Book Review: Like This For Ever

Like This For Ever by S. J. Bolton

The blurb: Bright red. Like rose petals. Or rubies. Little red droplets.

Barney knows the killer will strike again soon. The victim will be another boy, just like him. He will drain the body of blood, and leave it on a Thames beach.

There will be no clues for detectives Dana Tulloch and Mark Joesbury to find.

There will be no warning about who will be next.

There will be no good reason for Lacey Flint to become involved . And no chance that she can stay away.

My review: I am without doubt, a certified fan of SJ Bolton’s work. The only book I haven’t read being her first – Sacrifice, which I will definitely revisit if Like This For Ever is anything to go by.

We’re back with Lacey Turner and Mark Joesbury after the dramatic, and I must say romantic, finale of Dead Scared. I went back to read the last few chapters as the simmering tension between those two could light the national grid! And is well worth a read!

S. J. Bolton is the Queen of the Twist, the Mistress of the Red Herring and the Doyenne of the Disturbed. There are so many hints that you can’t help but try to guess whodunit and I clocked up four guesses before giving up in astonishment at the denouement at the end.

Bolton also makes fantastic use of her locations, London is as much a character in the novel as the people. The damp, unsettled, changeable nature of the tides of the Thames pervades this book.

My only minor flaw in an otherwise perfect diamond, is the character of Dana Tulloch grates on me ever so slightly. I don’t know why, I can’t even put my finger on the cause or effect, I guess in previous books I’ve paid little attention to her as a character and in Like This For Ever she plays a more vital role, is key to the intricacies of other major characters relationships and is therefore more in my firing line.

But that should definitely not put anyone off, this is a highly recommended crime novel, pacey, thrilling and definitely one to immerse yourself in on a cold spring night!

9 out of 10 stars! *********

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Top Ten Favourite Characters in the Crime Genre

This is easy, almost too easy…

1. Hercule Poirot (Hercule Poirot by Agatha Christie)

It is shocking to think the little Belgian detective has overtaken the Grand Dame of Crime but he’s just so cool and he knows it, and he makes sure you know it to!

2. Jane Marple (Miss Marple by Agatha Christie)

The Grand Dame of Crime. Nothing escapes this woman, she is a great observer.

3. Arthur Bryant (Bryant & May by Christopher Fowler)

Edged in above his partner John May, Arthur Bryant is the quintessential English eccentric who just happens to have a brain the size of Kentish Town. A mad genius no less, Arthur needs about five minutes, a lemon sherbet and a book on famous English doorknobs to solve almost any crime. I just wish he could come round to mine for tea.

4. Sherlock Holmes (The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle)

Slightly alarmed it’s taken me to number 4 to add the inestimable Sherlock. What was I thinking… Not sure I was thinking.

5. Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg (Commissaire Adamsberg by Fred Vargas)

I’ve only read no.6 in this series and the character of Adamsberg is as fresh in my mind as the day I read it.

6. Clarice Starling (Silence Of The Lambs by Thomas Harris)

The original independent and completely awesome heroine. I seem to have picked lots of damaged women continuing on to…

7. Camille Preaker (Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn)

Camille is much easier to like than Flynn’s cast in Gone Girl. She’s damaged, conflicted but has a commendable strength of character. Her situation is unique and so is she.

8. Lacey Flint (Now You See Me by S. J. Bolton)

Like Camille, Lacey is damaged, conflicted and completely brilliant at getting to the heart of the humanity in the horror of what’s usually happening on her doorstep (literally her doorstep, the woman needs to move!)

9. Will Trent (Georgia Series by Karin Slaughter)

I’ve only read one Karin Slaughter but I loved the character she created in Will Trent.

10. Peter Grant (Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch)

This is a bit of a cheat. Ben Aaronovitch’s novels are fantasy as well as crime but as a London Police Officer I couldn’t discount Peter Grant. He’s quirky, funny and always ready to try even if things are looking on the doomed side. Gotta love a tryer.

Wow. That was done in under five minutes and I have lots more I could add, such as the amazing duo Rizzoli and Isles in Tess Gerritsen’s novels as well as the utterly slick Jack Reacher created by Lee Child. Louise Penny is brilliant as is Julia Crouch, Wilkie Collins and Laurie King. I might need to take this list to twenty!

(ahhhhh I forgot du Maurier!!!)

Book Review: Dead Scared

Dead Scared by S. J. Bolton

The blurb: When a Cambridge student dramatically attempts to take her own life, DI Mark Joesbury realizes that the university has developed an unhealthy record of young people committing suicide in extraordinary ways.

Against huge personal misgivings, Joesbury sends young policewoman DC Lacey Flint to Cambridge, with a brief to work under-cover, posing as a depression-prone, vulnerable student.

Psychiatrist Evi Oliver is the only person in Cambridge who knows who Lacey really is – or so they both hope. But as the two women dig deeper into the darker side of university life, they discover a terrifying trend . . .

And when Lacey starts experiencing the same disturbing nightmares reported by the dead girls, she knows that she is next.

My review: Sometimes I do silly things. Last week it was starting to read Dead Scared at 8pm one evening whilst the other half was out playing football. At 1am I’m still reading and am petrified.

A small note on back story. I discovered S. J. Bolton through the Transworld Reading Challenge last year and I absolutely love her writing style.  Her books are crime fiction with a twist, there always seems to be an element of the otherworldly running through them, enough for you to get out of bed and just double-check that all the windows are locked. But here’s the mastery, there is no supernatural factors in any of Bolton’s books, logic and reason and pure human evil are always the culprits. To turn fantasy to fact is an impressive quality.

Lacey and Mark, the main two characters we’ve been following since the first novel in what I hope is a very long series, Now You See Me, are perfect for each other. The sexual chemistry is smouldering and handled with finesse. I completely want them to get together because they are meant to be. Like Booth and Brennan in Bones, a perfect fit.

The premise of this story is the manipulation of fear – vulnerable students at Cambridge University are being targeted and exposed to the things they fear the most, until they can stand it no longer. Bolton is brilliant at creating tension until you’re fit to burst. The short chapters in the book make it extremely fast paced, and a technique that really involves the reader, short bursts of information keep you hooked and tied in to the characters fates. I found myself actively worrying about Lacey and what she was doing! Always a good sign. Cambridge as a location is also a beautiful setting and the idea of those towers of intelligence being penetrated and used for evil is really creepy!

If you love crime fiction and haven’t read this yet I highly recommend Dead Scared. The only problem with it is I read it too quickly, I’ll need more from S. J. Bolton soon!

8.5 out of 10 stars! ********.5

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