#Blogtour The Guests by Agnes Ravatn #AgnesRavatn @OrendaBooks @annecater #TheGuests #RandomTTours

The Blurb

It started with a lie…

Married couple Karin and Kai are looking for a pleasant escape from their busy lives, and reluctantly accept an offer to stay in a luxurious holiday home in the Norwegian fjords.

Instead of finding a relaxing retreat, however, their trip becomes a reminder of everything lacking in their own lives, and in a less-than-friendly meeting with their new neighbours, Karin tells a little white lie…

Against the backdrop of the glistening water and within the claustrophobic walls of the ultra-modern house, Karin´s insecurities blossom, and her lie grows ever bigger, entangling her and her husband in a nightmare spiral of deceits with absolutely no means of escape…

Simmering with suspense and dark humour, The Guests is a gripping psychological drama about envy and aspiration … and something more menacing, hiding just below that glittering surface…

My Review

There’s always a ‘them’ and an ‘us’. Them that seem to have it all, wealth, success, a life blessed with everything. Then there are ‘us’, money often tight, work dreary, holidays on the cheap. This was Karin and Kai, the ‘us’ hardworking, perhaps fed up of the drudgery but what else was there to do. When Karin bumps into an old school friend a ‘them’, now a famous actress married to an entrepreneur rich husband she reluctantly accepts her offer of a stay in their luxury cabin in exchange for Kai’s joinery skills.

Arrival at the cabin, its luxuriousness and beautiful seafront surroundings are unquestionable, but what about the effect it has on Karin. Ravatn begins to reveal a woman racked with envy, a grudge against the school friend, its roots in an incident long ago. Did Karin want some form of revenge? Perhaps but then Ravatn wasn’t going to be so cliche, or predictable instead she was clever, more sophisticated than that.

Enter the neighbours, an older couple, the woman a famed author, both seemingly reclusive, then add a lie, just a tiny little lie from Karin.

The after effects were like a stone gathering moss as slowly the lie became bigger, Kai adding his own touch. Lunch at Per and Kilma’s, dinner at Karin and Kai’s, the embellishments, were all glorious but also tinged with the danger,of being found out.

Secrets emerged, distrust between Karin and Kai, hidden family issues for Per and Kilma. The pretence continued but with surprising results, a realisation that money, wealth doesn’t exclude its owners from the same problems as those without. Maybe Karin and Kai weren’t that different after all, maybe they had things they could offer others that didn’t need vast amounts of money and wealth. There was one more delicious little twist Ravatn threw in, one small little act that I loved, that anyone could have done, a superb way to end the story for Karin.

This wasn’t a novel of jaw dropping revelations and drama, no it was an examination of the have’s and have nots, of the choices we choose to make. Society is not always fair in its distribution of wealth but does wealth really mean happiness, different problems than the rest? All questions Ravatn examined brilliantly, superbly intertwined in a wonderfully crafted story.

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

About the author

Agnes Ravatn (b. 1983) is an author and columnist. She made her literary début with the novel Week 53 (Veke 53) in 2007. Since then she has written three critically acclaimed and award-winning essay collections: Standing still (Stillstand), 2011, Popular Reading (Folkelesnad), 2011, and Operation self-discipline (Operasjon sjøldisiplin), 2014. In these works Ravatn shows her unique, witty voice and sharp eye for human fallibility. Ravatn received the Norwegian radio channel radio NRK P2 Listener’s Novel Prize for this novel, a popular and important prize in Norway, in addition to the Youth Critic’s Award for The Bird Tribunal which also made into a successful play, and premiered in Oslo in 2015.

#Blogtour One Of The Good Guys by Araminta Hall @AramintaHall @panmacmillan @annecater #RandomTTours #OneOfTheGoodGuys

The Blurb

If most men claim to be one of the good guys, then why do so many women live in fear? This is what happens when two such women have had enough…

Cole is the perfect husband; a romantic, supportive of his wife’s career, keen to be a hands-on dad, not a big drinker. A good guy.

So when his wife leaves him, he’s floored. She was lucky to be with a man like him. Craving solitude, he accepts a job on the coast and quickly settles into his new life. Then he meets reclusive artist Lennie. And though she is quite different from the woman he’d expected, he believes he has finally found a soulmate. But as their relationship develops, two young women go missing while on a walk protesting gendered violence, right by where Cole and Lennie live.

My Review

Cole was a man escaping a marriage breakup , an opportunity to do what he always wanted, a job in the country, a cottage to return to after a long day outside. He was living the dream, the only thing missing, his soon to be ex wife, Mel. What had he done wrong, would there be any chance to get her back. Did we feel sorry for him, yes?

But would a chunk of light appear in the form of Lennie, an artist, residing in a nearby cottage escaping the rat race. Could she be the woman he had always dreamed of?

Tentatively they begin to share the odd meal, a walk, Cole opens up about Mel, her wrong doings, his apparent innocence in the breakdown of their marriage.

The outside world had a way of creeping in, two women missing as they walked the coastal path near Cole and Lennie to raise awareness of violence against women.

In what direction was Hall taking us? Was she suggesting connections between Cole and the missing girls? Were there hints in Cole and Lennie’s fledgling relationship that there was perhaps something a little odd about him.?

I must admit I was pretty ambivalent, I didn’t not like him but then there was something about Hall’s narrative and the little snippets of Cole’s odd behaviour that began to niggle and make me question.

It was only when Hall flipped the narrative to Mel that the full story emerged. Mel was a strong, confident business woman, enthralled and in love with Cole. Their marriage was outwardly happy, the only thing missing a child, a child Cole wanted so desperately. Did Mel feel the same? Maybe not but this wasn’t the only issue.

Will I go into more detail? No, this blog does not do spoilers but this is what I will say.

One Of The good Guys is very much about perception, perception of what people see on the outside, but not what happens behind closed doors, the pain, the hurt Hall’s characters hid so well.

It was Hall’s subtle but brilliant narrative that portrayed coercion, control, psychological warfare that built and built until that person felt powerless, and adrift. But then Hall switched on a light bulb and suddenly that person took action but in an original and quite ingenious way. The risks were huge, the outcome deeply satisfying not only for the individual but also the reader. Some would say it was revenge but I don’t believe it was Hall’s intention. Yes, maybe the person got what they deserved but maybe it was also a comment on a systemic societal issue, that abuse is not always bruises and broken bones.

One Of The Good Guys was a novel that provoked thought, pricked the conscience, and asked questions. An important, cleverly written novel that Hall should be extremely proud of.

I would like to thank Pan MacMillan for a copy of One Of The Good Guys to read and review and to Random Things Tours for inviting My Bookish Blogspot to participate in the tour.

About the author

Araminta Hall is a journalist and teacher. She is the author of five previous novels, including her first novel, Everything & Nothing, which was published in 2011 and became a Richard & Judy read that year. She is the great niece of Dodie Smith and the great granddaughter of Lawrence Beesley, who survived the Titanic and wrote a bestselling account of the tragedy in the book, The Loss of the SS Titanic. 

She teaches creative writing at New Writing South in Brighton, where she lives with her husband and three children.

#Blogtour The Halfway House by Helen Fitzgerald @fitzhelen @OrendaBooks @annecater #RNdomThingsTours #HalfwayHouse #MeetLou

The Blurb

When her disastrous Australian love affair ends, Lou O’Dowd heads to Edinburgh for a fresh start, moving in with her cousin, and preparing for the only job she can find … working at a halfway house for very high-risk offenders.
Two killers, a celebrity paedophile and a paranoid coke dealer – all out on parole and all sharing their outwardly elegant Edinburgh townhouse with rookie night-worker Lou…
And instead of finding some meaning and purpose to her life, she finds herself trapped in a terrifying game of cat and mouse where she stands to lose everything – including her life.
Slick, darkly funny and nerve-janglingly tense, Halfway House is both a breathtaking thriller and an unapologetic reminder never to corner a desperate woman…

My Review

I never quite understood the reason why Australians decide to decamp to the Uk, its weather unpredictable and at times downright awful. Yet if you’re escaping an affair with a sugar daddy and all the stress I guess the Uk and Edinburgh is as good a place as any according to Lou.

From the start I loved Fitzgerald’s Lou, a woman whose life was a veritable car crash, whose idea of a job working in a halfway house for criminals seemed like a holiday.

Her arrival in Edinburgh felt exciting before the prospect of friend Beth’s house full of waifs and strays knocked off the rose tinted spectacles.

But hold on, what nugget of light did Fitzgerald throw but Tim, a handsome stranger that lured Lou in with his charm, and rather large country pile he was in the process of selling. Life was looking up but then we were given Fitzgerald’s halfway house, the site of Lou’s new job and its collection of unscrupulous criminals.

Oh how I laughed at Doug the paranoid drug dealer, Chuggy chat room, Lunchbox, Scotland’s answer to Gary Glitter, Rob the flasher and Timmy the Kid who killed his parents. I can only congratulate Fitzgerald on her unique imagination, they were all brilliant!

Was Lou given a full induction on her first night shift? Absolutely not as the manger revelled in the drama and life’s of the criminals and the only seemingly sane other employee handed her a folder, a bag of never to be put down anywhere essentials and a tour of the house.

Fitzgerald gave us an extra genius piece de resistance which threw a whole other angle to the novel for us to revel in. How would Lou handle the conflict, would she behave or be just a little bit naughty?

It wasn’t the only issue Lou had to deal with, a stalker and feeling that maybe things were about to escalate to a whole new level. And oh did they escalate as the criminals and their lives appeared to crash in on her. Once a criminal always a criminal, no halfway for Fitzgerald’s unscrupulous characters.

The kind offer of a hot chocolate, a quick snooze and Lou’s whole world was about to turn into a nightmare. Locked in a room, a keyhole her only view of what was happening on the outside and she was suddenly literally fighting for her life. Lou hadn’t survived this far in life without being resourceful and clever as she used all her wits and intelligence to outwit the criminals. Criminals who had years of criminality in the bank and this reader was in the edge of the sofa as the battle raged.

The winner? This blogger doesn’t do spoilers, but does say she laughed, cringed and revelled in this clever, humour filled novel. Thank you Helen Fitzgerald for making the dark, wet rainy days of winter so much brighter.

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

About the author

Helen FitzGerald is the bestselling author of thirteen adult and young-adult thrillers, including The Donor (2011) and The Cry (2013), which was longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and adapted for a major BBC drama. Her 2019 dark- comedy thriller Worst Case Scenario was a Book of the Year in the Literary Review, Herald Scotland, Guardian, Sunday Times, The Week and Daily Telegraph, shortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and won the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award. The critically acclaimed Ash Mountain (2020) and Keep Her Sweet (2022) soon followed. Helen worked as a criminal-justice social worker for over fifteen years. She grew up in Victoria, Australia, and now lives in Glasgow with her husband.