Eva Jordan reviews

Eva Jordan reviews… Shtum by Jem Lester

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Book Review

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Publisher – Orion

Shtum is definitely a book I will not be keeping shtum about. At times heartbreakingly sad, at others wonderfully witty, although the humour would be best described as dark, this is a candid tale about three generations of the Jewell family and what it really means to live with, and care for, an extremely autistic child.

Married couple, Ben and Emma, agree to do whatever it takes to give their autistic son, Jonah, the opportunity of a better life. Jonah is offered a place at a specialist residential school but Ben and Emma have a fight on their hands with the local authority. To strengthen their case, Ben and Emma pretend to split up, after all, it’s difficult enough to care for a severely autistic child without the added problem of single parenting. Ben and Jonah move out and take up residence with Georg, Ben’s father and Jonah’s grandfather.

The three main protagonists throughout are Jonah, Ben and Georg, and all three are brilliantly drawn and flawed. Ben is immature and never really wants to take responsibility for anything, using alcohol to anesthetise himself. Georg, who clearly adores Jonah, is, at times, overly harsh and judgemental of Ben. However, it is ten-year-old Jonah, who sometimes kicks and bites that I really fell in love with. Unable to talk, Jonah is central to the storyline and, as the blurb says, “lives in a world of his own. He likes colours and feathers and the feel of fresh air on his skin. He dislikes sudden loud noises and any change to his daily routine.”

Be warned though, this is not a sugar coated tale of triumph over adversity, or of amazing parents coping with superhuman qualities. This is a story of heartbreak, pity, and self-blame. However, it is also a story about love, of family and secrets, and a story about fathers and sons, and forgiveness. It is tragically real but also warm, insightful and full of compassion. And, as the story unfolds, what becomes painfully obvious and wonderfully ironic is that, although he has no voice, Jonah speaks much louder and more eloquently than either his father or his grandfather.

Clearly based on the author’s own experience, Shtum is a remarkable story that shines a “no holes barred” light on the everyday reality and struggles some families of autistic children experience. Gritty, funny and poignant, it is a marvellous portrayal of ordinary people managing extraordinary difficulties during day-to-day life, and, one that will stay with me for a very long time.

 

Bowled Over!

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I never fail to be thrilled to bits by wonderful reviews that connect with my work and I’m absolutely bowled over by this recent 5-star review of my debut novel.

183 Times A Year is a wonderful debut novel from Eva Jordan. It is a believable and relatable book about the fraught relationship between a mother and her teenage kids. I love how the story is told from a parent/adult and a teenage aspect. The dialogue flits between the two main characters, and the impact is remarkably funny. It definitely connects with a ‘typical’ family and the ups and downs of everyday life. I was deeply surprised by an unexpected heart wrenching twist to the story that proves, that no matter what conflict exists between parents and teens, they really do love and care for each other. I certainly recommend 183 Times A Year for a good light-hearted read.

Thank you, Alison Waterfield!

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©Photo copyright Eva Jordan 2016

Eva Jordan reviews… Beautiful by Katie Piper

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Publisher – Ebury Press

Several months ago, I had the great honour and pleasure of meeting the writer and TV presenter, Katie Piper. The victim of a horrific acid attack, mostly to her face, neck and upper body, Katie is a shining example of triumph over adversity. Friendly and approachable, Katie, who smiled constantly, proved to be genuinely warm and extremely generous with her time. So, this month’s book review is a work of non-fiction by Katie Piper.

Katie’s autobiography, Beautiful, explains how she was attacked, her life beforehand and the events leading up to that terrible, fateful day. Age twenty-four, living in London, Katie was a beautiful, successful, and ambitious young woman when she was brutally raped by her then-boyfriend, whom she had met on Facebook weeks earlier. Several weeks later she then had acid thrown in her face, also initiated by the same said boyfriend. “I heard a horrible screaming sound, like an animal being slaughtered … then I realised it was me.” However, if Katie’s perpetrator thought she was going to crawl away and hide her injuries from the rest of the world, he was sorely mistaken. He clearly hadn’t bargained for such a courageous and gutsy young woman. Through the love and support of wonderful family and good friends, not to mention an iron will powered by true determination and courage, Katie completely turned her life around. To many, she is both an inspiration and a role model. She is also, I think it is safe to say, still beautiful, incredibly successful and rightly ambitious – despite one man’s attempts to sabotage such qualities.

Some of you may recognise Katie from TV shows like Bodyshockers and Face to Face and like me, you may have read about her terrible ordeal back in 2008, but also like me, you may not have realised the full extent of her injuries, and the pain and suffering she endured, both mentally and physically. “It was just a normal mirror, a round sheet of glass encased in a white plastic frame, but as I reached for it, my hand trembled. ‘Take your time, Katie,’ my psychologist Lisa said gently…But I didn’t do things by halves – I never had…All of a sudden, that normal little mirror became a window into hell.” Katie has had and continues to have, countless operations and skin grafts, she is blind in one eye and because she swallowed some of the acid that permanently scarred her face, neck and arm, she also suffered internal damage, resulting in a great deal of scar tissue around her oesophagus. This left Katie unable to eat and swallow food properly, which again resulted in yet more surgery. Katie makes no attempt to hide the fact she struggled after her attack, describing some very ‘dark’ times, however, this is also a story of hope and inspiration.

Well composed, Beautiful is easy to read but not an easy read. Nonetheless, it is also written with great warmth, humour and aplomb. One woman’s triumph over evil and living proof that life does go on despite, at times, unimaginable difficulties and suffering.

Katie Piper

 

Eva Jordan reviews… Never Alone by Elizabeth Haynes

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Publisher – Myriad Editions

My Review

This is the first novel I have read by crime writer Elizabeth Haynes and I can safely say it won’t be the last. Gripping, thrilling and wonderfully written, for me, it was a real page-turner.

Never Alone is a story about Sarah Carpenter, a middle-aged widow who lives with her two dogs in a remote farmhouse set in the North Yorkshire Moors. Sarah has two adult children, Kitty, her daughter, who is away at university most of the time and her son, Louis, who, although lives locally to Sarah is, for all intents and purpose, estranged from his mother. Still struggling to come to terms with the death of his father, Jim, it’s obvious Louis blames his mother for his father’s death despite the fact it was clearly an accident.

Sarah too is struggling, but her battle is more about isolation, what it means to live alone. ‘She has a house and debts, and, while she doesn’t need to worry about the children any longer, it’s a hard habit to break, worrying.’ Neither particularly happy nor unhappy she is presented as someone who, although on the surface appears to be reasonably calm and collected, is nonetheless floundering. When she first met her husband, Jim, as a young woman at university, although she didn’t love him, at first, ‘he promised to be there for her forever, and it was that permanence that attracted her. The idea that whatever lay ahead, she would have Jim.’ However, when Aiden, an old friend from university, also the ex-best friend of her deceased husband, turns up and agrees to rent the small cottage Sarah has at the back of her farmhouse, Sarah quickly realises she is not alone. And, as the story unfolds, she also realises there are worst things than being alone.

Narrated through two voices, namely Sarah and Aiden, as well as one unknown malevolent voice, it soon becomes apparent Aiden is hiding something from Sarah. The story starts off quite slow then gradually picks up pace culminating in a number of shocking twists and turns.

Easy to read, Never Alone, is a well-written psychological thriller that is as much about human relationships as it is about the human psyche. The characters are well rounded and believable and Haynes cleverly uses the weather (being snowed in), location (the isolation of the moors and the old farmhouse, Four Winds Farm) and animal instinct (the whines, low growls and body language of Sarah’s two dogs, Basil and Tess) to build atmosphere and tension that greatly add to the mounting suspense of this brilliant read. Definitely one I’d recommend.

Eva Jordan reviews… Love and a Dozen Roast Potatoes by Simon Wan

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Publisher – Urbane Publications

You know the hero always gets the girl right? Well, what if the hero gets the girl but she’s not the right girl? Worse, what if the girl doesn’t actually want the hero?

Such is the life of our romantic hero as he negotiates the triple threat of trying to becoming a cheese ball superstar, finding his cartoon princess, and bringing her home for a perfect Christmas roast potato. It’s a life tale of comic disasters, sex (lots of weird sex), relationship nightmares and discovering your nakedness in a world full of people wearing the same old clothes.

Honest, warm, funny and very hip, this is David Nicholls with the tears, the pain and the naughty bits put brazenly on display for the world to see.

My Review

If you like the idea of reading something a little different then this is just the book. Honest and warm with lots of laugh out loud moments plus a couple of weird ones to boot (check out the acknowledgements to give you a bit of an idea), this is the story of one man’s quest to find true love.

As Shakespeare himself famously wrote, “the course of true love never did run smooth” and never has there been a more appropriate turn of phrase when it comes to the complicated love life of Mr Simon Wan. Beginning at the tender age of eight, the author takes us right back to the 1980s and the first girl he fell in love with, Claire. Having only been at his new school for a couple of days, Claire and her friend feel sorry for the half-Chinese boy being teased by the other boys. In a bid to make him feel better, the girls kiss him on the cheek. “The next playtime, the boys who called me ‘chinkychong pong face’ were a little more interested in being my friend…and that probably set the precedent [for my life] for the next thirty-two years.”

With an obvious zest for life and an honest love and appreciation of women (all kinds of women), as well as music and fashion, not forgetting the roast potatoes of course, the writer then proceeds to walk us through three colourful decades of his life and the never-ending story (and yes, that sentence is alluding to a friend of said author who gets a mention in this book – think eighties pop icon with spiky blonde hair) of his search for true love. And it’s all there, the long hot summers, public transport, the video player, mixtapes, skateboards, drink-fuelled fights and drug-fuelled raves – “we drove around the country lanes in the middle of the night searching for phone boxes that would lead us to hidden rave arenas and when we got there we danced until it was a different day. Life was fast. Life was about lasers and ecstasy, nothing could stop us. We had the keys to a brave new world. We were invincible.”

Snappy, fast-paced but easy to read, Wan is masterful at painting pictures with words. He is also brutally honest about himself and although, on the whole, the book remains upbeat and wonderfully witty throughout, Wan doesn’t sugar coat his faults or his mistakes, which in a way only makes him more endearing. He is human and doesn’t try and hide it. Written with great humour and sincerity, if you’re looking for something a little different then I’d definitely recommend Love and a Dozen Roast Potatoes. But be warned – be prepared to feel very worn out after reading it. 

Eva Jordan reviews… Jawbone Lake by Ray Robinson

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Publisher – Windmill Books

Ravenstor, the Peak District. New Year’s Day.

A young woman stands on the shore of a frozen lake and watches a Land Rover crash off the bridge wall and into the ice. Two hundred miles away, a young man is woken by a devastating telephone call. The accident, and what it brings to the surface, will change both of their lives forever.

My Review

Set in a small town in Derbyshire’s Peak District, Jawbone Lake is a compelling and cleverly woven thriller about a young man’s search for the truth behind the disappearance of his father. However, it is also a heartfelt look at life after death and the impact of such on those left behind seen through the eyes of the story’s two main protagonists, Joe Arms and Rabbit.

Living in London, Joe is the successful owner of a thriving software company he set up from scratch after leaving university. However, Joe has had enough of London life and his manic work schedule. He decides to sell the business and leave London for a while. Early one morning Joe receives a phone call from his mother, Eileen, telling him there’s been an accident. His father’s Land Rover, which crashed into a frozen lake off a bridge, has been found but his father, CJ, is missing. With no idea if any other vehicles were involved and no apparent witnesses, the police are somewhat baffled by the circumstances surrounding the accident. Joe’s father is missing, presumed dead. Distraught, Joe sets out to find the reason behind his father’s disappearance only to uncover some unsettling truths along the way. This was the man Joe thought he knew but his quest leads him to a past that began in Hastings and another life in Andalusia in Spain, which throws up the age-old question – does anyone ever truly know someone?

The story’s second protagonist is Rabbit, a young woman who works in the local ice-cream factory who, unbeknown to anyone else, was standing by the lake when CJ’s car went into it. She also witnessed the presence of another car and a man with ‘a dark shape silhouetted in his hand.’ Hers is a mundane existence and one where she is still coming to terms with the loss of her baby son. ‘Sensing the vastness of the water out there, its pull, she was reminded how, towards the end of her labour last year, it felt as though her stomach had created its own field of gravity…And even though he was now gone from her world, she still felt him inside her, floating like a tiny underwater astronaut.’

Although Jaw Bone Lake delves into the murky dealings of the criminal underworld this is not a fast-paced action thriller but rather a look into the aftermath that crime and the loss of a loved one leave on those left behind. The characters are well rounded and the narrative moves along at a steady pace. Robinson’s use of language is beautifully evocative and his description of places and changing scenery simply breath-taking. Robinson is clearly a writer who understands the art of writing and this is definitely a book I’d recommend.

Eva Jordan reviews… In The Shadows by Tara Lyons

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Publisher – Tara Lyons

Detective Inspector Denis Hamilton is tasked with apprehending a brutal murderer stalking the streets of London – and leaving not a shred of DNA evidence. As the suspect list mounts, his frustration and pressure from his superiors intensify.

Grace Murphy, who is dealing with the recent loss of her beloved grandfather, falls deeper into despair when her friends’ bodies are discovered. Fearing she may be the killer’s next target, she begins to question if her horrifying nightmares are the key to unravelling the murderer’s identity.

How far would you go to uncover the truth? Would you venture into the shadows to unmask a killer?

My Review 

In The Shadows is the debut novel by crime writer Tara Lyons and what a gripping read and great start to her writing career it is. Set in present-day London, a serial killer is on the loose and young women are being murdered. The opening sentences of the prologue introduce the murderer and leave little room to doubt the state of their troubled, deeply disturbed mind:

They never found the first dead body. I didn’t want them to. I was in control, powerful, and important. My fingers tightly gripped the smooth black knife handle, and I felt the rush of excitement as the sharp tip pierced her chest. All my energy, power and hate spurred me on, telling me to push harder – so hard that I saw the last breath escape her dark lips and mingle with the frosty midnight air…It was the first time I took someone’s life and the rush was euphoric.

The story unfolds through the voices of three main protagonists, namely the assistant director of a local theatre, Grace Murphy, Detective Inspector Denis Hamilton and, faceless and nameless, the murderer themselves. However, Grace was the character I felt most drawn to throughout the book.

Deeply sensitive, Grace is clearly struggling after the recent death of her beloved grandfather. It also becomes apparent she was either a friend or colleague of some of the murder victims, which of course gives Grace grave concern for her own safety. Does she know the killer and if so is she the next victim? Her sleep becomes plagued by nightmares and more often than not Grace reaches for alcohol, seeking solace at the bottom of a wine bottle, or two. Of course, as should be the case with any good whodunit story, Lyons does a great job of offering the reader a selection of possible suspects including her slightly creepy, slightly inappropriate boss Michael, and Grace’s love interest Eric, who thinks nothing of using women, Grace included, for his own gratification.

At the insistence of her stricken mother, Grace seeks psychological help to try and make sense of her troubled dreams. She agrees to undergo hypnotherapy in the hope of providing some understanding, some link to the murders still taking place around her. With no real evidence or DNA will be Grace be the one to help DI Hamilton and his team?

I became quite invested in the characters of the story, particularly Grace, and my only small criticism is that there was not enough background information on them. Grace was clearly close to her grandfather and there was no doubt she was affected by his death so it would have been both helpful and interesting to have a bit more information as to why the recollection of important or special memories. However, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Grace Murphy so perhaps the writer will tell us a bit more about her in her future novels. Nonetheless, fast-paced with plenty of intrigue and suspense, In The Shadows is a great psychological thriller and a great read.

Eva Jordan reviews… The Vanishing by Sophia Tobin

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Published by Simon & Schuster

When runaway Annaleigh first meets the Twentymans, their offer of employment and lodgings seems a blessing. Only later does she discover the truth. But by then she is already in the middle of a web of darkness and intrigue, where murder seems the only possible means of escape…

My Review

I love historical fiction, Dickens, Conrad, Austen, Eliot, Gaskell and Shelley, not forgetting the brilliant Brontë sisters and yet, I have to admit, it’s been a while since I last read a book in this particular genre. However, after reading Sophie Tobin’s The vanishing, I had to ask myself why?

Beautifully written, this dark tale of intrigue and deception is set against the backdrop of England’s nineteenth-century eerie Yorkshire Moors. Add a brooding Byronic villain who (in the words of Lady Caroline Lamb when referring to Lord Byron) could be best described as “mad, bad and dangerous to know,” a persecuted heroine and a remote setting alluding to aristocratic decay and madness, this atmospheric tale of mystery also bears all the hallmarks of good gothic fiction.

Annaleigh Calvert leaves behind the hustle and bustle of her London life, including her beloved adoptive father, and heads for Yorkshire to take up the position of housekeeper at White Windows, a somewhat decaying mansion nestled among the remote Yorkshire Moors. Annaleigh is also fleeing heartache; only White Windows is not the sanctuary she hoped for. “I felt disappointed,” she said. “I had come here to escape from sadness, and yet the house in that moment seemed the opposite of a place where one could be happy. It seemed to crouch in the rugged landscape, as though cowering from the rain.”

Her employers, the Twentyman’s, are a somewhat aloof brother and sister, Marcus and Hester. They appear pleasant enough however all is not as it seems. Hester, slightly melancholic and “colourless, like a watercolour executed with too much water” relies on opiates to help her constant headaches. Her brother Marcus, at times arrogant and at others troubled, is a contradictory character yet Annaleigh finds herself strangely drawn to her broody proprietor. “He looked at me, and the keenness of his gaze, needle-sharp and perceptive, startled me anew.”

Nonetheless, Annaleigh struggles with the isolation of her new home. And why is she warned by the other two resident servants not to get too close to her employers? And, more importantly, where did the previous housekeeper Kate; disappear to – apparently without a trace?

Although well paced, I did find The Vanishing somewhat slow, to begin with. However, it quickly picked up pace keeping me gripped to the very end. Tobin’s characters are well drawn and her descriptive use of language while both beautiful and haunting is also, at times, amazingly brutal. Through Annaleigh, Tobin explores the historical entrapment of women within domestic space as well as their subjection to patriarchal authority.

However, although subservient, as Annaleigh’s position would have dictated at the time, Annaleigh does discover a strong will and strength of character within herself that is refreshingly at odds with her place in society. The Vanishing is a story of love, betrayal and revenge and the perfect read for a cold day in front of a warm fire.

Eva Jordan reviews… My Husband’s Wife by Jane Corry

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Published by Penguin

What if your life was built on a lie?

When lawyer Lily marries Ed, she’s determined to make a fresh start. To leave the secrets of the past behind.

But when she takes on her first criminal case, she starts to find herself strangely drawn to her client. A man who’s accused of murder. A man she will soon be willing to risk everything for.

But is he really innocent?

And who is she to judge?

MY HUSBAND’S WIFE is a thriller with so many twists you won’t be able to put it down, perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty, Clare Mackintosh and C. L. Taylor.

My Review

An intense psychological thriller, My Husband’s Wife, will keep you gripped to the very end. As with most good thrillers, the short prologue teases the reader by beginning with the end of the story:

Flash of metal. Thunder in my ears…My head is killing me…The pain in my chest is scary. So, too, is the blood…Can a marriage end in murder?… So it’s true what they say about dying. The past comes back to go with you.

This is then followed by several sentences of a newspaper article reporting the death of the artist Ed Macdonald. Stating he has been found stabbed to death, we are left in no doubt that this a tale of murder…or could it simply a case of self-defence? Full of suspense, including chilling insights into the human psyche, Corry skilfully leads the reader down a slippery path littered with intrigue and dramatic twists. We are told from the outset that this story ends with the death of one of its characters but by whom and most importantly – why?

A tale of two halves the story then begins fifteen years prior to the prologue where we are introduced to the two central characters, namely Lily, a fledgling solicitor and Carla, a young school girl and only child of her Italian single mother. Lily, narrated in the first person, is newly married to Ed, an artist, but it is immediately apparent, despite having recently returned from honeymoon, there are problems within the marriage. Lily, having recently been consigned to criminal law is then assigned with the management of an appeal case of a convicted murderer, where Lily, despite her better judgement, finds herself strangely drawn to her client. In the meantime, acting as well-meaning neighbours, Lily and Ed befriend Carla, written in the third person, and her mother. The young married couple agree to babysit Carla from time to time when her mother has to work and Carla finds herself becoming Ed’s muse for his artwork. The story then jumps forward twelve years. Lily is a successful solicitor specialising in criminal law, Ed is the efficacious artist of the painting of The Italian Girl and Lily, now a young woman studying law is hell-bent on revenge. However, as with all good thrillers, all is not as it seems.

This is a classic whodunit with many surprising twists and turns. Corry’s characters are well rounded and believable. At times I found myself liking and disliking them all in equal measure, despite their flaws and bad deeds, because, they are all typically human and as we all know, given the right circumstances, good people are capable of bad deeds just as bad people are capable of good ones. Corry also provides some well-researched insight into autism as well as some thought-provoking observations of suicide, adultery, unknown paternity, and adoption and, of course, murder. Definitely one I’d recommend.

Eva Jordan reviews… Another Love by Amanda Prowse

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Published by Head of Zeus 

Take an intelligent, hardworking woman with a successful career surrounded by a doting husband, beautiful young daughter and all the material trappings anyone could reasonably wish for and you have all the ingredients for a perfect life – right? Wrong – especially when there is another love involved. And when that other love is so great, so alluring, so addictive and so destructive it overrides all rational thought and even the welfare of your own child, it is immediately apparent how caustic and far-reaching such a love can be.

Romilly, quiet, studious and less pretty than her beautiful twin sisters – at least in her eyes – meets David, a fellow student at university. David, gorgeous and popular is well out of Romily’s league “for she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that boys like David Wells didn’t fall in love with bookish, ginger-haired, spectacle-wearing girls like her.” Only, much to Romilly’s surprise, he does. On their first date, Romilly decides she needs a little Dutch courage – just to help calm her nerves. And she isn’t fussy, anything will do, “she needed something to give her confidence, anything that might loosen her tongue and enable her to shine a little in front of this beautiful boy.”

Their friendship blossoms into love, eventually leading to marriage and the birth of their beautiful daughter, Celeste. But, despite a successful career as a scientist, her loving husband, her beautiful daughter and her wonderful house, Romilly continues to reach for the bottle – to manage a visit from her opinionated mother in law, to manage work – to manage life in general. Only, as with most addictions, one glass of wine leads to one bottle, leads to several bottles, leads to many bottles.

Narrated through the voices of Romilly and her daughter, Celeste, Amanda Prowse does a brilliant job of demonstrating the destructive and far-reaching effects alcohol addiction has, not only on the life of the addict themselves but on friends and family too. However, although Prowse doesn’t sugar-coat the consequences of this devastating illness she nonetheless manages to tell it with great empathy. Another Love is definitely one I’d recommended.