Black Gold by Rob Starr

 

Blurb

'After the sudden death of her husband, fraud investigator Kiara Fox is thrown into a high-stakes case that pulls her halfway across the world.

In South Africa, oil tankers are mysteriously arriving at port with far less cargo than when they left – leaving the insurance company boss Tyrone haemorrhaging money. Despite her grief, Kiara can’t turn down the opportunity to help him work out what is happening as she knows this case could secure her family’s future.

At the heart of the problem is Adesco Oil, a family-run empire. CEO Gavin Adriaanse wants to transform the company into an eco-friendly powerhouse, but his brother Tony will stop at nothing to protect the family’s wealth. Tensions are rising, especially with the launch of Neptune, a revolutionary new oil rig poised to change the industry forever.

But when Kiara arrives, the case becomes far more dangerous than she ever anticipated. As she digs deeper, she uncovers a web of corporate deceit, betrayal, and espionage – both within Tyrone’s insurance company and Adesco Oil. With powerful enemies lurking in every shadow, Kiara realises that someone is willing to kill to keep the truth buried. The closer she gets to the heart of the conspiracy, the more deadly the game becomes.

In a race against time, Kiara must navigate a world where profit meets power and uncovering the truth could cost her everything.'

My Thoughts

 Another outing  for Insurance Fraud investigator Kiara Fox sees her off sees her off to South Africa to investigate an oil company. There's climate change, protectors, villainous villains and plenty of thrills to keep the pages turning.

I enjoyed Kiara's first outing so this was a no brainer for me - and I'm happy to say that so far (I'm 3/4 of the way through as the book only arrived with me this past weekend). I'm enjoying it as much as I hoped I would and can't see the pace dropping off any time soon.

Starr builds the tension well and I can certainly see this being the perfect read for the beach.

Minky Woodcock: The Girl Called Cthulhu - Cynthia Von Buhler

 

                              BLURB

 'Inspired by a true WWII maritime operation, shocking satanic events, monstrous men, and one salacious sea creature, this volume tells the tale of Minky’s encounter with legendary horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, creator of the dreaded Cthulhu.

 Following the death of Harry Houdini, Minky is approached by the occultist and writer Aleister Crowley to help vindicate him from an accusation of murder. This throws Minky into an occult underworld and leads to a much bigger investigation involving a missing man and Britain's secret service. Meanwhile, Lovecraftian horrors plague her dreams, and it’s up to Minky to discover the connections between the two writers and the mysterious death of her mother. Based on an actual WWII maritime operation inspired by a detective novel, Minky discovers how writers, including Ian Fleming, helped end WWII.'

                          MY THOUGHTS

 This is the third graphic novel to feature 'gumshoe' detective Minky Woodcock and finds her mixed up with the likes of Houdini, Crowley and Lovecraft - and I'll be honest, it was those last two names that drew me in. A mix of 40's crime fiction, The Old Ones and inspiration from real historical events had me itching for this and when it landed I was not disappointed. 

 The story itself is quite excellent as is the artwork. I read it fairly quickly then went back and read it again, this time paying more attention to the artwork - Von Buhler has made something a bit special here. And yes, it's sauciness is always going to be part of the appeal but the horror and crime aspects, the real 40's vibe of the whole thing make for a stand out read.

 Titan have made an excellent job of producing this too (a part of their 'Hard Case Crime' imprint) The quality of the print and the paper is absolutely top notch.

 Minky Woodcock: The Girl Called Cthulhu is published by Titan Comics on 8th July 2025 (or tomorrow as I right this).

 

Hive (Madders of Time Book 1) - DL Orton

'In a crumbling biodome, surrounded by endless seas and swarms of microdrones, humanity's last survivors cling to hope.

For Isabel, a dying scientist, and Diego, the man she loves, time is running out—literally. The Earth is ravaged, and the biodome that was meant to save humanity is failing. But when Isabel stumbles upon a long-lost time bridge, the possibility of changing the past emerges, offering one final chance to rewrite history.

There's just one problem: only one person can make the jump.

As they grapple with the weight of impossible choices, love, and regret, Isabel and Diego must decide whether altering the course of time is worth the risk. Will their sacrifice save the future, or will tampering with the past ensure humanity's extinction?'

 Hive is a story of the last people on Earth and second chances and asks the question, if you could change the past to heal the future would you? Could you? I liked the ideas behind Hive a lot and, happily, it did not let me down.

From the get-go, in a broken biodome under attack by nature and science to the past, where we get to see our protagonists lives and how they are heading to 'now' the connection between Isabel and Diego is strong and made me really root for them to get everything right. The 'now' is a bleak time and the author makes that seem believable but the 'then' feels like 'hope' so there is a good mix to keep the reading fresh.

I did not know that this series is linked to another by the same author until I had started reading and saw posts from other reviewers so I will be going back to them soon while waiting for Madders of Time 2. 

Beyond The Treeline by Mark A Ellis

 

 

                       From the back cover

'In the late 21st century, in an unstable world wracked by climate change, brilliant scientist Sean Freeman has the answer - longevity. He knows long life breeds responsibility, for each other and the world.

Working with genius physicist Jess, Sean is convinced he’s going to secure the future of humanity – and maybe find his soulmate in the process.
But there is more to this miracle science than he knows and is being allowed to know. Not least, there are others in the shadows who would see him fail, at any cost. When the answers come, and he learns of Earth’s true purpose, it will take him on an epic voyage of discovery where he will be faced with the ultimate ethical dilemma.'

                          My Thoughts 

As someone who enjoys Sci-Fi and thrillers this debut from Mark A Ellis really ticked the boxes for me.

Set just in the future, where climate change has ravaged the planet Sean is working on a project to lengthen the human lifespan in the hopes of making humanity wise up and take more responsibility for our Earth (whichis actually a really good idea and certainly made me think).

To help him on his way he is mysteriously introduced to fellow scientist Jess and together they hit all the right buttons (as it were) and the project takes off . . . But someone (or someone's!) doesn't want their science to work and will do whatever it takes to stop them. 

I'll be honest, a lot of the science I didn't quite get but it is written in a way that kinda makes sense and Mark makes it sound like he knows what he's talking about (my gripe with Sci-Fi is that sometimes authors try to blind you with science and that was certainly NOT the case here).

As for the characters, again, really well done (there were several times when Sean had me, head in hands, thinking (dude, no, don't do that before he gets himself in a kerfuffle). The chemistry between him and Jess worked really well.

And that, my friends, is about as much as I can tell you. There are twists aplenty, some I saw coming, some I didn't and I will not drop spoilers. 

Beyond The Treeline is a twisty little tale that kept pulling the rug out from under me, just when I thought I had it sussed I was proved wrong. 

As a novel this is excellent, as a debut novel . . . Top notch and certainly puts Mark A Ellis on the 'Ones To Watch' list - more please. 

4.5/5*

The Less Unkind by Rosaria Georgi

 

 

Blurb

At the tender age of twenty-one, Pico’s world is one of linguistic puzzles and academic pursuits. A student at the University of Copenhagen, she is thrilled to get a summer job working for enigmatic antique dealer Antonio Bartram. When Antonio suddenly disappears leaving behind nothing but a series of cryptic messages, Pico decides to use her linguistic prowess to decode the clues – with fateful consequences.

As Pico investigates, she uncovers a labyrinthine plot that stretches back decades to the theft of a priceless Caravaggio from a church in Sicily. Caught in the crosshairs of an obsessive art collector, a police murder investigation and a Mafia-sanctioned vendetta, her quest takes her across Europe: from the shadows behind the veneer of Copenhagen’s Nordic serenity, down the sun-kissed streets of the Italian Riviera, and even along the secretive corridors of the Vatican.

As she fights to uncover the truth and witnesses the lengths one will go to protect the secrets of the past, Pico confronts the moral quandaries that emerge when the pursuit of art eclipses the bounds of right and wrong.

My thoughts 

 First things first, I found this book fascinating. I've always loved art, puzzles and travel so a story that covers all three ticks a lot of boxes for me. It's a steady pace to start with but soon picks up to the point that I was wondering what I could put off doing so I could have a few more minutes (oh, ok then,  hours but that's just between you and I 😉).

 The story starts from a kind of truth as the author did actually work for the art dealer formerly known as The Umbrella Assassin (below is a note from the author which came with the assets - in a bottle no less)

but the story belongs to Pico. And what a joy she is to travel along on this journey with. She's clever, sparky, speaks several languages and, really, for a 21 year old should be quite annoying but she comes across as someone you can rely on for the little things as well as the 'brains' stuff. When you have to remind yourself to 'take a breath, she'll be fine' it's clear the author is doing a good job.

The puzzles side of things was well done, it's easy to see there could be more to the great works of art than just a composition on a board or paper and, again, this was really well handled and kept me thinking throughout. 

It is clear Rosaria Georgi knows her stuff and with The Less Unkind she knows how to tell a tale, hook the reader in and left me wanting more.

A job well done . . . 5*

Thanks to Jane at Midas for inviting me onto the blog tour and providing both the review copy and the assets (neither of which influenced this review at all, all views and opinions are my own)