Louise is a single mom, a secretary, stuck in a modern-day rut. On a rare night out, she meets a man in a bar and sparks fly. Though he leaves after they kiss, she’s thrilled she finally connected with someone. When Louise arrives at work on Monday, she meets her new boss, David. The man from the bar. The very married man from the bar…who says the kiss was a terrible mistake, but who still can’t keep his eyes off Louise. And then Louise bumps into Adele, who’s new to town and in need of a friend. But she also just happens to be married to David. And if you think you know where this story is going, think again, because Behind Her Eyes is like no other book you’ve read before. David and Adele look like the picture-perfect husband and wife. But then why is David so controlling? And why is Adele so scared of him? As Louise is drawn into David and Adele’s orbit, she uncovers more puzzling questions than answers. The only thing that is crystal clear is that something in this marriage is very, very wrong. But Louise can’t guess how wrong―and how far a person…

I was dead for 13 minutes. I don’t remember how I ended up in the icy water but I do know this – it wasn’t an accident and I wasn’t suicidal. They say you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but when you’re a teenage girl, it’s hard to tell them apart. My friends love me, I’m sure of it. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t try to kill me. Does it? I enjoyed my recent dalliance with crime, so I decided it was time for a little bit more. In order to mix things up however, I decided that rather than go with another traditional tale, I’d try reading a novel with more of a modern, psychological bent. At first glance, Natasha appears to have it all. She is unquestionably the most popular girl in school, she has friends who would do anything for her and she is on the fast track to great things. It was easy to imagine that there would be many who would want to be near her or even be exactly like her. So why then, would someone want her gone? If she is so universally popular, who has it in…

Toby’s life was perfectly normal . . . until it was unravelled by something as simple as a blood test. Taken from his family, Toby now lives in the Death House; an out-of-time existence far from the modern world, where he, and the others who live there, are studied by Matron and her team of nurses. They’re looking for any sign of sickness. Any sign of their wards changing. Any sign that it’s time to take them to the sanatorium. No one returns from the sanatorium. Withdrawn from his house-mates and living in his memories of the past, Toby spends his days fighting his fear. But then a new arrival in the house shatters the fragile peace, and everything changes. Because everybody dies. It’s how you choose to live that counts. As a rule, the things that frighten me are the things I tend to become most obsessed with. Death is right up there at the top of the list. It’s that ultimate fear of the unknown and I actively spend a great deal of my free time thinking about it. I know that may sound a horribly morbid, but honestly it not. I’ve come to the conclusion that this…

Hard to believe I know, but there are not one but two important anniversaries happening this week. First, I’m having a significant birthday *cough* 40 *cough* and far more importantly my silly little book review website is 4 YEARS OLD. Yes I was surprised at both things happening as well. In order to celebrate the cosmic alignment of these two auspicious events I have decided to try something a bit new (well new for me any way). So sit back, relax, and enjoy my first attempt ever to create a video blog* *I apologise about my face in advance. Feel free to just close your eyes and just listen to the video if you wish, I won’t be offended….much. Just be glad you didn’t see the un-edited footage. SO MANY SWEAR WORDS. It just remains for me to say a quick thank you to everyone who helps to make this site possible, you know who you are. You’re all seventy five difference shades of awesome and I would entirely, utterly and completely lost without you. Till next time people of the Internet, like the video said, go read a book!

Please note Murder is a direct sequel to Mayhem. It is entirely possible that this review may contain spoilers if you have not read the first book in this duology. Dr Thomas Bond, Police Surgeon, is still recovering from the events of the previous year when Jack the Ripper haunted the streets of London – and a more malign enemy hid in his shadow. Bond and the others who worked on the gruesome case are still stalked by its legacies, both psychological and tangible. But now the bodies of children are being pulled from the Thames… and Bond is about to become inextricably linked with an uncanny, undying enemy. When we last met Dr Thomas Bond he, and his small group of allies, had defeated an evil that was stalking the streets of London. That encounter had left everyone it touched fundamentally changed. Years have passed and Bond is still suffering from the after effects. When evil resurfaces in the city, he is once again compelled to intercede but is the doctor strong enough to survive a second battle? In some chapters the point of view shifts from the good doctor to various other characters. Julianna Harrington and Henry Moore both…

LIFE CAME OUT OF AFRICA…  But now it’s death’s turn….  It spreads like a plague but it’s not a disease. Medical science is helpless against the deadly autoimmune reaction caused by the bite of the swarming African flies. Billions are dead, more are dying. Across the world, governments are falling, civilization is crumbling, and everywhere those still alive fear the death carried in the skies.   Some say the flies are a freak mutation, others say they’re man made, but as hope of beating them fades, most turn to the only comfort left and see the plague as God’s will. He sent a deadly deluge the last time He was upset with mankind. This time He has darkened the sky with deadly flies. And perhaps that is true, for so many of the afflicted speak with their dying breaths of seeing God coming for them.   But not everyone dies. A very few seem immune. They call themselves mungus and preach acceptance of the plague, encouraging people to allow themselves to be bitten by “the flies of the Lord” so that they may join Him in the afterlife.   Nigel, an investigative reporter, searches the apocalyptic landscape of plague-ravaged England in search of…

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have probably noticed that I’ve reviewed The Language of Dying before. I read the PS Publishing edition and utterly adored it. The novella is being re-released by Jo Fletcher Books today and as it is so bloomin’ good I thought someone else’s opinion might be worth exploring.  Over to @MadNad for her thoughts… Tonight is a special, terrible night. A woman sits at her father’s bedside watching the clock tick away the last hours of his life. Her brothers and sisters – all traumatised in their own ways, their bonds fragile – have been there for the past week, but now she is alone. And that’s always when it comes. As the clock ticks in the darkness, she can only wait for it to find her… Like me, I imagine there are some authors you hate, some you like, some you love, and some you would read anything they wrote just because it came from them. I have four authors that fit into that category: Neil Gaiman, Mark Chadbourn, Joe Hill and Sarah Pinborough. What book was it that added Ms Pinborough to this exclusive list? The Language of Dying. I read this novella a…

It’s that MadNad person again. This time she is casting her beady eye over Sarah Pinborough’s latest. Beauty is a beautifully illustrated retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story which takes all the elements of the classic fairytale that we love (the handsome prince, the ancient curse, the sleeping girl and, of course, the haunting castle) and puts a modern spin on the characters, their motives and their desires. It’s fun, contemporary, sexy, and perfect for fans of ONCE UPON A TIME, GRIMM, SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN and more I had been eagerly awaiting the final part in Sarah Pinborough’s fairy tale trilogy. I thoroughly enjoyed Poison and Charm, so I was confidant I would enjoy Beauty. I was wrong. I loved it! Probably my favourite of all three, Beauty wraps up, or more accurately, closes the story loop as chronologically the events here happen prior to Poison. The Huntsman is one of the central characters in this piece which cleverly ties it to the other two parts. Other characters from other stories are interwoven, but this character particularly seems significant in all three parts. An ever-present Prince, and a red-cloaked maiden complete the lead ensemble. Beauty is loosely based on…

Time from another guest review from MadNad…  It’s Cinderella, but not as you know her… Imagine an enchanted footman, two ugly sisters, a magical ball and a romance to remember . . . and now turn the page for the true tale of Cinderella, told the way it always should have been . . . As Mr Cheesecake tasked me to review Poison, it seemed logical that I would also review Charm, the second in a trilogy of adult fairy tales from Sarah Pinborough, when the opportunity arose. Boosted by the large and small screen revival of fairy tales, this series of books from Gollancz are perfectly timed. I will state, in the spirit of full disclosure, that despite growing fond of shows like Grimm and Once Upon A Time, I probably would not have picked this book up, and I would have missed out on a treat. I am never one to turn down an opportunity to read any of Pinborough’s work, although previous things of hers I have read are more horrific in nature. Her writing is so unbelievably skilled. She has a way of painting a picture with a few well-chosen words that leaves me breathless, and…

When a rotting torso is discovered in the vault of New Scotland Yard, it doesn’t take Dr Thomas Bond, Police Surgeon, long to realise that there is a second killer at work in the city where, only a few days before, Jack the Ripper brutally murdered two women in one night. Though just as gruesome, this is the hand of a colder killer, one who lacks Jack’s emotion. And, as more headless and limbless torsos find their way into the Thames, Dr Bond becomes obsessed with finding the killer. As his investigations lead him into an unholy alliance, he starts to wonder: is it a man who has brought mayhem to the streets of London, or a monster? Earlier this week @Madnad took a look at Poison by Sarah Pinborough. Only two days later and I’m reviewing another new release from her. We find ourselves asking the tricky question – Is it possible to achieve the double and have two great Sarah Pinborough books released within the space of one week?* When it comes to darker fiction there is something wonderfully evocative about Victorian London isn’t there? Foggy streets and dark lonely alleyways feel like the ideal habitat for a sadistic killer. At…

Time to kick off what I’m tentatively calling “Sarah Pinborough Appreciation Week” here at The Eloquent Page. I can think of no better way to begin than with a guest review so without any further nonsense, let me hand you over to my better half @MadNad.  It’s Snow White, but not as you know her… Take a wicked queen, a handsome prince, a beautiful princess, and a poisoned apple… … and now read the true story of Snow White, told the way it always should have been… Like a lot of adults, I don’t usually read fairy tales. However, due to the popularity of shows like Grimm and Once Upon A Time, fairy tales are now once again in vogue and are being read not only by children. In the first of what is a trilogy of adult fairy tales, Sarah Pinborough has written a version of Snow White that has enough elements in it to appear familiar to those of you who read this as a child, but is retold in a way that will open your eyes to questions that your younger self never knew it had. The story is set in a timeless fantasy world of multiple…

A woman sits beside her father’s bedside as the night ticks away the final hours of his life. As she watches over her father, she relives the past week and the events that brought the family together . . . and she recalls all the weeks before that served to pull it apart.  There has never been anything normal about the lives raised in this house. It seems to her that sometimes her family is so colourful that the brightness hurts, and as they all join together in this time of impending loss she examines how they came to be the way they are and how it came to just be her, the drifter, that her father came home to die with. But, the middle of five children, the woman has her own secrets . . . particularly the draw that pulled her back to the house when her own life looked set to crumble. And sitting through her lonely vigil, she remembers the thing she saw out in the fields all those years ago . . . the thing that they found her screaming for outside in the mud. As she peers through the familiar glass, she can’t help…

Once again I’ve have managed to coax another review out of that marvellous fellow @SamaelTB,  which is not as easy as you might think. This time out he casts his beady eye over A Matter of Blood by Sarah Pinborough. As ever a big thanks goes to Sam for his efforts. The recession that grips the world has left it exhausted. Crime is rising in every major city. Financial institutions across the world have collapsed, and most governments are now in debt to The Bank, a company created by the world’s wealthiest men. But Detective Inspector Cass Jones has enough on his plate without worrying about the world at large. His marriage is crumbling, he’s haunted by the deeds of his past, and he’s got the high-profile shooting of two schoolboys to solve – not to mention tracking down a serial killer who calls himself the Man of Flies. Then Cass Jones’ personal world is thrown into disarray when his brother shoots his own wife and child before committing suicide – leaving Cass implicated in their deaths. And when he starts seeing silent visions of his dead brother, it’s time for the suspended DI to go on the hunt himself – only…