Dead Scared by SJ Bolton

When a Cambridge student dramatically attempts to take her own life, DI Mark Joesbury realizes that the university has developed an unhealthy record of young people committing suicide in extraordinary ways.


Against huge personal misgivings, Joesbury sends young policewoman DC Lacey Flint to Cambridge, with a brief to work under-cover, posing as a depression-prone, vulnerable student. Psychiatrist Evi Oliver is the only person in Cambridge who knows who Lacey really is - or so they both hope. But as the two women dig deeper into the darker side of university life, they discover a terrifying trend . . . 


And when Lacey starts experiencing the same disturbing nightmares reported by the dead girls, she knows that she is next.

Along with Phil Rickman, I think SJ Bolton is one of our best British crime and thriller storytellers.  Her books are consistently well thought out, frightening, well plotted and character driven.  Along with Mr. Rickman, SJ Bolton is one of the few authors whose books I'd I would pick up without a moment's hesitation, not even bothering to read the write-up on the back because her name guarantees you a ride you will not forget.

In Dead Scared we travel to Cambridge for all the action.  I thought: secret societies, odd shenanigans amongst the stacks, that type of thing...and not to exactly spoilt it, it is both yes and no but not like you'd expect.  Ms. Bolton gives us a very creepy story to try and puzzle out, using three characters' POV - Mark Joesbury, to a lesser extent, and instead focussing mostly on Lacey and Evie's characters respectively.

If you've read the most recent two Bolton titles, you would have met Mark and Lacey in Now You See Me and Evie you would have encountered in Blood Harvest.  Having said that, these books are very much standalone in that the characters obviously make reference to their previous lives (adventures) to give new readers an idea where they come from, but this story is very much an open and shut case making use of previously established characters, which works very well indeed.

It's really hard to review any of her books - because of how tightly they're plotted it would be easy to give away some intricate plot-point and bah, I hate that.  So, when Lacey's asked to head to Cambridge to go undercover as a mature student, in order to help Evie figure out exactly what was going on, she doesn't really expect to be embroiled in something bigger than a few students committing suicide.  But as Lacey and Evie expand their search - much to Joesbury's annoyance - they start finding more students, more than your average amount anyway - over the past few years, taking their own lives.

As they try and figure out who is behind it, as they expect a group targeting vulnerable students, things get pretty hairy for them both.  Evie's story especially freaked me out.  Evie is very dear to my heart.  I really connected with her when I read Blood Harvest and I love how logical she is and how self-assured she comes across whilst really, she is this bundle of fears and doubts, like all of us, really.  And the thing about Evie is, she's disabled, so my fears for her is always that she'll get hurt even more and I think Ms. Bolton knows that, so she doesn't actually play on Evie's physicality, threatening her bodily, but instead she goes about attacking her mentally.  It freaked me out no end.  Lacey, on the other hand is very much the physical person, so she's preyed upon not just mentally but also physically.

As the story starts unravelling and we find our pool of suspects, we are flung headlong into a flight to save both women.  And what I love best about SJ Bolton's books and writing, is how strong her female characters are.  They are flawed yes, but they are also intelligent, resourceful and they don't break easy. And although the men are as lovely and strong, the women don't have to rely on them to save the day.  I love that to bits.

This is a rather vague review.  Needless to say, it's done on purpose because you gotta read it for yourself.  In fact, if you've not read any SJ Bolton, I'd recommend you pack your holiday bag with her books or load them onto your kindle and indulge.  Each book is different, set in a  different place in the UK and each book offers you something very different.   The consist thing you get though is superb storytelling.  Also, it makes you wonder how such a nice lady can write such frightening books.  Hmm.

A word of warning though, Blood Harvest especially is not a book you'd want to read in a remote village in the countryside.  It did nothing good for my sleeping patterns.  Dead Scared, by page forty, had me so freaked out, I had to close the book and I had to ring Mark to collect me from the station because I couldn't face the ten minute walk home alone at nine pm in the evening after a blogger event. And the sun was shining.  Honestly.  Really good thrillers like this are rare and far between and honestly, SJ Bolton gives good thrilling action.  You will not regret it.

Find SJ Bolton's site here.  Dead Scared is out now.

Blood Harvest by SJ Bolton

NOW YOU SEE HER... Gillian is haunted by the disappearance of her little girl two years ago. A devastating fire burned down their home, but she remains convinced her daughter survived.


NOW YOU DON’T... Ten-year-old Tom lives by the town’s neglected churchyard. Is he the only one who sees the strange, solitary child playing there? And what is she trying to tell him?


NOW YOU RUN... There’s a new vicar in town – Harry – and he’s meeting the locals. But menacing events suggest he isn’t welcome. What terrible secret is this town hiding?

In Blood Harvest we meet the lovely Fletcher family, mum Alice, dad Gareth and sons, Joe and Tom and daughter Millie.  They have just moved into the village of Heptonclough and built their new house by the church(es) and graveyard. 

The book opens with Tom and Joe having a great look around the graveyard and a bit of a game.  It is when Joe hears Tom calling to him, and realises Tom is too far away to be doing so, and that the voice is far too near, that the icy cold drops of terror roll down your spine.

Harry, the new vicar, senses that someone is watching him whilst he's preparing the church for service.  It's been closed down for several years as an awful accident happened there some time ago and because of that no one wanted congregate there any more.  Harry is determined to gather his new flock together, no matter what it takes.

Evi is a psychiatrist and has started seeing Gillian, a young bereaved woman who had lost her home and her small daughter in an awful fire not too long ago.  Gillian is grieving and heartbroken but she appears to be flourishing under Evi's guidance.

When Gillian becomes obsessed with Harry and thinks she's fallen in love with him and that he was "the one", Evi resolves to stay away from Harry, even if it means putting her own blossoming feelings second. 

Tom and Joe come to realise that someone is out there, watching them.  Joe has sort of made friends with her and will speak to her when no one else is around.  The times that Tom does see her, he is scared out of his wits.  She's odd-looking, with hands and feet and a head too big for her small child-sized body.  And when Millie is stolen from a harvest festival and then found up in the gallery rafters of the old church, they are convinced that it is this strange girl who is to blame.

His parents doesn't believe Tom when he speaks about her.  He becomes obsessed with keeping the house locked up, checking the doors and windows.  His previously close relationship with his brother Joe disappears and he becomes withdrawn and obsessive.  His parents hand him over to Evi to try and figure out what's going on.  The fact that he hears voices, this little girl's voice, has his mother Alice worried about schizophrenia.

As the story unfolds, strand by strand, SJ Bolton gives us exactly what we want.  A twisty tale full of tension and no little terror.  There were some instances, whilst I was reading this (alone) whilst away from home, that I literally felt myself pinned to the bed by terror.  I couldn't even reach out to turn off my light.  I was scared out of my wits.

SJ Bolton is a superbly subtle writer.  She knows her audience exceedingly well and she plays us like a finely tuned instrument.  She manages to to give us very real characters who act and react in a very human and honest way to various pressures placed on them.  The thriller aspect of the novel, or rather the psychological impact of the novel is tremendous.  We are never quite sure if Tom and Joe are crazy - are they seeing and hearing this girl?  And if so, who is she? And does she have anything to do with the disappearances of other girls in the area, as well as Millie's kidnapping?  And if it's not her doing all these things, then who is it really?

By far the most noticeable character arc/development within Blood Harvest is that of Harry, the new vicar assigned to Heptonclough.  Harry is a such a nice guy.  I warmed to him as a character and all I wanted was for him to come out on the other side of this in good order, with maybe a chance to win Evi's hand.  I obviously will not tell you what happens but I was hugely sad when I closed the covers of the book and had to say goodbye to Harry, Evi and the Fletchers.  They had really got under my skin as characters and I did dash away a bit of a tear at the end.

SJ Bolton's writing is going from strength to strength.  She really has become, without a doubt, one of the UK's top thriller writers.  Her planning and pacing is immaculate and kudos to her editor Sarah for allowing Ms. Bolton to tackle such varied stories within each standalone novel thus far.  I am really looking forward to reading Now You See Me and this time, for sure, I won't be waiting until the paperback comes out!

If you're tentative about reading thrillers and think they are all about the crazy action and breathless pace, put your doubts in your pocket and give SJ Bolton a try.  Her writing will surprise you and shock you.  It is spine tingling stuff and it is just so well written and thought out. I am about to blaspheme (look away!): I think that in SJ Bolton we have someone who can take on Tess Gerritsen at her own game and win.  For sure.

The SJ Bolton Experience

Mark and I were invited by Lynsey from Transworld to attend something a bit unusual for a book launch.  I am a big fan of SJ Bolton - she writes very creepy thrillers - and so when the invite came through, I barely glanced at it and immediately emailed Lynsey back to say "ohmygodyes".

Turns out the new book - NOW YOU SEE ME - is reminiscent of Jack the Ripper's reign of terror in olden day London town.  And what would be a better way to launch a Jack book...than by having a guided Jack the Ripper walk?

I confess: I do not know much about Jack, at all.  Obviously I know who he is, about his lore, a few bits of info about his killings, but I am by no means an aficionado.  So this evening was not just going to be fun, it was going to be educational too.

Well, there we were, lurking outside Liverpool Street Station along with Keith from Books and Writers, the guys from Goldsboro Books, Miles from Milo Rambles blog and Tom from Crime & Publishing along with Mr. Tony Lee and his lovely bride, Tracey.  We were joined by author du jour, SJ Bolton (who looked immaculate as always) and a swathe of Transworld people.

Whilst we were standing, we became aware of this odd bloke staring at us.  He wore a bowler hat, was completely dressed in black in this suit that is maybe a bit...not quite right, and most curious of all, he carried this unlit lantern.  We traded stares with him, with each other.  Lynsey revealed that this is in fact our guide.  I thought "oh great, creepy deluxe!" Just who I want to show me around the remote alleys of London as frequented by Victorian London's most infamous killer.

The tour got underway once everyone was gathered.  Our guide, "Frank" took to his role of creepy tour guide with gusto.  It is difficult to explain his schtick - it's sort of dead-pan psycho with a bit of a Tyler Durden, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp on a good day, thrown in the mix.   I admit it - I was dubious.  But once you get over the initial oddness, and you just accept that he's pretty damn good at what he does, you are happy to follow him around.

He took us all over the East End and spoke eloquently, with a trained orators voice, about the various Jack the Ripper murders, where they took place, some of the lore surrounding the killings.  But he also gave us interesting asides about the places we walked around.

Following Frank it was really interesting to see how people reacted to his very pale face, his tallness, his odd attire and the lit lantern he carried.  They stared, they giggled and some just preferred not to notice.  They realised pretty quickly though that this was a Jack the Ripper tour and some people stopped to briefly speak to him.  We also had the occasional person linger amongst our group to listen to him or take a photo or six.

At the end of the evening we ended up at The Bell and Frank became Ben, much to our collective reliefs.  Ben was far more lovely than strange-staring-eyed-Frank and also easier to get a laugh out of.  SJ Bolton gave a great speech and did some singing of books.  It was an incredible evening and Transworld really outdid themselves with their hospitality and putting the tour together.  We are genuinely happy to have been part of it.

At the moment I'm reading SJ Bolton's previous novel, Blood Harvest and the opening few pages creeped me out no end.  We'll be reviewing Blood Harvest and Now You See Me very soon!

Oh, friend and fellow blogger Keith has already written his review of Now You See Me as well as a further write-up on the tour.  Check it out.

This is the very creepy book trailer they created for Now You See Me.

Awakening by SJ Bolton

Synopsis:

An idyllic village is thrown into turmoil in a startling, heart-racing thriller.

Veterinary surgeon Clara Benning is young and intelligent, but practically a recluse. Disfigured by a childhood accident, she lives alone and shies away from human contact wherever possible. But when a man dies, following a supposed snake bite, Clara learns that the victim’s post mortem shows a higher concentration of venom than could ever be found in a single snake.

Assisted by her softly spoken neighbour and an eccentric reptile expert, Clara unravels sinister links to a barbaric ancient ritual, an abandoned house and a fifty year old tragedy that left the survivors fiercely secretive. Then the village’s inventive attacker strikes again, and Clara’s own solitary existence is brutally invaded. For someone the truth must remain buried in the past...even if they have to kill to keep it there.

How did it all begin? Well, I suppose it would be the day I rescued a newborn baby from a poisonous snake, heard the news of my mother’s death and encountered my first ghost. Thinking about it, I could even pinpoint the time. A few minutes before six on a Friday morning and my quiet, orderly life went into meltdown.

For someone who loves reading the opening page of a book, reading this small paragraph from Awakening, the second novel by the 2008 debut author SJ Bolton, is a pure treat. And it just keeps getting better with the crisis escalating higher and higher.

Our heroine, Clara Benning, is a brilliantly created main character. She has a great affinity for animals and much prefer their company to those of humans. Having moved to a small village she keeps to herself and minds her own business. Needless to say everyone in the village is intrigued by Clara, who she is and how she came to carry an ugly scar on her face.

When she is called in to help a panicked mother rescue her infant from a snake in it's crib, her life takes on a different dimension altogether. Snakes are being found all over the village, in people's homes and everyone is panicking. The majority of the snakes are harmless British snakes and it is illegal for them to be caught and killed. But not all of the snakes are harmless and Clara very soon has her hands full with a deadly taipan snake, its origins in the very far Papua New Guinea. No one knows where these snakes are coming from and there is a panic as an elderly man dies from a snakebite, whilst gardening. There is the mystery of the ghost which more than one villager has seen - the ghost of an elderly gentleman who had died the year before. Or had he? What happened back in 1958 and how did it involve the village being overrun by snakes?

Tautly written, Awakening is a gripping thriller with more than enough creep-factor. It is also a story about Clara finding herself and her confidence to confront her own fears by standing up for the truth - even it means that there is an arrest warrant out for her!

I saw a reviewer in The Bookseller say: "she just writes so well..." and it is true. SJ Bolton is a very gifted writer and although I loved her first novel, Sacrifice, I did not expect the same level of excellence in Awakening and I am truly happy to say that Awakening is even better than Sacrifice. Clara's characterisation is handled deftly - almost everything is seen from her point of view as the novel is written from first person perspective. In some other books I have read, this can become tedious very quickly but we are saved from any kind of boredom by an involved plotline and an unusual heroine who doesn't go so much with the flow as run flatout against it. She is contrary, a bit surly whilst being engaging at the same time - it is a very fine line which SJ Bolton treads here, creating a difficult heroine who could veer so very easily into someone unlikeable.

There are several strands in the novel which are tied up in a series of reveals and the success of these alone should indicate that the author has done a very good job. There is a very faint strand of romance and personally, I enjoyed the two male characters in the novel which Clara comes into contact with. I would have loved to have seen more of them in more scenes, but then this is Clara's story about her journey to discover the truth about the village, whilst it forms a backdrop to her own "Awakening".

Awakening is a fascinating read and will be going onto our "Summer Reads List" which we will be compiling from the end of May onwards during Summer. Awakening is published by Bantam here in the UK and is now available in all bookstores and online. SJ Bolton's site can be found here, along with the extract of the first chapter.