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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
thank you to netgalley, the publisher and the author for a copy of this book to read and review. i this book...a fast paced story that keeps you hanging on for what comes next
I'm not going to lie, I struggled with this one. I started reading it, then put it aside for ages, then started reading it again. I ended up liking it but I'm not going to rush to continue with the rest of the series.
There were so many twists and turns and not all of them felt necessary or well thought out and executed. Some of the characters just felt flat to me. But I liked Caelan. She's the one who carried the story for me.
Overall enjoyable but frustrating read.
There were so many twists and turns and not all of them felt necessary or well thought out and executed. Some of the characters just felt flat to me. But I liked Caelan. She's the one who carried the story for me.
Overall enjoyable but frustrating read.
Three and a half stars from me!
First of all, a huge thank you to Faye Rogers for organising and inviting me to take part in this blog tour and to the publishers Canelo for sending me a complimentary copy of Ask No Questions in e-book format in exchange for an honest review. There was a time in my life when I pretty much used to read crime fiction exclusively before I branched out into reading other genres. However, I still love a good crime narrative and when I read the synopsis of this novel it sounded a bit different from the norm which is definitely something I am intrigued by so I was excited to give it a shot.
Our protagonist of the story is Detective Caelan Small, a police officer that specialises in undercover operations and is incredibly good at her job role - in fact, one of the best in the business. When we first meet her however, she is on hiatus after one of her past jobs went badly wrong. A small boy that she was attempting to save and a close colleague of hers was killed, the suspects managed to escape and are still at large and the repercussions of the events of that evening still haunt her. Even though she is on enforced leave, she is pulled back into the investigation when the suspect is seen once again in the UK. This time, Caelan is determined to complete the case, find out what went so horribly wrong previously and put the perps behind bars. It's not that easy though and Caelan finds herself embroiled in a dramatic web of corruption, violence and lies. Worse still, the bodies are starting to stack up again and the finger of blame is being pointed firmly at Caelan leading to her being either a suspect for murder or in terrible danger herself.
Ask No Questions was an action-packed, roller-coaster ride of a story that left me hardly able to draw breath, there was so much going on. The plot is intricate and complicated but what I enjoyed most is that you never knew exactly what was going on right up until the end of the novel. Caelan Small isn't your ordinary hard-boiled, bad ass female detective and this made her even more interesting to read about. She's brave and at times, obviously reckless but she also has a strong moral sense of what's right and wrong, a determination to see justice and a lot of heart which made her infinitely more human. If I had to criticise in any way, I might just say that it would have been nice to see a bit more of other characters which I didn't think were fleshed out as much as Caelan was herself. Generally though, this was an exciting read with a strong plot and I'd be intrigued to find out more about Caelan as a character in future novels.
For my full review and many more please visit my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com
First of all, a huge thank you to Faye Rogers for organising and inviting me to take part in this blog tour and to the publishers Canelo for sending me a complimentary copy of Ask No Questions in e-book format in exchange for an honest review. There was a time in my life when I pretty much used to read crime fiction exclusively before I branched out into reading other genres. However, I still love a good crime narrative and when I read the synopsis of this novel it sounded a bit different from the norm which is definitely something I am intrigued by so I was excited to give it a shot.
Our protagonist of the story is Detective Caelan Small, a police officer that specialises in undercover operations and is incredibly good at her job role - in fact, one of the best in the business. When we first meet her however, she is on hiatus after one of her past jobs went badly wrong. A small boy that she was attempting to save and a close colleague of hers was killed, the suspects managed to escape and are still at large and the repercussions of the events of that evening still haunt her. Even though she is on enforced leave, she is pulled back into the investigation when the suspect is seen once again in the UK. This time, Caelan is determined to complete the case, find out what went so horribly wrong previously and put the perps behind bars. It's not that easy though and Caelan finds herself embroiled in a dramatic web of corruption, violence and lies. Worse still, the bodies are starting to stack up again and the finger of blame is being pointed firmly at Caelan leading to her being either a suspect for murder or in terrible danger herself.
Ask No Questions was an action-packed, roller-coaster ride of a story that left me hardly able to draw breath, there was so much going on. The plot is intricate and complicated but what I enjoyed most is that you never knew exactly what was going on right up until the end of the novel. Caelan Small isn't your ordinary hard-boiled, bad ass female detective and this made her even more interesting to read about. She's brave and at times, obviously reckless but she also has a strong moral sense of what's right and wrong, a determination to see justice and a lot of heart which made her infinitely more human. If I had to criticise in any way, I might just say that it would have been nice to see a bit more of other characters which I didn't think were fleshed out as much as Caelan was herself. Generally though, this was an exciting read with a strong plot and I'd be intrigued to find out more about Caelan as a character in future novels.
For my full review and many more please visit my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ask No Questions by Lisa Hartley is a crime thriller that follows Caelan Small as she returns to the police force to hunt a criminal from her past.
I love the characters in the book, especially Caelan. You only get to know about her and her past in little bits as the story develops which really fits with her character.
The story pulls you in quickly and is very gripping. As the story moves along you learn what happened to make Caelan leave the police force. I love the mystery and trying to guess who is behind it all now. (FYI I didn’t guess correctly!) It is very tense in parts and there is a great build up in to a very surprising ending.
The ending to the book is brilliant. The past and present all finally meet in a big reveal of who’s done it and a final plot twist that you won’t see coming.
Ask No Questions by Lisa Hartley is a tense crime novel full of mystery, murders, police politics and shocking plot twists.
I’m giving Ask No Questions by Lisa Hartley 4 / 5 stars ****
I love the characters in the book, especially Caelan. You only get to know about her and her past in little bits as the story develops which really fits with her character.
The story pulls you in quickly and is very gripping. As the story moves along you learn what happened to make Caelan leave the police force. I love the mystery and trying to guess who is behind it all now. (FYI I didn’t guess correctly!) It is very tense in parts and there is a great build up in to a very surprising ending.
The ending to the book is brilliant. The past and present all finally meet in a big reveal of who’s done it and a final plot twist that you won’t see coming.
Ask No Questions by Lisa Hartley is a tense crime novel full of mystery, murders, police politics and shocking plot twists.
I’m giving Ask No Questions by Lisa Hartley 4 / 5 stars ****
Review also on my blog charlottesomewhere.wordpress.com
” Excuse Me. No. No, it cannot end like that. WHERE ARE THE REST OF THE PAGES? There better be a sequel.”
These were my thoughts as I finished the last pages of this book.
Ask No Questions, the new book from Lisa Hartley opens with a really strong, graphic image and we find ourselves immediately thrown into two stories that we know link together, but it takes until the very end of the novel to work out how and why. It took me a while to get into this, but once I did, I was hooked.
Caelan Small was involved in an operation which went wrong. Badly wrong. A young boy died and no-one seems to know what happened. Caelan lost someone she cared about, and retired from the force. Now, their main suspect is back and Caelan is ordered out of retirement to track him down. She takes her eye off the target for a minute and disaster strikes. Caelan becomes a suspect and as the story unfolds, so does everyone around her. It is impossible to know who to trust.
Caelan is a really strong character. At times, she reminded me of an early Lisbet Salander. She is something of a loner, she is extremely clever, can pull off any disguise, likes to be in control, and manages to outsmart most of the people around her. And yet, she also ends up as one of the main suspects in both cases. Everyone is a suspect. Noone can be trusted.
The novel has been described as a “nerve-shredding crime thriller” that “keeps you guessing until the very end” and I could not agree more. I had no idea where this was going and I loved that no matter how many times I thought I knew how it would end, no matter how obscure my own theories, I was always wrong. There are so many twists in the story that are unpredictable, but never unbelievable and this made the book for me. I like to be kept on my toes and surprised. This is one of those books that has you sitting up until the early hours whilst you read “just one more chapter”.
” Excuse Me. No. No, it cannot end like that. WHERE ARE THE REST OF THE PAGES? There better be a sequel.”
These were my thoughts as I finished the last pages of this book.
Ask No Questions, the new book from Lisa Hartley opens with a really strong, graphic image and we find ourselves immediately thrown into two stories that we know link together, but it takes until the very end of the novel to work out how and why. It took me a while to get into this, but once I did, I was hooked.
Caelan Small was involved in an operation which went wrong. Badly wrong. A young boy died and no-one seems to know what happened. Caelan lost someone she cared about, and retired from the force. Now, their main suspect is back and Caelan is ordered out of retirement to track him down. She takes her eye off the target for a minute and disaster strikes. Caelan becomes a suspect and as the story unfolds, so does everyone around her. It is impossible to know who to trust.
Caelan is a really strong character. At times, she reminded me of an early Lisbet Salander. She is something of a loner, she is extremely clever, can pull off any disguise, likes to be in control, and manages to outsmart most of the people around her. And yet, she also ends up as one of the main suspects in both cases. Everyone is a suspect. Noone can be trusted.
The novel has been described as a “nerve-shredding crime thriller” that “keeps you guessing until the very end” and I could not agree more. I had no idea where this was going and I loved that no matter how many times I thought I knew how it would end, no matter how obscure my own theories, I was always wrong. There are so many twists in the story that are unpredictable, but never unbelievable and this made the book for me. I like to be kept on my toes and surprised. This is one of those books that has you sitting up until the early hours whilst you read “just one more chapter”.
Note: This book was received from the publisher in return for an honest review
I wasn't planning on or looking to take part in any blog tours when Faye asked if I would be interested in taking part in a blog tour for Ask No Questions, I was already behind in writing up my reviews and I knew I had an exam coming up that I needed to study for but I had a quick look at the blurb and decided it sounded like just my sort of book, and the date was far enough in the future that I'd be able to fit everything in, less than 48 hours later I'd requested, downloaded and finished the book!
Lisa Hartley is a completely new author to me and Ask No Questions is the first book in a series (although not the first book Lisa has published). Now I was in a bit of a slump when I first this on my Kindle app, I normally don't really like reading more than one book at once but I was struggling with my current read, something I really loved the idea of but wasn't quite connecting with me. I had no such problems with Ask No Questions, I started reading quite late on a Saturday night and by the time I finished the first chapter I was hooked!
The lead character in this new series is Detective Caelan Small Caelan works for the Metropolitan Police and specialises in undercover work, Ask No Questions takes place some time after an operation has gone badly wrong and Caelan has quit the force, suddenly there are reports that the main suspect from their previous case is back in the country and Caelan is convinced to come back and track him down.
Ask No Questions is most definitely a page turner! Looking back at the comments I put on Goodreads as I was reading I can see that by 22% I was completely hooked and full of questions I NEEDED answers to.
I really enjoyed the different characters throughout the book, obviously Caelan is the lead and we find out little bits of information about her as the book goes on but I definitely want to know more! She's obviously very good at her job, but she's still young and I'd love to explore in future books what spending so much time undercover, living as another person does to you as your own person, do you end up losing part of yourself?
Ewan Davies is an ex-soldier now working as part of the protection unit who is sent to collect Caelan at the beginning of the story - I really liked him, I think there's a lot of potential and I hope he sticks around!
Lisa introduces a number of other characters as well, from superior officers like DAC Nasenby, Commander Penrith, and Assistant Commissioner Elizabeth Beckett, to her former colleague Sam Clifton and other supporting characters. Lisa does a wonderful job of building suspense and making you question everyone and everything. The writing is fast paced, with twists and turns to keep you guessing and surprises right from the beginning. I have to admit that I didn't really see the ending coming, despite spending most of the book trying to guess, but I didn't feel cheated either which is the sign of a great book, enough clues, real and false, to keep you guessing but enough laid down that you don't feel the author's just randomly decided something right at the end and you never had a chance to work it out.
Would I Recommend?
Absolutely I would recommend this to any of my readers who love a good crime thriller! Lisa has written a wonderfully paced and clever novel that was full of things that kept be second guessing all that had gone before. I am so pleased Faye asked me to be part of this book tour and introduced me to this fabulous book - and that epilogue?! You'll know what I mean when you get to it! Can I have book two already please?
I wasn't planning on or looking to take part in any blog tours when Faye asked if I would be interested in taking part in a blog tour for Ask No Questions, I was already behind in writing up my reviews and I knew I had an exam coming up that I needed to study for but I had a quick look at the blurb and decided it sounded like just my sort of book, and the date was far enough in the future that I'd be able to fit everything in, less than 48 hours later I'd requested, downloaded and finished the book!
Lisa Hartley is a completely new author to me and Ask No Questions is the first book in a series (although not the first book Lisa has published). Now I was in a bit of a slump when I first this on my Kindle app, I normally don't really like reading more than one book at once but I was struggling with my current read, something I really loved the idea of but wasn't quite connecting with me. I had no such problems with Ask No Questions, I started reading quite late on a Saturday night and by the time I finished the first chapter I was hooked!
The lead character in this new series is Detective Caelan Small Caelan works for the Metropolitan Police and specialises in undercover work, Ask No Questions takes place some time after an operation has gone badly wrong and Caelan has quit the force, suddenly there are reports that the main suspect from their previous case is back in the country and Caelan is convinced to come back and track him down.
Ask No Questions is most definitely a page turner! Looking back at the comments I put on Goodreads as I was reading I can see that by 22% I was completely hooked and full of questions I NEEDED answers to.
I really enjoyed the different characters throughout the book, obviously Caelan is the lead and we find out little bits of information about her as the book goes on but I definitely want to know more! She's obviously very good at her job, but she's still young and I'd love to explore in future books what spending so much time undercover, living as another person does to you as your own person, do you end up losing part of yourself?
Ewan Davies is an ex-soldier now working as part of the protection unit who is sent to collect Caelan at the beginning of the story - I really liked him, I think there's a lot of potential and I hope he sticks around!
Lisa introduces a number of other characters as well, from superior officers like DAC Nasenby, Commander Penrith, and Assistant Commissioner Elizabeth Beckett, to her former colleague Sam Clifton and other supporting characters. Lisa does a wonderful job of building suspense and making you question everyone and everything. The writing is fast paced, with twists and turns to keep you guessing and surprises right from the beginning. I have to admit that I didn't really see the ending coming, despite spending most of the book trying to guess, but I didn't feel cheated either which is the sign of a great book, enough clues, real and false, to keep you guessing but enough laid down that you don't feel the author's just randomly decided something right at the end and you never had a chance to work it out.
Would I Recommend?
Absolutely I would recommend this to any of my readers who love a good crime thriller! Lisa has written a wonderfully paced and clever novel that was full of things that kept be second guessing all that had gone before. I am so pleased Faye asked me to be part of this book tour and introduced me to this fabulous book - and that epilogue?! You'll know what I mean when you get to it! Can I have book two already please?
I'm reviewing Ask No Questions for my stop on the Tell No Lies blog tour, so my review of this will be up tomorrow, but I can say that it's a slow yet extremely promising start to a new crime series.
EDIT 07/03/2018:
'The blood haunted her. She saw it pool beneath her feet when she walked down the street, felt it spatter her skin as she showered.'
When we meet Detective Caelan Small, she's in Egypt trying to track down the one that got away. Seb Lambourne, the man who kidnapped and killed 10-year-old Charlie Flynn, and then murdered Caelan's colleague, Nicky, right in front of her, before mysteriously disappearing into the night.
Because of that case, Caelan retired. But now rumours are flying that Seb Lambourne is back in England, and Caelan is the only detective skilled enough to be able to find him...
Ask No Questions has a plot which constantly changes direction. At first, it seems simple: Caelan is going to shadow Lambourne's son, Ronnie Morgan, until she discovers enough information to find the man himself. But when Ronnie receives a mysterious phone call and boards a train to London - a completely out of character move for a guy who's never missed a university lecture before - things spin rapidly out of control.
If you like books keeping you on the edge of your seat, Ask No Questions certainly does that. People drop dead left, right and centre, and Caelan is always in the middle of the action. This causes her colleagues to point their fingers at her, and even though the reader knows she's completely innocent it seems impossible that she'll get herself out of these sticky situations.
However, because the focus of the story constantly shifts it makes the plot disorienting and difficult to follow (until the end of the novel, when the person behind it all is revealed and all of the pieces fall into place). That makes it extremely rereadable, because there are hints dropped throughout that don't seem relevant until the end. I was mad at myself for dismissing some of the more obvious ones. Keep your eyes open and you'll figure out what's going on much faster than I did!
All in all, this is a great introduction to a strong female detective. At times it feels slow and clunky, but at other points it's impossible to put down and the pages fly past. I'm excited to read Tell No Lies, because now Caelan has been introduced and her backstory has been explored things are bound to get cranked up a notch.
This review was originally posted on The Bumbling Blogger, as part of the Tell No Lies blog tour.
EDIT 07/03/2018:
'The blood haunted her. She saw it pool beneath her feet when she walked down the street, felt it spatter her skin as she showered.'
When we meet Detective Caelan Small, she's in Egypt trying to track down the one that got away. Seb Lambourne, the man who kidnapped and killed 10-year-old Charlie Flynn, and then murdered Caelan's colleague, Nicky, right in front of her, before mysteriously disappearing into the night.
Because of that case, Caelan retired. But now rumours are flying that Seb Lambourne is back in England, and Caelan is the only detective skilled enough to be able to find him...
Ask No Questions has a plot which constantly changes direction. At first, it seems simple: Caelan is going to shadow Lambourne's son, Ronnie Morgan, until she discovers enough information to find the man himself. But when Ronnie receives a mysterious phone call and boards a train to London - a completely out of character move for a guy who's never missed a university lecture before - things spin rapidly out of control.
If you like books keeping you on the edge of your seat, Ask No Questions certainly does that. People drop dead left, right and centre, and Caelan is always in the middle of the action. This causes her colleagues to point their fingers at her, and even though the reader knows she's completely innocent it seems impossible that she'll get herself out of these sticky situations.
However, because the focus of the story constantly shifts it makes the plot disorienting and difficult to follow (until the end of the novel, when the person behind it all is revealed and all of the pieces fall into place). That makes it extremely rereadable, because there are hints dropped throughout that don't seem relevant until the end. I was mad at myself for dismissing some of the more obvious ones. Keep your eyes open and you'll figure out what's going on much faster than I did!
All in all, this is a great introduction to a strong female detective. At times it feels slow and clunky, but at other points it's impossible to put down and the pages fly past. I'm excited to read Tell No Lies, because now Caelan has been introduced and her backstory has been explored things are bound to get cranked up a notch.
This review was originally posted on The Bumbling Blogger, as part of the Tell No Lies blog tour.