Such a pleasure to host a stop on the blog tour for Fallen Angel by Chris Brookmyre today. My thanks to Caolinn at Little Brown for the invitation to join and for the review copy!
Title : Fallen Angel
Pages : 400
Publisher : Little Brown UK
Publication date : April 25, 2019
| ABOUT THE BOOK |
To new nanny Amanda, the Temple family seem to have it all: the former actress; the famous professor; their three successful grown-up children. But like any family, beneath the smiles and hugs there lurks far darker emotions.
Sixteen years earlier, little Niamh Temple died while they were on holiday in Portugal. Now, as Amanda joins the family for a reunion at their seaside villa, she begins to suspect one of them might be hiding something terrible…
And suspicion is a dangerous thing.
| MY THOUGHTS |
Raise your hand if you love stories about dysfunctional families!
The Temple family seem to have it all. Max is a famous professor, his wife Celia a former actress and their three children have all grown up to be successful. But then Max dies and Celia invites her children to a holiday at the family villa in Portugal. The same villa where sixteen years earlier, little Niamh Temple died.
In the neighbouring villa, Amanda is working as a nanny for Vince and his wife, Kirsten. Being so close to the Temple family, she soon realises things are not what they seem and she begins to suspect one of them might be hiding something terrible.
And thus begins a thrilling ride as we delve into this family’s dynamics, while all the while trying to figure out what really happened to Niamh. There are some truly dark secrets lurking in the past and to be fair, none of these characters are particularly likeable but boy, is this story a gripping one! The prologue alone is a fantastic attention grabber. We know someone is murdered but we don’t know who, why or who did it. With a dual time frame and multiple points-of-view, the truth about the Temple family is slowly revealed and it’s pretty ugly and shocking.
Fallen Angel is such a compelling story with plenty of twists and I had no idea where it was going to end up. Brilliantly written, it digs deep into the psychology of these intriguing, complex and multi-layered characters while all the while teasing the reader with an impending sense of doom. Part psychological thriller, part family drama, it had me hooked from start to finish, trying to pick up little clues along the way, becoming completely immersed.
This is my first introduction to Chris Brookmyre but I have a feeling it won’t be my last. This is an author quite obviously capable of fantastic storytelling and I must have been living in a cave to have never heard of him before. I have no doubt Fallen Angel will appeal to both longstanding fans and people like me who are new to this author. Thoroughly enjoyed this and look forward to more!
Fallen Angel will be available to buy on April 25th.
Affiliate link : Bookdepository
Other retailers : Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Waterstones | Wordery
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |
Chris Brookmyre was a journalist before becoming a full-time novelist with the publication of his award-winning debut Quite Ugly One Morning, which established him as one of Britain’s leading crime authors. His Jack Parlabane novels have sold more than one million copies in the UK alone, and Black Widow won both the McIlvanney Prize and the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award.
