#BlogTour #BookReview Blood Song by Johana Gustawsson
My Rating: 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩
Pages: 300
Publisher: OrendaBooks
Available: 19th July 2019
Genre: Mystery / Crime / Thriller / Mystery Thriller
With massive thanks to Anne of #RandomThingsTours and Karen from #OrendaBooks for both my copy of this book and stop on the tour, and of course to Johana for writing such a deliciously dark tale!
Blurb:
The third book in the award-winning, critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series, featuring true-crime writer Alexis Castells and profiler Emily Roy.
Previous titles in the series, Block 46 and Keeper, have won the Plume d’Argent, Balai de la découverte, Balai d’Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards and sold in 19 countries. A French, Swedish and English TV series is in production, adapted by and starring award-winning French actress Alexandra Lamy
Spain, 1938
The country is wracked by civil war, and as Valencia falls to Franco’s brutal dictatorship, Republican Teresa witnesses the murders of her family. Captured and sent to the notorious Las Ventas women’s prison, Teresa gives birth to a daughter who is forcibly taken from her.
Falkenberg, Sweden, 2016
A wealthy family is found savagely murdered in their luxurious home. Discovering that her parents have been slaughtered, Aliénor Lindbergh, a new recruit to the UK’s Scotland Yard, rushes back to Sweden and finds her hometown rocked by the massacre.
Profiler Emily Roy joins forces with Aliénor and her colleague, true-crime writer Alexis Castells,
and they soon find themselves on the trail of a monstrous and prolific killer, in an investigation that takes them from the Swedish fertility clinics of the present day back to the terror of Franco’s rule, and the horrifying events that took place in Spanish orphanages under its rule…
My Thoughts:
Every time I pick up a book from OrendaBooks I know that the story is going to be a brilliant read! I have never felt let down or disappointed by what’s between the covers, and Blood Song is certainly no exception to that!
This was actually my first go at reading a book from this Author, hers wasn’t a name I had previously come across so I was looking forwards to getting stuck in, I mean.. that COVER though! What an eye catcher. It certainly isn’t one you would pass over in a shop, and reading the blurb I was desperate to get started. This sounded like it would be a thrilling sort of ride! And my initial impressions were certainly correct.
If you prefer your Crime with a lighter tone that you float through and can figure out where the story is taking you before you get to the last pages, then this perhaps isn’t the book for you. What I adored about this book, was the Darker elements. That may seem odd, but let me explain. They’re so cleverly woven in and so well written, that though the darker topics aren’t comfortable to read about, they still grip your attention and keep you intrigued in the story that’s being told.
At times having darker elements involved in a story can make it feel clunky, the darker aspects standing out with glaring clarity and stopping the book from flowing. It can often feel like they’ve been dropped in to try and garner more interest for the book, but could easily be removed without effecting the story. In this case, they were woven in seamlessly. Doesn’t exactly make for a fluffy cozy read, but that’s the beauty of the story. Darker crime in this way makes it feel that bit more realistic, and that much more gripping a story. After all, Crime really isn’t supposed to be fluffy and pretty!
There is a huge mixture of emotion within the pages of this book, so prepare for a ride when you pick the book up! The stories weave together very cleverly, and I was left wanting to learn more about the subjects within the pages. The scenes are so well described that they place you in the middle of the room, watching things unfold. It’s not always a particularly comfortable experience! But it is certainly an admirable talent!
If you love OrendaBooks or haven’t got stuck into them yet (😱😱😱😱) adore Johanas writing already or like me are new to her work, this is a book that will have you devouring page after page without pause!! I will certainly be diving into her Previous books!
About The Author:
Born in Marseille, France, and with a degree in Political Science, Johana Gustawsson has worked as a journalist for the French and Spanish press and television. Her critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series has won the Plume d’Argent, Balai de la découverte, Balai d’Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards, and is now published in nineteen countries. A TV adaptation is currently underway in a French, Swedish and UK co-production. Johana lives in London with her Swedish husband and their three sons. She drew on her own experience of fertility clinics and IVF to write Blood Song and is happy to speak and write pieces about this.
About The Publisher:
Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.
http://www.orendabooks.co.uk @OrendaBooks
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