Book review: Revenge of the Tide

By
By Elizabeth Haynes
Published by Myriad Editions

It was there when I opened my eyes, that vague feeling of discomfort, the rocking of the boat signalling the receding tide and the wind from the south, blowing upriver, straight into the side of the Revenge of the Tide.

This is how Revenge of the Tide, Elizabeth Haynes’s second novel, begins. I don’t normally take too much notice of the opening sentence of a novel – I’m not one of those people who won’t read a book if they’re not intrigued from the very beginning – but in this case it was different. When I reached that first full stop, I knew that I would love this book.

Revenge of the Tide is the name of the houseboat that London sales executive Genevieve Shipley buys in Kent with the intention of renovating it and taking some time away from a hectic life that’s become too stressful. Not to mention dangerous, after her second job as a dancer in a private club has become more serious than she’d expected. She just wanted to make some easy money while having fun at the same time but not everyone involved had the same agenda.

When the body of a fellow dancer from London washes up against the hull of her boat, Genevieve’s dream of a new life turns into a nightmare. However, she is not as innocent as you might think. She is hiding something too.

Revenge of the Tide simply has everything you could possibly want from a thriller: an intelligent and feisty heroine, a mysterious packet, complicated relationships and a great cast of characters who are not always as guilty or as above suspicion as they might at first appear. Plus, Haynes’s enviable talent for dialogue and descriptions is like the icing on an already delicious cake!

Do you want to add tension and intrigue to your everyday life? Read this novel. Now.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Booknet: a new platform for authors and readers

By
Image
‘Ooooh, what is Booknet ?’ I hear you ask… Booknet is a popular literary social media network, self-publishing platform, and Bookscription eBook sales model, all of which is being introduced to the UK following rapid growth in Latin America and Eastern Europe since 2015. How does it work? Booknet is both a successful literary self-publishing platform and a social network, founded by Ukrainian entrepreneurs in 2015. Booknet has gained significant traction in countries such as Ukraine, Russia (the Russian division was sold in the spring of 2022 because of the war between Ukraine and Russia), as well as Latin America. The company is now actively investing resources into the development of its English-language version. Authors can either publish their books with free access by readers, or sell them after obtaining commercial status through the platform. Booknet provides free advertising for eBooks sold by their authors on the platform. Booknet’s distinctive features (apart from being a pop...
Read more

Book review: She’s Never Coming Back

By
Image
By Hans Koppel Translated by Kari Dickson Published by Sphere It is safe to say that my choice of reading material is not usually truculent. That’s why I surprised myself when I decided to read a novel whose front cover prominently displays a quote describing it as a ‘terrifying crime novel’. I started to read expecting the worse and - it being impossible to put the book down - a few hours later I was trying to understand what had hit me. Let’s be clear: I loved this book and I’m grateful to Sphere for publishing this Swedish novel by author Karl Petter Lidbeck who, being a children’s literature author, decided to have it published under the pen name of Hans Koppel. I can see why he doesn’t want to have the two genres mixing on the bookshelves! The plot is simple enough: one day after work, Ylva does not return home. When she hasn’t returned 24 hours later, her husband Mike starts to worry and calls the police. Ylva seems to have disappeared without a trace and, month after month, Mike...
Read more

“Italy in books” - reading challenge 2011

By
Image
Why this challenge? This year I’ve decided to host a reading challenge because I think that they are a brilliant idea. They help to make reading a more collective experience and are a great way to find out more about any particular author / genre / topic and get to know about books you might never have come across. I chose this topic because - as an Italian who has been living abroad for many years now - I feel the need to learn more about my home country and I’m curious to see the difference between the way it is portrayed by native Italians and others. The details of the challenge The challenge will run from January, 1st 2011 to December, 31st 2011 . The aim of the challenge is to read at least 12 books that are set in Italy. Whether written by Italian authors or not, it doesn’t matter. They don’t have to be set exclusively in Italy but this country needs to play a significant role in the book. The challenge can include non-fiction books about Italy. You can also review Italian lea...
Read more