Book Review | One Beats The Bush by Riall Nolan - The First in the Max Donovan Adventure Series

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One Beats The Bush is a well-paced action thriller that ticks multiple boxes; page-turning twists, fight scenes, a lot of crime and, more importantly, a main character you cannot help but love. Vietnam veteran Max Donovan is in Bangkok, and very hungover, when his friend “Fat” Freddie Fields is arrested in San Francisco for the murder of an Australian diplomat. He knows his old buddy would never hurt a fly, so he rushes back to the Bay Area to help. Suspecting Freddie is being framed, Donovan tries to rustle up some cash to bail him out, but only succeeds in getting into trouble with the local mob.  He’ll have to solve the case on his own. Unfortunately, the only clue he has suggest the answer lies in the jungle-covered mountains of Papua New Guinea. As he comes face-to-face with smugglers, hostile tribesmen, insurgents, and a web of corruption and deception, can Donovan achieve what is seemingly impossible? Nolan has managed to achieve a page-turning action thriller that doesn’t feel
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Book Review | The House of Footsteps by Mathew West - Easy-To-Read, Gothic Horror

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The House of Footsteps was recommended to me on one of my many drop in visits to Waterstones. The bookseller described it as the book that got them out their reading slump, which sold it to me straight away. But now after finishing, I can totally understand why. The House of Footsteps is beautifully written and contains every part the creepy, gothic horror that I wanted from it. 

Simon Christie gets a dream job cataloguing the private art collection of the Mordrake family, at their Thistlecrook House in the Scottish borders. But from the moment Simon steps off the train he can sense something is off, the atmosphere surrounding the house is unsettling. As night falls a growing sense of unease roils in the shadows around Simon, whilst during the day he struggles to understand who is against him. Simon must uncover the truth of Thistlecrook House, but can he do it before he becomes trapped himself?

My favourite part of this whole book is how well its written! West gets straight into setting the scene and I could vividly picture it all including the train station, the little village and the house. This helped suck me into the story as I was able to completely immerse myself in it. Which was amazing until I decided it was a great idea to read this book in the middle of the night whilst alone in my flat - note to reader, don’t do that! Especially if you already have a weird fear about closed doors at night (like me). That aside, for someone who is only starting to explore gothic horror, the way this book was written and put together was a great introduction. 

Whenever I read a book I am always constantly trying to figure out what is going on, it’s part of the fun, and I was able to slightly figure out the main ‘twist’ in The House of Footsteps. However, unlike with some books, this didn’t ruin any part of the reading experience. It was still a thrill to find out I was correct and see how West would write it out. That being said I did finish with two burning questions, which to be fair I could have just completely missed the answers, but I need to know whats in the folly and who the lady was that Simon left the pub with. So West, if you have the answers pretty please let me know! 

The House of Footsteps is one of them books that I will happily recommend to anyone and do it with ease. If you’re looking for an easy-to-read, gothic horror that will keep you on your toes then this is the one for you. 

A safe space for me to ramble on about the books I’ve read. Don’t expect high quality, news worthy reviews; I’m just a simple woman who needs somewhere to vent! This blog contains affiliated links.

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