Fire Damage by Kate Medina – book review

fire damage kate medinaMore murder mystery than psychological suspense, Fire Damage by Kate Medina follows army psychologist, Jessie Flynn, as she seeks to uncover the truth behind the traumatic experiences of a four-year-old boy. Along the way, Medina exposes us to glimpses of the trauma suffered by several soldiers back from tours of duty in Afghanistan, showing the various destructive impacts of the war on them and their families.

Flynn is a complex, not always likeable heroine, still suffering from a traumatic experience from her childhood which has shaped her life and her relationships. Her tense encounters with Ben Callan, an army cop, never quite blossoms into romance, but there’s an affinity between them that adds an extra layer to the narrative.

For me, one of the highlights is Medina’s sensuous evocation of the cold, dark, English winter and bleak wintry landscapes.

With thanks to HarperCollins for an uncorrected proof copy for review.

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Author: Kate Medina
Title: Fire Damage
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 978 0 00 813228 6

My new book – By Her Side

By Her SideMy new book is almost here!

By Her Side, a romantic suspense written under my pen-name, Lizzy Chandler, will be released by Escape next Tuesday, 8 December.

About the story:

She would trust him with her life. But can either of them trust their hearts?

Rory Sutton Whitfield isn’t a princess, even though her wealthy family insists on treating her like one. Fresh from her travels and finally achieving the independence she craves, the last thing she wants is to become swept up in family problems. But her half-brother has disappeared and her grandfather insists on hiring a bodyguard for her. Rory won’t be controlled by anyone, especially not a taciturn detective like Vince Maroney, a man of few words who nonetheless arouses disturbing emotions.

Vince Maroney has learned his lesson about playing the hero; he stepped up once and it cost him everything. But when he saves the granddaughter of one of Sydney’s wealthiest men, he finds himself embroiled in events beyond his control. Rory is beautiful, smart, independent. But her family is all secrets and lies, money papered over injustices. Rory makes him feel things he thought long dead, but the pains of the past create distance, and she comes from a completely different world. How can one of Sydney’s pampered princesses ever find common ground with her reluctant bodyguard?

If you’d like to be in the running to win a copy of By Her Side, please follow this link to my Lizzy Chandler author blog page.

If you’re a book blogger and would like a copy for review, please let me know.

I hope you enjoy my new story.

Please note: By Her Side is available as an ebook only.

The Watcher by Charlotte Link

imageSince I finished my latest novel and sent it in to the publisher, I’ve been on a thriller-suspense reading binge. Most of the authors have been recommended to me by my “fans of Nicci French” Facebook group, but I can’t always find their novels at the library, so I’ve taken a few chances, too. Some have paid off; others, not.

A book cover that shows a solitary figure walking through a wintry forest has some appeal when you’re sweltering through the hot, humid days of early summer in Sydney. So does “16 million books sold”. Charlotte Link’s The Watcher must have something going for it, right?

Maybe it’s the translation from the German; maybe it’s the time-lag between when it was written and when it became available in English; maybe it’s the fact that a German writer has chosen an English setting for her story; whatever it is, Link’s book struck me as a little old-fashioned. And it never really grabbed me. There are dead women. There are women in danger. There are strangely fixated men and men with shady pasts. There are issues: domestic violence, marital discord, loneliness, isolation, paedophilia. The novel examines the question of envy in a way that I should have found more interesting.

Maybe I’ve just been spoilt by having read a few really engaging and structurally more challenging books lately.

The Watcher is absorbing enough for me to have read over a couple of days, but I have a sense it won’t stay in my imagination for long.

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Author: Charlotte Link
Title: The Watcher
Publisher: Orion/Hachette
Date: 2013

I borrowed a copy from the library.

  • Goodreads

  • Country Secrets – anthology

  • Snowy River Man – rural romance

  • By Her Side – romantic suspense

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