JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh

Welcome to Golden Cove, a remote town on the edge of the world where even the blinding brightness of the sun can’t mask the darkness that lies deep within a killer…

On the rugged West Coast of New Zealand, Golden Cove is more than just a town where people live. The adults are more than neighbours; the children, more than schoolmates.
That is until one fateful summer – and several vanished bodies – shatters the trust holding Golden Cove together. All that’s left are whispers behind closed doors, broken friendships, and a silent agreement not to look back. But they can’t run from the past forever.

Eight years later, a beautiful young woman disappears without a trace, and the residents of Golden Cove wonder if their home shelters something far more dangerous than an unforgiving landscape.

It’s not long before the dark past collides with the haunting present and deadly secrets come to light.

A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh is a small town crime thriller novel, following the disappearance of local teenager Miriama Hinewai Tutaia in Golden Cove New Zealand, and its potential connection to the disappearance of three backpackers eight years earlier.

The main characters are police officer Will Gallagher, in charge of trying to find Miriama, and Anahera Spencer-Ashby, a young woman who grew up in Golden Cove and has recently returned after living in London for many years as a highly successful pianist and performer.

Will and Anahera are both complex and conflicted characters — Will was exiled to Golden Cove after a previous case went in an unexpected direction, and Anahera runs home to Golden Cove after her husband dies and his pregnant mistress turns up on her doorstep.

“But there were other possibilities and he’d be a bad cop if he ignored them. No one had ever called him that, not even when his mistakes had led to two deaths. Will’s police work had been stellar; it was his understanding of human nature that had let him down.”

Will and Anahera are both incredibly interesting and thoroughly developed characters. Both of them share wounded histories and are psychologically damaged from past events in their lives. Whilst they don’t know each other prior to Anahera returning to Golden Cove, the two bond over their circumstances and find comfort in each other’s company.

There is definitely this sense of isolation that comes with being in Golden Cove, like you’re all alone and nothing you do will penetrate the outside world. Anahera was able to leave because she’s musically gifted, but most people stay (as Anahera learns when she returns home). Many juicy secrets are harboured in Golden Cove. As a result, tension and suspense are heightened and the setting itself feels like another character.

“Another fifty meters and the sand disappeared under a flow of water that turned into a whirlpool surrounded by rocks as black as obsidian and as jagged as broken glass. Everyone knew to keep their distance from the spot — there was simply no hope for anyone who fell into that water.”

The pacing is slow but consistent, successfully building suspense and intrigue. There is more than one mystery plaguing this small town and everyone is a suspect. Will can determine multiple motives for wanting young, beautiful local Miriama missing — she held many secrets, and was fancied by just as many admirers.

Setting and environment are big strengths in this novel, and Nalini has captured the small, isolated town of Golden Cove incredibly well. The ‘small town’ vibe is rich with secrets and hidden pasts, and it will draw every reader in and keep them enticed until the final pages.

There’s a small romantic storyline that develops in the book, which is both welcome and expected with this genre. However, it’s not a dominant part of the book and if it were removed, the events in the novel would mostly remain unchanged.

“Two hours later, he’d gone through every single one of the names and ID photos and come up with nothing. If Fidel Cox had returned to the area, he’d done so in a way that wouldn’t be noticed.”

Admittedly, I wasn’t a fan of the ending. There were two major revelations at the climax of the book — one made sense and the other did not. The truth behind Miriama’s disappearance was not consistent with the characterisation set up prior and it seemed like a cheap ploy to surprise the reader. To be honest I felt a bit cheated at the end.

Enthralling, inviting and entertaining. Recommended for fans of crime, thrillers, and mystery novels.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Madness of Sunshine
Nalini Singh
December 2019
Hachette Publishers

Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls by Justine Ford

Can you catch a killer or find a missing person?

Australia is ‘the lucky country’. But not for everyone. Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls tells thirteen stories of people whose luck ran out in the most mysterious of circumstances.

It’s a journalistic deep-dive into Australia’s dark heart by one of Australia’s premier true crime writers, Justine Ford, the acclaimed bestselling author of Unsolved Australia and The Good Cop.

Why are four people missing from a Western Australian doomsday cult? Who abducted and murdered beauty queen Bronwynne Richardson on pageant night? And why is a cooked chook important evidence in the outback disappearance of Paddy Moriarty?

Key players are interviewed, evidence laid out and suspects assessed. Never-before-published information is revealed. Can you help crack the case and solve these mysteries?

Hold tight as Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls takes you on a chilling yet inspiring true crime rollercoaster ride where the final destination is hope.

Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls is a fascinating record of 13 Australians who have gone missing and have never been found, written by well-known Australian crime writer Justine Ford.

Each section of the book focuses on a different missing person, detailing their life and the final days that anyone saw them alive. If there have been any updates on the case in recent decades, Justine has included that. This book is very comprehensive, very detailed, and incredibly researched.

Additionally, the book features interviews with six key crime personnel, such as former police detectives, investigative journalists, private investigators, and criminologists. These interviews are fascinating, reading about their career trajectories, their experiences, and what they remember most about cold cases from their careers.

“When cops are described as ‘dogged’ it means they are the kinds of police who go the extra mile to crack a case. They are the investigators who spend sleepless nights wondering, Is there something I missed? They are the cops who struggle to accept it when they cannot find the answers.”

The book is a plea to the readers, asking them to read the stories and provide help with any clues or information they may see that has been missed. There are people out there who know what happened to these thirteen individuals — reading these stories may jog someone’s memory.

Generous rewards are on offer for anyone that can help with each case. Although, quite a few of these missing persons disappeared decades ago, so I understand it’d be very unlikely someone will read this and remember anything useful to police.

“What was unusual — for them, at least — was the strange entity they saw bobbing in the water on the starboard side of their boat. It must be an animal, they thought, maybe a dog…The men looked once, they looked twice, and then agreed: it was a human body.”

Justine’s tone is appropriate for the subject matter — she’s compassionate and caring, and you can tell she genuinely wants to find out what happened to these missing persons. She also does well to present all of the relevant information to the reader in a succinct, clear manner.

“For half an hour the police boat judders across the swell until what looks like a dot on the horizon — a farmhouse — comes into sight. It’s lonely out here and the ocean surrounding the property ahead is hundreds, if not thousands, of metres deep.”

At almost 300 pages, I grew emotionally exhausted by the end of the story. There are no solutions or answers to these cold cases. Reading about thirteen people who disappeared in strange circumstances and have never been seen again was mentally draining towards the end.

I’d recommend readers pace themselves with this book. Each section of the book is an appropriate length — long enough to include all the facts, information, and updates on the case, but not too long where you feel your attention waning.

Recommended for true crime lovers.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls
Justine Ford
July 2019
Pan Macmillan Publishers

A Nearly Normal Family by M.T Edvardsson

A Nearly Normal Family is the psychological thriller from M. T. Edvardsson and asks what would you do if your child was suspected of murder, how far would you go to protect them? Do you want to know the truth?

Every murder case starts with a suspect. What if the suspect is your daughter? Would you believe her, or the evidence against her?

The Father believes his daughter has been framed.
The Mother believes she is hiding something.
The Daughter believes they have no idea what she’s truly capable of . . .

There are three sides to the story. And the truth will shatter this family to pieces.

A Nearly Normal Family by M.T Edvardsson is a Scandinavian crime novel, the victim being a man in this 30s and the suspect a young teenage girl who seems the most unsuspecting type. The novel is an exploration of domestic drama and family in crisis.

18 year old Stella Sandell is a rebellious teenager who has a history of being aggressive and having a short fuse. Her parents re overprotective and are at a loss of how to help her, but they’re also in denial about how bad her behaviour really is. And then, she’s charged with murder.

“I have gone against everything I believed in. The law has been my religion. It certainly has its faults, rather extensive ones in some respects, but still I firmly believe the law to be the pillar and guiding light of a modern society.”

The book is divided into three sections, each written in first person — the father, the daughter, the mother. The father is the weakest section, which is a shame because it’s the first section. The writing is inconsistent and the character — Adam — is overdramatic and unlikeable. The language is overly affectionate for the situation and Adam comes across over the top, cringeworthy, and his ‘voice’ is very unrealistic for a man of his age and position. I doubted my ability to finish the book, and probably wouldn’t have, if it weren’t for the mystery. I wanted to know who had murdered the man found dead in their suburb.

Another element I didn’t like about Adam’s narrative was the constant mention of religion and God. Adam is a pastor and therefore an honourable and trustworthy pillar of the community. But, in his POV, he references God and religion a lot, and it doesn’t feel natural. At times, I felt like the author was preaching to me and I had to skip ahead.

Once part one ended and we moved onto the daughter’s POV, I found it much easier to settle into the narrative.

“On that Saturday night when our lives were about to change, I turned to God. I was worried about the stained blouse in the washing machine. I made the snap decision not to mention it to Ulrika. Those stains could be from anything, it didn’t necessarily mean much, and there was no reason to subject Ulrika to further anxiety.”

Unreliable narrators is a common thread across all three parts in the book — Adam is willing to deceive and lie in order to save his daughter, Stella won’t tell the whole truth, and Ulrika seems to know more than she’s letting on. As the book progresses, the truth of that night slowly reveals itself.

The ending is plausible, realistic, and surprising, but a little too convenient. However, readers will find themselves satisfied with the ending, and the twists and turns that lead them there.

“It’s all about control. People never believe that. In their minds, the need for control is a characteristic of that sort of pendant who loses it if a paper end sup in the wrong pile on their desk, the type who sorts their wardrobe by exact shades of colour…but this is a different sort of control. It’s about not losing face. Not letting anyone get too close.”

Recommended for fans of crime and thrillers. The writing is average and there is a lot of repetition, but the mystery is enough to keep you reading.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Nearly Normal Family
M.T. Edvardsson
July 2019
Pan Macmillan Publishers

The Chain by Adrian McKinty

VICTIM. KIDNAPPER. CRIMINAL. You will become each one. You are now part of the chain. Don’t break the chain.

The morning starts like any other. Rachel Klein drops her daughter, Kylie, at the bus stop and heads into her day. But then a phone call changes everything. A woman has Kylie bound and gagged in her back seat, and the only way Rachel will ever see her again is if she pays a ransom – and kidnaps another child. The caller is a mother herself, whose son has also been abducted, and if Rachel doesn’t do exactly as she’s told, both children will die. Rachel is now part of a terrifying scheme – The Chain.

The rules are simple: find the money, find your victim, and then commit a horrible act you’d have thought yourself incapable of just 24 hours ago. Rachel is an ordinary woman, but over the coming days she will be pushed beyond ordinary limits to save her daughter. What the anonymous masterminds behind The Chain know is that parents will do anything for their children. But what they don’t know is that they may have met their match.

Can Rachel be the one person to finally break The Chain?

The Chain by Adrian McKinty is a thrilling crime novel about a large-scale kidnapping scheme involving children.

The premise is pretty simple to grasp. Kidnap another child to save your own child. But don’t tell anyone. You tell anyone, you try to call the police, and you’ll be found out and your child will be murdered.

The premise of the novel is, of course, absurd. Someone has to kidnap a child in order to save their own child, and this ‘chain’ has been going on for years and everyone has kept their mouth shut? Obviously wacky and crazy premise, and I totally loved it — a fun read, an engrossing read, and it’s really easy to finish this novel in the one day.

“She thinks about her mom. Her mom will be worried sick. She’ll go to pieces. She isn’t as strong as she pretends to be. It hasn’t even been a year since she finished her chemo. And her dad — her dad’s awesome but maybe not the most dependable guy in the world.”

The Chain explores the lengths that a parent will go to in order to save their child — what they’ll sacrifice, who they’ll sacrifice, and what they’ll pay in ransom.

Adrian McKinty is skilled at crafting characters who we grow to like and sympathise for. Rachel has overcome cancer once before but it looks like her breast cancer has returned. She’s divorced from her husband, she’s not wealthy, and now her only child — Kylie — has been kidnapped. Rachel must transfer a large sum of money as a ransom, but she must also kidnap someone else’s child to keep ‘The Chain’ going. She must now assume the role of kidnapper.

Rachel doesn’t think she’s capable of doing that — can she really commit that kind of crime? But as we learn in the book, parents are capable of almost anything to save their child, and Rachel is not the only one. The Chain has been going on for years.

This novel is not just about Rachel and Kylie. Through flashbacks, we come to understand the people behind The Chain, and how their childhood and their adult lives led them to create a dangerous and risky kidnapping ring. The POV shift is a fascinating method of building tension.

“Kylie waits until she thinks it’s very late, but naturally she has no way of telling the time. No iPhone, no iPad, no Mac. No watch, of course, but who wears a watch these days?”

Two weaknesses in the book are dialogue and inner dialogue. I don’t think Adrian has captured an accurate female voice — younger or older — in Rachel and Kylie. Rachel comes across a little over the top, too flowery and cringe-y, and Kylie comes off as older and beyond her teenage years. Kylie’s voice often doesn’t match the voice of teenager, and many times throughout the novel, she’s just a little too self-aware for someone her age.

Additionally, some of the interactions don’t quite add up. Rachel is divorced from her ex-husband, but they still talk like they’re emotionally close, and despite his relationships with younger women, he seems to still care about her a little too much for an ex-husband. It comes across as loving and doting, which doesn’t quite add up to the rest of his characterisation as an unreliable, flaky Dad who is always dating a newer, younger girlfriend.

“The Hampton Mall is the perfect place to buy burner phones. She slides the car into a spot in the parking lot, opens up the trunk, and rummages around looking for Kylie’s Red Sox cap…she finds the cap, puts it on, and pulls it low over her face.”

The ending of the book is unrealistic, jolty and a little clunky, but by then you’re so hooked by the story that you don’t really care. Fans of psychological thrillers and crime novels will love this book.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Chain
Adrian McKinty
July 2019
Hachette Publishers

The Paper Wasp by Lauren Acampora

Abby Graven is a dreamer. She dreams her way through her small, lonely life – hiding back at her parents, working at the grocery store. At night, she collects tabloid clippings that taunt her with Elise – her best friend, now Hollywood’s hot new starlet.

When a school reunion throws Elise in her path, Abby seizes her chance. With feverish certainty, she boards a one-way flight to LA to become Elise’s assistant and enters her gauzy realm of film sets and glamorous actors.

But behind Elise’s glossy magazine veneer, she is drowning in Hollywood’s vicious social cycle. Ever the devoted friend, Abby conceals her own burning desire for greatness.

For she is smarter than Elise. More talented. A true artist. And as she edges closer to her own ambitions, Abby can see only one way to make her dream come true.

The Paper Wasp by Lauren Acampora is an addictive, seductive psychological thriller about obsession, greed and betrayal. This novel will draw you in from the very first page, keep you hostage until the very end, and then leave you reeling for a long time afterwards.

This book is utterly bizarre, from the storyline to the setting to the characters. But it all works. It’s an addictive read, and one that I highly recommend to others.

Abby Graven was once valedictorian of her high school class and on a path to a successful adult life. But, now, she’s a 28-year-old college dropout who is living at her parents’ home in Michigan and is obsessed with the life that her high school best friend — Elise Van Dijk — now leads.

Elise is on the cusp of fame. She’s living in Hollywood, she’s featured in glossy fashion magazines, and she’s starring in upcoming lead movies. She appears to be leading a glamorous life, and Abby is enraptured by Elise’s ascent to stardom.

Abby and Elise briefly reconnect at their 10-year high school reunion. When Elise makes a throwaway comment that Abby should call her if she’s ever in LA, I’m sure that Elise didn’t actually expect Abby to do just that. But, a couple of months later, Abby buys a ticket to LA and calls her upon arrival at the airport. Elise, stumped, politely offers up her home for Abby while she’s in town.

Already, the reader is feeling the unease. We can see just how obsessive and dangerous Abby is, showing up to LA with no accommodation in mind, and with the singular hope that Elise will let her crash at her fancy mansion.

“A moment later, the cab was gone and I was alone outside the gate, shielding my eyes in the white light. Through the glare I saw there was a call box, a button I needed to push. I looked at it for a long moment and felt myself come slowly awake. My frenzy had been so absorbing, it was almost as if my body had been hijacked.”

Soon, Abby and Elise reconnect and Abby takes on the role of Elise’s personal assistant. But Abby is scheming, desperate to be as close to Elise as she possibly can. Abby is deluded enough to believe that her own fantasies could become real — that they are real. On the surface, she’s helping Elise, but really, she’s collating information in her mind to propel her own career in Hollywood.

There are so many logistical elements that make this novel work. The pacing is flawless — consistent, unwavering. The tension is heightened with each chapter we read, and the stakes are enormous for the main characters.

Elise and Abby are both fantastic characters. They’re intriguing and engaging, and you’re not sure who to root for. Abby, the unreliable narrator who you can’t help but sympathise with and love. Or Elise, the misunderstood, naive woman who has been caught up in the bright lights of Hollywood.

Acampora’s skill lies in her ability to capture the relationship between Elise and Abby in a way that doesn’t come across as just petty jealousy, but something far more extreme and inviting.

“How silly to have never come to California. Already Michigan was a figment, a prolonged, dank dream from which I’d finally woken. I’d left my winter coat behind, and I found myself thinking of it now, trying to recall the weight and feel of the boiled wool, the hide that I’d sloughed and abandoned.”

The Paper Wasp is about female friendship, ambition, and the consequences of obsession — the unwillingness to let go of your childhood, when everything seemed a lot easier and success seemed simpler to achieve.

I highly recommend this read. It’s fiction at its finest, and fans of crime, thrillers and psychological novels will tear through this book.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Paper Wasp
Lauren Acampora
June 2019
Hachette Publishers

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