Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent

In this “compelling, clever, and dark” (Heat magazine) thriller, a man’s shocking act of savagery stuns a local community–and the revelations that follow will keep you gripped until the very last page. This work of psychological suspense, a #1 bestseller in Ireland, is perfect for fans of Patricia Highsmith and Ruth Ware.
“I expected more of a reaction the first time I hit her.”
So begins Liz Nugent’s astonishing debut novel–a chilling, elegantly crafted, and psychologically astute exploration of the nature of evil.
Oliver Ryan, handsome, charismatic, and successful, has long been married to his devoted wife, Alice. Together they write and illustrate award-winning children’s books; their life together one of enviable privilege and ease–until, one evening after a delightful dinner, Oliver delivers a blow to Alice that renders her unconscious, and subsequently beats her into a coma.
In the aftermath of such an unthinkable event, as Alice hovers between life and death, the couple’s friends, neighbors, and acquaintances try to understand what could have driven Oliver to commit such a horrific act. As his story unfolds, layers are peeled away to reveal a life of shame, envy, deception, and masterful manipulation.
With its alternating points of view and deft prose, Unraveling Oliver is “a page-turning, one-sitting read from a brand new master of psychological suspense” (Sunday Independent) that details how an ordinary man can transform into a sociopath.

Elaine 8
Pauline 8
Sally 7
Trude 8
Jane 9
Janet 8
Cai 7
Rebecca 9
June 8
Christine 7

June T
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The Perfect Murder – our little book for Xmas Dec 14th

The Perfect Murder is a suspenseful and gripping novella from Peter James, the bestselling author of the phenomenally successful Roy Grace series.
Victor Smiley and his wife Joan have been married for nearly twenty years. Victor secretly loathes Joan more and more each day. Joan is bored by Victor, and his snoring drives her mad. Their marriage has reached a crisis point . . .
Victor decides there is only one way to get Joan out of his life for ever, but he’s about to get a nasty surprise. As it turns out, Victor’s not the only one with murder in mind . . .

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Trude’s on Nov 15th – Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada

Berlin, 1940, and the city is filled with fear. At the house on 55 Jablonski Strasse, its various occupants try to live under Nazi rule in their different ways: the bullying Hitler loyalists the Persickes, the retired judge Fromm and the unassuming couple Otto and Anna Quangel. Then the Quangels receive the news that their beloved son has been killed fighting in France. Shocked out of their quiet existence, they begin a silent campaign of defiance, and a deadly game of cat and mouse develops between the Quangels and the ambitious Gestapo inspector Escherich. When petty criminals Kluge and Borkhausen also become involved, deception, betrayal and murder ensue, tightening the noose around the Quangels’ necks …
Afterword written by Geoff Wilkes. Includes scans of the original documents from the investigation, as well as explanatory footnotes.

Elaine 6
Jane 6
Janet 7
Trude 8
Cai 9
June 7
Pauline 9
Sally 7
Christine 8
Rebecca 7

 

 

Trude S
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Turning the Tide by Kirkpatrick & Abrahams

Carlos Lehder Rivas, the kingpin of Colombia’s most murderous cocaine empire. A powerful international businessman and self-proclaimed revolutionary. He made the mistake that would end his career: He invited an American college professor to be his guest on the island of Norman’s Cay… Richard Novak, father of five and lover of the sea, came to Norman’s Cay to study the hammer-head sharks up close. But the college professor soon found himself locked in combat with a global arch criminal who had stared down the police agencies of major superpowers… Norman’s Cay, island paradise of the Bahamas, that, thanks to Carlos Lehder, became the nerve center of the Medellin Cartel, complete with gun towers and a DC-3 landing strip. Here is the amazing true story of how Richard Novak helped bring Lehder to his downfall—armed only with a .357 Magnum, his underwater sabotage skills, and the lone courage of his convictions.

Elaine 7
Cai 7
Jane 7
Pauline 7
Rebecca 8
Janet 6
Trude 7
Sally 7
Christine 7
June 7

Rebecca H
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Second Hand Heart by Catherine Ryan Hyde

 Vida is 19 and has never had much of a life. Struggling along with a life-threatening heart condition, her whole life has been one long preparation for death. But suddenly she is presented with a donor heart, and just in time. Now she gets to do something she never imagined she’d have to do: live.

Richard is a 36-year-old man who’s just lost his beloved wife, Lorrie, in a car accident. Still in shock and not even having begun the process of grieving, he is invited to the hospital to meet the young woman who received his wife’s donor heart.

Vida takes one look at Richard and feels she’s loved him all her life. And tells him so. Richard assumes she’s just a foolish young girl. And maybe she is. Or maybe there’s truth behind the theory of cellular memory, and maybe it really is possible for a heart to remember, at least for a time, on its own.

Second Hand Heart is both a story of having to learn to live for the first time, and having to learn to live all over again.

Christine 8
Jane 6
Janet 6
June 7
Trude 6
Pauline 7
Sally 6
Cai 6
Elaine 6
Rebecca 7
 

Pauline C
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