Category Archives: Blog tours

Review: Pursued By Death, by Gunnar Staalesen, translated by Don Bartlett

Description

When Varg Veum reads the newspaper headline ‘YOUNG MAN MISSING’, he realises he’s seen the youth just a few days earlier – at a crossroads in the countryside, with his two friends. It turns out that the three were on their way to a demonstration against a commercial fish-farming facility in the tiny village of Solvik, north of Bergen.

Varg heads to Solvik, initially out of curiosity, but when he chances upon a dead body in the sea, he’s pulled into a dark and complex web of secrets, feuds and jealousies.

Is the body he’s found connected to the death of a journalist who was digging into the fish farm’s operations two years earlier? And does either incident have something to do with the competition between the two powerful families that dominate Solvik’s salmon-farming industry?
Or are the deaths the actions of the ‘Village Beast’ – the brutal small-town justice meted out by rural communities in this part of the world.

Shocking, timely and full of breath-taking twists and turns, Pursued by Death reaffirms Gunnar Staalesen as one of the world’s greatest crime writers.

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Review: Our Daily War, by Andrey Kurkov

PUBLICATION DATE: 18TH JULY 2024
HARDBACK ORIGINAL | £ 20.00 | OPEN BORDERS PRESS

Blurb

Ten years on from the annexation of Crimea, two years on from Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian people continue to fight back. In the second volume of his war diaries, Andrey Kurkov gives a fresh perspective on a people for whom resistance and solidarity have become a matter of survival.

Our Daily War is a chronological record of the heterogeneous mix that comprises Ukrainian life and thought in the teeth of Russian aggression, from the constant stress of air raids, the deportation of citizens from the occupied regions and the whispers of governmental corruption to Christmas celebrations, crowdfunding and the recipe for a “trench candle”.

Kurkov’s human’s-eye view on the war in Ukraine is by turn bitingly satirical, tragic, humorous and heartfelt. It is also, in the manner of Pepys, an invaluable insight into the history, politics and culture of Ukraine.

Our Daily War is the ideal primer for anyone who would like to know what life is like in that country today.

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Review: Unashamed, by Elizabeth G

Title and subtitle: Unashamed: Why do people pay for sex?
Author: Elizabeth G.
Publisher: Whitefox
Formats: Hardback, paperback, ebook, audiobook
Page count: 272 pages
Recommended Retail Price (RRP) (£): Hardback – £19.99, Kindle – £7.99, Audiobook – £0.99 (with Audible membership) or £16
Genre(s): Memoir, Female empowerment, human sexuality, the sex industry, self-help.
Publication status: Published on 28th March 2024
Amazon link:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1915635799

Unashamed: Why do people pay for sex? BLURB

Elizabeth G. was twenty-two years old and travelling around Australia when she came across a job opportunity at an erotic massage parlour in Sydney. Fast forward eighteen years and she had built up a trusted list of regular clientele working as a high-end London escort and was frequenting some of the city’s most exclusive hotels.


This is an inspirational story of resilience and self-belief in the face of adversity. It gives a fascinating insight into what it’s like to work week in and week out as a sex worker and how it feels to hide who you are from your friends and family. It’s about understanding why a person would pay for sex in the first place. It’s about the positive effects of sex work. It’s about love, connection, nurture and healing. It’s about change. It’s about acceptance. It’s about hitting rock bottom and picking yourself back up, time and time again. It’s about growth, embracing the struggles and learning from your mistakes. And, above all, it’s about breaking through the barriers of shame, and staying true to yourself no matter what.


In shedding a spotlight on the sex industry, Elizabeth hopes to challenge the misconceptions and shame surrounding sex work, and to help provide better protection for those who are forced into the industry as a result.
Unashamed is a no-holds-barred, taboo-busting account of the life of a sex worker, and what it’s like to build a highly successful career in a multimillion-pound industry that exists largely in the shadows. If you want to feel inspired and embrace yourself as a sex worker, or develop an understanding of the profession, or you simply want to eradicate shame in any aspect of your personal life, then look no further.

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Review: The Hunter’s Gambit, by Ciel Pierlot

From the award nominated author of Bluebird comes a tale of seduction, sadism, and survival featuring malevolent vampires and a locked-room escape adventure…

Locked in a castle with a clan of devious vampires, one woman is caught in a literal fight for her life.

Vampires have always fascinated Kazan Korvic, so much so that she’s made it her life’s work to craft weapons designed solely to kill them. But when she is attacked and captured by an entire clan, Kazan’s fascination turns ferocious.

In their Citadel, Kazan is forced to attend the Vampire Court where she must act as their Queen. She is told that she will be waited-and-doted upon, until the end of her reign in three days’ time. Then, an extravagant and lavish feast will be held… where the vampires will consume their newly crowned Queen.

Desperate and afraid, Kazan finds no allies in the castle except for a pair of distractingly alluring vampires who seem sympathetic to her plight. But as she devises her escape plan, she comes to realise that she is not the only one who is trapped, and no one is prepared for how far she’s willing to go to survive…

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