blog posts including Five Fast Facts on the books by Louise Burfitt-Dons.

7 Must Read Books on Bullying

by louise | Apr 3, 2021 | The Killing of the Cherrywood MP, The Missing Activist, Thriller Fiction

Bullying in Fiction. Domestic noir to terrorism thrillers.

Bullying is a theme which crops up often in my writing. For example, The Missing Activist tells the story of a conservative party activist who disappears in London after making a formal bullying complaint against a senior colleague. In The Killing of the Cherrywood MP, local constituents apply group pressure on their MP Huw Thomas. Both are terrorism thrillers, which also explore vengeance, political machinations, and cultural clashes.

Not all bullying leads to crime. And not all crimes involve bullying. But a strong link exists between them. And learning the reason people harass and abuse their peers can help explain why some go on to carry out acts of terror. However, there are degrees of bullying ranging from teasing to physical violence. For that reason, bullying is as complex a subject as it is insidious in daily life.

The killer questions

Is all bullying activity wrong? Or is it a survival or coping technique to protect us against bigger bullies? If we wear a wristband and speak up against it, will it stop? Or are we all then guilty of double standards, since nearly every aspect of competitive living involves some form of intimidation?

Group dynamics are part of daily life. Fitting in, getting along. Knowing our place. Who sets the rules? Whether it be an aggressive tone to a voice or a manipulative character who uses lightly veiled blackmail techniques, we’ve been there ourselves figuring out how to respond. Analysis of other people’s motives are part of normal life.

But bullying behaviour can be life threatening. In 2000, I set up a children’s anti-bullying charity campaigning against the excesses of bullying behaviour. And, as I found when I wrote a set of monologues from a victim’s view for school use, drama and fiction can help students empathise with someone else’s perspective. So reading and relating serves some purpose.

We see ourselves as victims

In one talk with an adult audience, I enacted a poll. A asked for a show of hands from those who were once victims of bullying. Another for those who’d been a bully. The outcome? Most people cast themselves in the victim role.

In many works of fiction, the antagonist is the fearsome bully and the hero, or protagonist the underdog who comes out best in the end. Or if the principal character turns tormentor and indulges in some physical brutality, then that’s OK. It wasn’t their fault.

Some of the authors below are writing for a YA audience. But the subject matter is for all ages.

Carrie by Stephen King

The subject of bullying crops up in many of Stephen King’s early books, but his best known is his very first. Carrie is the story of a misunderstood high school girl Carrie White, her extraordinary telekinetic powers, and her violent rampage of revenge at her treatment.

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Written by a Japanese American novelist and published in 2013, this is the story of sixteen-year-old Nao who suffered aching loneliness because of her classmates’ bullying. She decides to take her own life, but before she does that, she plans to document the life of her great-grandmother, a Buddhist nun who’s lived more than a century. Described as a beguiling story of our shared humanity and the search for home.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Written by the bestselling author of twenty-five internationally novels Nineteen Minutes examines a school shooting in a small town in the States. Lawyer Jordan McAfee finds himself defending a youth who desperately needs someone on his side, while intrepid detective Patrick DuCharme works with a primary witness: the daughter of the superior court judge assigned to the case. Picoult has some questions on her website relating to the bullying in the book.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside, he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker–his classmate and crush–who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why..

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Another book about a school tragedy, aimed at the young adult audience, this book tells the story of the girlfriend of the perpetrator. Valerie Leftman is shot trying to stop her boyfriend Nick killing a classmate. She finds herself implicated in the shootings because of a list she helped create about people and things they hated. Val returns to school to complete her studies and confront her guilt. Written by a former humour columnist, the Kansas author has won a heap of awards for this book.

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High. Now Regina’s been frozen out, and her ex-best friends are out for revenge. If Regina were guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumours are far from the terrifying truth, and the bullying is getting more intense by the day. Tensions grow and the abuse worsens, as the last days of senior year march toward an explosive conclusion in this dark new tale from the author of Cracked Up To Be. (less)

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Today is Leonard Peacock’s birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather’s P-38 pistol. Beforehand he must say goodbye to those who matter to him most. Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches.

Any missed? Get in touch.

7 Must-Read Books on Isis Brides

by louise | Mar 1, 2021 | The Killing of the Cherrywood MP, The Missing Activist, Thriller Fiction

Jihadi Fiction. Terrorism Thrillers for our times.

Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of Isis

The Last Girl; My fight againstThe Islamic State

What makes books about Jihadi brides so intriguing are the characters and their motivations, their expectations and disappointments. What makes a teenage girl change her way of life so completely? And will the society they rejected ever accept them back? People are unforgiving, as we have seen this week, with Shamima Begum’s case being kicked out of court.

My novel The Missing Activist features a British-born Muslim convert Zinah al-Rashid who recruits brides to send to the Islamic State.

The sequel The Killing of the Cherrywood MP picks up on the collapse of the Caliphate. Girls want to return to their countries of birth, but public opinion is against it. And for those who have either slipped back and have put their past behind them, there are always those who resent them deeply and exact revenge. When a sharia-supporting MP is murdered, it seems as if there is a connection.

The killer questions

What fascinates me is the sharp contrast between the stable, egalitarian, comfortable Western lifestyles and that of the ISIS’ misogynistic society. Why have so many European women left behind the freedom and privilege of a peaceful, wealthy existence to join a brutal regime addicted to fighting? Are they radicalised? Or seeking adventure? Has feminism a part to play in driving them away? What meaning to their lives were they craving? And how did they find it? Or do they view their adventure as escapism rather like a macabre reality show?

Who’s writing?

Some authors of the excellent books which feature Jihadi women are writing from personal experience, others as a result of research work into the subject. Many of these narratives explore just those killer questions.

Operation Jihadi Bride by John Carney Clifford Thurlow

Hearing terrifying stories first-hand from naïve young girls tricked, abused and enslaved by ISIS, an ex-British Army soldier set up a high-risk operation to rescue as many as he could. Soldier Magazine’s book of the month, this true story with AK-47s and 9mm Glocks reads like a military thriller

Bride of ISIS: One Young Woman’s Path into Homegrown Terrorism by Anne Speckhard

Written by a counter-terrorism expert and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Security Studies at Georgetown University, she based this book on the true story of Shannon Conley, an American teen from Denver, Colorado seduced on the net, converted to Islam, took the niqab, and who ultimately ended up in the clutches of ISIS.

The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity and My Fight Against the Islamic State by Nadia Murad and Jenna Krajeski

Written by a human rights activist and recipient of the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize and the Sakharov Prize, this inspiring memoir covers the life of a 23-year-old Yazidi woman from her peaceful childhood in a remote village in Iraq to being captured and enslaved by Isis.

Undercov er Jihadi Bride: Inside Islamic State’s Recruitment Networks by Anna Erelle

Written by an undercover journalist who creates an online identity called Melodie to investigate the recruitment of brides over the internet, this is a harrowing tale. She meets an ISIS brigade leader on Facebook. In 48 hours he has ‘fallen in love’ with her, calls her every hour, urges her to marry him, join him in Syria in a life of paradise and join his jihad.

Guest House for Young Widows by Azadeh Moaveni

The work of a journalist and academic, Azadeh Moaveni book takes us into the school hallways of London, kitchen tables in Germany, the coffee shops in Tunis, the caliphate’s ‘Guest House for Young Widows’ where wives of the fallen waited for remarriage. A nuanced and sometimes compassionate take on the complexity of the subject.

Jihadi Bride by Alastair Luft

A graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada, and a 20-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, Luft’s work is a plot-driven family drama. A father’s carefully controlled world working for an organisation that prevents radicalised individuals from joining extremist groups is upended when his daughter, Arielle, leaves university to join the Islamic Caliphate.

The Good Sister by Morgan Jones

The story of a 17-year-old Muslim girl from London who goes to Syria to join ISIS, and her Christian father’s dangerous attempt to ‘rescue’ her. Written by a former investigator and writer of spy thrillers, this is a raw insight into the horrors of war in Syria and an examination of the insidious grip of radicalisation.

Any missed? Get in touch.

Reality Shows, Political Thrillers and the Shamima Begum Conundrum

by louise | Jul 17, 2020 | The Killing of the Cherrywood MP

So many young women seek instant fame, the type they might find by being a contestant on a reality TV show. Was that what drew Shamima Begun to Syria? Was the appeal of ISIS the same?

An extract from The Killing of the Cherrywood MP: In Bronzefield Women’s Prison, Ashford, Tammy Bishop was conveying her good news to her psychiatrist Ali al-Sayed. It was late Friday afternoon, 12 April. She’d been baring her soul to him for months.

He travelled all the way from Cherrywood on a fortnightly basis to listen. And followed everything about her past, picked up on everything instantaneously. Her work for ISIS. What went on with the prisoners. The bullying and backstabbing. He’d absorbed every minor detail. They’d even become rather buddy-buddy. And he wore well-tailored suits, très hot.

She knew the moment she saw his face drop, he’d not taken the announcement of her early release well. So why had she told him in the first place? Because she thought he was an ally, that’s why. Hadn’t he helped to get her freed?

The officers advised the inmates not to let on to anyone if the system gave them an early release. Prisoners had a nose for news which travelled to the wrong people quick as a flash. But she’d never thought that would apply to Ali al-Sayed. His reaction to what she told him had been unexpected. He was being a bloody pain.

Now her stomach was in knots. There was a clattering and a jangling of keys from outside the room . But inside all was silent. She hated that.

‘I want you to tell me exactly what you will do with yourself when you leave here.’ There was a tightness in his eyes.

‘I’m bursting to talk about it. I’ve got loads and loads of ideas.’

The above is an excerpt from my political thriller and those ideas Tammy Bishop was referring to included her fantasy of becoming a reality TV star. But it could easily be the story of Shamima Begum, who left Britain to join the terror group in February 2015 and could shortly be back in the UK.

Shamima Begum

Ms Begum lived under Islamic State rule for over three years before she was found, nine months pregnant, at the al-Hol refugee camp in Syria in February last year. Three of her babies had died. She told reporters she didn’t regret joining ISIS, but still begged to be rescued and brought back to the UK.

Those in favour of her return say that she was a child when she left the country to join ISIS; that she has renounced her support for Isis, and that she is not in any way a security risk.

Those against believe she is a genuine threat to national security; that she is unlikely to face prosecution in the British courts if she is allowed to return, and that she will become a pin-up for Islamist extremism if this happens. A conundrum indeed.

Five Fast Facts about The Killing of the Cherrywood MP.

Check out the trailer to The Killing of the Cherrywood MP

Kurdaitcha, Corona and The Missing Activist

by louise | May 6, 2020 | The Missing Activist, Thriller Fiction

Pointing the Bone

“The aborigines have a tribal practice called Pointing the Bone. This is a method of execution that leaves no trace and rarely fails to kill its victim.”

“The bone can be from a kangaroo or an emu, and its shape varies from tribe to tribe. It is six to nine inches with one rounded end through which a hole is bored and tapers to a point as sharp as a needle. A piece of hair is threaded through the hole and glued into place with a gummy resin from the spinifex bush.”

“Before it can be used, the bone or Kundela is charged in a secret ritual performed by priests. It is then handed to Kurdaitcha, who are the tribe’s ritual killers. Their task is to hunt down the condemned.”

“The name Kurdaitcha comes from the special slippers the aborigines wear on their quest. Made from cockatoo or emu feathers and human hair, they leave no footprints.”

The Kurdaitcha hunt their victim

“The Kurdaitcha who hunt in twos or threes, wear feathered masks and stick kangaroo hair to their bodies with human blood. They will pursue a quarry for years, never giving up until the curse is delivered.”

“Once found, one priest goes down on to one knee and points the Kundela. The victim is frozen with fear as the Kurdaitcha chant the short piercing mantra then return to their village where the bone is ritually burnt.”

“For most tribal members, having the bone pointed is a sentence of death. Waiting for the inevitable, coupled with shame and isolation, often forces the victim to suicide.”

The above is, in fact, an excerpt from The Missing Activist. The themes of bullying and isolation and rejection by peers runs throughout the thriller.

Snitching during a crisis

But it usually begins somewhere. And according to sociologist Patrick Bergemann, author of Judge Thy Neighbour snitching surges in times of crisis. Like during the deadly COVID pandemic.

The charge: Deliberately breaking lock-down rules to endanger life. Fair enough. But extensions to this include double jogs. Greedy shopping lists. Standing too close to someone at the shops. Not clapping the NHS on a Thursday, not clapping loud enough, not clapping long enough.

The names given to community spies are plentiful. Rats, grasses, snitches, informers, dobbers (Australian), chivatos (Spanish) Spitzel (German), mouchards (French), stikker (Danish), Jatten (Dutch)

And often they get it wrong. Deliberately. That’s when it becomes insidious.

Read Five Fast Facts

Five Fast Facts: The Killing of the Cherrywood MP

by louise | Jan 29, 2020 | Five Fast Facts, The Killing of the Cherrywood MP, Thriller Fiction

The Killing of the Cherrywood MP is the second novel in the thriller series featuring London Private Investigator Karen Andersen. It’s 2019 and MI5 is set to release the reformed female Jihadi terrorist Zinah al-Rashid from prison.

The Killing of the Cherrywood MP tackles Far-Right politics which have existed in the UK since the 1930s. From the 1980s, the term has mainly been used to describe groups such as the fictional English Concern Group featured in the book. Their ideology revolves around the wish to preserve what they perceive to be British culture.

The exclusive Ritz Club, London’s most famous gambling casino is at 150 Piccadilly and is open 24 hours a day. It features several times in The Killing of the Cherrywood MP.

UK Jihadi brides returning to the UK following the fall of the Islamic State is one of topics explored in The Killing of the Cherrywood MP. Britain has by far the highest rate of repatriated former ISIS brides in Europe. Hundreds of Britons travelled to Syria and Iraq amid the rise of ISIL. Nearly half have been able to return safely. Only a few have been prosecuted in British courts. The country with the next highest proportion was Germany.

St. Tropez is a fishing port in the South of France. It’s home to ome to some of the most prestigious yachts on the planet. An unexplained death at sea is a subplot of The Killing of the Cherrywood MP. There are 360,000 deaths by drowning worldwide every year.

Five Fast Facts about The Missing Activist

by louise | Jan 5, 2020 | Five Fast Facts, The Missing Activist

Tories, Jihadi Brides, Harrods, Exclusion Bullying and Battle Buses. A quick breakdown of the political thriller, The Missing Activist

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What is CCHQ?

CCHQ is the headquarters of the British Conservative Party. It houses central staff and committee members and maintains overall responsibility for targeting voters and seats. In addition, it short lists and finalises the selection of Tory candidates across the United Kingdom for both local and national elections. CCHQ operates a phone bank for volunteers like Robin Miller, and features in The Missing Activist.

A Luxury Department Store

Key Fact 2. Harrods is a luxury department store in Knightsbridge, London. It is where Karen Andersen’s nemesis Zinah al-Rashid meets her first Jihadi bride recruit in The Missing Activist. Charles Harrod began the world famous shop as a one-room outlet in 1849. But today Harrods houses 330. The State of Qatar owns it.

British Born Isis Brides

Fast Fact 3 is Isis brides. In The Missing Activist, PI Karen Andersen goes undercover to learn why so many British girls have made the journey to Syria to marry Jihadi fighters. Studies by RUSI suggest the draws are many. They include a rejection of Western feminism, peer influence, female romantic optimism and the chance to be part of something new, exciting and illicit.

A touring centre of operations

A major incident in The Missing Activist occurs in one. This is the name given to a coach or vehicle used as both a method of transport and also a center of operations during a political campaign. In 2017 a scandal threatened to overturn the government and stop Brexit. A busload of Tory activists toured around the country. However, the party did not declare costs in their budget.

Who are the Kurdaitcha?

Kurdaitcha (or kurdaitcha man) is a ritual ‘executioner’ in Aboriginal culture who ‘points the bone at a victim to expel them from their community. If this happens, no one can contact or mix with them. Victims usually die a self-imposed death in days. In Australia, the practice is still common enough that they train hospital staff to manage illness caused by bone pointing. Its modern equivalent is exclusion bullying. A theme running through The Missing Activist and Fast Fact Five.

Five Fast Facts: The Secret War

by louise | Apr 5, 2021 | Five Fast Facts, The Secret War, The Secret War

The Official Secrets Act (OSA) is legislation mainly related to national security, but in unrevised form can include all information held by government bodies. It commonly required people working with sensitive information to adhere to it. In The Secret War, Karen Andersen has a conversation with her time to time boss Quacker reminding him that signing is intended more as a reminder to the person that they are under such obligations as the act is a law, not a contract, and individuals are bound by it whether or not they have signed.

In The Secret War, we meet Tomio Nakamura, recently retired as a professor of biochemistry at the University of Liverpool because of a scandal involving a Chinese student. In 2006 the real-life Liverpool University became the first in the UK to establish an independent university in China, making it a world’s first. In addition, Chinese now make up one in five of the University’s student population. So much so, British MPs have warned of the influence of the Chinese government on campus. Liverpool has a long history of research into tropical medicines. It played a major part in the developing drug treatments and vaccines at the outbreak of Covid-19.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) commonly known as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the founding and sole governing political party of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, with the help of the Soviet Union, the party grew quickly. The People’s Republic of China, formed on 1 October 1949, presided over by Xi Jinping controls the country’s armed forces, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The CCP puts a great deal of effort into the party schools and into crafting its ideological message. In Book 3 of the Karen Andersen thriller series, she looks for the link between Professor Tomio Nakamura and the CPC.

A Transatlantic cruise or “crossing” is one of the most luxurious ways to make a journey between Europe and the America and embarked on by grand ocean liners of yesteryear. The Queen Mary 2 still undertakes the route regularly. Much of the action in The Secret War takes place on board the fictional Princess Hyacinth, which sails the iconic route from Southampton to New York in seven days. The voyage is 3,150 nautical miles, or 3,625 statute miles.

Biological warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi is a crime under the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). In contrast, defensive biological research for peaceful purposes is not prohibited such as that carried out at the Ministry of Defence’s Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down. Biological warfare is as old as civilization, but bio terrorism and black biology is an emerging threat to world peace.

Book categories, thriller genres, and the Karen Andersen series

by Louise Burfitt-Dons | Feb 19, 2021 | The Killing of the Cherrywood MP, The Missing Activist, Thriller Fiction

Why you need book categories

The purpose of identifying a book category for a work of fiction, whether it’s a children’s adventure story or a political thriller like The Missing Activist, is to help book shops know exactly where to place them in their shops or online stores. If someone’s hooked on fast-paced suspense stories with a twist, they don’t want to have to wade through a pile of Enid Blyton books to find them.

The three categories

The book industry classifies novels as either literary fiction (highbrow, character-driven, no rules), genre fiction (easy-read, plot driven, several rules), and mainstream fiction (the blockbuster book from either of the other two that everyone reads).

Genres

The main genres are crime, fantasy, romance, science fiction, Western, inspirational, historical fiction, and horror. However, there are 22 add-on genres or sub-genres with new ones added to keep up with contemporary tastes. Examples of recent new classifications include Tartan Noir, allegedly coined by Ian Rankin.

Add to this a myriad of terms like “hard-boiled” as this article from Crime Reads explain, tags such as “spy” and job specs such as private investigator (as opposed to police procedural) and you get a sense of the breadth of the indexing system. Consider also whether the crime is an act of terrorism (which has its own genre) involves a conspiracy, and whether there is a political element to it (potential warfare, government overthrow or corrupt politician).

What are the rules of thriller fiction?

The broad “thriller” category in writing has certain conventions.

Firstly, there needs to be a crime at the centre, at the very least. If not, the threat of a serious crime. Such as in Gone Girl when Nick comes home from the bar to find that his wife, Amy, has gone missing.

Of course there’s the victim. (either a missing person, a dead body or a hostage) Or several victims. There is usually over one life at stake.

However, in thrillers it’s the villain who features high, sometimes in equal measure with the protagonist or hero. These baddies are clever and powerful. Sometimes ordinary people acting out of revenge or malice (as in domestic thrillers), but other times the evil character is a master criminal or terrorist intent on annihilation of the entire human race. Whoever they are, thriller villains always pose a huge threat. Without the Machiavellian star, the story simply wouldn’t hang together.

Often there is the ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’. This is the character who says one thing and does the opposite (trying to put the hero off the scent).

Readers enjoy trying to outsmart and top the villain (and so help the hero) by solving the clues and red herrings.

And then, when everything seems dusted and done, there’s usually one last twist.

Why are thrillers popular?

If you combine the mystery elements of a detective novel (whodunnit) with adventure, conflict, conspiracy, and a fast motorbike, you get drama with a capital D. Everything’s happening at once, and it’s all ahead. Because the hero is the only one to stop the villain before he or she carries out their heinous crime, you’re carried along for the ride.

Hate crimes, hypocrisy and political fiction

by louise | Jun 30, 2020 | The Missing Activist, Thriller Fiction, Various

What is Hate Crime?

‘Hate’ is a horrible word. I remember as a child (circa 1960s) my mother’s wise advice. ‘Never use that word, Louise.’

It’s easy to get into unintended provocative speech habits without noticing it, so she had a good point. For example, ‘You don’t hate carrots, you just don’t like them.’

But can you make the emotion of hatred into a violation of the law? If so, is it indeed smart to do so?

Hate Crime has been around in the UK since the Public Order Act of 1986. But the Racial and Religious Hatred Act of 2006, which seemed a reasonable idea to trial, is when it really took off. But has it worked in getting us to respect one another well enough to consider extending it even further? Some believe it is a step in the right direction. There are others who believe it’s counterproductive.

Critics of Hate Crime argue legislation has done the opposite of what it was designed to do. They claim anti-hate laws have provoked a culture of victimhood, damaged freedom of speech, wasted police time, and created massive confusion. It has done little more than to make us all into a bunch of hypocrites: thinking something, saying another, and led to a more divided society than before.

Extremism as a topic of political fiction

I cover these issues in my novels. In my book The Missing Activist Met Detective ‘Quacker’ Partridge is dead set against extending hate crime to misogyny. The Killing of the Cherrywood MP covers hate crime generated by growing local tensions between two diametrically opposed societies: The Far Right and the Muslim extremists.

As a crime novelist, writing about two-faced smiling assassin characters is part of the stock in trade. Like the owl, Machiavellians probe beneath the surface, manipulating the art of hate. Thoughts, please.

Top bloggers, reviewers and book people

by louise | Jun 8, 2020 | Various

Do you care what others think when buying stuff? Buyers’ opinions are hard to avoid today as so many sales are online and reviews exist for just about everything from a banana slicer to a Knuckle Blaster 950,000 Volt Stun Gun. Check out some hilarious ones on Bored Panda. I don’t blame anyone who, in principle, switches right off the process now we get requests for feedback on every single thing we do. Dentists, hairdressers, customer support, etc now rely on them to build their business. Modern life. The same for authors and readers alike.

Book reviews are mandatory for sales. It’s Catch 22. Books with good reviews get promoted more. Apart from critics like The Guardian, Publishers Weekly, customer-led review outlets hold big sway. The best known are Amazon and Goodreads. And then there are blogs.

A book blogger is a person who shares their opinions on books with others via their blog. Most of them are unpaid and read for love and a free copy. But because of the number of authors they cover in their chose genre, they have a vast grasp on the market, what’s already out there or coming out, and a feel for what consumers will enjoy.

When a well-respected, busy book blogger endorses a book, it’s tremendous for an author. Here are a few who have recommended The Missing Activist and The Killing of the Cherrywood MP.

By The Letter Book Reviews. Sarah Hardy worked for a book publisher for two years before starting her own blog to share thoughts with other readers/bloggers/authors and publishers in her chosen genres. She is now a popular and productive blog tour operator for authors and publishers Review of The Missing Activist. @sarahhardy681

The Book Reviewing Mum Lynne Piza works part time within the NHS and is also a mum to two little boys. Here is what she had to say also about The Killing of the Cherrywood MP. @reviewingMum

Avid Readers Retreat Lou’s blog is run from Northumberland. A top 50 Amazon reviewer, law graduate, and avid philosopher, here is her write up on mine in The Killing of the Cherrywood MP. @readers_retreat

Toni Osborne’s Corner A great reviewer who lists reading and hiking as her favourite pastimes, she covers a wide range of releases in-depth. Here is her take also on The Missing Activist.

Beyond The Books @shazzieRimmel Sharon Rimmelzwaan runs this blog, which is choc-a-block with write-ups listed in alphabetical order. Here is her review of The Killing of the Cherrywood MP.

Ginger Book Geek @Ginger_bookgeek Amanda Oughton is a red-headed bookworm who’s loved reading “since she was knee-high to a grasshopper” and comes from a bookish family. Her review of The Missing Activist.

Donna’s Book Blog Donna McGuire is an avid reader and reads hundreds of books each year. She started to review books sent to her through NetGalley in January 2015. Here’s her review of The Killing of the Cherrywood MP. @dmmaguire391

The Divine Write @thedivinewrite1 Caroline Venables includes Jo Nesbo, Mark Billingham, and Patricia Cornwell.amongst her favourite authors. She is active with local writers and readers’ groups. She works part-time AND also runs a full family so it delighted me she somehow found time to do these reviews on my books The Missing Activist

E Book Nerd Ashley Wislock Gillan is a book blogger and journalist from Nashville with an obsession with her kindle. This is what she had to say about The Missing Activist. @wisashi

Jessicamap Reviews @jessmapreviews Jessica Robins (newly married) from Northern Minnesota.went to St. Cloud State University graduated with a triple major. When she’s not reviewing books (or supervising chocolate labradors) her job is managing the family business an hour from Minneapolis specialising in low and no sodium products online. Here’s what she had to say about The Killing of the Cherrywood MP.

Jessica Belmont Jessica Belmont is a writer who is working on her own debut novel. She’s had a passion for writing for over fifteen years and is finally pursuing her dream of being an author when she’s not reviewing other people’s novels like The Killing of the Cherrywood MP.@jessicaxbelmont

A Knight’s Reads. Claire started reviewing a couple of years ago through GoodReads and Amazon before the awesome enthusiastic #Crimebookjunkie herself Noelle Holten invited her to be guest reviewer and has not looked back. The Killing of the Cherrywood MP. @clairekreads

Thanks to all listed here. You can buy the books through any of their sites.

I hope to add to this list in due course.

Bullying in Fiction. Domestic noir to terrorism thrillers.

The killer questions

We see ourselves as victims

Carrie by Stephen King

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Jihadi Fiction. Terrorism Thrillers for our times.

Guest House for Young Widows by Azadeh Moaveni

So many young women seek instant fame, the type they might find by being a contestant on a reality TV show. Was that what drew Shamima Begun to Syria? Was the appeal of ISIS the same?

Shamima Begum

Check out the trailer to The Killing of the Cherrywood MP

Pointing the Bone

The Kurdaitcha hunt their victim

Snitching during a crisis

Tories, Jihadi Brides, Harrods, Exclusion Bullying and Battle Buses. A quick breakdown of the political thriller, The Missing Activist

What is CCHQ?

A Luxury Department Store

British Born Isis Brides

A touring centre of operations

Who are the Kurdaitcha?

Why you need book categories

The three categories

Genres

What are the rules of thriller fiction?

Why are thrillers popular?

What is Hate Crime?

Extremism as a topic of political fiction

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