Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory by Yaroslav Barsukov

                                                         

Today is my spot on the Blog Tour for Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory by Yaroslav Barsukov

                      FROM THE BACK PAGE

'Refusing the queen’s order to gas a crowd of protesters, Minister Shea Ashcroft is banished to the border to oversee the construction of the biggest defensive tower in history. However, the use of technology taken from refugees from another reality makes the tower volatile and dangerous, becoming a threat to local political interests. Shea has no choice but to fight the ruling hierarchy to ensure the construction succeeds—and to reclaim his own. 

MY THOUGHTS

I first heard of this when the author was at WorldCon in Glasgow earlier this year and posted that he had early copies. I wasn't there myself but we chatted online and he arranged to send me a copy in exchange for a fair review. Friends, I snapped his hand off (not literally, obviously, that would be a terrible thing to do to an author) at this offer. 

At this point I will state that all views and opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.

Anyway, the book turned up days later, I read the first chapter and was hooked straight away . . .

Below is the printed plastic tower which was part of the publicity push from the book. It is a copy of the tower on the front cover - and what a glorious cover it is too. Something else that drew me in (whoever said never judge a book by its cover was misinformed).

I delayed my read as Publication Day was a way off and I had a holiday abroad coming up. I always take my kindle on holiday (well, to be fare I take it everywhere) but also a paperback or two. Sleeping Worlds was the first thing I packed in my case.

We got where we were going, the weather was glorious, plenty of time to just chill out.

But what about the book? Was it any good? Did it live up to my expectations? . . .

Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory is the story of Shea Ashcroft, a former Minister who is sent into what is basically a form of exile by the Queen after he refused her orders to gas a crowd in the streets. He is posted to the border to oversee the building of a humungous tower. When he gets there everything is not as it should be. Unstable technology from a different reality is being used and the whole thing is just a bomb waiting to blow.

And then things really get interesting.

Shea has to rub a lot of people up the wrong way to make sure the tower can be finished, there is an assassination attempt, there is a portal to 'elsewhere' and all the time he is fighting his inner demons and trying to 'do the right thing'. It truly is a hell of a ride.

Describing Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory is a task in itself - it is Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Political Thriller and oh so much more all wrapped up in one marvellous, enthralling story that pulls you in and doesn't let go (I am currently on my second re-read and still loving it). The writing is such that the world has true depth and when I was reading it I felt I was there - smells, sounds, atmosphere of the place.

The best advice I can give is go grab a copy and see for yourself.

My final rating for Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory is 6/5* (my blog, my rules 😜)

 

Thank you to Black Crow PR for inviting me onto this tour and to the author for sending me the review copy. As I said earlier all views and opinions are my own.

So, while I am on the subject of just how good this book is I may as well let you all know . . .

Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory is my choice for The BlogCave Book Of The Year 2024

The Whispering Night by Susan Dennard

 

FROM THE BACK PAGE

'Winnie Wednesday's future is looking bright. Hemlock Falls is no longer hunting the werewolf, she and Erica Thursday are tentative friends, and Winnie finally knows exactly where she stands with Jay Friday.

With everything finally on track, Winnie is looking forward to the Nightmare Masquerade, a week-long celebration of all things Luminary. But as Luminaries from across the world flock to the small town, uninvited guests also arrive.

Winnie is confronted by a masked Diana and charged with an impossible task--one that threatens everything and everyone Winnie loves.

As Winnie fights to stop new enemies before time runs out, old mysteries won't stop intruding. Her missing father is somehow entangled with her search for hidden witches, and as Winnie digs deeper into the long-standing war between the Luminaries and the Dianas, she discovers rifts within her own family she never could have imagined.

What does loyalty mean when family and enemies look the same?

The forest is more dangerous than ever as secrets are revealed in this highly-anticipated, swoon-worthy conclusion to the bestselling Luminaries trilogy.'

                                                      MY THOUGHTS

Well, that was a hell of a final book. Things are starting to look up for Winnie, all the fun of the Nightmare Masquerade is in sight . . . Yeah, that's not going to last long!!

As you would expect with the final book in a series The Whispering Night (published November 19th from Daphne Press) soon kicks off, then it is more or less foot to the floor right the way through to the end. I lost count of how many "just one more page" moments I had reading this. 

The world building continued to be excellent, the characters generally carried on growing into themselves and lots of questions from previous books were answered (seriously, don't go into this without having read the previous books). There were new enemies to fight - always a good thing. All boxes were well and truly ticked for me.

Was I target audience for this book? Most likely not but that's never stopped me before. The name of Susan Dennard on the cover is a deal breaker for me. I was there at the beginning of the Witchlands series and have not been disappointed yet - and with The Whispering Night that continues to be the case.

Many thanks to Black Crow PR for inviting me onto this tour and to Daphne Press for providing the review copy. All views and opinions are my own.

2 Dumb Dinos by Nathan Hamill and Eric Filipkowski

 

2 Dumb Dinos is a collection of short comic strips, the kind you'd expect to find in the funnies section of the newspapers. The Dinos in question are Scumbag and Dingus and really, with names like that you can guess what's ahead.

The short stories (generally between 4-7 panels) cover various subjects but usually boil down to one or both of the Dinos saying something . . . well, dumb.

The humour here may, at times, sit more with the American audience but I enjoyed it a lot. I chuckled a lot, i laughed out loud a few times.

2 Dumb Dinos is a very nicely presented book and one I will be keeping close by. Sometimes, when the day isn't going your way you need a chuckle to raise your spirits and 2 Dumb Dinos is just the tonic in that situation. 

Thanks to Titan Comics for providing the review copy and inviting me onto the blog tour.

The Other People by C B Everett

 

Well, I guess this is my first 5* read for 2025.

10 people wake up in a big sprawly house, in rooms that seem pretty much like their own and with no idea of how they got there. The doors are locked, the windows are shuttered and they have 12 hours to find a missing girl.

All while they are being picked off, one by one.

Billed as 'And Then There Were None meets Shutter Island' I had a pretty good idea of what was going on and while I was correct to a point I was also way off the mark as well. There is a lot going on here and some truly heartbreaking moments (Cerys - you'll know when you get there).

This book had me hooked from day 1

Thanks to Jamie-Lee and Black Crow PR for allowing me early access to this book

Paths Not Yet Taken - Philip Rennet

 

From The Back Page

'A ministerial visit to a Midlands food distribution centre goes badly wrong. The prime minister vanishes without trace. As the security services and police launch a frantic search for the missing PM, the government scrambles to maintain its composure and manage the situation.

One man - warehouse worker Simon Pope - inadvertently ends up at the centre of things. Just where he's dreamt of being... and now wishes he wasn't. Pope harbours a secret life and a dark past, putting the unsuspecting, missing politician at risk of losing more than his job. The resolution of the crisis is threatened by assorted bureaucrats, trying to manage a situation that a rigidly structured system is not designed to accommodate, by identifying and looking to eliminate a useful scapegoat.

If you like drama, romance, dogs or drink, this book definitely has plenty for you. If not, there's always the ongoing chaos, the political shenanigans and the relationship intrigues to hold your interest.

Ultimately, one spur-of-the-moment decision is the catalyst for others - including the reader - to reflect on their own lives and to consider decisive actions of their own.'

My Thoughts 

I must say, this is not the kind of story that would usually get my attention (there's more than enough about politics on the news, on social media, down the pub etc) but something about 'Paths Not Yet Taken' intrigued me so I went with it - and I'm rather glad I did. The start had the feeling of an old 70s/80s style British Sit-Com but as the story developed it became much more than that. 

The author wrong footed me several times and I always rather enjoy that. Shortish chapters kept the flow going and all in all I found this a quite satisfying read

4/5 stars

The First Widow by Rob Starr

.                               BLURB

Over a hundred husbands dead.

Countless secrets.

The most horrifying case of Kiara Fox’s career…

Kiara Fox leads a relatively ordinary life as a fraud investigator, looking into life insurance claims. With a loving husband and twin daughters, her world seems close to perfect. But when a case involving a wealthy businessman named Martin Powers lands on her desk, she senses something is off.

After her bosses put undue pressure on her to pay the claim quickly, she is convinced foul play is at work and begins a clandestine investigation. She discovers that Powers was not the pillar of the community he was cracked up to be but, rather, a controlling abusive husband who died in questionable circumstances, and she suspects this may not be the first such case her company has settled.

As she delves deeper, innocent people begin to die and Kiara finds herself in dangerous territory. Torn between protecting her own family and uncovering whoever is behind the killings, she faces an impossible choice and will have to confront her greatest fears.

MY THOUGHTS

Rob Starr is an author that is new to me and so is, I believe, having a lead that is a fraud investigator so I thought I'd give it a go. 

Glad I did too, The First Widow was an absolute, edge of the seat belter. I wasn't 100% sure when I started but it quickly built up pace to become, as they say, un-put-downable. In Kiara Fox we have a tough and determined investigator who is pretty much put through the wringer by author Starr.

Action, dead bodies, fraud (obviously 🙄), The First Widow is cited on the front cover as 'THE BLOCKBUSTER THRILLER OF THE YEAR' and in this instance I'm going to agree with that statement.

My hope now is that Rob Starr is going to be able, if that is his plan, to build a series round Kiara Fox - I for one certainly want more.

 

To Kill Two Birds - M K Turner

 

Welcome to the final stop on the blog tour for M K Turner's To Kill Two Birds.

From the blurb:

Armed only with his camera, JJ Jenson is determined to catch a dangerous and desperate murderer.

Seven-year-old Daniel Boyd was murdered, and DI JJ Jenson watched his killer, Bryn Jenkins, walk away from court a free man. The police had failed Daniel, and the already devastated Boyd family.
The murder of Daniel, and the destruction of the Boyd family, has haunted JJ. But now, ten years later, someone is sending JJ photographs.
Could the photographs hold the clue to putting Jenkins behind bars where he belongs? JJ knows he has to try, and sets off to get find Jenkins with his new partner, Davie George, determined that this time he will see Jenkins locked up, and get justice for Daniel and the Boyd family.
Jenkins has powerful and dangerous friends, and now armed, Jenkins knows they’re on to him and takes flight, determined to remain free – whatever it takes. But JJ isn't the only one who wants Jenkins.
Has JJ taken on too much? Is he putting Davie’s life at risk too?

MY THOUGHTS:

I'll be honest, I was up for reading/reviewing this as soon as I heard about it. The only concern was that it was book 2 in a series but luckily it works just as well as a stand alone story (although I will hitting up Amazon for book 1 very soon).

Telling the tale across two timelines can be tricky but Turner pulls it off well. The murder of Daniel Boyd and the release of his murderer is what led JJ Jenson to leave the police ten years ago. In the present JJ is now a Private Investigator and someone is sending him photo's that may be just the thing to put Bryn Jenkins (the murderer) where he belongs - behind bars.

The thing I thought Turner did really well with this story was in conveying just how much this kind of case can eat away at people over the years. A decade has passed but the ripples from the original case are still there.

The action is well paced and made this a book I was eager to pick up every opportunity I had. The character development was spot on and JJ and his assistant Davie were ones I enjoyed spending time with and look forward to reading more of in the future.

In M K Turner I think I have found another author to stick on my Must Read list.

Thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto this tour. The other bloggers on it are in the image below, please have a look at their posts as well if you have the time.

Guilty by Definition - Susie Dent

 

What an absolute joy!

I'll admit, words have always been a favourite thing of mine so all the new, seldom used and oft unknown ones in this Oxford based mystery were an extra bonus.

The basic bones of the story - Years ago Martha's sister disappeared and now someone is sending mysterious riddle and word play based puzzles to her and her colleagues at the Clarendon English Dictionary suggesting they know what actually happened. . .

To be fair it took me a couple of chapters to get into the flow of the story (hence the 4 stars instead of 5) but once I hit the groove it just flew by. It may not be to everyone's taste as it gets quite wordy in places but as Dent is the lexicographer's lexicographer that's only to be expected really.

Very much recommended 

Miss Harris In The New World by Peter Maughan

From the back page . . .

 'The Red Lion production of Love and Miss Harris is booked to tour America, opening in Manhattan.

On arrival the group finds that it’s not the Manhattan with the Great White Way of Broadway at its glittering heart, but the part between the Bowery and the East River, on the Lower East Side, in a vaudeville venue owned by a local mobster. And when members of a rival gang decide to disrupt the play, the action shifts from the theatre’s state to its auditorium…

Determined to fulfil the rest of their tour dates, the company heads west from New York. Try as they might to shake it off, trouble seems to follow them wherever they go.'

Review

Set just after WW2 Miss Harris In The New World follows the adventures of The Red Lion Players as they take the play "Love and Miss Harris" to from the UK to New York. Alas, as is often the case, things get muddled along the way and the Broadway they were expecting was not the Broadway they got.

They are soon embroiled with local mobsters and when they head out into New England and beyond the mobsters and trouble follow in their footsteps.

For me it was the Red Lion Players that made this for me. Many years ago I did a few years backstage at our local community centre moving scenery (and one year I even got to be main spotlight operator - but that's a story for another day and yes, I still bear a grudge 😂) so the behind the scenes behaviour and carrying on felt quite familiar. 

The author, in my opinion, made a good job of bringing post war America to a believable kind of life which certainly added to the enjoyment. Apparently this is the second book in a series but as I haven't read the first one yet (this will be amended soon, never fear) I can certainly say that it works as a stand alone novel.

Now That I Have Your Attention

 

Nicolas Hamilton has been exceeding expectations since day one.

Born with a form of cerebral palsy, Nicolas was told that he would never walk and would need a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Today he not only walks everywhere but he is the first disabled athlete to ever compete at the top level of British motorsport, The British Touring Car Championship, where he lines up on the grid alongside some of the world's best drivers.

Now That I Have Your Attention follows Nicolas's remarkable journey and shares the valuable, tough, and often surprising lessons learned throughout his life.

Nicolas's journey has at times been hostile and has forced him to navigate periods of anger and resentment, but by building his mental strength and pushing himself beyond the physical limits of what anyone had ever expected of him, Nicolas has changed his life - and believes you can too.

With each of these 7 Lessons, Nicolas's message is simple and universal: with self-discipline and self-compassion you can defy the limitations imposed upon you.

 I'll come right out and say it, Self Help books are not usually my thing. I occasionally read biographies and autobiographies but it has to be someone who interests me. Also, I had never heard of Nicolas Hamilton before seeing this book. I'm glad I took a chance on this though as this guy is a true inspiration.

 As it says in the blurb above Nicolas Hamilton was born with a form of cerebral palsy and I think it is safe to say he has been fighting since Day 1. After being told he would most likely never walk and would need a wheelchair he basically said "yeah, right, let's see about that."

 To get to where he has is no easy task even before you take his disability into consideration and with the 7 lessons in this book he passes on his knowledge, his experience and his 'Life doesn't need to hold you back' attitude to the reader. Not all of the lessons will be for everyone but if even just one speaks to you Hamilton and his book will have done what they set out to achieve and it's certainly left me with a few things to take away from it.

 Now That I Have Your Attention is not always an easy read but it is certainly a worthwhile one and one I will be recommending to others.

 Nothing less than the full 5* for this.

Thanks to Anne Cater and Random Things Tours for inviting me onto this blogtour and to Octopus Books for providing me with a review copy (all views and opinions are my own).

Below is the blogtour poster so please, if you can, have a look at what the other bloggers have to say.

Fall River by Meredith Miller

 

 

One young woman disappears as another returns. Alice has turned to the river looking to drown the voices in her head. Khadija has come home to uncover the terrible history hidden beneath its surface. The London train screeches by while the rest of the town is still asleep along the banks of the Tamar. They'll wake up that morning to find that everything, and nothing, has changed. Sooner or later, the river pulls them all. Sooner or later, someone falls...

 This was, for me, a strangely evocative novel. For someone who has never visited the area there was enough of a sense of place to "put me there" (I'm a very visual reader).

 In the small Cornish town of Saltash a 15 year old girl disappears, while at the same time her 25 year old cousin returns from a spell in London. The story follows events both before and after the disappearance and as Saltash is only a small town it feels like it covers the stories of all the people who live there. It's the kind of place where everybody knows everybody else's business (or at least they think they do) and outsiders are looked on with suspicion, even those coming back after a few years away.

 This felt like it could be a decent TV series as well as a cracking read and I would certainly recommend it - 4.5/5*

 Thank you to Anne Cater and Random Things Tours for inviting me onto this tour (and sorry for the delay in posting). Please see below for the other bloggers on the tour and give their posts a read if you can.

The Atlas Complex: Olivie Blake

 

 So, here we are at the end of the journey (well, for my part it is nearly the end, I've still got 120 pages or so to go but it is my date on the blog tour so for me it's all about what I think so far).

 The reasoning behind my not being at the end yet is simple, I loved The Atlas Six, quite enjoyed The Atlas Paradox but by the time I got to Complex I was having to dip back into Six and Paradox quite a bit to remind myself what the heck was going on, who was siding with who at what point etc. It's an enjoyable read but sometimes makes my head hurt.

 The basic premise behind the series is that 6 of the most gifted students in the world (think early twenties not Harry Potter age) are selected to study at The Alexandrian Institute for a year - but after a year only 5 will survive to carry on their studies (but if you've read this far you will know this already I guess).

 By the time of Complex what had been realised before - that all at the Institute was maybe not as it seems - has escalated, alliances are shattered and reformed and Atlas himself is just as crazy as you expected. The game is afoot.

 Much as I am enjoying The Atlas Complex I am finding it slow going for the reasons mentioned earlier and do think it could have done with being a tad shorter (there does seem to be a good bit of waffle early in the book) but as an ending things are going in the right direction. I'm looking at a reread of the series as a whole in a year or so which may make it clearer.

 I will say, I am a fan of Blake's writing style and will be looking for more of her works in the future.

Thank you to Black Crow PR and UK Tor for supplying the review copy - all views and opinions are my own.