Eat To Your Heart's Content by Sat Bains BLOG TOUR #EatToYourHeartsContent @Octopus_Books #SatBains @RandomTTours #HealthyCookery #BookReview

 

Sat Bains worked out, always maintained a reasonable weight and considered himself fit and healthy, so it was a shock when, in March 2021, he had a massive heart attack and underwent an emergency triple heart bypass operation.

During recovery, Sat consulted his friend, nutritionist Dr Neil Williams, who guided him on a revised diet to help maintain heart health. Having two Michelin Stars and a three-decade long obsession with flavour, Sat was not willing to sacrifice great food just because his diet now had to be heart healthy. This collection of recipes is made up of those he devised following surgery and focuses on lean protein, a mix of legumes, good fats - such as avocado, nuts and olive oil - and vegetables and fruits.

These delicious, simple dishes are designed for every day, they use supermarket-friendly ingredients and are accompanied by nutritional advice highlighting the ingredients rich in heart-healthy vitamins and minerals.

Eat To Your Heart's Content by Sat Bains was published on 18 January 2024 by Kyle Books / Octopus Books. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour 

Heart-healthy recipes from celebrated chef Sat Bains, a two-star Michelin chef and heart attack survivor, with nutritional input from Dr Neil Williams, Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology and Nutrition at Nottingham Trent University.

I'm a huge foodie. Martin and myself love eating out, trying new places, discovering new dishes. I was brought up in Nottinghamshire and have always wanted to visit Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottingham, we really need to get a table booked soon!

In the meantime, I've really enjoyed reading through this recipe book, it is packed full of healthy eats that look so appealing. Roast chicken is one of my all time favourite, go-to meals and I'm going to create my version of Sat Bain's Chicken With Seven Bulbs of Garlic dish this weekend. I've ordered a free-range chicken and the garlic is ready!

This book is really important, the facts about heart disease are shocking and frightening, we really do have a responsibility to ourselves to try harder to look after ourselves.

Coronary heart disease (CHD; also known as ischaemic heart disease) is the most common cause of heart attack and is the single biggest killer of both men and women.

In the United States, someone has a heart attack every 40 seconds.

Each year cardiovascular disease (CVD) causes 3.9 million deaths in Europe and over 1.8 milllion deaths in the European Union (EU). CVD accounts for 45% of all deaths in Europe and 37% of all deaths in the EU.

60 million people are living with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in the EU, and 13 million new cases of CVD are diagnosed every year.

In his introduction, Sat Bains talks about the day in March 2020 when he had his heart attack. He talks about how he was treated and how he has gone on to deal with it after the fact. He began to devise weekly heart-healthy menus, under guidance from Dr Neil Williams, Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology and Nutrition at Nottingham Trent University. 

The next section is 'Getting Started' and discusses Unami - the fifth taste. Bains describes how the chapters are organised:

Eggs
Salads
Vegetables
Fish
Meat
Smoothies, snacks and breads
Soups, sauces, pickles and broths
Sweet things

There's a section on heart-healthy eating, written by Dr Neil Williams where he describes and talks about the top ten heart-healthy foods.  Most of these are basic everyday ingredients that we can all integrate into our daily diet.

The recipes then follow. In sections and all well laid out and really easy to follow. There are some stunning photographs too, and although we all want to aim for the images in the book, it's fine if yours don't quite look like the dishes in the photos!

This is a great book. It is certainly going to take pride of place in my kitchen and I'm already planning which dishes I am going to attempt.  Beautifully presented with a quality hard back cover and fabulous photos. 

Sat Bains is best known for being chef proprietor of the two-Michelin starred Restaurant Sat Bains
with Rooms in Nottingham, England. 

It also holds one Green Michelin Star. 

He won the Roux Scholarship in 1999 and worked in France before returning to the UK and opening his own restaurant. 

Sat won Great British Menu in 2007 and has continued making regular appearances on television.

Instagram @satbains1

Every Smile You Fake by Dorothy Koomson #EverySmileYouFake @DorothyKoomson @headlinepg @ed_pr #BookReview

 

Please take care of my baby. But don't try to find me. You'll put him in danger. x

Profiler and therapist Kez Lanyon is shocked when she finds a baby on the backseat of her car, with an unsigned note asking her to take care of him.

Kez has a pretty good idea who the mother is - Brandee, a popular social media star with a troubled background, who once lived in Kez's house.

Brandee recently dropped out of the limelight and if the internet rumours are true, Kez knows Brandee's life is in danger.

Kez is torn. Should she simply take care of the baby as she's been asked, or should she risk her whole family by using contacts from her previous job to save this young woman?

Time is running out for Brandee. Can Kez find her before it's too late?

Every Smile You Fake by Dorothy Koomson is published in hardback on 15 February 2024 by Headline. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

I have been reading Dorothy Koomson for twenty years! TWENTY YEARS! Crikey that makes me feel old, especially as I can clearly recall those early books so well. In fact, her 2006 novel, My Best Friend's Girl is one of very few books that I've read more than once. 
Over the years, this author's style has changed and developed, her early novels were more romance and general fiction, her latter novels, including this one would be classed as psychological thrillers. 

Every Smile You Fake is a book that takes the reader on an incredible journey, incorporating domestic noir, undercover agents, the rise of online misogyny, with an overwhelming theme of the power of love and family connections. 

The story is narrated by Kez, we hear her present day story and she also takes us back many years. The second narrator is Brandee; an online influencer, she tells her side of the story in messages that she posts on her 'Joyn' platform. 

Kez is force to be reckoned with, we encounter her first at a book launch. She is part of the panel as she is a profiler and psychologist and has helped the author when writing the book. When an audience member makes a statement that clearly is aimed at Kez, she doesn't hold back and uses her psychological knowledge to make the man look so small. When he follows her across a dark car park after the event, Kez once again holds her own. It is then that she discovers a baby in the back of her car, just months old. There's a note asking her to look after the baby, but not to try to find the author of the note as this could put the baby in danger. 

It soon becomes clear that asking Kez not to do something is totally the wrong thing. She knows who the mother is and she knows that she has to find her. Brandee is like a daughter to Kez, she's cared for her for years, and she is worried about her. 

It's a complex story that takes some really unexpected turns along the way. As we learn more about Kez's early life, and how she met her husband Jeb, we also learn that she has experienced some dangerously dark and terrifying things. It is those past experiences that have made her who she is today, and that haunt her on a daily basis. 

This novel is extremely relevant to today's modern society. As we see Kez and Jeb's son Moe pulled away from his family; attracted by the slick messages put out by a man who has accumulated a massive following, we can only fear for the safety of both Kez and Brandee. 

There are many different threads woven throughout the book and Koomson cleverly and expertly ties these together to create a jaw dropping, totally unexpected finale. It's so classy, so extremely well put together and it is totally gripping throughout. Highly recommended. 

DOROTHY KOOMSON is an award-winning, internationally bestselling author and journalist whose books have been translated into more than 30 languages, with sales that exceed 2 million copies in the UK alone.

Her third novel, My Best Friend's Girl (2006) was selected for the Richard & Judy Summer Reads Book Club, while a TV adaptation based on The Ice Cream Girls was shown on ITV1 in 2013.

Dorothy was featured on the 2021 Powerlist as one of the most influential Black people in Britain and appeared in GQ Style as a Black British trailblazer.

She loves reading and writing, and is passionate about supporting other writers no matter what stage they are at in their career.

www.dorothykoomson.co.uk

X @DorothyKoomson

Instagram @dorothykoomson_author

The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan #TheStormWeMade @vanjchan @HodderBooks #BookReview

 

British Malaya, 1930s

Discontented housewife Cecily is seduced by Japanese general Fujiwara and the glorious future he is promising for 'independent' Malaya, free from British colonialism. As she becomes further embedded as his own personal spy, she unwittingly alters the fate of her country by welcoming in a punishing form of dictatorship under the Japanese in WWII.

Japanese-occupied Malaya, 1945

Cecily and her family are barely surviving. Her children, Jujube, Abel and Jasmin, are surrounded by threat, and look to their mother to keep them safe. But she can't tell them about the part she played in the war - and she doesn't know how to protect them.

Can Cecily face up to her past to save her children? Or is it already too late... ?

The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan was published by Hodder & Stoughton on 4 January 2024. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy of the book.

A version of this review was originally published in S Magazine - Sunday 14 January 2024

The Storm We Made is an incredible debut from author Vanessa Chan. Vividly told through character voices that are realistic and compelling, this is a sweeping and richly layered story of hope, and betrayal.

1945 Malaya. Cecily Alcantara and her family are suffering at the hands of their Japanese rulers. Fifteen year old Abel has disappeared, and youngest daughter Jasmin is kept locked in the basement, away from those who would abduct her to work at the comfort stations. Jujube, the eldest daughter works at a tea house, enduring the hands and mouths of drunken Japanese soldiers. 

Cecily carries a huge burden, she knows that this is her fault. Ten years ago, she became infatuated with a Japanese soldier General Fuijwara and risked everything by becoming his spy. Stealing papers from her husband Gordon who worked for the British and helping to enable the Japanese to take power. She is desperate that her family must never find out. 

The reader hears from Cecily and her three children. We suffer the torture and humiliation of a captured Abel, we feel the anger of Jujube and we see the innocence of Jasmin as all three of them may their own way in what has become a brutal life for them all. 

It is difficult to warm to Cecily, but one can understand her motives for what she did, not only was she in love with Fuijwara, she really thought that getting rid of the British would bring about the dream of ‘Asia for Asians’. As she comes to terms with what she has done, and grieves for her lost son, there’s a sense of a desperate woman, but one who cannot face up to what she has done. 

A powerful and moving debut set in a country and time that I knew little about.

Beautiful and heartbreaking

VANESSA CHAN is a Malaysian author. 

Her debut novel, The Storm We Made, has been sold in twenty languages and territories worldwide, and was published in the US and UK in January 2024. 

Vanessa's other work has been published in Electric Lit, Kenyon Review, and more. 

She is now based mostly in Brooklyn.

www.vanessachan.com

X @vanjchan

Instagram @vanjchan

Halfway House by Helen Fitzgerald BLOG TOUR #HalfwayHouse @fitzhelen @OrendaBooks #MeetLou #BookReview

 

They’re the housemates from Hell…

When her disastrous Australian love affair ends, Lou O’Dowd heads to Edinburgh for a fresh start, moving in with her cousin, and preparing for the only job she can find … working at a halfway house for very high-risk offenders.

Two killers, a celebrity paedophile and a paranoid coke dealer – all out on parole and all sharing their outwardly elegant Edinburgh townhouse with rookie night-worker Lou…

And instead of finding some meaning and purpose to her life, she finds herself trapped in a terrifying game of cat and mouse where she stands to lose everything – including her life.

Slick, darkly funny and nerve-janglingly tense, Halfway House is both a breathtaking thriller and an unapologetic reminder never to corner a desperate woman…

Halfway House by Helen Fitzgerald was published in paperback on 18 January 2024 by Orenda Books. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour. 

I have been reading Helen Fitzgerald's books ever since I discovered her novel Viral in 2016. She is an incredibly clever author, she doesn't write to strict genre, she writes exactly how she feels. Each book is different, but each one of them are perfectly presented, filled to the brim with characters who are flawed, obnoxious, vulnerable and so real. 

If you've read Helen Fitzgerald before, you will have some idea what to expect from Halfway House, if you haven't, then please be prepared. Be prepared to laugh out loud, to squirm, to get angry, to empathise and also, most importantly, to be totally entertained. 

I mean, let's face it, any author who can come up with the line 'Alan was a gentle necrophile' is one to investigate, don't you think?

The enticing prologue of Halfway House features a snippet from an interview on Sixty Minutes with Lou, otherwise know as 'Hashtag ; The Impaler', among others.

We are then taken back two months earlier as we meet Lou during an online interview. She's applied for a job in Edinburgh as a carer in a house for serious offenders, a long way away from her home in Australia. Lou's life is in turmoil. She's been a kept women, in a fancy apartment, with a monthly allowance from her sugar daddy Alan,  but that all went wrong, and she's now using a reference from Alan's wife to try to secure a job that will take her far away.

Lou gets the job, and after an eventful flight from Australia, she arrives in Scotland. She's going to share a flat with her cousin Becks - a girl who annoys her really, but she tries to keep sweet. Becks is currently acting in a production of Plath - The Musical and Lou sits next to a handsome man in the audience. It's not too long before they discover they both like the same things in life; mainly risky outdoor sex and drugs. 

When Lou begins work, it's really not what she expected. There's little management, lots of danger and a totally unexpected surprise in one of the bedrooms. How on earth will she manage this?

Lou manages in her own unique Lou way. She's not a particularly likeable person, I don't even think she likes herself. She's selfish, totally self absorbed, a little obsessed with cleaning, and will use anyone to get what she wants. Despite this, she's a brilliantly created character and the reader can't help but have her back, even when she makes decisions that make you want to scream out loud. 

Helen Fitzgerald has worked in social work, in Scotland, for many years and her own experience shines through in her characters and settings. She's able to create men who have done the most heinous of crimes, who the reader can relate to. She doesn't underestimate them, she doesn't make light of what they've done, but we see more of them than just their convictions.

It's a startling story, full of surprises, clever twists and wild black humour. One moment you will laugh, the next you will hold your breath in anticipation. It's a story packed with despicable people who do awful things, but it is brilliantly executed, with style and insight.

Helen Fitzgerald is an outstanding author and I think Halfway House is her best novel to date. Highly recommended. 

Helen FitzGerald is the bestselling author of ten adult and young adult thrillers, including The Donor (2011) and The Cry (2013), which was longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and adapted for a major BBC drama. 

Her 2019 dark-comedy thriller Worst Case Scenario was a Book of the Year in the Literary Review, Herald Scotland, Guardian and Daily Telegraph, shortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and won the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award. 

Helen worked as a criminal justice social worker for over fifteen years. 

She grew up in Victoria, Australia, and now lives in Glasgow with her husband. 

Follow Helen on Twitter @FitzHelen.

Where The F*** is Blönduós by Emma Strandberg BLOG TOUR #Blonduós @SkeeSafari @palamedespr #BookReview

 

Having survived a terrifying burglary, Emma had reached a point in life where she feared being awake and dreaded falling asleep. 

She grabbed her late mother’s notebooks, packed her car with warm clothes, a swimsuit that had seen better days, a set of winter tyres and a brand new tent, and caught a ferry to Iceland. 

Surtsey was an unexpected eruption - just as my own birth was unplanned and something of an interruption. 

So captivated by the magic of Iceland, our mother returned home with a bar of Toblerone for each of us. There were no hugs or questions as to our welfare. My sisters and I had been alone for three weeks. I was almost 5 years old. 

Inspired by a six-month journey to Iceland in wintertime, “Where the f**k is Blönduós?” is moving, honest, and entertaining. 

Why would a middle-aged woman choose to spend a winter alone in the far north of Iceland? 

It’s a fair question, though the answer isn’t quite so straightforward. I dreamed of lying on a blanket gazing up into the night sky, holding my breath in anticipation of the colourful aurora that may soon dance overhead, without being asked, “Will you be long?” 

By battling the elements, conquering her fears, and learning to knit, all under the watchful gaze of the small community, Emma made sense of the past, found peace with the present, and felt strong enough to deal with the future.

Where The F*** is Blönduós by Emma Strandberg was published on 13 June 2023 by New Generation Publishing. My thanks to Palamedes PR who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour 

I love to travel, but will admit that I do tend to stay in Europe. My bucket list destinations have always been; Canada (ticked that one off last year), Norway (trip booked for next year), and Iceland (yet to be organised!).

Iceland fascinates me. I read a lot of Icelandic fiction, mainly crime fiction, and always translated. I've been lucky enough to meet and spend time with some of my favourite Icelandic authors, and they are, without doubt, some of the friendliest, most laid back people that I've ever met. 

So, Where The F**k is Blönduós really appealed to me. Emma Strandberg is not Icelandic, she is based in Sweden and has travelled extensively, and I had no idea where Blönduós is, but the draw of Iceland, accompanied by the intriguing blurb and gorgeous cover sold it to me. 

What a fabulous read this is! Emma has faced many personal issues and it is the terrifying experience of a house burglary that spurs her on to pack up her things and travel to Iceland. It's also something of a tribute to her mother who did exactly the same thing fifty years ago. 

Emma writes with a conviction and passion that makes the reader really feel as though they too are experiencing this adventure. The crazy, dangerous initial journey, the discovery that Blönduós is not, in fact, the magical sort of town that she imagined, and her determination to make this all work is so well described. Despite her initial reaction, Emma does stay in town and she throws herself into the local community, slowly being accepted and trying out so many things, including knitting! She does nothing heart heartedly, Emma gives it her all. 

The thought of camping, alone, in a strange place frightens the life out of me. However, Emma does just that, with guidance from Maas; who becomes her own personal support system. 

This is so much more than a travel memoir. It features personal and family history, lots of local culture and tradition. Emma explores many feelings, including grief and happiness. There are moments of joy, there are moments that are very poignant, but it is always beautifully handled. 

The reader can feel Emma's passion for both travel and writing. She is precise, lyrical and almost poetic at times.  A wonderful story, told by a woman who I really admire. Highly recommended. 

Travel has been an integral part of my life. From the Amazon to Alexandria, Burma to
Brunei, Cambodia to Kashmir, Greenland to Zimbabwe. My curiosity to travel together with my passion for nature and the great outdoors inspires much of my work.

My debut novel Fully Booked, first published in April 2016, tells of my personal journey of renovating an old property on the west coast of Sweden in the middle of a winter where temperatures dipped to minus 22, and how I went on to live my dream of owning and running a bed and breakfast. The second Edition (Re-release) of this book, again titled Fully Booked is on sale from 01 September 2023.

My latest title Where the F**k is Blönduos?- Driving and Surviving a Winter in Iceland, is now available.

"Emma had reached a point in life where she feared being awake and dreaded falling asleep. She grabbed her late mother’s notebooks, packed her car with warm clothes, a swimsuit that had seen better days, and a set of winter tyres, and caught a ferry to Iceland.By battling the elements, conquering her fears, and learning to knit all under the watchful gaze of the small community, Emma made sense of the past, found peace with the present and felt strong enough to deal with the future."

Inspired by several trips to Iceland including a six-month journey in wintertime, “Where the F**k is Blönduós?” is moving, honest, and entertaining. Why would a middle-aged woman choose to spend a winter alone in the far north of Iceland? It’s a fair question, though the answer isn’t quite so straightforward."

For more information on the author visit: emmastrandbergbooks.com

Blizzard by Marie Vingras t. Stephanie Smee #Blizzard #TranslatedFiction @feliciah_33 @headlinepg #MountainLeopardPress #BookReview

 

To find the child they must survive the storm

A blizzard rages in an isolated corner of Alaska. Few inhabitants live in this desolate place. Scattered across the vast, white expanse, they shelter in solitude from the tempest and the extreme cold. But amid this storm and far from home, a woman walks alone with the child.

She stops for a moment to re-tie the laces of her boots filled with snow. Instants later she looks up and the child under her care has vanished. In desperation she searches for him, knowing that every minute that goes by in this snowstorm is a threat to both of their lives. Soon she is joined in the hunt by the other neighbours. And as the search intensifies to save the missing child from certain death, she too will become the object of pursuit.

Blizzard is a gripping thriller, quiet and unnerving at first, but then building to a breath-taking climax.

Blizzard by Marie Vingtras is published today, 18 January 2024 by Mountain Leopard Press. It is translated from the French by Stephanie Smee. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review.

I am such a fan of translated fiction, especially crime fiction. This little book is only 155 pages long, but it certainly packs a punch.

Set in an isolated part of Alaska, the novel opens as Bess discovers that the small boy whose hand she was holding has disappeared. A blizzard is raging and visibility is very poor, it's incredibly cold and Bess is not sure that she can handle her situation. 

Each very short chapter is narrative in the first person by the characters of the story. We hear from the lost boy's father, Benedict; Cole; a man who has spent his entire life in this place and has close association with Benedict. Freeman is a outlier, a newcomer to Alaska, a black man, out of place and grieving for his lost life, and of course, Bess; also a newcomer and something of a mystery to these men. 

The sense of place is outstanding, the utter isolation of these people, the dangers of the weather, the unpredictability of the landscape. It is stunning to read and to savour. 

The story is certainly character led, and whilst each chapter is very short, the reader begins to feel as though they really do know these men, whilst Bess remains more of a mystery to us. Slowly and surely, the story unfolds, revealing hidden truths and sadness throughout. 

The tension increases with each page, and is just so wonderfully done, we know so little and then we know so much, and I certainly had no idea what we would be faced with at the end of the novel. 

I have to mention the excellent translation too. Occasionally I've found that translation can be a little flat, but Stephanie Smee has really found the voices of the author and the characters, its' so well done. 

This is an incredible novel, I was consumed and I'm not surprised at all that it won the French Bookseller's Award. I am looking forward to more from this talented author.

Marie Vingtras was born in Rennes in 1972. 

Blizzard is her first novel.

Stephanie Smee is a translator into English of all things literary and French. 

Her most recent translation is of Pascal Janovjak's The Rome Zoo, which was the winner of the Swiss Literature Award

One Of The Good Guys by Araminta Hall BLOG TOUR #OneOfTheGoodGuys @AramintaHall @panmacmillan @laurasherlock21 #BookReview

 

If most men say they’re one of the good guys, then why are so many women afraid to walk alone at night?

Cole is the perfect husband: a romantic, supportive of his wife, Mel’s career, keen to be a hands-on dad, not a big drinker. A good guy.

So when Mel leaves him, he's floored. She was lucky to be with a man like him.

Craving solitude, he accepts a job on the coast and quickly settles into his new life where he meets reclusive artist Lennie.

Lennie has made the same move for similar reasons. She is living in a crumbling cottage on the edge of a nearby cliff. It’s an undeniably scary location, but sometimes you have to face your fears to get past them.

As their relationship develops, two young women go missing while on a walk protesting gendered violence, right by where Cole and Lennie live. Finding themselves at the heart of a police investigation and media frenzy, it soon becomes clear that they don’t know each other very well at all.

This is what happens when women have had enough . . .

One Of The Good Guys by Araminta Hall was published on 4 January 2024 by Pan Macmillan. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour. 

I read, reviewed and loved Araminta Hall's last two books: Imperfect Women (August 2020) and Hidden Depths (March 2022), I've been looking forward to One Of The Good Guys for a long time. Once again, this clever author takes a challenging and very relevant subject and creates a story that had me totally gripped from the first page. 

In part one of the novel we hear the voice of Cole, the lead male character of the tale. Cole has recently moved to the south coast where he's taken a new job as an environmental warden. We are treated to his stream of consciousness as he relates how Mel, his wife of seven years has left him and they are now divorcing. 
It is clear that Cole considers himself to be one of the good guys. He explains how Mel was able to create and run a successful PR agency - obviously, it was all down to him. The fact that he did the housework and the cooking and never ever complained. 

Cole appears confused as to why Mel has been so cruel to him, but there's also an anger bubbling underneath, there are many red flags in Cole's narrative. He is especially determined that he will not sign the papers that Mel so desperately wants him to, and his reasons for this become clearer as we learn more about him, and their relationship.

Cole stumbles upon a cottage, just on the edge of the cliffs and as he gazes through the window, he sees a woman there.  That women is Lennie, an artist who is spending time away from her busy life. Cole and Lennie form a friendship, that teeters upon a romantic relationship.  

Part Two brings in Mel's voice, and the reader gets another side of the story of this broken marriage. Whilst Mel relates very similar things as Cole does, her language and phrasing clearly show that the things that Cole admire about himself are the things that led Mel to end the marriage. 

Two young women are walking the south coast, to raise money and awareness for a charity that works to ensure the safety of women. Cole comes across them as they venture too close to the edge of a cliff, and then, they disappear.

Cole and Lennie become part of the police investigation and this is when the truths are slowly uncovered. 

Araminta Hall's structuring is so well done, and I especially enjoyed the use of social media clips as part of the narration, keeping it fresh and relevant.

This is a truly uncomfortable read. Cole's thoughts and actions sent shivers down my spine. Mel's frustration at him, and at the people who think he's wonderful just because he washes the dishes is totally believeable, yet I didn't care for her either.   None of the lead characters are particularly likeable, I certainly wouldn't want to spend time with any of them, however this doesn't take anything away from the story, in fact, I'd say that it adds depth. We tend to favour the character we like the best, regardless of what they do. In this book we have to unpick the facts. 

Billed by the publisher as a 'feminist thriller', there is no doubt that it is both a thriller and extremely feminist. There is also no doubt that many women who read this book will recognise much of Cole's behaviours.  'Influencers' such as Andrew Tate and his toxic messages, and the rise of the incel movement online exists and are dangerous and extremely worrying. 

Readers could think that this story is a little over the top, and that Lennie and Mel are extreme in their views and what they decide to do,  however, the author gives a great outline of their back stories, and we have two intelligent women who find common ground and decide to do something about it. There's a discussion to be had about what they do, and there's lots to be said about the outcomes for all of the characters too.

The perfect choice for discussion at book club, I really enjoyed One Of The Good Guys; it's extremely well written and the character creation is amazing. It's dark, and uncomfortable but so relevant to society today. I think this one will split readers. It's a brave and daring book, and very stylish. Recommended by me. 

Araminta Hall is a journalist and teacher. 

She is the author of five previous novels, including her first novel, Everything & Nothing, which was published in 2011 and became a Richard & Judy read that year. 

She is the great niece of Dodie Smith and the great granddaughter of Lawrence Beesley, who survived the Titanic and wrote a bestselling account of the tragedy in the book, The Loss of the SS Titanic. 

She teaches creative writing at New Writing South in Brighton, where she lives with her husband and three children.

Twitter / X @AramintaHall