Blog Tour: A Book Review of Missing by Ruby Speechley
Today I am taking part in the blog tour for Missing by Ruby Speechley. It was just released on September 27th and I am sharing my review today! I think this would be a fear of most parents!
Book Description:
Single mum Ellie is shown a missing person post on Facebook. It’s of her three-year-old son, Tyler…
But he’s right there, holding her hand.
Surely this is some kind of prank – she knows her friend Louise can go too far with her jokes sometimes. And Ellie is used to the other mums gossiping at the school gates…
But now the other parents are questioning whether Tyler is really her child.
Ellie does everything she can to prove the post is fake, but the longer it goes on she knows it is malicious. Who would do this to her? And why?
It could be her ex, Darren, but deep down she knows it must be linked to what happened all those years ago – the night she’s been doing her best to forget…
All she knows is that she has to keep her son safe – no matter what.
Missing
Author: Ruby Speechley
Published: September 27, 2023
299 pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: September 6-13, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Jessica’s Review:
Whoa!!! I’m not a parent, but the book description had me wanting to read this book! And it is a roller coaster of a ride along with the Energizer Bunny: It just keeps going and going! I had no idea how this was going to end! The chapters were shorter which made this one a quick read that I enjoyed and did not want to put down! I didn’t know who to trust or believe.
Missing shows the danger of the internet and social media: How just a few clicks can change a life. And how much we all seemingly believe what we see on there. People’s lives can change for better or even much worse because of Facebook!
Admittedly Ellie did annoy me at first: Just go to the police! I mean there isn’t much that could be done but at least you have a record of what is going on. She did grow on me after a little time.
Ellie is on her own with her three-year-old son Tyler. Ellie’s ex denies that Tyler is his when she insists she was faithful to him. But also during their time together she drank a lot and there was one night were she blacked out. And she has nightmares of a clown.
So yes, if you have a fear of clowns, you might not want to read this one. The clowns were a bit creepy!
The big twist didn’t totally work for me with the villain and everything that happened. But otherwise I did really enjoy this novel! Missing was the first for me by Speechley and I do plan to look into what else she has written!
Order Your Copy here.
About the Author:
Ruby Speechley is a bestselling psychological thriller writer, whose titles include Someone Else’s Baby. Previously published by Hera, she has been a journalist and worked in PR and lives in Cheshire.
Contact Ruby:
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Book Review: The Sacrifice by Indrajit Garai
The Sacrifice
Series: Volume 1 collection of short stories
Author: Indrajit Garai
Published: August 25, 2016
218 pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: July 2-22, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars
Book Description:
In this collection, meet:
Guillaume, who gives up everything to protect his child; young Matthew, who stakes his life to save his home; and François, who makes the biggest sacrifice to rescue his grandson.
Jessica’s Review:
The Sacrifice is a collection of three short stories: The Move, The Listener, and The Sacrifice. I could tell this was an earlier written novel of short stories. His writing has improved as I really enjoyed The Man Without Shelter which was published in 2022, and I gave 4 stars to.
I did not really connect with the characters in The Move and The Listener. I was also confused at the book description says that Matthew stakes his life to save his home, but it was not his home. It was a beloved tree he fought for. I did connect with the characters in The Sacrifice. The Sacrifice actually ended too early for me. I wanted the story to continue!
All of the stories have a commonality: The sacrifices that people make for those and the things they love above everything else. Being an earlier work, I think this one could be edited again to be improved upon. It seems that English is not his main language, which could have been some of the problem I had with not connecting to the characters in the first two stories. Do give Garai a chance and see how he has improved over time!
Many thanks to Estelle, a friend of the author who sent me a e-copy of the novel to read in my own time.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
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Audiobook Review: Death Warrant by Bryan Johnston
Death Warrant
Author: Bryan Johnston
Narrators:
Justine Eyre
Holly Palance
Published: June 21, 2022
Audiobook: 9 hours 34 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: May 8-12, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Book Description:
Death Makes Great TV. Frankie Percival is cashing in her chips. To save her brother from financial ruin, Frankie―a single stage performer and mentalist who never made it big―agrees to be assassinated on the most popular television show on the Death Warrant . Once she signs her life away, her memory is wiped clean of the agreement, leaving her with no idea she will soon be killed spectacularly for global entertainment. After years of working in low-rent theaters, Frankie prepares for the biggest performance of her life as her Death Warrant assassin closes in on her. Every person she encounters could be her killer. Every day could be her last. She could be a star, if only she lives that long.
Jessica’s Review:
I really enjoyed this audiobook! I can almost see that this would be the direction that reality tv would go. Set about 50ish years in the future with main stream references to movies and actors that are famous now which would be considered ‘old’ in the future. With references to certain actors (Tom Hardy) and more. In the future we have the super popular television show Death Warrant. This is where someone has signed up with their consent to be killed on television. When they die, the ‘volunteer tribute’ has assigned a benefactor that gets a portion of the revenue of the show. The more people that tune in, the more money the benefactor receives.
We learn all about Frankie, whom I liked and I wanted her to somehow beat Death Warrant. We learn about her reasonings as well. I had decided about 41% in where this was going and I was partially right, but then… OMG, I was still blown away by the twists! I suspected just about everyone at some point!
I was not surprised to find out that the author, worked in television for 30 years. He definitely took what he knew and wrote a great book with surprises too! There is also some dark humor that I enjoyed in addition to the ‘Old Hollywood’ references.
The narrators are Justine Eyre and Holly Palance. I believe I have listened to Eyre before and she really brought Frankie to life for me! Both narrators did a great job. This is one I would want to listen/ read again now knowing how it ends!
Many thanks to the publisher for making Death Warrant available on NetGalley with ‘listen now’ availability. Because of that I was able to listen to and enjoy a book I had not heard of until I saw it there!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK