Nightcap Books

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BOOK INFO

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BOOK BLURB

Maurice Swift is handsome, charming, and hungry for fame. The one thing he doesn’t have is talent—but he’s not about to let a detail like that stand in his way. After all, a would-be writer can find stories anywhere. They don’t need to be his own.

Working as a waiter in a West Berlin hotel in 1988, Maurice engineers the perfect opportunity: a chance encounter with celebrated novelist Erich Ackermann. He quickly ingratiates himself with the powerful – but desperately lonely – older man, teasing out of Erich a terrible, long-held secret about his activities during the war. Perfect material for Maurice’s first novel.

Once Maurice has had a taste of literary fame, he knows he can stop at nothing in pursuit of that high. Moving from the Amalfi Coast, where he matches wits with Gore Vidal, to Manhattan and London, Maurice hones his talent for deceit and manipulation, preying on the talented and vulnerable in his cold-blooded climb to the top. But the higher he climbs, the further he has to fall. . . .

Sweeping across the late twentieth century, A Ladder to the Sky is a fascinating portrait of a relentlessly immoral man, a tour de force of storytelling, and the next great novel from an acclaimed literary virtuoso.

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MY REVIEW

A manipulative man, Maurice Swift, makes a career as an author. Maurice has some basic skills as a writer, but he has a difficult time coming up with ideas. So, he takes ideas from others and claims them as his own.

A Ladder to the Sky is about a selfish rising author. He can write, but his stories are boring. He gets a taste of fame as a young man, and goes to great lengths to continue his career. The novel is divided into sections, which reflect Maurice’s life – a young man starting out, after receiving a taste of fame, married life, and life as a father. The different sections aren’t all told from Maurice’s point of view, in fact, a good deal of the novel is told from the viewpoint of Maurice’s targets (i.e., the victims).

The first part of this book is great. This is where we are introduced to Maurice, and his manipulative character is developed and his career is started. The second part of the novel is much darker. I was pulled into the manipulative world of Maurice, but the overall story felt somehow off. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, because I enjoyed the book. I think the darker, more sinister turn later in the book took the story in a direction it didn’t necessarily need to go. Still, A Ladder to the Sky is a great read.

Maurice is a psychopath. His actions are somewhat unbelievable, but make for an entertaining read. Tragic, compelling, and frustrating.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

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BOOK INFO

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BOOK BLURB

Lisa is living a lie and everyone is about to find out.

Lisa lives for her daughter Ava, her job and her best friend Marilyn.

But when a handsome client shows an interest in her, Lisa starts daydreaming about sharing her life with him, too. Maybe she’s ready now. Maybe she can trust again. Maybe it’s time to let her terrifying secret past go.

But when her daughter rescues a boy from drowning and their pictures are all over the news for everyone to see, Lisa’s world explodes.

As she finds everything she has built threatened, and not knowing who she can trust, it’s up to Lisa to face her past in order to save what she holds dear.

But someone has been pulling all their strings. And that someone is determined that both Lisa and Ava must suffer.

Because long ago Lisa broke a promise. And some promises aren’t meant to be broken.

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MY REVIEW

Lisa has a quiet life that she enjoys with her daughter Ava. However, Lisa is a woman hiding from her past. When Ava saves a boy from drowning, Lisa’s past is brought into the spotlight. Ava’s life ends up in jeopardy because of the secrets Lisa has been keeping.

Told using multiple points of view – Lisa, Ava, and Marilyn (Lisa’s best friend). This story focuses on Lisa and Ava, but also includes some chapters from Marilyn’s POV. Since Lisa and Ava both have things going on in their lives that the other isn’t aware of, the different viewpoints really work. The addition of Marilyn’s viewpoint was interesting, but could go either way. On one hand, it could have been eliminated and the story would still work, but, at the same time, I wanted to know more about Marilyn and her story.

This book is twisty and does have a lot going on in it. For the most part, the reader is kept in the dark about what happened in Lisa’s past and who is behind the current troubles. A slow build up of the story, but a rushed ending. I was a little disappointed in the ending, mainly because it felt too abrupt, but this was still a good psychological thriller. Intense, suspicious, and twisted.

Books by Sarah Pinborough:

1. Behind Her Eyes
2. Cross Her Heart
3. Dead to Her
4. Insomnia

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.

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BOOK INFO

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BOOK BLURB

Two sisters. One murder plan.
Everyone thought reckless, troubled Geraldine Monroe was the bad sister — especially when she fled town after her mother’s death twenty-five years ago.
But people don’t know the truth.
Marie Monroe knows. She was there for their father’s cruel punishments, the constant manipulation, the lies. Everyone thinks she’s the perfect daughter — patient and kind, and above all obedient. No one would suspect her of anything. Especially not murder.
Now Geraldine’s home again, and she and Marie have united in a plan for the ultimate revenge. But when old secrets and new fears clash, everyone is pushed to the breaking point . . . and the sisters will learn that they can’t trust anyone-not even each other.

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MY REVIEW

Geraldine and Marie’s mother died over twenty years ago, and Geraldine left shortly after her death. Their mother was an alcoholic, and Geraldine spent a good deal of time taking care of her. Though Geraldine left, Marie stayed in town and helped her father with the home and business. The father, Martin, was cruel and controlling. The home life of the girls was less than ideal, though they put up a good front that things were better than they appeared. Many years have passed, but with Geraldine back in town, old wounds are reopening

Geraldine is back in town for her nephew’s graduation, and it looks like she’ll be staying for a while. Her sister, Marie, is happy to have Geraldine back, but their father, Martin, is suspicious of Geraldine’s reasons for being in town.

The Other Sister uses alternating points of view, plus multiple timelines. Most of the story takes place in present day, but a good deal of the book is devoted to flashbacks of when the women were young girls and teens. I found the alternating points of view to be fine, but the alternating timelines were not as well done. The story lost focus and too much was happening.

I did enjoy the excerpts of Geraldine’s book on fairytales that she is writing. Her excuse for staying in town is because she is writing a book, and her field of study is fairytales. This added to the atmosphere of the story, and gave it a little bit of an eerie feel.

The story about the sisters is intriguing. They have difficult pasts and uncertain futures. The Other Sister was more of a slow burn story, but things do pick up toward the end of the book. Dark, convoluted, and treacherous.

Books by Sarah Zettel:

1. The Other Sister
2. A Mother’s Lie