The Cleaner of Chartres by Sally Vickers : Review

The Cleaner of Chartres by Sally Vickers

I was inspired to read this novel following a talk given by the author Sally Vickers at Wellington Literary Festival in October 2014. Sally talked about her time as a psychoanalyst and how her travels to France and Italy inspired her writing.  It was an interesting talk and as a result I felt encouraged to read one of her novels. Her novel The Cleaner of Chartres was part of the Literary Festival display in my local library.

Synopsis
"There is something very special about Agnès Morel. A quiet presence in the small French town of Chartres, she can be found cleaning the famed medieval cathedral each morning and doing odd jobs for the townspeople. No one knows where she came from or why. Not Abbé Paul, who discovered her one morning twenty years ago, sleeping on the north porch, and not Alain Fleury, the irreverent young restorer who works alongside her each day and whose attention she catches with her tawny eyes and elusive manner. She has transformed each of their lives in her own subtle way, yet no one suspects the dark secret Agnès is hiding.

When an accidental encounter dredges up a series of tragic incidents from Agnès’s youth, the nasty meddling of town gossips threatens to upend the woman’s simple, peaceful life. Her story reveals a terrible loss, a case of mistaken identity, and a cruel and violent act that haunts her past. Agnès wrestles with her own sense of guilt and enduring heartbreak while the citizens piece together the truth about her life."

My review
I really struggled to get into this book, I was just not hooked by the story. The book is only 296 pages, which for me is a short read and for that I was grateful. I found the first 200 pages slow going, and a number of the characters unlikeable, and as such I was not interested in their story. The pace picked up in the final 90 pages, when I did start to enjoy it. In fact I was almost surprised by the slight twist of discovery at the end of the story.  Though nothing is confirmed by the author it is left with the reader to interpret the evidence. On a positive note, I did enjoy the interaction between Alain and Agnes, and found their exchanges of knowledge and wisdom endearing.The history behind the architecture of the cathedral was fascinating, and cleverly told through Alain.

I do not like to give up on a book, hence the reason why I continued to read this book to the end, and the story did improve towards the end.  I am just grateful  though that I borrowed this book from my local library and did not buy it.

I gave this book 2 stars out of 5 on Goodreads where it had an average of 3.7 stars.

To find out more about the book or the author Sally Vickers visit the following links.

Goodreads ~ The Book Depository  ~  Amazon

Angela

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BOOK TOUR: Greed Manifesto by John W. Mefford

NEW RELEASE.....
Everyone needs a guardian angel, especially children of this world who are tossed aside like yesterday's trash. But what if that angel is cloaked in vengeance, immune to human qualities of remorse or compassion, seemingly carrying a torch for justice, yet driven by a tenacious indignation.

Set against the awe-inspiring backdrop of San Francisco and all of its fleeting secrets, Michael attempts to re-boot his life, only to see death drop inches from his feet. Awakened from a seemingly catatonic state, and emboldened by a spirited friendship from his past, the former journalist is compelled to chase down the truth behind a murder--and the natural beauty connected to it.

But what he finds isn't what it appears.

Can a price tag be associated with life? What about death…on a global scale? Robbed of his memory, beaten to an inch of his life, yet unwavering in his quest to cease an act of terror, Michael races against time to pursue an enemy bound by an unspeakable cause--or so it seems.

The fourth book in the Greed series, GREED MANIFESTO, spins a tale so wickedly conceived, you won't believe what you read. Until you do.

Buy the book from.....

Amazon.co.uk    Amazon.com    Barnes and Noble    Kobo    Apple   

Also in the Greed Series
FATAL GREED - Greed Series #1

Behind every corporate takeover executives pull levers this way and that, squeezing the last profitable nickel out of the deal. But no one knows the true intent of every so-called merger. No one knows the secret bonds that exist. An Indian technology giant swallows up another private company that has deep roots in North Texas. For one unassuming man the thought of layoffs, of losing his own job to a bunch of arrogant assholes feels like a kick to the jewels. Until the day Michael's life changes forever. Perverse alliances. A gruesome murder. An affair of the heart. A spiraling string of events thrusts Michael into a life-or-death fight to save a tortured soul and hunt down a brutal killer...one who lurks closer than he ever imagined.


LETHAL GREED - Greed Series #2

How often do start-up companies promise untold riches? How many of those firms are drug cartels?

Seduced by an insatiable urge to escape reality, North Texas teens are falling prey to the one weakness parents fear most about their kids—taking illicit drugs. More than a thousand miles away, two contemptible hooligans plot their path to the top of an emerging start-up company. But what will it cost them?

With his city under siege by a series of drug deaths and a kidnapping, Michael and those closest to him are sucked into a twister so toxic and destructive, no one will be the same in its wake.

From the jagged mountains and alluring beaches of Mexico to the suburban concrete jungle in North Texas, Michael defends an entire drug-ravaged generation against ruthless killers who attack on every front possible. And just when you think the dragon has been sleighed, a vile act of cruelty threatens to shred his family.

WICKED GREED - Greed Series #3

Torture disfigures and maims, traumatizing a person’s psyche. It also torments the lives they…touch. A sick, twisted email lands at journalism outlets across the south, referencing innocent little animals and primal urges, Hollywood movie stars and women of a certain ilk, tearing flesh from bone. The haunting note tests Michael’s over-protective nature, and he questions if it’s just a prank from a sheltered computer geek, or a prophetic sign of a future heinous act, A shadow of death swallows up one beautiful young lady after another…and no one can stop it. But what force is behind this string of sadistic killings, pulling the strings, toying with pretty girls who want nothing more than to meet Mr. Right? As Michael and his band of brothers (and sister) track a series of bizarre murders in southern college towns—slowly piecing together what the FBI can’t—a ruthless monster strikes close to home. When blood pours from the soul you love, the pain isn't of this world. In the end, lives will be forever changed. And one will not survive.

About the Author

A veteran of the corporate wars, former journalist, and true studier of human and social behavior, best-selling author John W. Mefford has been writing novels since he first entered the work force twenty-five years ago, although he never put words on paper until late 2009.

John writes novels full of intrigue, suspense, and thrills, but they also evoke an emotional connection with the characters.

When he’s not writing, he chases three kids around, slaves away in the yard, reads, takes in as many sports as time allows, watches all sorts of movies, and continues to make mental notes of people and societies across the land.

John lives in Frisco, Texas with his beautiful wife, three opinionated kids, and a feisty fat cat who rules the world.

Follow the Author

Website   Facebook   Twitter   Google+   Goodreads 

Follow the book tour

I received this book to review through Beck Valley Books Book Tours, all the opinions above are 100% my own.

NOW FOR THE AUTHOR'S GIVEAWAY !!

Win $50 Amazon GC / Paypal Cash
(winners choice)

courtesy of Greed Manifesto author, John W. Mefford

Ending on Sunday 16th November at 11.59pm EST

Open Worldwide

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Petit Four | Release Date!

Today sees the release date of Petit Four  and I can't wait - it looks amazing! For now though, here is a little bit about the book itself:

Petit Four

Edited by Lucie Simone

Cake is often a major part of life’s celebrations, both big and small. From birthdays to wedding days, cake, in all its delectable concoctions, marks joyous occasions with a sweetness that can’t be beat. But even better is the love that is shared when two people connect over a sweet confection. Maybe it’s a cute new guy wreaking havoc on a broken heart, or a beautiful woman testing the limits of love, or an old beau stirring up long lost desires. Whatever the circumstances, cake can always be relied upon to save the day when it comes to affairs of the heart. In this collection of short stories, cake is the delicious center around which each tale unfolds and romance blooms.

When single mom and journalist, Olivia, sets out to find romance in Cindy Arora’s “Cake Therapy,” she gets a little help from her friends and more than a few slices of cake to coax her off the couch and into the arms of a truly great love. Lucie Simone’s “Aprez Vous” finds success-driven Tara in Paris reminiscing of her long lost love, Jean Marc, and her niece bound and determined to reunite them. In “The Heart-Shaped Secret of Raspberry Jam” by Sue Watson, cake enthusiast, Milly, meets her match in the kitchen, and other places, when new owners take over the tea rooms where she works and her talents and her heart are put to the test. And Scott, mayor of a small seaside community, flirts with political suicide in Joel Zlotnik’s “Her Charms” when he falls for new-in-town Nicole, an entrepreneur with a passion for cupcakes, and whose latest venture proves a little too sexy for the sleepy beach town.

From San Francisco to Paris, from small towns to tea rooms, this anthology tempts readers with humor, style, romance, and the powerful aphrodisiac that is cake. Petit Four is four stories, frosted with love.  

The book is available on Amazon Kindle for just £2.56. Why not treat yourself?

The Hard Way by Lee Child : Review

I hope you enjoy my first book review for Hanging on Every Word, for it is in fact my first ever book review. 

Synopsis reads: Jack Reacher is alone, the way he likes it. He watches a man cross a New York street and drive away in a Mercedes. The car contains $1 million of ransom money. Reacher's job is to make sure it all turns out right - money paid, family safely returned. But Reacher is in the middle of a nasty little war where nothing is simple. What started on a busy New York street explodes three thousand miles away, in the sleepy English countryside. Reacher's going to have to do this one the hard way.

My Review: The Hard Way is the tenth book Lee Child has written about the character Jack Reacher. All of the Jack Reacher books stand on their own, there is no need to have read any of the previous books.

The book starts with Reacher an ex army cop unknowingly witnessing a kidnapping money drop. With the family of missing Kate eager to know all that Reacher witnessed, it soon becomes apparent they are not your average family.

Reacher want to to help put right this wrong and to help reunite Edward Lanes family. With strictly no police involved all of Reacher's investigative skills are required. Edward Lane seems a little cagey divulging his history - a previous wife also kidnapped, his own Mercenary army, and the ability to pay kidnappers millions in cash within hours.

Reacher has to balance investigating and resolving the kidnapping, whilst trying to discover the truth about Edward Lane and his loyal mercenaries – or are they loyal?  There are twists and turns a plenty as the kidnapping develops. Although I did predict two elements of the kidnapping plot as I progressed though the book, there were still plenty of the story I could never have predicted.

I liked the relationship between Reacher and Pauling the ex-FBI agent involved in investigating the kidnapping of Lane’s first wife. Both respecting and bouncing off each others methods of investigating, though not always agreeing. Yes, there is something between the two, but it is not love – Reacher never does love.

Through the book Reacher wants to ensure the right thing is done, this includes payback for any wrong doing and payback in the most appropriate and deserving way. An aspect of his character I actually found quite endearing.

Lee Child does not shy away from violence in this book, any story that features a small army of mercenary is never going to just play nicely. This is no fluffy read, I accept that violence has a place in this story, there is one particular scene set in West Africa that stayed with me.  That said this is not just a book to be read by men, as a woman I really enjoyed this book. When Lee Child writes a female character they are usual strong, intelligent woman. Pauling the ex-FBI agent, Kate the kidnapped wife, Patti the sister of Lanes first wife and Dee Marie sister of Hobart one of Lane’s mercenaries -all exceptional female characters.

I guarantee once you pick it up you will not be quick to put it down. Never will you read 500 pages quite so quickly. You know how it goes with a good book. I will just read to the next chapter and then I will turn the light off and go to sleep – yeah really, that was at midnight its one a.m. and the light is still on!

I gave this book 4 stars out of 5 on Goodreads where it had an average of 4.5 stars.

To find out more about the book or the author Lee Child visit the following links.

Goodreads ~ The Book Depository  ~ Amazon   

Angela

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Top Ten Tuesday | Top Ten Authors I've Only Read One Book From But NEED to Read More

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/meme started by The Broke and the Bookish. This weeks post is all about those authors who you need to read more of (but have only read one book so far!). I have a few of these so here goes:

Lauren Oliver
Yep, despite owning her very famous trilogy I still haven't got round to reading them! I have, however, read Panic which I loved and reviewed here for My Keeper Shelf.

John Green
Don't worry, this will be rectified shortly. Having read The Fault In Our Stars and adored it, I am eager to read every other book he has ever written. Plenty of my friends rave about him and they weren't wrong when it came to TFIOS so I doubt they'll be wrong when it comes to his other books.

CJ Omolulu
Having read and reviewed Transcendence for MKS, I've been eager to read some more of CJ's books and haven't yet had the chance to pick any up! Having given Transcendence five stars, I've got high hopes for her other books.

Bethany Wiggins
Another review for MKS with Stung, this may be a little naughty as technically I have started the second book in the series (well, a few pages) but I put it down to try and catch up with review copies. I will hopefully be picking it up again soon.

Jessica Brody
I am sensing a theme here - this list is mostly compiled of authors I discovered through reviewing for MKS (in this case, Unremembered) but some of these authors have really stayed with me, despite only reading one of their novels. Jessica Brody really captured my imagination with this book and I really can't wait to read more from her.

Susan Hill
I've read what is probably her most favourite novel The Woman In Black but I keep seeing other book bloggers and Booktubers raving about various other books so I really need to check them out!

Eva Ibbotson
I read The Secret Countess as part of a reading series over on Odd Socks and Pretty Frocks and keep meaning to pick some more books up by her - this hasn't happened yet though!

C.J Box
I read a book by C.J. Box a couple of years ago that completely took my breath away but haven't read another since and I am not sure why. This needs to be rectified as soon as possible.

Dennis Lehane
This name keeps cropping up. Shutter Island is a favourite film of mine and I keep meaning to pick up the book after reading Moonlight Mile by the same author - yet it still hasn't happened! I guess my Christmas and birthday wishlists are going to be huge, eh?

Stieg Larssen
Despite owning the other two in the series, I have only read the first book in the trilogy..oops! I'm determined to get round to them soon as the first book was amazing.

What ten authors do you need to read more of?

If I Could Turn Back Time by Nicola Doherty: Review

IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME - NICOLA DOHERTY

Goodreads - The Book Depository - Amazon

Synopsis

What if you found The One, then lost him again? 

Or not so much lost him as became the neurotic, needy girlfriend from hell. The girl who tried to make him choose between her and his job, and got seriously paranoid about his relationship with his best female friend... 

Zoe knows she doesn't deserve another chance with David. But if there's the tiniest possibility of making things right, she'll snatch it. Even if it means breaking the laws of physics to do so..

My Review

I haven't read much chick lit over the last few years, preferring to stick to YA, dystopian and crime/thriller novels. My Goodreads certainly reflects the lack of chick lit but when I saw this pop up on Bookbridgr, I couldn't resist requesting it.

This story tells the tale of Zoe, a girl who loved and lost David, her perfect man. The problem with their relationship? David's best friend, Jenny. A girl who sets out to get what she wants and normally wins - and Zoe knows that Jenny is determined to get her claws into David. However, David doesn't see it that way and after yet another argument over his friendship with Jenny, Zoe and David break up.

It is very clear to see why Jenny gets under Zoe's skin so much - she is stuck up, patronising and just a little evil at times. David, on the other hand, seemed quite nice so it did seem a little peculiar that he would have such a horrible best friend. But then he couldn't see what she was truly like. It would have been great to see if he finally saw her true colours further down the line.

Stuck in a job she doesn't really like, reporting to a horrible boss and generally having nothing to look forward to, Zoe finds everything changes after running after a customer who had left something behind in the store. The customer tells her to wish for what she wants - is the little old lady magic? We'll never know - but Zoe somehow time travels back a few months and is able to relive everything again.

Does she use this to her advantage? Of course she does -  wouldn't you? Although originally shocked by what has happened, she takes it all in her stride and uses her prior knowledge to score a promotion at work and nip any potential arguments with David in the bud.

The only person she really tells about her 'time travelling' is David's friend, Max. Max moves in with Zoe when she is on the search for a new room mate and it soon becomes clear that Max may have feelings for Zoe. Will his knowledge of what has happened ruin her and David?

I loved Zoe as a character even if I did feel that sometimes she was a little devious - I think everyone would use some prior knowledge to their advantage - but she used it all the time and this proved to be her downfall. Max was a great addition to the story - at first, he just seems like this weird, messy background character who serves no purpose to the story at all but with Zoe's inclusion of Max into her secret, the character gets pulled right into the story as it builds up to a slightly predictable but very entertaining end.

This was definitely a fluffy read but it was definitely needed to help pull me out of my recent reading slump. If you are looking for a quick cutesy read then this may be the book for you.

Read On. Get On. Let's Get Every Child Reading by 11

I was just browsing across the internet when I came across this campaign and it is something I feel very strongly about. It shocks me that up to 40% of children enter secondary school without being able to read well. An inability to read well can definitely hinder children in later life and we need to help our nations children - whether it is helping them to read to prepare them for the working world or whether it is to introduce them to a whole new world of characters in some amazing books.

So how can you help? First of all, please do think about signing the petition here. Make our political leaders stand up and take notice of a growing problem in our education system. For more ways to help, please check out the website here.

Thanks,

Bex