#Blogtour Mirror Image by Gunnar Staalesen #GunnarStaalesen @OrendaBooks @annecater #RandomThingsTours #MirrorImage

The Blurb

Bergen Private Investigator Varg Veum is perplexed when two wildly different cases cross his desk at the same time. A lawyer, anxious to protect her privacy, asks Varg to find her sister, who has disappeared with her husband, seemingly without trace, while a ship carrying unknown cargo is heading towards the Norwegian coast, and the authorities need answers.
Varg immerses himself in the investigations, and it becomes clear that the two cases are linked, and have unsettling – and increasingly uncanny – similarities to events that took place thirty- six years earlier, when a woman and her saxophonist lover drove their car into the sea, in an apparent double suicide.
As Varg is drawn into a complex case involving star-crossed lovers, toxic waste and illegal immigrants, history seems determined to repeat itself in perfect detail … and at terrifying cost…

My Review

Varg Veum, the detective who somehow managed to defy the odds of a bad financial position, numerous attempts on his life and a police force who often viewed him with contempt. Staalesen obviously ignored all aspects and once again threw Veum back into the melee of a seemingly impossible investigation of a missing couple and a missing ship.

As usual this was made even harder for Vuem in that this was 1994 and mobile phones were ‘bricks’ and the internet was still in development. Not for Veum the joys of GPS and social media, no this detective had to do it the hard way, a long time since I have read of the need for phone directories.

I have to say it was extremely refreshing and made for a much more interesting read.

There were two strands to this new investigation a missing couple and a missing ship both seemingly unconnected and it definitely kept Veum on his toes.

The couple were the sister and brother in law of lawyer Berit Breheim, who wanted them found but not reported to the police. As the wonderful foot soldier we knew Veum to be Staalesen sent him across Norway to their home, and holiday homes with no evidence of their whereabouts, yet there was one interesting fact, her mother and her lover dead, drowned in their car after an apparent suicide pact.

Cue the seamless switches between past and present as Veum unearthed associates, friends and family members who gave glimpses of a fractured family, of conflicting versions of a love affair and eventual death.

But what of the missing ship, the Seagull, that other strand Veum was tasked with finding? Surely a ship wasn’t that hard to find? Apparently it was but that didn’t stop Veum confronting the odd brutish guard, gatekeeper to the head of the shipping company and keeper of some of the answers. Veum needed help, enter attractive journalist, Torunn Tafjord who also wanted to track down the Seagull. Together they made a formidable team and perhaps if Veum’s on/off girlfriend Karin wasn’t in the background there may have been a little bit of romance! I do love Staalesen’s neat little injections of Veum’s personal life, that there was that odd twinkle in his eye when face to face with an attractive intelligent woman!

Anyway they had to work to do, and their discovery was shocking, and proof that Staalesen was an author before his time, illegal immigration and its requisite horrors there for all to see.

The missing couple were still missing, Berit ever more evasive, unwilling to answer the more pointed questions Veum fired at her. Would we discover the truth?

We need not have worried, Staalesen had it all in hand, finally he gave Veum the break he and we were all waiting for.

It was dramatic, the answers and the characters responsible surprising, great twist, but just what we have come to expect from Staalesen.

The more you read Staalesen the more you have to appreciate his narrative, those wonderful descriptions of the Norwegian landscape. The portraits of his characters are always measured, true and real. There is never huge drama, there doesn’t need to be, he has that inane ability to draw you in with his intricate, intelligent plot lines.

What an ambassador for his country, and who needs a tourist board when you just need to read Gunnar Staalesen.

I would like to thank Orenda Books for a copy of Mirror Image to read and review and to Random Things Tours for inviting My Bookish Blogspot to take part in the blogtour.

About the author

One of the fathers of Nordic Noir, Gunnar Staalesen was born in Bergen, Norway, in 1947 He made his debut at the age of twenty-two with Seasons of Innocence and in 1977 he published the first book in the Varg Veum series. He is the author of over twenty titles, which have been published in twenty-four countries and sold over four million copies. Twelve film adaptations of his Varg Veum crime novels have appeared since 2007, star- ring the popular Norwegian actor Trond Espen Seim. Staalesen has won three Golden Pistols (including the Prize of Honour). Where Roses Never Die won the 2017 Petrona Award for Nordic Crime Fiction, and Big Sister was shortlisted for the award in 2019. He lives with his wife in Bergen.

Blogtour Devil’s Coin by Jennifer McAdam with Douglas Thompson @JenMcAdamUK @AdLibPublishers @MardleBooks #DevilsCoin

THE BLURB

Jen McAdam was a victim of the OneCoin global cryptocurrency fraud, which stole an estimated $27 billion from ordinary people around the world. The evil genius of the scam was its target, society’s ‘unbanked,’ not wealthy investors, and it robbed millions of their livelihood and futures. The poor became poorer.
The brutal plundering led by self-styled Cryptoqueen Ruja Ignatova defied all legal and banking barriers bamboozling financial authorities — until Jen McAdam fought back.
With a £15,000 inheritance from her father, saved from a careful life in a west of Scotland mining town, Jen wanted to invest wisely for her family’s future and was enraptured by the possibilities offered by OneCoin’s promotional material and convincing endorsements from celebrities and financial institutions. They, like all Dr Ruja’s flamboyant promises, were bogus. Jen McAdam was the first victim brave enough to fight back and despite death threats and an intimidating campaign to shut her down, and through a debilitating illness, strived tirelessly for justice – for herself, her family and friends, and the millions around the world who lost everything. She created and continues to lead victims ’support groups and in 2023, as the OneCoin bandits were being punished by international courts, spearheaded a move to get financial compensation for the many whose life hopes were cruelly crushed by the Cryptoqueen.
This is a true David-and-Goliath story. It shows us the power we can have as individuals, even when things seem hopeless.

My Review

It was hard to believe that McAdam was an ordinary woman trying to survive after what can only be described as a difficult life. Domestic violence and life as a single mum is hard but it was made even harder by her debilitating ME.

What McAdam needed was a break, and the death of her father, and a small inheritance provided that opportunity. What better way to make some money and secure her future than crypto currency, after her friend Eileen suggested they take a closer look.

OneCoin promised that future, that security and once in McAdam embraced it all. She recruited friends and family watched her investment rise, any doubts were cast aside until Tom Curry began a bombardment of information, of questions McAdam had buried.

Questions their global leader Dr Ruja batted away, refused to answer. When McAdam realised that they had all been duped, she gave us a sense of her guilt, of her disbelief, numbness but also an incredible fighting instinct that kicked in, that wanted to see the downfall of OneCoin.

Police, FBI, other scammed investors joined forces, but who would have believed it would be so hard, so dangerous. McAdam’s account of what followed was full of detail, of the intricacies of the scam, the depths its leaders would go to make money.

It was cult, a group of people fine tuned to manipulate, to exploit human weaknesses, not afraid to use intimidation, threats and even violence to protect themselves. I was opened mouthed at the descriptions of millions being stored in rooms around the world, the need to spend it, to hide it, yet still they craved more.

McAdam may have received partial justice, in the form of Dr Ruya’s brother and co-scammer turned informant. Dr Ruya’s escape, her whereabouts still unknown means there is always the potential for more victims, for more to fall prey to a woman who appeared to have no conscience, only greed and a sense of selfish entitlement.

How McAdam stayed sane throughout amazed me, but her courage and bravery stood out, and that she is till under threat, unable to attend book signings is sad not only for her but for those who would like to hear in person the lengths this woman has gone to for justice.

After reading and absorbing my thoughts are with Jennifer McAdam and all her fellow victims who continue the fight for total justice.

I would like to thank ADLIB publisher and Mardle Press for a copy Devil’s Coin to read and review and for inviting My Bookish Blogspot to participate in th blogtour

About the author

Authors Jennifer McAdam had a long career in the marketing industry before launching her own consultancy working with IT companies throughout Scotland and abroad. Since 2016 she has worked fulltime, through her online Victims ’Support Group, to fight for retribution for the OneCoin fraud and to see the perpetrators brought to justice.
Douglas Thompson is the Sunday Times bestselling author of many non-fiction books covering an eclectic mix of subjects from major Hollywood biographies to revelatory bestsellers about remarkable
people and events. He divides his time between a medieval Suffolk village and California, where he lived as a Fleet Street correspondent and columnist for more than twenty years.

Available via the following links

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/devil-s-coin-my-battle-to-take-down-the-notorious-onecoin-cryptoqueen-douglas-thompson/7517613?ean=9781802471908

https://www.waterstones.com/book/devils-coin/jennifer-mcadam/douglas-thompson/9781802471908

#Blogpost Someone Like Her by Awais Khan @awaiskhanauthor @OrendaBooks @annecater #RandomThingsTours #SomeoneLikeHer

The Blurb

Multan, Pakistan. A conservative city where an unmarried woman over the age of twenty-five is considered a curse by her family.
Ayesha is twenty-seven. Independent and happily single, she has evaded an arranged marriage because of her family’s reduced circumstances. When she catches the eye of powerful, wealthy Raza, it seems like the answer to her parents’ prayers. But Ayesha is in love with someone else, and when she refuses to give up on him, Raza resorts to unthinkable revenge…
Ayesha travels to London to rebuild her life and there she meets Kamil, an emotionally damaged man who has demons of his own. They embark on a friendship that could mean salvation for both of them, but danger stalks Ayesha in London, too. With her life thrown into turmoil, she is forced to make a decision that could change her and everyone she loves forever.

My Review

Who was Her? Her was Ayesha, 27, unmarried, single child and thoroughly independent woman working for a charity that supported abused women in Multan, Pakistan. There are important words in that sentence, namely unmarried, independent, all anomalies in Pakistani culture. Practically seen as a spinster, a disappointment to her parents who wanted to see her married. The eyes of the wider family looked down on her, on her parents fall from riches, Ayesha was. an embarrassment.

Did Ayesha feel those things? Embarrassment, no but a sense of letting her family down yes. The secret boyfriend, the man she knew her parents would never let her marry was her comfort.

We knew, as the reader her life would not stay that way forever, something had to happen, that Khan would inject something or someone that would alter her life.

Raza, was handsome, rich, charming, the man Khan sent to meet Ayesha, to become obsessed and dare I say it fall in love with her. Was it what Ayesha wanted? That would have been a no, but who doesn’t want to make your parents and family happy and proud.

It was the opportunity Khan needed to take us on a deep dive into the underlying or could we say subversive reality of Pakistani culture.

Women were possessions, there to do the bidding of their husbands, withstand psychological and physical abuse. Their cries for help brushed aside, ignored, it couldn’t possibly be the fault of the husband, the wife must have been bad, forced the husband into taking action.

What about Ayesha? Khan wasn’t going to let her submit, here was a woman who refused to be belittled, owned. Her parents watched, chastised as Ayesha rebelled, refused to bend to Raza’s will until Khan gave us tragedy, wickedness that horrified, and stunned.

Would her parents finally protect Ayesha? It seemed they would as Khan switched the story to London, to Kamil, a young man who struggled with his own demons, his own parent’s expectations.

You expected London to be different, to an acceptance of a more western culture. Yes, to some extent Khan showed us that, but there was still that underlying current, diluted but still there.

Kamil and Ayesha’s friendship was one of mutual respect, of an acknowledgment of their trauma, of support and healing.

A happy ending was on the cards, alas Khan had other ideas as Pakistan arrived in London. Obsession drove the narrative, Ayesha it’s victim, Kamil empowered, a realisation that to get what he wanted he had to fight.

The fight was hard, frustrating, the Pakistani police easily bought by the rich, women second class, not worth the manpower.

The anger rose within the reader yet Khan hurtled on, you held your breath as finally success seemed a possibility.

Social media, the Pakistani youth ripe for change, for freedom rose up to shout out at the injustice.

A final dramatic few pages, an ending that satisfied this reader, their eyes opened to an unknown world.

Yet you didn’t forget the men, that they too suffered, that family forced them into lives they did not want, that they too suffered abuse.

Bravo Awais Khan for a novel that challenged, that lifted the lid on a Pakistan that somehow remained locked in years long past. It’s culture deep and ingrained, a reluctance to change to reform, women belittled, enslaved.

A truly enlightening novel that didn’t preach, but was insightful, intelligent, emotional and one I will not forget.

I would like to thank Orenda Books for a copy of Someone Like Her to read and review and to Random Things Tours for inviting My Bookish Blogspot to participate in the blogtour.

About the author

Pakistani author Awais Khan is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario in Canada and Durham University in the UK, and he is an alumni of the Faber Academy. His debut novel, In the Company of Strangers, was published to great critical acclaim, as was his next novel, No Honour – which convincingly and emotively explored honour killings – was published in 2021. When he’s not writing, Awais teaches a popular online creative writing course to aspiring writers around the world, and regularly appears on TV and Radio in his native Lahore.