What Rachael Reads

Happy 1st December! The festive season is already well and truly underway at our house. Tree and lights are up, advent calendars are opened, and the naughty little elf has already made its appearance! I'm usually one to stick to tradition and start decorating around 12 days before the big event, but (and as I've heard so many say already) it's 2020! Why not? I think we all need a little Christmas joy right now. As you may know, I've been rereading the David Raker series by the incredible Tim Weaver. I'm currently up to book number 4: Never Coming Back. As always, I am thoroughly enjoying it and can't wait to get to the remaining 6 books in the series. I'm hoping to squeeze all of them in before the Christmas madness really gets going! I have a few others on my 'TBR' pile that I'm really looking forward to reading, so let's hope I stay organised and on track to get around to them before 2020 is out! What are you reading? Share with us in the ...

The Dead Tracks by Tim Weaver My rating: 5 of 5 stars Read this for the second time four years later. Increased my rating from 4 to 5 stars. Fantastic book and I love the series. David Raker is an incredible character - a bit like a Smartie; hard as nails on the outside but incredibly soft on the inside, driven by emotion and the events of his past. The Dead Tracks is gripping, thrilling and creepy. Weaver has transformed modern London into a Victorian dystopia here, in a Jack the Ripper style mystery, meshed with more contemporary crimes. The Dead Tracks setting really gives you a feeling of wanting to satisfy curiosity, but also stay away from the danger. You can almost feel the tension through the pages, and I was genuinely both saddened and impressed to discover that the location described as The Dead Tracks, doesn't exist in real life. Tim has expertly brought it to life and created the perfect setting for the grisly storyline. 5 stars and on to the next in the series. 😊 ...

 Just a short update this Monday evening to remind any of you lovely readers that the blog is back! (And very much still under construction!) I am using my non-reading, non-reviewing, non-working, non-parenting time to learn a few skills, including web design; so watch this space!  In the meantime, I am currently re-reading the David Raker series by Tim Weaver. I first came across the series around 4 years ago, and there may (or may not) be a previous blog post about it because I loved it! I saw a post on Twitter last week advertising the latest release in the series and having just finished the Kate Marshall series by Robert Bryndza, I thought it's probably a great time to start the Raker series all over again to really dig deep into the character. When you read (or binge watch) a series consecutively, I feel like you really get to know the characters on a deeper level and you don't have that time lapse in between where you can forget some of their quirks and flaws. I raced t...

Summer is upon us at last, so grab your beach towels and sun creams and dive into some of my favourite upcoming thrillers for 2017! The Child by Fiona Barton Release Date: 27/7/2017 Available now! When a paragraph in an evening newspaper reveals a decades-old tragedy, most readers barely give it a glance. But for three strangers it’s impossible to ignore. For one woman, it’s a reminder of the worst thing that ever happened to her. For another, it reveals the dangerous possibility that her darkest secret is about to be discovered. And for the third, a journalist, it’s the first clue in a hunt to uncover the truth. The Child’s story will be told. Bestselling author of ' The Widow' Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell Release Date: 27/7/2017 Available now! THEN She was fifteen, her mother's golden girl. She had her whole life ahead of her. And then, in the blink of an eye, Ellie was gone.  NOW  It’s been ten years ...