Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: Lover

  • THE LOVER

    THE LOVER

    Secrets and lies often eat away at the soul; excitement comes at a price. How long can her extra marital affaire be kept a secret from her husband, family and friends in a close knit community, particularly when the lover is found with his throat slashed in his study?

    Narrator, Rikke feels that her life is in the doldrums, so when the opportunity presents itself she enters into a clandestine liaison with the handsome womanizing Jorgen, who is her upstairs’ neighbour in a small block of flats in Tasen, Oslo.  Towards the end of their relationship Rikki finds Jorgen dead.

    How long will it take the police to discover that she has a key to his apartment? She must act swiftly. Inquiries into the murder lead the police to focus on the four families who live in this quiet neighbourhood; they are the only suspects. As the investigation intensifies, secrets start to unravel; the neighbours become paranoid and suspect each other of the crime.

    This first person Scandi thriller is character driven by individuals who are multilayered, secretive and suspicious. Many readers will enjoy this slow burning psychological thriller, with its many twists and turns which keep you guessing until the final pages.

     ‘The Lover’ Helene Flood’s second adult novel has been translated by Alison McCullough and will no doubt be enjoyed by those who delight in her first popular novel ‘The Therapist’ which was sold in 27 countries. 

  • The Stakes

    The Stakes

    In the end it is all about the money, or is it. Miles Keller is heading towards early retirement, but decides he needs a good deal more money than he earns as a Detective for the NYPD. He has found what seems to be a fool proof, barely detectable way of making sure he retires well.

    But regardless of how careful he is about relieving the department of a percentage of crime based money, it seems there are questions beginning to be asked and he realises that he may need to move out to retirement and another lifestyle, some other place, sooner than anticipated.

    So…, Miles make a decision to relieve a crooked lawyer of some of his illegally gained money and then move far away, under a new alias that is, until things begin to come unravelled in his carefully laid plans. A stake out is going down and he kills the hitman, Jack Deen, deciding that this is not really murder, just getting rid of the unlovely; unfortunately for Miles the higher authorities decide it is anything but and begin an investigation into his part in the shooting.

    Meanwhile his ex-lover Nina, wife of underworld boss Charles, turns up with a deal that he finds he can’t resist, even though he can resist Nina and her advances.  Nina has recently parted company with Charles, but he has decided he wants her back and sends Bobby Deen to get her. Bobby is the cousin of Jack Deen, killed at the hand of Miles Keller, and a man who has been besotted by Nina for many years.

    Things start to go badly wrong for Miles when a sting set up by the NYPD goes terribly wrong with their undercover man getting caught in the gunfire, Nina playing a game of both ends against the middle for her own benefit, and Miles being left to clean up the mess, something he once did for Nina many years ago. He figures she owes him big time, but discovers that you really can’t trust a crook, at all, any time!

    Who can you trust, when it would seem the delicately balanced lifestyle of crime Miles has created, is going to badly affect his dear and long-time friend Lucy, and when it comes to the end of the game, in the final wash-up, who is going to be the winner?

    Fast paced, full of suspense and a storyline that is all too plausible, Ben Sanders latest thriller makes for a great read that once begun, will be seriously hard to put down.

  • Love, Lies and Linguine

    Love, Lies and Linguine

    We meet up with sisters Hester and Harriet as they are about to set off to Italy for their summer holidays. At the airport, Hester is regretting the greasy meal eaten and Harriet is deep in a story on her Kindle. On the surface it would seem that is well between the two as they are about to embarked on a week away in the sunny, romantic location of Moldova, but it is not!

    There is some serious tension between the two which is worrying Hester, as it is not like Harriet to be so remote and aggressive for so long; but what is behind the distress is yet to be discovered; she is just hoping things settle down and not have such acrimony spoil this much anticipated holiday.

    Little do the sisters know that this holiday will bring challenges neither had anticipated; a possible romance for Harriet and throw Hester into something that becomes far larger than anything she has ever had to undertake, with ramifications that will follow both of them back to England at the end of their Italian sojourn.

    Meanwhile, their nephew Ben has managed to get himself into a siltation rapidly growing out of control, as he is talked into holding a party at his Aunt’s house while they are away. Although he realises this is not one of the brightest things he has ever done, there seems to be no way out of the mess in which he has landed.

    And so we are introduced to a wonderfully loveable cast of characters, in Daria and Milo, mysterious Hungarian refugees Harriet and Hester have befriended, her brother  Artem, the wonderfully erudite Finbar and the interesting, intelligent Nat, who all find themselves coming to the rescue of Ben, when his party turns into more than an absolute disaster.

    But meanwhile in Italy, things are changing and shaping by the day, as Harriet is undertaking a cooking course hosted by renowned chef and TV personality Franco Riccardi and Hester has commenced her art course. Harriet has still not divulged what is bothering her, with the tension between the two sisters continuing to grow, until it comes to a head when Hester and one of the other students falls off a pathway and down the side of the cliff.

    This incident sets of a train off events which, while largely unsought, brings life into sharp focus for all involved.

    Written with a lovely warm touch, and a considerable understanding of people, the characters of Harriet and Hester, as well as the other old friends, family and new made friends, come to life until you discover that somehow, you are now part of the ‘family’ and are left wondering just what is in store next for this delightful cast of characters.