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 | Sea Shaken by J.M.Simpson - The Third Instalment In The Castleby Series

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I was very excited to take part in this book review tour, I went from having no idea what to expect from this book all the way to finishing the book with a smile on my face.

Sea Shaken is the third instalment in The Castleby Series, revisiting the many characters of Castleby. Jesse lies in a coma after being pulled off a cliff by a psychopath; whilst said psychopath is hiding and plotting how to find her and kill her once and for all. Sam returns home from Afghanistan after two years of brutal torture in captivity and struggles to cope with his ‘new’ life. With no desire to carry on, will his wife Sophie and son Marcus manage to change that? On top of all this, Castleby is plagued with a series of unexplained deaths among the elderly. Can Inspector Steve and GP Kate solve the murders before more victims appear? 

To be truthful, this was the first book I’ve read in the series. Thankfully Simpson does give a quick explanation of the plot of the other two books so I wasn’t completely lost, and you wouldn’t be either. Although I would always recommend reading a series in order, this is just as great a read as a standalone. 

The way this book is written was a bit confusing for me to begin with. There are quite a few main characters, around six different perspectives, and the perspective changes a few times mid-chapter. However, after the third chapter I really got into the swing of it and quite enjoyed the multi-layer effect it gave the overall plot. I ended up becoming quite invested in the characters and their life's. The characters all have their own thing going on, whether its awakening from a coma or investigating a murder, but they do crossover and all tie together. A little like the ‘New Years Eve’ or ‘Valentines Day’ movies, if you know you know. 

Sea Shaken had me on an emotional rollercoaster. There is small elements of cute, giddy romance that gave me butterflies, happy moments that left a huge smile on my face, heart-wrenching sad moments where I almost cried on the tram and a surprising end twist that left me gobsmacked. Overall the ending was a great way to round off the book, all my questions were answered and the twist really did take me by surprise. I didn’t expect a twist as the plot isn’t very twisty or mysterious but as lover of mystery this was a great surprise. 

Thank you to J.M.Simpson, Becky Smith and Literally PR for including me in this review tour. It will forever mean a lot to a little blogger like me. 
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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