The Birthday Girl by Sue FortinMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
THE BLURB
Dear Carys, Zoe and Andrea Come and join me for my fortieth birthday adventure weekend, full of mysteries and surprises the like of which you can’t imagine.
When Joanne’s friends reluctantly accept an invitation to her birthday party, it quickly becomes clear that there is more to this weekend than they are expecting. One of them is hiding a secret. And Joanne is planning to reveal it…
A weekend away in a cottage in the woods sounds like fun – until no one can hear your cries for help.
Four friends. A party to die for. Who will survive?
MY THOUGHTS
Wow,Omg,I absolutely loved this well written,gripping,intense,fast paced,twist packed thriller.The story is mainly voiced by Carys whose narrative isn't exactly reliable.Interspersed throughout the book are parts that are voiced by a unknown person whose identity when it was revealed took me totally by surprise.I thought I had worked out who the person was but I was 100% wrong.The story hooks you in from the very first page,the sense of unease building as Carys,Andrea and Zoe travel to their mysterious destination where Joanne is waiting for them.Once they get to the cottage that's where the fun and games begin,all four of the women have secrets,could one of them have revenge on her mind? or is someone else playing sick games and terrorizing the four women for their own personal reasons?.All the characters are realistic and believable,Andrea was definitely my favourite,if she had something to say,she said it whether you like what she said or not.The setting was perfect for some intense,gripping action scenes that had me holding my breath,frantically turning the pages and snarling at anyone who dared to interrupt me while I was reading.
I absolutely loved this riveting psychological thriller,the plot is compelling and intricate and has more twists and turns than the river that flows near the cottage.I would love to give this book far more than 5 stars.Highly recommended by little old me.
Author Q&A
CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR MAIN CHARACTER JOANNE? WAS SHE INSPIRED BY ANYONE IN PARTICULAR?
Joanne is just about to celebrate her 40th birthday.She appears to be happily married with two older children but all is not well in Joanne`s world.She can't help feeling that her friends have betrayed her in one way or another and try as she might to put it behind her,she can't.At some point,her hurt morphed into anger and this fuels her determination to do something about the betrayals.Once Joanne has made up her mind to do something,no - one can stop her! Joanne,absolutely wasn't inspired by anyone I know these days,but maybe I pinched some of her faux - friendship gestures from my school days and some of the `friends` I thought I had then.
ARE THERE ANY BOOKS THAT MADE YOU WANT TO WRITE THRILLERS?
Thrillers,mystery and suspense have all been my favourite to read so it's probably natural that I should end up writing in that genre.I suppose the books which I've read and ping to the front of my mind are `Omerta` by Mario Puzo and pretty much anything by Chris Kuzneski.When I was a child I loved the Enid Blyton `The Mystery Of....` series of books and as I got older I read a lot of Dick Francis and Sue Grafton books.
YOUR BOOKS CAN BE VERY DARK,HOW DO YOU GET OUT OF THAT MINDSET AFTER A DAY OF WRITING?
My youngest is nine years old,so maths homework,school projects and reading David Walliams usually does the trick.Sometimes though when I go to bed,my mind suddenly kicks in again and starts thinking about what I was writing.When that happens,I have to force myself to think of something else otherwise I know I`'ll be exhausted in the morning.Only once,has one of my plots sneaked into my dreams.
DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVOURITE AUTHORS THAT YOU READ OVER AND OVER AGAIN?
Authors yes,but not books.Only because there are so many books I want to read and I'm such a slow reader,it takes me about two weeks to read a book.My go - to authors are Liane Moriarty,Chris Kuzneski and Don Brown.I love the humour and social observations in Liane Moriarty books and for Kuzneski and Brown,it's the mystery and suspense.
WAS THE COTTAGE IN THE BIRTHDAY GIRL INSPIRED BY A REAL PLACE? IF SO,CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT IT?
Not exactly.I knew I wanted an isolated location for the story which had to be in the UK,so Scotland was an obvious choice.However,the cottage in the woods that I have actually been to,is in France.It's an old stone building with three dormer windows and very typical of the Brittany region.So,I suppose,the sense of the cottage and the atmosphere came from France but I had to change the description when I was writing to fit in with the Scottish
landscape.
PUBLICATION DATE : 14 November 2017
PUBLISHER : HarperImpulse
GENRE : Pschological Thriller
Purchase Here.......
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Birthday-Girl-gripping-psychological-thriller-ebook/dp/B072MDJ5NH/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1512259094&sr=1-1&keywords=the+birthday+girl
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