly disguised hints all along.  I love to see that ability, especially in a new to me mystery author.

Engineering is not commonly found in mysteries.  You find writers, police officers, elderly spinsters, journalists with cats, and a myriad of others but never before have I come across engineers in this genre.  Jac Wright intends to change that with this series, of which The Reckless Engineer is the first.  He brings to the series his own personal knowledge as an engineer, expounding upon situations in his realm of experience thus introducing the mystery enthusiast to an entirely new and interesting facet to the genre.  If you're a mystery lover sleuthing out something new, check out Wright's series, engineered to reaffirm your love.

Review: 419 by Will Ferguson

419
Author:  Will Ferguson
Published:  2012
Publisher:  Viking (an imprint of Penguin Canada)
Format:  hardcover
Pages:  399 including acknowledgments and notes
Source:  borrowed (but I am going to buy a copy so I can read it again.  It's that good!)

http://shirley-mybookshelf.blogspot.ca/2013/06/the-two-red-chairs-evening-with-author.html

http://shirley-mybookshelf.blogspot.ca/2013/06/scotiabank-giller-prize-winning-author.html

Summary:  "From internationally bestselling travel writer Will Ferguson, author of Happiness™ and Spanish Fly, comes a novel both epic in its sweep and intimate in its portrayal of human endurance.

A car tumbles through darkness down a snowy ravine.

A woman without a name walks out of a dust storm in sub-Saharan Africa.

And in the seething heat of Lagos City, a criminal cartel scours the Internet, looking for victims.

Lives intersect. Worlds collide. And it all begins with a single email: “Dear Sir, I am the daughter of a Nigerian diplomat, and I need your help…”

Will Ferguson takes readers deep into the labyrinth of lies that is “419,” the world’s most insidious Internet scam.

When Laura Curtis, a lonely editor in a cold northern city, discovers that her father has died because of one such swindle, she sets out to track down—and corner—her father’s killer. It is a dangerous game she’s playing, however, and the stakes are higher than she can ever imagine.

Woven into Laura’s journey is a mysterious woman from the African Sahel with scars etched into her skin and a young man who finds himself caught up in a web of violence and deceit.

And running through it, a dying father’s final words: “You, I love.” (Amazon.ca) 

My thoughts:

From a writer best known for his travel literature and/or humour, Will Ferguson has entered his third foray into literary fiction with his most recent work, 419.  How does a writer known for other genres branch out to fiction?  According to his interview at the Arden Theatre, he uses a bit of humour [a love of travel, an inquisitive mind] and a bit of parental experience and the gap is bridged.  As he stated in an interview with MacLean, "I try to alternate between fiction and non-fiction. I think it uses different parts of your brain."

When I'd heard Will Ferguson had won the Scotiabank Giller Prize for his novel 419, I had to learn more about the book but it took me a year to finally make time to read it.  I picked up a copy after meeting Ferguson at the Arden Theatre in St. Albert in June.  I wish I'd done so sooner.

419 opens with a car crash which may or may not have been a suicide and the ensuing police investigation wherein we meet the family of the deceased, particularly a daughter who is intent on revenge.    419 then "travels" to Nigeria where a nameless pregnant woman leaves her tribe and walks alone across deserts, through villages, before she meets up with a man who will take her to the deeper south.  

The story of the oil industry in Africa is a caustic bi-line that introduces a new character, the man who befriends the nameless woman.  A significant portion of the novel follows Nnamdi, a "mechanic" and secondary driver of a tanker hauling stolen oil.  His story allows you to see a different Africa.  If you thought the oil industry here was bad, take a read at just how horrible it could be in the hands of Ferguson as he portrays a time when the Niger Delta was in an uproar over the oil. 

We also meet Wilson, a 419 scam artist who preys upon people using the internet as a fraudulent means of getting money from unsuspecting individuals.  At first Wilson is on his own but when he has some success and is about to score big, a mafia boss has him brought in to force him to work for him.  

As the stories converge, they each play a role, knowingly and unknowingly in each other's lives and in the outcome of the book.

What some might call disjointed, I found as an interesting sideline as Ferguson brought together four main characters, passing between their stories, and in the end merging them together to a climax that both made me angry and glad.  You have to read it to discover why.  No spoilers here.

419 is a book that is difficult to put down, shocking, eye-opening and could very well be non-fiction if it weren't fiction.  For me it was phenomenal and I would highly recommend it!

-----

The following was written of the winning book, 419, by the jury for the Scotiabank Giller Award: 

"Will Ferguson's 419 points in the direction of something entirely new: the Global Novel. It is a novel emotionally and physically at home in the poverty of Lagos and in the day-to-day of North America. It tells us the ways in which we are now bound together and reminds us of the things that will always keep us apart. It brings us the news of the world far beyond the sad, hungry faces we see on CNN and CBC and far beyond the spreadsheets of our pension plans. Ferguson is a true travel writer, his eye attuned to the last horrible detail. He is also a master at dialogue and suspense. It is tempting to put 419 in some easy genre category, but that would only serve to deny its accomplishment and its genius."

Meet the author:

photo taken by myself at the Arden Theatre
in St. Albert June 14, 2013

Will Ferguson is a travel writer and novelist  and has authored several award-winning memoirs, including Beyond Belfast, Hitching Rides with Buddha, and the humorous anecdotal collection Canadian Pie. His novels include Spanish Fly, Happiness™, and 419. Will has been nominated for both an IMPAC Dublin Award and a Commonwealth Writers Prize and is a three-time winner of the Leacock Medal.  Published in more than 20 languages around the world, one might say even his written works are well traveled.  He won the Scotiabank Giller Prize for best fiction (419) by a Canadian author in 2012.