Publisher: Hodder And Stoughton Ltd.

#BookReview A Delicate Game by Hana Walker-Brown @HWalker_Brown @Mobius_Books #ADelicateGame #HanaWalkerBrown #MobiusBooksUS

#BookReview A Delicate Game by Hana Walker-Brown @HWalker_Brown @Mobius_Books #ADelicateGame #HanaWalkerBrown #MobiusBooksUS Title: A Delicate Game

Author: Hana Walker-Brown

Published by: Hodder And Stoughton Ltd. on Jul. 5, 2022

Genres: Nonfiction

Pages: 288

Format: Hardcover

Source: Mobius Books US

Book Rating: 9/10

A footballer dies of dementia, younger than he should
A 14-year old-rugby player is told to play on through multiple blows. He never wakes up from the last one
A scientist reveals endemic brain disease in NFL players and is discredited
A survivor of domestic abuse can’t remember details when standing up in court

This is the story of the degenerative brain disease, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). This is a story of power, of science and sport, and of the bodies that society deems worth sacrificing.


Review:

Comprehensive, eye-opening, and impactful!

A Delicate Game is the insightful, informative, candid examination into the preventable disease, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, that has tragically caused the premature deaths of both famous, beloved athletes and up-and-coming stars.

The writing is frank and descriptive. And the novel is an extremely well-researched tale of the apprehension and irresponsible resistance of professional sports to acknowledge the real and growing evidence that head trauma, whether one big catastrophic hit or multiple smaller hits over time, suffered by players during games or practices throughout their careers can lead to severe neurodegenerative disorders or CTE.

Overall, A Delicate Game is, ultimately, a clear, concise, exhaustive analysis and investigation into the dangerous, long-lasting, often fatal consequences of those gruesomely entertaining, enthralling hits, tackles, and headers we’ve come to know and expect in contact sports to the most important, fragile organ we often take for granted, the human brain.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

 

Thank you to Mobius Books US for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Hana Walker-Brown

Hana Walker-Brown is a multi-award-winning audio documentary maker, writer and the Creative Director for Broccoli Productions, a London based podcast production company founded in direct response to the lack of opportunities for minority talent both in front of and behind the mic. In 2019, Hana Walker-Brown created the Audible original, The Beautiful Brain, a multi-award-winning podcast docuseries about West Bromwich Albion hero Jeff Astle and CTE. Hana is a fearless and passionate advocate of multi-media storytelling and has covered an exceptional range of stories, taking the big world stuff and making it human. She is a guest lecturer at Goldsmiths College, University of London and has given talks and masterclasses around the world about her work and creative processes. Hana has created work for Audible, the BBC, the Guardian, National Geographic, Spotify and Warner Brothers among many others.

Photo courtesy of Hachette UK Website.

#BookReview Standing Alone by Stephen Leather @Mobius_Books @HodderBooks #StandingAlone #StephenLeather #MattStanding #MobiusBooksUS

#BookReview Standing Alone by Stephen Leather @Mobius_Books @HodderBooks #StandingAlone #StephenLeather #MattStanding #MobiusBooksUS Title: Standing Alone

Author: Stephen Leather

Series: Matt Standing #2

Published by: Hodder And Stoughton Ltd. on Apr. 4, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Hardcover

Source: Mobius Books US

Book Rating: 8/10

How can you follow orders if those orders are to kill a friend?

A Navy SEAL has gone rogue, selling his skills to the highest bidder as a professional assassin.

Ryan French no longer cares who he kills so long as the price is right.

His former bosses want him taken down, but they’re not prepared to get their hands dirty so they need a Brit to do the job.

SAS trooper Matt “Lastman” Standing is a lethal killing machine with experience in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Plus he’s worked with French in the past. It’s not a mission he wants, but Standing made a bad choice in his past and it has come back to haunt him.

Now he’s hunting French in the lawless Wild West forests of Humboldt County, where the US produces most of its legal – and illegal – cannabis.

But French isn’t the only predator in the wilderness – there are Mexican cartels, Russian Mafia and Hungarian gangsters – and Standing has to overcome them all to get to his target.


Review:

Adrenaline-pumping, suspenseful, and fast-paced!

In this second instalment in the Matt Standing series, Standing Alone, Leather has written an action-packed thrill ride that sees the cocky, talented SAS trooper Standing being blackmailed into taking a side mission for “The Pool, a shady organization headed by Charlotte Button that sees him hunting down ex-Navy Seal Ryan French in rural California where organized crime is rife, people live wild and free, and cannabis grows in abundance.

The writing is brisk and tight. The characters are ruthless, persistent, and experienced. And the plot keeps you on the edge of your seat as it submerges you in a menacing tale full of violence, deception, mayhem, danger, control, power, and murder.

Overall, Standing Alone is another tortuous, pacey, exciting tale by Leather that, with its well-drawn characterization, creative storyline, and thrilling conclusion, is sure to be a big hit with longtime fans of this author’s previous novels.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

              

 

 

Thank you to Mobius Books US for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Stephen Leather

Stephen Leather was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. For much of 2011 his self-published eBooks - including The Bestseller, The Basement, Once Bitten and Dreamer's Cat - dominated the UK eBook bestseller lists and sold more than half a million copies. The Basement topped the Kindle charts in the UK and the US, and in total he has sold more than two million eBooks. His bestselling book The Chinaman was filmed as The Foreigner, starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan and grossing more than $100 million.

#BookReview Birthday Girl by Niko Wolf @Mobius_Books @HodderBooks #BirthdayGirl #NikoWolf #MobiusBooksUS

#BookReview Birthday Girl by Niko Wolf @Mobius_Books @HodderBooks #BirthdayGirl #NikoWolf #MobiusBooksUS Title: Birthday Girl

Author: Niko Wolf

Published by: Hodder And Stoughton Ltd. on Jun. 28, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Hardcover

Source: Mobius Books US

Book Rating: 8/10

He loved her. He lost her. But he should never have written her off.

Jonathan’s wife disappeared more than twenty years ago. Now he’s seeing her everywhere . . .

New York in the 1990s – impoverished writer Jonathan Dainty takes his wife Maddie out to the beach for her birthday. Hours later he finds himself at the local police precinct trying to explain how on earth he let his wife get into a stranger’s car, and allowed it to drive her away.

More than twenty years later, Maddie is presumed dead and Jonathan has channelled his grief into a best-selling series of crime novels. As far as he can, he is living the perfect life.

Then one day he catches a glimpse of his dead wife, moving through a throng of people. Is Maddie alive? Has she come back? And why does no one believe him? As Jonathan attempts to uncover the truth, it soon becomes clear that the people closest to him are hiding something, something that could change everything . . .


Review:

Intricate, crafty, and absorbing!

Birthday Girl is an intense, devious thriller set during the late 1990s, as well as present-day, that takes you into the life of Jonathan Dainty, a writer, husband and father of one whose life has never been quite the same since his wife got into a stranger’s car one day and disappeared without a trace.

The writing is fluid and tight. The characters are driven, devious, and insecure. And the plot, using a past/present, back-and-forth style, unfolds slowly into a simmering tale full of emotion, manipulation, deception, desperation, jealousy, obsession, marital strife, and familial drama.

Overall, Birthday Girl is a taut, cunning, sinister read by Wolf that kept me engaged, entertained and guessing from start to finish.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

              

 

 

Thank you to Mobius Books US for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Niko Wolf

Niko Wolf was born in London and her first novel, The Favourite, was published in the UK in 2017 under SV Berlin. Long listed for The Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award 2018, it was also chosen as an ELLE Book of the month. Most recently, she was a Screenwriter and Story Editor for independent movie A Son of Man, selected as an official entry in the foreign-language category for the 2019 Oscars. Wolf works in artificial intelligence, and lives in Manhattan. Birthday Girl is her first thriller.

#BlogTour #BookReview The Lost Storyteller by Amanda Block @ACBlockAuthor @Mobius_Books @HodderBooks #TheLostStoryteller #AmandaBlock #MobiusBooksUS

#BlogTour #BookReview The Lost Storyteller by Amanda Block @ACBlockAuthor @Mobius_Books @HodderBooks #TheLostStoryteller #AmandaBlock #MobiusBooksUS Title: The Lost Storyteller

Author: Amanda Block

Published by: Hodder And Stoughton Ltd. on May 10, 2022

Genres: General Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: Mobius Books US

Book Rating: 9/10

Rebecca hasn’t seen her father Leo since she was six. Her family never talk about him, and she has long since pushed him firmly to the back of her mind. All she knows is that, once upon a time, he was a well-loved children’s TV star.

But when a journalist turns up uninvited at her office, asking questions about her once-famous father, Rebecca starts to wonder whether there is more to Leo’s absence than she realised. Then, looking for answers, she unearths a book of fairy tales written by Leo and dedicated to her – but what use are children’s stories to her now, all these years later?

Tentatively, Rebecca tries to piece together her father’s life, from the people he used to know and her own hazy memories. Yet her mind keeps returning to the magical, melancholic fairy tales, which seem to contain more truth than make-believe. Perhaps they are the key to unlocking the mystery of her father, the lost storyteller; to revealing who he was, what he went through – and even where he might be now…


Review:

Imaginative, mysterious, and moving!

The Lost Storyteller is a captivating, beguiling tale that sweeps you away to the UK and into the life of Rebecca Chase, a young woman who, after being contacted by Ellis Bailey, a journalist hoping to write an article about her father who starred in the successful children’s program, The Stowaway, until the late 1990s when after two seasons he vanished without a trace, decides to join forces with him to finally discover what really happened to her beloved father she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl and who actually left her a book of fairy tales that has been hidden by her maternal grandmother for many years and which may hold all the clues she’ll ever need to find him.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are multilayered, apprehensive, and determined. And the plot is a tender tale about life, loss, family, friendship, secrets, attraction, self-discovery, mental illness, special moments, forgiveness, contentment, taking chances, and the enchantment of fairy tales.

Overall, The Lost Storyteller is a heart-tugging, absorbing, magical debut by Block that highlights the unconditional, everlasting love that exists between a parent and a child and is a beautiful reminder of the importance and power of stories.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                

 

 

Thank you to Mobius Books US for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Amanda Block

Originally from Devon, Amanda moved to Edinburgh in 2007, where she attained a master’s degree in creative writing. Since then, she’s divided her time between ghostwriting, editing and tutoring.

Amanda’s writing is often inspired by myths and fairy tales, which she uses as starting points to tell new stories. Her work has been shortlisted in contests such as the Bridport Prize and the Mslexia Short Story Competition. The Lost Storyteller is her first novel.

 

#BookReview Murder on Mustique by Anne Glenconner @Mobius_Books @HodderBooks #MurderonMustique #AnneGlenconner #MobiusBooksUS

#BookReview Murder on Mustique by Anne Glenconner @Mobius_Books @HodderBooks #MurderonMustique #AnneGlenconner #MobiusBooksUS Title: Murder on Mustique

Author: Anne Glenconner

Published by: Hodder And Stoughton Ltd. on May 18, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Hardcover

Source: Mobius Books US

Book Rating: 7.5/10

A storm. A disappearance. A race against time . . .

Mustique is in a state of breathless calm as tropical storm Cristobal edges towards it across the Atlantic. Most villa owners have escaped the island but a few young socialites remain, unwilling to let summer’s partying end. American heiress Amanda Fortini is one such thrill-seeker – until she heads out for a morning swim and doesn’t return.

Detective Sergeant Solomon Nile is just 28 years old and the island’s only fully trained police officer. He quickly realises he needs to contact Lord and Lady Blake, who bought the island decades ago and have invested time, money and love creating a paradise. Jasper is in St Lucia designing a new village of luxury villas but Lady Veronica (Vee to her friends) catches a plane immediately. Her beloved god-daughter, Lily, is on the island and this disappearance has alarming echoes of what happened to Lily’s mother many years ago. Lady Vee would never desert a friend in need, and she can keep a cool head in a crisis.

When Amanda’s body is found, a murder investigation begins. Nile knows the killer must be an islander because flights and ferry crossings have stopped due to the storm warning, but the local community isn’t co-operating. And then the storm hits, and someone else disappears . . .


Review:

Sinister, atmospheric, and engaging!

Murder on Mustique is a menacing tale that sweeps you away to the Caribbean and into the life of Lady Vee who, after heading to the idyllic island of Mustique to prepare an extravagant twenty-first birthday party for her goddaughter, Lily, becomes embroiled and a little sidetracked in an investigation with the islands only trained police office Detective Sergeant Solomon Nile, when Lily’s childhood friend, socialite Amanda Fortini goes missing and other rich, young residents suddenly start turning up dead.

The prose is tense and fluid. The characters are resourceful, impulsive, and vulnerable. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel into a mysterious tale of mischief, mayhem, coercion, corruption, criminal behaviours, dangerous endeavours, deduction, lies, and murder.

Overall, Murder on Mustique is a solid, entertaining, quick read by Glenconner that was better than I ever expected with its front-row seat into some of the decadence, lifestyle, luxuries, and scandalous behaviour the rich and famous can often get up to.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to Mobius Books US for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Anne Glenconner

Lady Glenconner was born Lady Anne Coke in 1932, the eldest daughter of the 5th Earl of Leicester, and growing up in their ancestral estate at Holkham Hall in Norfolk. A Maid of Honour at the Queen's Coronation, she married Lord Glenconner in 1956. They had 5 children together of whom 3 survive. In 1958 she and her husband began to transform the island of Mustique into a paradise for the rich and famous. They granted a plot of land to Princess Margaret who built her favourite home there. She was appointed Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret in 1971 and kept this role - accompanying her on many state occasions and foreign tours - until her death in 2002. Lord Glenconner died in 2010, leaving everything in his will to his former employee.

She now lives in Norfolk, England.

#BookReview A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

#BookReview A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman Title: A Man Called Ove

Author: Fredrik Backman

Published by: Hodder And Stoughton Ltd. on Mar. 27, 2015

Genres: General Fiction

Pages: 294

Format: Paperback

Source: Borrowed

Book Rating: 9/10

A grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door.

Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.


Review:

I was really surprised at how much I liked this book.

This is a really touching, funny, melancholy story.

It is, ultimately, a story about life. It takes us on journey through loss and grief, finding the will to survive, and the importance of being needed.

The characterization is extremely well done. The main character, Ove, is a quirky, quiet, stubborn, big-hearted man you can’t help but love. And the secondary characters are bold, unique, and entertaining, right down to the SAAB.

It was a delight to read this story about, Ove. I laughed. I cried. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you Allison for lending me this book. It was terrific and I can’t wait to recommend it to others.

 

About Fredrik Backman

Fredrik Backman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove (soon to be a major motion picture starring Tom Hanks), My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Us Against You, as well as two novellas, And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer and The Deal of a Lifetime. His books are published in more than forty countries. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children.

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