Book Review - Stop At Nothing by Tammy Cohen - Blog Tour

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Amazon UK

Title: Stop At Nothing

Author: Tammy Cohen

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Transworld Digital

Publication Date: 18th July 2019

Rating: 5 Stars

A mother’s job is to keep her children safe.

Tess has always tried to be a good mother. Of course, there are things she wishes she’d done differently, but doesn’t everyone feel that way?

Then Emma, her youngest, is attacked on her way home from a party, plunging them into a living nightmare which only gets worse when the man responsible is set free

But what if she fails?

So when Tess sees the attacker in the street near their home, she is forced to take matters into her own hands. But blinded by her need to protect her daughter at any cost, might she end up putting her family in even greater danger?

There’s nothing she wouldn’t do to make it right . . .

From the moment I read the blurb of this book I was utterly convinced I knew what direction it would take....to the extent that was I read reading it, I was trying to match up the words to where I thought it would go - right up until the moment I realised I was so far away from reality and was completely wrong! 

Delighted to say I was wrong because as a result this book was far more gripping and twisty, and really did keep me on my toes. 

This really is a book about the power of a mothers love - but at the same time just how fragile a mental state can be when masses of big life events all occur within a relatively short space of time. 

Her younger daughter Emma has without a doubt been through and ordeal, although it could have been a whole lot worse, and you are thrown into the drama quite quickly.  At the same time you glean that Tess has an older daughter who she seems to be distanced from and all I wanted to to was know why, which kept me turning the pages. 

What really had me intrigued and got me thinking were the small chapters between chapters written italics in a rather creepy way - I must have changed my mind many many times as to who that voice was - and I'm still not completely sure I have pin pointed it. 

This is a rather clever psychological drama, there isn't a body count, but there are police involved, its all from Tess's perspective and you really had a great insight into her mental state.  I was quite happy to believe everything she says, so was quite happily being led down some dead ends. 

Stop At Nothing started off by gripping me, and then as it progressed wouldn't loosen its hold, so I didn't put it down until I had finished it. 

Another fabulous book from an author I love reading, definitely highly recommended. 

Thank you to Transworld and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Please do take a look at all the other fabulous bloggers on this tour to see their thoughts. 

Book Review - They All Fall Down by Tammy Cohen

Amazon UK

Title: They All Fall Down

Author: Tammy Cohen

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Transworld Digital

Publication Date: 13th July 2017

Rating: 4 Stars

Hannah had a normal life – a loving husband, a good job. Until she did something shocking.

Now she’s in a psychiatric clinic. It should be a safe place. But patients keep dying.

The doctors say it’s suicide. Hannah knows they’re lying. 

Can she make anyone believe her before the killer strikes again?

A very interesting psychological suspense story, with one unreliable narrator, one relatively biased narrator and a third narrator who pops up from time to time, but who I felt I got to know more in the others sections. 

The three narrators are all women, and all quite different. One works in a psychiatric clinic, one who has been admitted to the clinic and her mother.  At first you aren't completely sure why Hannah has been admitted to this facility, but slowly her story starts to emerge. 

And its as the story starts to emerge you are lead to wonder if the conclusions she is drawing about the deaths of other people in the clinic, are true or just further delusions. 

I found the setting to be rather fascinating, especially with the range of mental illnesses being displayed, in largely realistic and sympathetic tones. We get to know some of the other patients and their quirks, as well as some of the therapists. 

The main question is whether Hannah's life is potentially in danger, and will anyone believer her before its potentially too late.  However its Corrinne I perhaps liked the most, she was determined to investigate certain things both of her own findings and also some of Hannah's suspicions. 

As each new piece of information was revealed, it compelled me to continue reading to see how it would play out. 

They All Fall Down is  a very good book, that is compelling in places, and just interesting in others. It's very well written, and I'm glad I gave it a go despite the difficult subject matter. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Transworld for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - Dying for Christmas by Tammy Cohen - Back Catalogue Books

Back Catalogue Books is my new regular Saturday feature, focusing on books that are not the latest releases. There is going to be a mix of Q&As and also reviews, depending on what I have the space for. 

If you are an author wanting to take part in Back Catalogue Books then please do email on gilbster at gmail dot com and I'll whizz the questions over to you. 

I hope everyone enjoys this weekly look back at some of the slightly older books that are about but still great, and that I eventually make a dent in my TBRs as a result of it! 

This week I am reviewing a book that was on my Christmas books spreadsheet, which despite having Christmas in the title, is as far removed from the other festive books on my blog as you will get.

Amazon UK

Title: Dying for Christmas

Author: Tammy Cohen

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Transworld Digital

Publication Date: 20th November 2014

Rating: 5 Stars

I am missing. Held captive by a blue-eyed stranger. To mark the twelve days of Christmas, he gives me a gift every day, each more horrible than the last. The twelfth day is getting closer. After that, there’ll be no more Christmas cheer for me. No mince pies, no carols. No way out …

But I have a secret. No-one has guessed it. Will you?

Honestly have no idea how to review this book, I can't say too much about the plot, or the secret hinted at in the blurb as there is far too big a risk of spoilers. 

What I am willing to say is that I have just read about some of the most sick and twisted characters, I've seen yet, in a plot that is fascinating, and utterly gripping. I was racing through the pages both in shock at what was happening, and then later just what the big reveals were. 

The writing is in a way fairly intense, and the way the book has been written, keeps you guessing at all times. One of the hooks are the 12 presents that are given, one for each of the 12 days of Christmas, to the captive complete with the fragments of character history that are revealed with each gift. 

I found myself practically gasping at some of what was occurring in the story, and I loved how at all times we  had two points of view One of the horrific twelve days of Christmas as it played out, and also of the the policewoman, who has a young family, and but is determined to do everything she can to further her career, and is convinced the case of this missing woman, Jessica Gold will do just that. 

Dying for Christmas is clearly the work of someone with a fairly twisted mind, but who thankfully can write amazing books. I was hooked for the whole book and read it in 3 sittings, within a day. Incredibly good writing, description but most of all characterization which were so realistic, and everything was very cleverly portrayed. 

Book Review - When She Was Bad by Tammy Cohen

Amazon UK

Title: When She Was Bad

Author: Tammy Cohen

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Transworld

Publication Date: 21st April 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

YOU SEE THE PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH EVERY DAY.

BUT WHAT CAN'T YOU SEE?

Amira, Sarah, Paula, Ewan and Charlie have worked together for years - they know how each one likes their coffee, whose love life is a mess, whose children keep them up at night. But their comfortable routine life is suddenly shattered when an aggressive new boss walks in ....

Now, there's something chilling in the air.

Who secretly hates everyone?

Who is tortured by their past?

Who is capable of murder?

I must have been hiding under a rock for the past few years, as the brilliance of Tammy Cohen has clearly passed me by until this book. I'm, ashamed to say this is the first book I have read by the author, but after spending the last few hours engrossed in the story and unable to put it down at all, I have to say this will definitely not be the last. 

When She Was Bad is a very cleverly crafted story with multiple viewpoints, and two stories being told concurrently, with no way of being able to predict even half the outcome. The last section of the book has left me reeling as the reveals kept coming at one one point I even exclaimed out loud. 

There is the story of Dr. Anne Cater the psychologist relaying her participation in a case many years ago, when she was still learning her craft, and the horrors that her patient dealt with will stay with me for a long time. 

Then the other story and one that gets the majority of the book, is about an office of normal people, until the day a new boss is hired, one who favours the divide and conquer style of management. A ruthless sort who is determined to do everything to prove to the bosses that the correct decision was made. However everyone in the office is suddenly on edge at this new hire, and the dynamics start to change.

We learn a lot about the current situations of Amira, Sarah, Paula, Ewan, Charlie as well as office junior Chloe, including just how the new boss is manipulating each of them and their positions, or trying to drive them out. There are clear favourites in play, but yet they are all just regular people. 

But at the start of the book, its clear that something, although you're not really sure what has gone on, in England, where this office is based, which is of interest to the news broadcasts, which is the hook, as I desperately had to continue reading to see just what happened and if any of my theories were correct. 

 When She Was Bad is unlike some of the other psychological thrillers I've read recently, it didn't make me feel in danger, and wasn't too graphic most of the time, but does delve into the minds of people and how certain events and affect you for life.

I found When She Was Bad a brilliant story, that had me second guessing it constantly and that thankfully I didn't read on a work night, as it kept me reading the whole way through, without taking a break. I would recommend curling up on the sofa, and just relax into the book for an evening. 

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Transworld for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.