Two Heads Are Better Than One

Michael Cordy

Publication Date: 8th May 2025

Publisher: Transworld / Bantam

SYNOPSIS

THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS JUST SAID GOODNIGHT

On the anniversary eve of the 9/11 terror attack, New York swelters under a heat dome of record temperatures. Even the global leaders assembled at the UN HQ are forced to admit that the climate crisis has reached boiling point and the world’s time is running out.

That same day, at precisely 5:25 p.m., everyone on Manhattan Island – every man, woman and child, including all the world leaders at the UN – falls unconscious. Everyone that is, except for Samantha Rossi, a single mother reeling from devastating personal news and Nick Lockwood, a wounded NYPD detective who wakes from a coma just as the City That Never Sleeps falls into one.

Rossi’s first concern is her daughter. Lockwood’s is his city. As night draws in, they must work together to unravel the mystery of what has happened and why. Each must decide how far they will go and what lines they will cross to save what matters most to them.

Manhattan Down is a pulse-pounding contemporary thriller which dares to imagine the unimaginable, a leaderless world being held to ransom by forces unknown for reasons unknown. The questions it asks are terrifying – and so are some of the answers.

MY REVIEW

Wow this is an incredibly vivid edge of the seat thriller, just crying out to be made into a film. 

Manhattan comes to a standstill at precisely 5.25pm on the anniversary eve of 9/11 as everyone falls unconscious at the exact same time. Cars crash. People drop to the ground in the streets. The description of people lying in the streets all over Manhattan and slouched over steering wheels and desks is quite disturbing. Then there are the ones who are ‘walkers’ and get up whilst still asleep, say a few words then fall asleep again. 

The world’s leaders are all together in the UN building, and just as most people, have succumbed to sleep. 

The group responsible, who call themselves The Deadly Sins, appear to be a handful of environmentalists who met on the dark web and have taken this drastic action to force the world to act now to save the planet. If their demands are not met, they will not wake the population of Manhattan and without water and in the sweltering heat, people will not live long. But is there more behind their plan? They certainly did not expect anyone being immune to the sleep, especially not a fearless New York cop with a score to settle and a cyber security expert who just wants to find her daughter. 

An absolute page turner. I read it over 2 days. It is definitely one of those ‘what if’ books which makes us really think and realise how our lives can change so quickly. 

I gasped out loud a few times and I shed a few tears at the end, the sign of an excellent book which had me completely immersed. Nick the cop was the outstanding character for me. 

Michael certainly has plenty of bestsellers under his belt. I will be reading his previous books that’s for sure, and fully expect Manhattan Down will be another bestseller for him.

My thanks as always to Sophie at Ransom PR for my spot on the tour.

BLOG TOUR

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Cordy is the bestselling author of 6 high concept thrillers, including the Sunday Times and international bestseller The Messiah Code, The Lucifer Code and the Sunday Times bestseller, The Miracle Strain. Having taken time off from writing novels to work in film, Michael Cordy is back with Manhattan Down. His novels have been translated into several languages and four have been sold to Hollywood. Michael lives in London with his wife and daughter.

Kate Storey

Publication Date: 10th April 2025

Publisher: Avon

SYNOPSIS

For three decades, Grace supported her husband Frank’s passion for books, despite not being a reader herself.

Since his passing, their shelves echo longingly, and Grace’s heartache has only grown.

When Grace’s grandson suggests joining Frank’s old book club to feel closer to him again, Grace reluctantly agrees. Yet, upon arrival, she discovers this isn’t a typical book club: here, members settle in for an hour of reading… in silence. Disappointed by the sparse attendance and confused by the lack of chatter, Grace flees. But when fellow member, Annie, convinces her to stay, Grace is determined to ensure that neither Frank – nor his beloved book club – are forgotten. And as she breathes new life into the group, Grace might just find this is where she truly belongs. Because this next chapter of life could just be the beginning of her story…

The perfect story for book lovers everywhere. Ideal for fans of Sally Page and Evie Woods.

MY REVIEW

A book about books. Doesn’t get much better than that for an immediate ‘I must read that‘ feeling! And that beautiful cover just drew me in.

With a heart wrenching beginning, Grace is reeling from the loss of her husband, Frank. Now she lives alone with his study full of his beloved books. Frank was a reader, something Grace never had time for. Frank set up a book club, something Grace had never shown any interest in. Grand wrote a journal which Grace begins to read and she is shocked by what he has kept from her.

Grace is persuaded to go along to the book club and meet Frank’s friends. The group are a strange mix and Grace feels a bit like a fish out of water but she soon begins to find close friendships amongst the handful of members.

This is a book with a big heart. A community feeling. Strangers who have come together through a common love of reading and now rely on the group like family. A beautiful storyline with lovable characters, and plenty of book recommendations too, many of which are now on my want to read list. And a cat. Love a cat!

There is also a strong focus on ADHD which I found very interesting as a few of my friends believe they have it.

All in all a gorgeous and engrossing read I couldn’t put down. 

Huge thanks to Becky Hunter and Avon for sending me a copy to review. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In the author’s own words:

I’ve had a life-long obsession with books, studying English at university and going on to become an English teacher. With that background, it felt natural to me to write novels in different genres. 

I hope you enjoy my uplifting books about books, The Memory Library and The Forgotten Book Club, written as Kate Storey.

I write family dramas as Lisa Timoney, and The Daughter She Gave Away is available to preorder now.

If you like psychological thrillers with a twist, The Woman in Ward 9, written uder the name Naomi Williams might be for you.

I live in the London suburbs with my husband and daughters, popping home to my native Yorkshire whenever I get the chance.

You can find all my socials at lisatimoneywrites/KateStorey/NaomiWilliams

Rob Gittins

Publication date: 6th May 2025

Publisher: Hobeck

SYNOPSIS

Berlin. May 1945

A city without institutions in a continent that had become a wasteland

British prime minister, Winston Churchill, has a problem. One of the former Nazis now incarcerated in a camp is actually a British spy, Edward Kayne, who’d been planted at the heart of the Reich in Hitler’s Berlin Bunker. Kayne has intercepted a top-secret document that Churchill insists is vital to settling the peace. Kayne, and that document, must not fall into the wrong hands.

A bitterly disillusioned ex-army captain, Martin Geller is selected to journey into the heart of darkness and extract Kayne. But a carrot is dangled before him. His daughter, Zaya, had been abducted two years before and gifted to a high-ranking Nazi as part of the Lebensborn programme. Geller sets off on a two-pronged mission – to extract Kayne and to rescue Zaya.

Can Geller rescue his daughter from the gates of hell? And how does Geller reconcile the rescue of Kayne with his knowledge that by doing so he may be condemning the world to a new Armageddon?

MY REVIEW

This is a story of trying to survive against all the odds.

It definitely kept me on my toes keeping track of the British spies, Churchill’s plans, the German SS, Zaya the abducted child and the mother and father’s relentless search for her.

The author does not hold back when describing the horror of WW2. The camps, the evil SS, the murders.

Kayne, a British spy, holds a crucially important piece of information which must reach Churchill. Geller has the skills to get Kayne back to Britain, and at the same time he might just save his own young daughter too.

I found parts of the book to be rather harrowing, and I struggled to read some of the horrific descriptions, especially of children and babies being murdered. Very sadly this was the reality of life and death for so many people.

I did thoroughly enjoy the addictive plot and I also learned a great many facts along the way including how and why penicillin was pushed into production and used by the army, how pigeons and dogs did important work for the war, and how Anthony Eden was born just a few miles from where I live in County Durham where he returned after his son was killed. He was visited there by Churchill. I was fascinated to read more about the German ‘Race and Settlement’ office, and how they selected people for the Lebensborn breeding programme to produce a ‘perfect’ race. Zaya was abducted from her home in Tibet, having been checked and measured and found to be a prime example for the programme.

I can imagine many hours of research have gone into writing this book by an author who clearly has a huge amount of interest in WW2. 

There is so much to take in, I feel I should read the book again!

Thanks to Rebecca at Hobeck for my spot on the blog tour.

Rachel Wolf

Publication Date: 8/5/25

Publisher: Aries / Head of Zeus

SYNOPSIS

BE CAREFUL
Ellie has wanted to be an actor since she was a child so, when a role in a blockbuster film presents itself, she grabs it.

WHAT YOU
On the plane to Abu Dhabi to begin filming, Ellie overhears something she shouldn’t – two people discussing plans for murder.

WISH FOR
Unsure if it’s a misunderstanding, and not wanting to ruin her big break, Ellie remains quiet. Then ten members of the cast become nine…

Ellie needs to be careful – it’s more than just her career on the line.

Because she isn’t who she says she is.
And liars are always the prime suspect.

MY REVIEW

When Ellie and Phoebe meet on a short acting course, the fact they look scarily like twins brings them together and they are soon close friends, even sharing an apartment. When Phoebe falls ill and Ellie offers to take her place on a film to be shot in Abu Dhabi, it all seems like an easy swap. Phoebe will work at the diner Ellie works at. 

However, what appeared to be a simple off the cuff jokey remark by about taking Phoebe’s place whilst she gets well, soon turns out to be not quite as innocent as it first sounded.

A nightmare plane trip. A car accident. A murder. What has Ellie got herself into? What is really going on behind the doors of the famous actors and director in the luxurious Abu Dhabi hotel? 

Oh my goodness what a page turner this was! I was gripped immediately by the ‘now’ situation of a girl stranded in the desert. 

I enjoyed the way the book was written as we slowly find out the secrets which are being kept. We are taken back and forth to find out how and why Ellie was on the acting course and how she found herself stranded in the desert.

I can’t say any more about the brilliant storyline as this is a book you just have to read to appreciate the detailed planning and plotting which has gone into this very clever whodunnit mystery. Claustrophobic, atmospheric, a line up of dubious characters and I eagerly lapped up every twisty word. The perfect read for the hot weather.

Thanks to Sophie Ransom and Kelly Pike for my spot on the tour and for sending me a stunning ARC.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rachel Wolf is the author of the luxury thriller FIVE NIGHTS. Before writing, she worked in the travel industry, and FIVE NIGHTS takes inspiration from some of her travels. Thursday 20th June Rachel will be at Royston Library discussing crime writing with three other crime writers at 7pm. Or catch up on FIVE NIGHTS with Talk Radio Europe (TRETalkRadio) with Hannah Murray Lopez; with Sophie on Five Books blog; or with Danni on A Novel Evening; and BBC Radio Essex. Follow her on Twitter on RachelWolfWritr or Insta on RachelWolfAuthor

Jenni Keer

Publication Date: 27/4/25

Publisher: Boldwood Books

SYNOPSIS

On 15th April 1912, RMS Titanic sank and 1500 people lost their lives. But what if it had stayed afloat?

When the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic leaves thirteen-year-old Olivia Davenport orphaned, she’s sent to live with her guardians, the Fairchilds, in their huge Jacobean mansion – Merriford Manor. But the Fairchilds have more to worry about than a grieving young girl – with war in Europe imminent and four sons to protect.

Olivia feels alone and friendless. That is, until she hears a voice from behind the wall in her tower bedroom. A voice from a man called Seth. At first she thinks he’s a ghost. But it soon becomes clear that he lives in an overlapping world that is just a shudder in time away from her own. A world where the Titanic never sank… And everything since has been just slightly… different.

All Olivia wants is to find a way into his reality. And not just to see the faces of her beloved parents once again. But also to meet Seth. Who might just be the love of her life…

An utterly unforgettable reading group historical novel, that is part romance, part gripping mystery, and part completely heartbreaking First World War historical fiction. Perfect for fans of Titanic, In Memoriam and Lucinda Riley.

Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/HouseLostWhispers

MY REVIEW

I always enjoy a Jenni Keer book, and was very much looking forward to this new one. The Titanic sinking AND a parallel world where the Titanic did not sink. Let me at it!

Olivia misses out on her trip on the Titanic with her parents due to illness. After her parents are lost as the Titanic sinks, she is sent to live with her guardians and their sons. When she hears a voice through the bedroom wall she initially thinks it must be a ghost, but it soon becomes evident this is Seth the gardener from a parallel timeline. Where the Titanic did not sink. They begin a unique friendship and become close, but how can they ever have the proper relationship they yearn for? It seems impossible that they can ever be happy. Or does it? 

I enjoyed the comparisons between the people and events in the two worlds, as Olivia and Seth talked about what was happening in their own world. 

The book is heartbreaking in parts, as we feel the despair of mothers losing their sons to the war, and those men who return with life changing injuries.

Olivia is certainly a positive character, with hopes and dreams of an exciting life ahead. She tries to let her zest for life rub off on those less upbeat, starting with her guardians who appear unable to show affection.

Such a clever idea which must have taken a huge amount of plotting. This book is so many things rolled into one very atmospheric and addictive read; historical fiction, mystery, love story and a touch of the supernatural.

I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Thanks to Rachel for my spot on the tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jenni Keer lives in the glorious Suffolk countryside with her four grown up children, three demanding cats, but just the one husband. She is often frustrated by their inability to appreciate that when she’s staring into space, she’s actually working, and that watching television counts as research. Much younger in her head than she is on paper, she adores any excuse for fancy-dress and is part of a disco formation dance team.

Keer has written two contemporary rom coms and five quirky historicals, with two more due out in 2025.

The best-selling No. 23 Burlington Square (her 1920s sliding doors mystery) has now sold over 100,000 copies.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: @jenni.keer

Twitter: @JenniKeer

Instagram: @JenniKeer

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/JenniKeerNews

Bookbub profile: @jennikeer

Julie Anderson

Publication date: 29/4/25

Publisher: Hobeck

SYNOPSIS

Summer 1948

London swelters amid post-war reconstruction, while continued rationing and the black-market fuel the rising crime wave. The empires of gangland bosses grow and thrive, protected by corruption and bribery.

During a party in Clapham a student nurse from the South London Hospital for Women and Children dies in a fall from a balcony. Is it an unfortunate accident as the local police believe? Or something more sinister?

The nurse’s friends ask a newly qualified female detective constable to investigate, a woman who is facing difficulties of her own. Before long all are drawn into the criminals’ deadly games, as gangsters jostle for territory and power. With the solution almost within grasp, their lives are threatened and one of them faces a dreadful fate.
Can the others find her before it’s too late?

And what is the truth about…

A Death in the Afternoon?

MY REVIEW

Having read all of Julie’s books so far, I was looking forward to her latest. Book 1 in this new series had me wanting to read more about these new characters, who already felt like friends.

This is book 2 in her new Clapham series and, although it can be read as a standalone, I would recommend reading book one first to get the background on the characters. And it is partly set in the deep tunnels beneath London which is so atmospheric.

I was really happy to meet Faye again, in this book having left her job in hospital admin to join the police following her actions in book 1.

As a new police officer, and a woman, she is not exactly welcomed with open arms into the position of Detective Constable, having been quickly promoted. Set just after WW2, misogyny is still an issue and Faye needs to work hard to try to gain the respect of her male colleagues. The book paints a vivid picture of life just after the war with the Windrush having brought people from the Caribbean who face hatred and racism and tend to keep to themselves. There are still rations in force and life is difficult but women are strong, having taken over many men’s jobs, and kept the country running, as the men went off to war.

Faye begins to investigate the death of a nurse who initially appeared to have accidentally fallen from a balcony, but as she progresses into her investigation, and also starts digging into the criminal gangs who run the underbelly of London, she finds her own life is in danger.

The book starts off at a leisurely pace as Faye finds her feet but towards the end the action really ramps up and I couldn’t turn the pages quickly enough!

Another addictive read from one of my auto read authors.

Huge thanks to Rebecca at Hobeck for my spot the tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Julie Anderson is the CWA Dagger listed author of three Whitehall thrillers and a short series of historical adventure stories for young adults. Before becoming a crime fiction writer, she was a senior civil servant, working across a variety of departments and agencies, including the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Unlike her protagonists, however, she doesn’t know where (all) the bodies are buried.

​She writes crime fiction reviews for Time and Leisure Magazine and is a co-founder and Trustee of the Clapham Book Festival. 

She lives in south London where her latest crime fiction series is set, returning to her first love of writing historical fiction with The Midnight Man, published by Hobeck Press.

Jo Callaghan

Publication Date: 24/4/25 HB

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

SYNOPSIS

From the author of In the Blink of an Eye, the Sunday Times bestseller, winner of the CWA ILP John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger and Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year.

DCS Kat Frank and AIDE Lock are back in a cutting-edge new thriller.

The truth will always come out, but at what cost?

Fresh from successfully closing their first live case, the Future Policing Unit are called in to investigate when a headless, handless body is found on a Warwickshire farm. But as they work to identify the victim and their killer, the discovery of a second body begins to spark fears that The Aston Strangler is back. And as the stakes rise for the team, so do the tensions brewing within it.

When DCS Kat Frank is accused of putting the wrong man behind bars all those years ago, AIDE Lock – the world’s first AI Detective – pursues the truth about what happened with relentless logic. But Kat is determined to keep the past buried, and when she becomes the target of a shadowy figure looking for revenge, Lock is torn between his evidence-based algorithms and the judgement of his partner, with explosive results.

 

When everything hangs in the balance, it will all come down to just how much an AI machine can learn, and what happens when they do . . .

MY REVIEW

Outstanding. I loved this novel so much it may just be my book of the year. An absolute must read, and for anyone who has not yet encountered this series they really need to be read in order to appreciate the characters personal lives and most importantly the development of Lock as he learns more and more and becomes more and more human like.

Jo has such a talent for writing hugely engaging characters and the whole story including Lock is completely believable. 

I absolutely love AIDE Lock, the prototype and experimental holographic AI assistant to DCS Kat Frank, who gets more human with each book as he spends time with Kat and learns how humans think, feel and interact. He now knows more about Kat than anyone which can give Kat pause for thought. Can we really ‘trust’ an AI as we can a human? I especially loved the suggestion he should try air kissing as he has no physical body which he then tries much to Kat’s horror! There are many moments such as this which gave me a giggle. Lock appears so human as we are reading and engrossed in the storyline, but then we are abruptly brought back to the fact he is not. 

Now he wants a body. And he may have just figured out a way to get one.

This is my favourite book in the series so far although I have loved all three. I really enjoy the partnership highlighting physical policing and the ‘gut feelings’ of humans compared with the strictly factual working of AI. The facts and figures crunching and research is completed almost instantly as Lock reads thousands of books on a subject when need be in a matter of seconds, all adding to his learning and his immediate ability to assist under pressure of time and human ability.

The parameters of AI instructions are evident. They must be given exact instructions. Such as finding how many dead bodies are buried in the vicinity. Lock reveals there are 128 corpses buried in the vicinity of a river. It is when Kat is horrified and then Lock breaks them down into dead fish species and just one human body I laughed out loud! 

After that ending I am now even more in two minds whether to be excited for this ever becoming a reality or absolutely terrified! All I can be 100% sure is I can’t wait for the next book in this series which may be the last, unless we can persuade Jo to carry on with these two amazing characters.

Huge thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for my spot on the blog tour. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jo Callaghan works as a senior strategist, carrying out research into the future impact of AI and geonomics on the workforce. After losing her husband to cancer in 2019, she started writing In the Blink of an Eye, her debut crime novel and the first in the Kat and Lock series, which explores learning to live with loss and what it means to be human. It was a BBC Two’s Between the Covers pick, as well as a Waterstones Thriller of the Month, and went on be a Sunday Times bestseller and 2024 winner of both the prestigious Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and the CWA ILP John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger awards. To date it has been published in over fifteen different countries. Jo lives with her two children in the Midlands, and loves connecting with readers on social media as @JoCallaghanKat. She is currently working on further novels in the series

Christina Courtney

Publication Date: 24/4/25

Publisher: Headline Review

Purchase Link – https://geni.us/SITS

SYNOPSIS

Her head buzzed with long-forgotten memories, 
fleeting images that flickered in and out of her mind.
Nothing tangible, and not a single one fully formed, but teasing and tantalising,
as if they wanted to surface but didn’t know how.

AD 80
Duro of the Iceni tribe escaped life as an enslaved gladiator and is now finally home in Britannia with one thing on his mind: vengeance. For 20 years he has sought the Roman legionary who destroyed his family. What he didn’t expect was Gisel: a fierce Germanic woman with long white-blonde hair, forced into slavery by the Romans. Hypnotised by her spirit and her beauty, Duro frees Gisel and slowly tries to win her trust as they work together to complete his quest.

Present Day
Mackenna Jackson returns to Bath with a broken heart, thanks to rockstar Blue Daniels. Luckily she can still count on Blue’s former bandmate Jonah Miller as a listening ear. But Jonah has secretly been fighting stronger feelings, drawn to Mac’s quiet confidence and gorgeous white-blonde hair. As they explore the area, memories they can’t quite explain flood them both.

Is the spark between Mac and Jonah in fact a sign of something much deeper – a love enduring through millennia – or can it all be an illusion?

MY REVIEW

Another gorgeous time-slip novel from Christina Courtenay I eagerly devoured over a weekend. Her books are always such a pleasure to read. I was sad when Christina’s Viking Runes series came to an end, but this new Roman series is every bit as good! 

This is Christina’s second book focussing on the Romans in the historical storyline part, and I loved it just as much as I have all of her books I have read so far, which must be 7 or 8 books. She has a way of writing which draws me in immediately as the stories play out like a film in my head. Wonderful vivid descriptions take me right into the centre of the action.

The Roman timeline goes back to just after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius around 80AD where we meet a recently escaped gladiator who has made his way back to his home in Britannia. He had been taken following the defeat of his Iceni tribe at the age of 8. Determination to get revenge on his captor had pushed him to become one of the best gladiators. On his travels he saves Gisele from a similar fate and falls head over heels for her.

In the present time, Mac has just finished with her bed hopping boyfriend who is the gorgeous looking lead singer of one of the most famous bands of the moment. Sadly his personality does not match his good looks, being a self centred diva. As Jordan, another of the band members checks in on her to see she is okay, a relationship begins to blossom.

Of course it wouldn’t be a Christina Courtenay book without a link between past and present, and as Mac and Jordan spend more time together they begin to have strange feelings of instinctively knowing what Roman objects are and of seeing their surroundings change. Could the ring Mac’s auntie left her and she always wears be the connection?

I just loved being drawn into the stories of the two couples in alternate chapters, and how time has seemed to bring them together again. I loved both timelines equally. 

Thank you Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for my spot on the blog tour.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christina Courtenay writes historical romance, time slip/dual time and time travel stories, and lives in Herefordshire (near the Welsh border) in the UK. Although born in England, she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden – hence her abiding interest in the Vikings. Christina is a Vice President and former Chair and of the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association and has won several awards, including the RoNA for Best Historical Romantic Novel twice with Highland Storms (2012) and The Gilded Fan (2014) and the RNA Fantasy Romantic Novel of the year 2021 with Echoes of the Runes. SHADOWS IN THE SPRING (dual time historical romance published by Headline Review 24th April 2025) is her latest novel. Christina is a keen amateur genealogist and loves history and archaeology (the armchair variety).

Social Media Links –

Website: http://www.christinacourtenay.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christinacourtenayauthor?fref=ts

Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/PiaCCourtenay

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ChristinaCourtenayAuthor/

Bluesky: https://christinacourtenay@bsky.social

13 original tales to terrify in a brand new anthology showcasing the very best and bizarre in horror fiction

Featuring horror legends and worldwide bestsellers Olivie Blake, Ramsey Campbell,

Lisa Tuttle, Tim Lebbon, V Castro, Ally Wilkes, Rian Hughes, Lindy Ryan, Susi Holliday,

Lily Kade, TL Huchu, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Clay McLeod Chapman

COVER REVEAL

Publishing 07 October from Black Crow Books worldwide £17.99 | $27.95

Original design, artwork and logo by Rian Hughes

Pre-order links
Canada (various)

UK

Amazon

Waterstones

Bookshop.org

SYNOPSIS

Be careful what you wish for. 

Whether searching for love, fame, money or revenge, remember that everything comes with a price. From stepping into an unknown in nature to ignoring the warnings of locals, to finding your perfect match or facing the hidden horrors of your past, beware. 

The thirteen stories in this brand-new anthology explore the dark side of human nature and take us into the hidden, terrifying recesses of a world we never see. Until it’s too late . . .

About the Author

Following record breaking sales in horror fiction and the rise of new imprints focusing on the genre, the appetite for all things weird and wonderful is bigger than ever. Both a new venture and passion project, The Black Crow Book of Best New Horror combines stories from the biggest and best authors writing today, brought to you by industry experts, uber nerds and fans. Genre bookseller Matt Holland (The Broken Binding) and genre comms specialist Jamie-Lee Nardone (Black Crow PR) joined forces in 2024 to launch Black Crow Books; an agile and bespoke publisher and bookseller with a mission to publish the best new names in horror while also bringing out special editions of classics both old and new as well as subscription boxes. The Black Crow Book of Best New Horror Volume 1 is their inaugural anthology.

Kitty Johnson

Publication date: 6th May 2025

Publisher: Lake Union

SYNOPSIS

Breaking free from the past is one woman’s greatest challenge in an emotional novel about love, friendship, and the courage to overcome the worst of times by the author of Prickly Company.

Best friends Lily and Inga do everything together—they even meet their future loves at the same bar. After one serendipitous night, it seems like it’s going to be Lily and Alex and Inga and Matt forever.

But life gets more complicated. A job offer moves Inga and Matt from Norwich to London. Lily, who craves stability after a traumatic childhood, is already struggling with the change when Inga confides in her a secret that could tear the group apart for good. At the same time, Lily’s friendship with Matt deepens, and she wonders if she was always meant to be with him instead of Alex.

As the two couples try to hold on to their dreams and one another, Lily’s life is further upended by the reappearance of her long-lost sister—and all the terrible truths she brings home. Lily needs her chosen family more than ever, but in order to heal the rifts, she must find the courage to be honest with herself and reveal the secrets she’s kept hidden from her loved ones for too long.

MY REVIEW

Thank you to the author for reaching out to me and offering me the chance to read an arc of Closest Kept. I loved Prickly Company so I jumped at the chance.

This another character led story of complicated relationships and how traumatic events experienced as children can follow us through our lives. Focusing a lot on mental health issues as our characters face difficult times in their lives. Being abandoned. Unplanned pregnancy and abortion. Controlling relationships. Deaths of a parent. 

The story is told from Lily’s POV. I loved her friendship with Inga, with all its ups and downs. Then on a night out they meet friends Alex and Matt and their lives change. 

We all gave our ups and downs in life, and this could be the story of any of our friends. We need to keep supporting each other and asking are you okay? Are you sure?

Absolutely loved it. Another cracking page turner which kept me reading well past my bedtime last night!

Thanks Kitty xx

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kitty Johnson lives in Norwich, Norfolk in the UK, with her partner and teenage son. Her novel Five Winters was recently awarded the Star Award 2024 by the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.

A nature lover, Kitty enjoys walking in the local woods and by the sea in Norfolk with her dog. Also an artist, she paints and makes collages in her studio when she has time. Kitty enjoys a challenge and once performed stand-up comedy as research for a book – an experience she found very scary but hugely empowering. Kitty has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia and has also published as Margaret K Johnson.