Posted on June 27, 2025 by Chat About Books

Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey @JessLourey

Unspeakable Things

by Jess Lourey

Unspeakable Things is a disturbing but engaging read. There’s a palpable tension throughout which made me feel very uneasy about the direction the story was going to take. I was gripped!

I worried about Cassie, her sister, and their mother, the whole way through. Her father is a very controlling and unpredictable character. He made my skin crawl, as did more than one of the other characters in this book. These are not nice people!

When local boys start going missing, I was dreading how things were going to go but I couldn’t stop reading. I needed to know.

I didn’t realise until now that this book is inspired by a true story. That makes it even more harrowing!

If you love a good psychological thriller than I’m sure you will love this one.

** According to Amazon I purchased the Kindle edition of Unspeakable Things on the 1^{st of} December 2019 **

Inspired by a terrifying true story from the author’s hometown, a heart-pounding novel of suspense about a small Minnesota community where nothing is as quiet—or as safe—as it seems.

Cassie McDowell’s life in 1980s Minnesota seems perfectly wholesome. She lives on a farm, loves school, and has a crush on the nicest boy in class. Yes, there are her parents’ strange parties and their parade of deviant guests, but she’s grown accustomed to them.

All that changes when someone comes hunting in Lilydale.

One by one, local boys go missing. One by one, they return changed—violent, moody, and withdrawn. What happened to them becomes the stuff of shocking rumors. The accusations of who’s responsible grow just as wild, and dangerous town secrets start to surface. Then Cassie’s own sister undergoes the dark change. If she is to survive, Cassie must find her way in an adult world where every sin is justified, and only the truth is unforgivable.

Happy reading!

Posted on June 24, 2025 by Chat About Books · 2 Comments

The Murmurs (The Annie Jackson Mysteries Book 1) by Michael J. Malone @michaelJmalone1 @OrendaBooks

The Murmurs (The Annie Jackson Mysteries Book 1)

by Michael J. Malone

I ordered a copy of The Murmurs after recently joining in with the cover reveal for book three in this series, The Howling, which will be released in September.

What a start to a series!

I became slightly obsessed with this book. It’s one of those you think about a lot when you’re not reading it and can’t wait to get back to.

Annie Jackson is a very likeable character, and I quickly found myself becoming increasingly concerned about her. Her premonitions are terrifying! Even more so for knowing that people think she is crazy when she tries to explain. I can’t even imagine where I would start to process these visions, let alone the family history that is unearthed as the story progresses. There are so many sad and shocking moments in this book I’d be surprised if anyone didn’t find it completely compelling!

A chilling tale I found extremely difficult to put down!

LOVED it!

I have already ordered book two and look forward to book three later in the year.

In the beginning there was fear.

White-hot, nerve-shredding fear.

Terrifying premonitions of deaths.

And then they started…

The Murmurs…

On the first morning of her new job at Heartfield House, a care home for the elderly, Annie Jackson wakens from a terrifying dream. And when she arrives at the home, she knows that the first old man she meets is going to die.

How she knows this is a terrifying mystery, but it is the start of horrifying premonitions … a rekindling of the curse that has trickled through generations of women in her family – a wicked gift known only as ‘the murmurs’…

With its reappearance comes an old, forgotten fear that is about to grip Annie Jackson.

And this time, it will never let go…

A compulsive gothic thriller and a spellbinding supernatural mystery about secrets and small communities, about faith, courage and self-preservation, The Murmurs is a startling and compulsive read from one of Scotland’s finest authors…

Treat yourself

Happy reading!

Posted on June 20, 2025June 19, 2025 by Chat About Books · 1 Comment

The Stranger in Room Six by Jane Corry @JaneCorryAuthor @VikingBooksUK

The Stranger in Room Six

by Jane Corry

The Stranger in Room Six is a captivating story told from the point of view of Belinda and Mabel. Two very different ladies, with a considerable age gap, who have led very different lives, but now find themselves becoming friends at Sunnyside Home for the Young at Heart. Neither knows of each other’s past, to begin with, until they agree to share their secrets with each other and promise to keep each other’s confidences. I thought this was a very clever way of revealing their pasts to the reader. I was as keen as they both were to learn the next chapter of each of their stories.

Belinda is trying to move on after serving a long prison sentence for murdering her husband. She’s not the murdering type you would imagine though. Far from it. I liked her and I really felt for her.

Mabel owns the home she lives in, inherited from her aunt. She lived there as a child where she got herself involved in things she never truly understood as a teenager, during the war. Things that leave her in danger now. I really liked Mabel too. She’s a fascinating lady with a fascinating and difficult past. I found her story particularly compelling.

I thoroughly enjoyed the ladies’ chats and discovering the truths they unravel between them. I found the fact that someone was watching them from room six very unsettling and I needed to know what they were up to, why, and if Belinda and Mabel remained safe in their beds. I was well and truly hooked!

An easy five stars for me, I loved it!

** I won a paperback copy of this book via a fellow bookstagrammer’s giveaway. After I’d read it, I was approached by the publisher to join in with the blog tour, which is why I haven’t posted my review before now **

You may not know the stranger in room six. But they know everything about you.

It’s been fifteen years since Belinda was convicted of her husband’s murder. Now, she’s ready for her life to begin again, and she’s set on that happening at Sunnyside Home for the Young at Heart.

The owner, Mabel, has spent her life here. First as an evacuee during the Blitz and now as the care home’s oldest resident, Mabel has held the secrets of this house for as long as she can remember. Secrets that could kill if in the wrong hands.

But history won’t stay hidden forever and someone is onto them both. Watching and listening from room number six, they’ll stop at nothing to find out the truth.

With a past this dark, is anyone as innocent as they seem?

Happy reading!

Many thanks to Viking Books for inviting me to join is with Jane Corry’s fabulous blog tour!

Posted on June 19, 2025 by Chat About Books · 1 Comment

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

The Salt Path

by Raynor Winn

The Salt Path has been on my radar for ages, and I had to bump it to the top of my list in anticipation of seeing the film at the cinema. I’m so glad I finally got to read it! My Mum, and others at Book Club, have been going on about it since they read it years ago.

It absolutely deserves the recognition it has received. It’s such a fascinating, heart-wrenching, and inspiring story. I honestly can’t imagine how I would deal with the hand this couple were dealt. My heart went out to them, but I take my hat of to them at the same time.

It seems a bit harsh to say I thoroughly enjoyed their story. Probably better to say I am thoroughly inspired by their story. The pain, fatigue, hunger, and uncertainty they endure is just heart-breaking. Through it all though their love and devotion for each other shines through. Home really is where the heart is.

I did thoroughly enjoy some of the interesting people the meet along the way (especially turtle man. IYKYK!) and I was shocked by some of the negative attitudes they encounter. I was also surprised by how many people refer to them as old!! As a 47-year-old with a 50-year-old husband, I found this quite disconcerting. I’m sure we would be more then capable of walking the salt path. Not quite sure about the wild camping part or having no money for food, but I don’t think we’re ready for the scrap heap yet! Walking the salt path is now on my bucket list. Maybe if Steve retires at 55, we’ll give it a go, health permitting.

I have to say that as a Book Club we really enjoyed the film too. Six of us went together on Monday. Obviously, there is a lot of the book not included which many will no doubt say, but I always expect this otherwise these films would be about six hours long! I thought the film truly captured the essence of the story and I found it equally touching.

I’m looking forward to reading Raynor Winn’s other books, hopefully soon.

** I read the paperback edition of The Salt Path, borrowed from my Mum. Thanks Mum **

Just days after Raynor learns that Moth, her husband of 32 years, is terminally ill, their home is taken away and they lose their livelihood. With nothing left and little time, they make the brave and impulsive decision to walk the 630 miles of the sea-swept South West Coast Path, from Somerset to Dorset, via Devon and Cornwall.

Carrying only the essentials for survival on their backs, they live wild in the ancient, weathered landscape of cliffs, sea and sky. Yet through every step, every encounter and every test along the way, their walk becomes a remarkable journey.

The Salt Path is an honest and life-affirming true story of coming to terms with grief and the healing power of the natural world. Ultimately, it is a portrayal of home, and how it can be lost, rebuilt and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.