Book Blitz: Setsuko and the Song of the Sea by Fiona Barker (Author), Howard Gray (Illustrator)

Blurb 

Setsuko loves the sea. She swims its shallows. She dives its depths. But she worries that her friends have chosen to abandon her way of life. Then she meets a whale who also fears he is the last of his kind. In return for giving him hope, he gifts her a song which she uses to remind people of the beauty of the ocean. Setsuko took the song and made it her own. They played together from the first crisp light of morning until the setting of the evening sun. Everyone who heard Setsuko’s song was filled with the wonder of the sea. They remembered the beauty and mystery of the ocean. A story of an unlikely friendship, Setsuko and her friend the whale have one thing in common ― their love of the sea. Much like the revered ama-san, ― women who have been diving off the coast of the Shima peninsula in Japan for over 2,000 years ― Setsuko is a strong girl who is on the path to becoming one of these real-life mermaids. 10% of the net profits from each book will be donated to the Marine Conservation Society, the UK charity working for seas full of life. Visit www.mcs.org.uk to find out more.

Buy Links

Publisher Shop – https://bit.ly/3cfj7mp

Waterstones – https://bit.ly/2YgEDz2

Foyles – https://bit.ly/3ooqzxS

Amazon – https://amzn.to/3a63xHb

Goodreads – https://bit.ly/3iNZ0gw

Extract Post: Facets of Death, by Michael Stanley

PUBLICATION DATE: 29 APRIL 2021 | ORENDA BOOKS | PAPERBACK ORIGINAL | £8.99

A dark and sophisticated thriller set in the heart of Botswana, introducing Michael Stanley’s beloved Detective Kubu.

Recruited straight from university to Botswana’s CID, David ‘Kubu’ Bengu has raised his colleagues’ suspicions with his meteoric rise within the department, and he has a lot to prove. When the richest diamond mine in the world is robbed of 100,000 carats worth of gems, and the thieves are found, executed, Kubu leaps at the chance to prove himself. First he must find the diamonds – and it seems that a witch doctor and his son have a
part to play.

Does this young detective have the skill and integrity to engineer
an international trap? Or could it cost him everything?

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Book Blitz: Ultimatum by John Anderson @CayellePub @lovebooksgroup #lovebookstours

Blurb 

When alien delegate Charlie was sent down to Earth, he never imagined the humans would comply with his demands. He wanted to give humanity a chance to eradicate all the wrong in the world by eliminating discrimination, hate, greed, immorality, and envy. The only way he believed they would comply was to threaten their entire existence by an alien invasion takeover. He would give them 10 years to right all the wrong and to unify with one another. Even the President of the United States expressed extreme displeasure about the demand. However, stricken with fear, even though the humans didn’t want to bend to the threat, they knew there was not much of a choice. Ten years pass…

Did the humans come together to force out the aliens or did the aliens return seeing not much had changed since giving the Ultimatum? Will destruction fall upon Earth obliterating human civilization? 

Extract Post: The Hashtag Killer, by A.S. French

The Hashtag Killer

Catch a killer or save a child. What would you do?

DI Jen Flowers thought she’d seen it all after fifteen years on the force, but when a vigilante serial killer hits the city and uses social media to gather supporters, she must fight the public and her doubts to catch a murderer and save her daughter.

Suffering from blackouts and abandoned as a child by her father, Ruby Vasquez has been chasing that one scoop to make her an internet star. Living with an alcoholic mother who hates her, Ruby discovers a secret about the vigilante’s first victim, which puts her in the killer and DI Flowers’ sights.

Jen and Ruby have to overcome the secrets in their past while battling each other to discover the Hashtag Killer’s identity. Jen will have to choose between keeping her daughter safe or finding a killer, while Ruby will need to decide if becoming famous is more important than doing the right thing.

Purchase Link

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08SPBY6QZ 

US –  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08SPBY6QZ

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Book Bliz: White Knuckle Dance, by Andrew Cockburn

Blurb 

She’s not what she appears to be.

He’s got secrets of his own.

But someone has to lead this dance.

There is a story behind every face you walk by on the street, or that you bump into in life. But what about your own story?

Dan never thought about himself as being different, and the world would agree with him. Just a regular nice guy who works in a regular nice job in London.

His nice and normal London life in the hectic world of sales turns upside down when he meets the captivating Mary at a work event. Deep down he knew there was more to life than what he was doing. He had an inkling that things with him could maybe be a little different. That a life of drudgery wasn’t what he’d signed up for.

But there seems to be a lot more to Mary than meets the eye. And with her guidance and through their relationship, he learns things he never even knew about himself.

But Mary is not the only one with a secret. As the dance speeds up, the games begin, and the

stakes are raised.

And so begins the white knuckle dance of discovery, risk, and power.

But can there really be a winner in that deadly dance of theirs?

Author Bio

Andrew is a Scottish writer who has lived in Asia for many years. As an anthropologist and sociologist by training Andrew has developed a keen interest in people, society and culture. Andrew’s debut novel, White Knuckle Dance, explores relationships and social norms though the lens of power and knowledge.

Review: Social Goodness by Claire Burdett

Blurb 

Social Goodness is a guide to how your business can meet your customer’s expectations through your brand actions and so ensure you don’t just survive but thrive in the coming decade. Perfectly pitched for busy C-suite leaders and entrepreneurs it is a meticulously researched, comprehensive trendspotting business bible, which is an easy to read, enthralling, and engaging page turner.

Social Goodness forensically investigates current trends, like sustainability, human marketing and ESG, and joins the dots to show you how it all connects and affects businesses in the wider world. It looks at what works and what doesn’t for brands post-pandemic in the new ‘normal’. Social Goodness examines why some companies are getting it right both on social media and with their brand actions – and thriving as a result – and why others are experiencing severe backlash and criticism.

It takes a view from a different perspective of social media and the central role it now plays in society and for business. Most business leaders still think of social media as somehow ‘other’ – an add-on to the marketing and generally of minor importance to their core business unless a social media crisis erupts. Yet, as we saw throughout the last few years, social media is at once a reflection of offline life and a petri dish that causes and influences real life events. It has resulted in a fundamental and irrevocable shift in how business is conducted – i.e. business is now totally transparent at every point. People can see for themselves if companies are lying, and pressure brands to change their policies and strategies, boycott their products, get others to also avoid buying and quite literally topple major brands, if they are behaving inauthentically or unethically.

Buy Links https://www.socialgoodness.co.uk/#thebook

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Extract Post: The Source, by Sarah Sultoon

PUBLICATION DATE: 15 APRIL 2021 | ORENDA BOOKS | PAPERBACK ORIGINAL | £8.99

A hugely anticipated debut thriller from former CNN international news executive Sarah Sultoon. Inspired by Sarah’s own time in the newsroom, The Source follows a young TV journalist who is forced to revisit her past when she’s thrust into a sex-trafficking investigation in her hometown. TV rights have already been sold to Lime Pictures, with Jo Spain writing the screenplay.

1996 – Essex. Thirteen-year-old schoolgirl Carly lives in a disenfranchised town dominated by a military base, struggling to care for her baby sister while her mum sleeps off another binge. When her squaddie brother brings food and treats, and offers an exclusive invitation to army parties, things start to look a little less bleak…

1997 – London. Junior TV newsroom journalist Marie has spent six months exposing a gang of sex traffickers, but everything is derailed when New Scotland Yard announces the re-opening of Operation Andromeda, the notorious investigation into allegations of sex abuse
at an army base a decade earlier.

As the lives of these two characters intertwine around a single, defining event, a series of utterly chilling experiences is revealed,
sparking a nail-biting race to find the truth… and justice.

A tense, startling and unforgettable thriller, The Source is a story
about survival, about hopes and dreams, about power, abuse and
resilience.

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Review: Thought Economics, by Vikas Shah

Blurb 

Since 2007, entrepreneur and philanthropist Vikas Shah has been on a mission to interview the people shaping our century. Including conversations with Nobel prize winners, business leaders, politicians, artists and Olympians, he has been in the privileged position of questioning the minds that matter on the big issues that concern us all. We often talk of war and conflict, the economy, culture, technology and revolutions as if they are something other than us. But all these things are a product of us – of our ideas, our dreams and our fears. We live in fast-moving and extraordinary times, and the changes we’re experiencing now, in these first decades of the twenty-first century, feel particularly poignant as decisions are made that will inform our existence for years to come. What started out as a personal interest in the mechanisms that inform our views of the world, and a passion for understanding, has grown into a phenomenal compilation of once-in-a-lifetime conversations. In this incredible collection, Shah shares some of his most emotive and insightful interviews to date.

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