Book Giveaway - Red Winter by Dan Smith

Book news

Red Winter is the new novel from author Dan Smith. It sounds a really good story to me. It is released in the UK on 18th July 2013 and the publisher, Orion Books, has kindly offered 10 copies to giveaway to readers of my blog. Find out more about the book and the writer below, as well as details of how to enter the giveaway and win yourself a copy! 

About the book:

It is 1920, central Russia. The Red Terror tightens its hold. Kolya has deserted his Red Army unit and returns home to bury his brother and reunite with his wife and sons. But he finds the village silent and empty. The men have been massacred in the forest. The women and children have disappeared.

In this remote, rural Russian community the folk tales mothers tell their children by candlelight take on powerful significance and the terrifying legend of Koschei, The Deathless One, begins to feel very real. Kolya sets out on a journey through dense, haunting forests and across vast plains as bitter winter sets in, in the desperate hope he will find his wife and two boys, and find them alive. But there are very dark things in Kolya's past. And, as he strives to find his family, there's someone or something on his trail...

The chilling and sophisticated new thriller from the acclaimed writer of THE CHILD THIEF.

About the author:

Growing up, Dan Smith led three lives. In one he survived the day-to-day humdrum of boarding school, while in another he travelled the world, finding adventure in the padi fields of Asia and the jungles of Brazil. But the third life he lived in a world of his own, making up stories . . . Which is where some people say he still lives most of the time.

Now settled in Newcastle with his wife and two children, Dan writes books to share with both adults and children.

Visit the author's website here and follow him on twitter here @DanSmithAuthor

Giveaway!

There are 10 copies of Red Winter to be won!

To enter, please simply leave a comment below this post, ensuring that I have a way of contacting you if you win (whether that is via twitter, or through your blog, or via email...)

For extra entries:

- follow @LinsHealy on twitter 

- follow @DanSmithAuthor on twitter

- follow this blog via GFC or Bloglovin'

(please let me know in your comment if you follow via any of these ways.)

Also let me know if you would be interested in possibly writing a guest review of this novel for my blog should you win a copy.

Winners will be chosen at random and contacted when the giveaway has closed. Please reply within 48 hours or other winner(s) will be chosen.

This is a giveaway for readers at UK addresses only please.

*****THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU FOR TAKING PART. WINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON.*****

Good luck!

Alison Wonderland - Helen Smith

'Not everything is what it seems.'

Alison Temple employed a detective agency hoping that they would prove her wrong in her suspicion that her husband was being unfaithful, but her suspicions were correct. She leaves him, and begins working at the very same female detective agency that she used: Fitzgerald's Bureau of Investigation in London. Now Alison is the one following errant husbands around on behalf of other women also looking to have their worst fears confirmed. 

In amongst all the deceit she witnesses, her friend Taron provides a welcome escape. Though the bulk of what she says is in fact, fiction, Alison realises that Taron's behaviour and eccentricities aren't perhaps as ridiculous as it might first seem: 'I feel miserable as I leave the office tonight, and suddenly Taron represents a kind of logic and stability in this crazy world. At any rate, even though her head is filled with nonsense, I think the only person she has ever deceived is herself.'

There are several interesting supporting characters; I enjoyed reading about Mrs Fitzgerald, and I also liked the psychic postman, who 'often comments on letters he's delivering. 'Good news,' he'll say, popping something through someone else's letterbox.' Alongside the other exploits that Alison gets involved in, the plot also brings up varied subjects from abandoned babies to scientists creating new animal forms.

It's an interesting, inventive novel, amusing and weird, yet also, for me at least, it was quite confusing at times. It may not be for everyone, and at times I felt less drawn in to the story, when I wanted to feel more involved in it, and perhaps grasp more of the ideas that the writer puts forward. It doesn't have a straightforward or easy-to-follow plotline, which may or may not make you want to read this book.

However, it is certainly something rather different to most novels I tend to read, and the author has written a creative and thought-provoking work, with a nice juxtaposition of Alison's personal and professional lives, and some insightful observations of human nature.

I think the title is very clever, and the cover is striking, cleverly designed and very appealing and quirky, which suits the book.

Published by Amazon Encore

You can follow the author on twitter @emperorsclothes  and visit her website here.

Thank you to the author for kindly sending me a copy of this novel to read and review.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight - Jennifer E. Smith

It could happen one day; you miss your train, you’re late for your flight, your bus leaves early without you, and because of that, your life may take an entirely different turn, you may even have a chance encounter, a happy coincidence that otherwise may never have happened at all?

Seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan is reluctantly on her way from New York to her father's wedding in London to a woman she has never met. She hasn't seen her father for a while, and various distractions and incidents earlier that day and en route mean she misses her flight by just four minutes. Anxious and unsettled, mulling over all the reasons for not going at all, and waiting for the next flight, she meets Oliver, a kind charming young English boy who helps her with her luggage. Through another fortuitous twist they find themselves seated close together on the plane, and during the hours of the flight they talk, joke, and sleep in each other’s unfamiliar and yet affectionate company, and a beautiful connection is formed.

In a taxi on her way to her father’s wedding, Hadley is unable to stop thinking about Oliver; he is ‘like a song she can’t get out of her head.’ When she arrives at the church, the trepidation she has been feeling increases, after all ‘what exactly are you supposed to say to the father you haven’t seen in ages on the occasion of his wedding to a woman you’ve never met?’ Struggling with all these conflicting emotions about the boy she has just met and about the soon-to-be stepmother she has yet to meet, and the father about whom she doesn’t know what to feel, Hadley has some decisions to make, with her head and with her heart. Meanwhile Oliver is also attending an event in London, but he has been more reserved and has disclosed less about the purpose of his visit thus far.

This is an unashamedly lovely young adult novel that makes you feel young and romantic again. There is a genuine innocence to Hadley and Oliver, and some lovely, light and gently flirtatious dialogue between the two of them on the plane as they pass the hours in the air next to each other, with gentle humour and emotion as each gives a little away about themselves, and they quickly establish a real closeness. Additionally there are the conflicting feelings that Hadley experiences with regard to her father. She was close to him, and has been deeply hurt by how he left her and her mother. Through the story the reader is able to find out what has happened as Hadley thinks back to times spent with him, how he shared his love of books with her from an early age, and how difficult their most recent meeting was for her. 

The author has created a touching, heartfelt tale with a young woman at it’s heart who is emerging from childhood and meeting the highs and lows of the adult world full-on. The narrative as a whole feels just the right length, and I really enjoyed reading it. I love the role that a certain Dickens novel has to play too! It was a real pleasure to read a story with such warmth, and a sweet, romantic meeting at its heart, (even being a bit older and more cynical, I got swept away!) I think this is an enjoyable, sweet read for adults both young and old. 

5/5


This novel is published in the UK by headline on 5th January 2012.