Seb Kirby Brings Readers Another Great Psychological Suspense Novel!

Trust is like that. You can break it for a good reason. 

But it still remains broken. --Harlan Coben

I’m lost in a dark, dark place and, try as hard as I can, nothing helps me to understand. When I seek answers, I see only broken shards of my past, flashes lighting this darkest of places for an instant, shining bright then fading as soon as they appear. Fragments of time, light and dark, great joy and great sadness, overlapping incidents in my life that I thought were lost forever. And when I look again, it’s as if what I’ve just seen has never existed.
I open my eyes and look around...facing a woman who looks at me with care and concern. I say the only thing I need to say. “Where am I?” She smiles at me. “You’re at the Pinetree Medical Practice. I’m your doctor, Jane Wilson.” 
“How did I get here?” 
“Your friend Marianne brought you here.” 
“Why would she do that?” 
The doctor looks up from the notes she’s making on her screen. “Because you’re distressed.” She pauses. “Can you tell me why you’re feeling so anxious?” 
I don’t know why she’s asking me this. Why should I trust anything she says when she won’t tell me where I am? “I don’t know.” 
She keeps prying. “What can you tell me about the last twenty-four hours?” 
“I can’t. It’s a blank.” “And that’s why you’re distressed?” How could she know how this feels? I’m alone, lost in a cold emptiness with no way back home. Why can’t she be straight with me? “I don’t know. Just tell me where I am?”
“You’re with me, your doctor, Jane Wilson, at the Pinetree Medical Centre.” 
“How did I get here?
 “Your friend brought you. Do you remember her name?” 
I’m so alone, how could she tell me I have a single friend in this world? “I can’t recall anyone bringing me here.” 
The doctor returns her attention to the screen. “I’m going to ask you some questions. They’re going to help me find out what’s wrong with you. Is that all right?” 
“If it will help.”
 “OK. Tell me about yourself. What’s your name?” 
I know who I am. No one can take that away from me. “Isobel Cunningham. Issy to my friends." 
“So, you won’t mind if I call you Issy?" 
“That’s fine.” 
“And where do you live?” I know that, too. “Bentham Gardens. Apartment 21.” 
“And how old are you?” 
“Forty-one next birthday.” God, I’m that old? 
“Any brothers or sisters.” “I’m an only child.”
 “You’re married?” “To John. We’re divorced.”
“Any children?” I feel a jolt of pain as she asks me this. I don’t know why I should feel this way. I give her the only answer I can, the one I need to give. “No children.” “And your parents?”
“Jenny and Tom. They’re separated. She lives in Reading.” I can say this, but if I closed my eyes, I wouldn’t see them. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen them. 
“Spell WORLD.” Now she’s saying I’m stupid. Who would ever want to ask a forty-one year old woman that?
“Why wouldn’t I be able to spell it?” 
“Just try.” 
“OK. W-O-R-L-D.”
 “That’s fine. Tell me, Issy, do you suffer from migraine?” “I don’t know. I just want you to tell me where I am, how I got here.” The way she’s acting, you’d think I’d just asked her that. Why can’t she just level with me?
The doctor returns to her on-screen notes. “Your records show that in fact you do suffer from migraine. You’ve been managing attacks for the last three years, linked to periods of stress, as often as not.” 
“If you say.”
“Where do you work?” I can feel a pain tightening in my abdomen. A shadow of something or someone heading towards me. “Ardensis Partners.” 
“And what’s that?”
“It’s an ad agency. I’m a consultant there.” 
“So there’s the stress.” The doctor takes in a deep breath. “Issy, you’re confused and disorientated. You know all the details about who you are and about your family and where you live and work, yet you’ve lost your bearings somehow and that’s what’s making you feel so distressed.” 
“There may be a physical cause. I’d like to take a look at you, if that’s OK?” 
Now she wants to touch me. There was someone who touched me last. Someone I trusted. Someone I don’t want to trust again. I remove my clothes and lie on the table. “I just want you to tell me why I’m here. Where I am...”

~~~

Sugar for Sugar
A Gripping Psychological Thriller

By Seb Kirby

I greatly enjoy reading books by Seb Kirby. Check out my reviews of Take No More and Each Day I Wake. If you enjoy psychological suspense, do consider this author, starting with today's, which I read in one day... It is fantastic!

It is difficult to imagine losing parts or all of your memory. As we grow older, many of us lose our thoughts such as what we were looking for--it may take a while but we usually do remember. But  Issy Cunningham had become unable to remember her recent and immediate memories. She would ask questions such as to "Where am I?" but would then immediately forget the answer so that she would ask over and over...

Lesley pauses from taking notes.
 “So, how was Mr. Aspinal
when he was in charge?”
 Marianne leans forward and
 lowers her voice. “I don’t want
 to speak ill of the dead but if
 you don’t get this from me
you’ll certainly get it from just
 about anyone else here. To
 put it simply, he’s been a disaster.
 You know what they say. 
All power corrupts.” Ives cuts in.
 “It went to his head?”
 “In Mike’s case you might
 say that.” She pauses.
 “Oh, don’t get me wrong,
Vince thought he’d made a good
 choice when he appointed Mike
 as acting CEO while he was
 away. But from the start it’s
 been one of the worst decisions
 he’s ever made.”
~~~ 

But this was not just a medical issue that resulted from her being assaulted... She remembered she was divorced and in her early dreams she remembered loving her husband....

But she couldn't remember the traumatic event which happened years ago that had begun changing her...

And she certainly didn't remember, or even know, that her boss had been murdered the same night of her assault...

The police had already found from security cameras that she had been with him that night...but she remembered nothing...

The only fortunate thing for Issy, which in her condition, was that her boss, who had been acting on an interim basis, had been so cruel as a boss--telling everybody that he would get things in good shape while he was in charge--that he had made everybody hate him at work...

Detective Inspector Stephen Ives, a 25-year-veteran still grieves for each individual who has been killed during criminal activities, not understanding the willingness for humans to consider life so lightly... He has a personal bias against "creatives" who work in advertising, so he struggles hard not to allow his feelings to become part of this investigation. But as a meticulous officer, he is soon finding evidence that supports Issy being involved... 

Was the rape assault too much for her to deal with... But why, then, did they find evidence in her office that would lead to an assumption of pre-planning?!

There are other persons of interest as well and the investigation becomes more and more complicated, while at the same time, Issy has more and more flashbacks that is filling in the blanks of her memory... and the memory of her losses bring back all the heartbreak she had faced those many years again...But at least she now knew why she was divorced. 

Because of the specific type of loss she was experiencing, she began to make notes as a reference to ensure she didn't lose what memories she'd already regained... So far...

I find the phone and stare at the notes there. 

Why did Colin need my help? 

Mary is a good friend. 

I should have trusted my mother. 

John, how did I ever lose you? 

Mike is dead. Why do I feel so guilty? 

Colin behaves like he owes me. 

How I love you, Kelly.

The ending was certainly a surprise and could not have been foreseen. Yes, there were several clues, but not enough to even guess at what happened! And, is that what makes a totally satisfying closure...Well, almost... I had to wonder if there would be a followup to this story...Surely, there had to be something good come out of this...that's my opinion; my hope!

GABixlerReviews

Seb Kirby is the author of the James Blake Thriller series (TAKE NO MORE, REGRET NO MORE and FORGIVE NO MORE), the Raymond Bridges sci fi thriller series (DOUBLE BIND) and the psychological thriller EACH DAY I WAKE. The new stand alone psychological thriller SUGAR FOR SUGAR, available now.

He says: "I've been an avid reader from an early age - my grandfather ran a mobile lending library in Birmingham and when it closed my parents inherited many of the books. From the first moment I was hooked. Now, as a full-time writer myself, it's my goal to add to the magic of the wonderful words and stories I discovered back then."

Seb Kirby Brings Readers Extraordinary Psychological Thriller -

He told me his name was Josh Healey and that he was a clinician attached to the Trauma Ward. “It’s good to see you’re looking stronger today.” 
“You mean you’re surprised I’ve made it.”
“Don’t think that way. But if you mean you were badly injured, close to death, then I’d have to say yes.”
 I struggled to understand. “What happened?” 
“You don’t recall?”
 “There’s nothing. Nothing. Until I wake up here.” 
“They pulled you out of the water, from North Dock at Canary Wharf. A near drowning.”
 “Some kind of accident?” 
“No, you’d been beaten, before you entered the water. That’s the cause of the bruising and swelling to your arms, chest and abdomen.” He looked away. “Best not to dwell on that now. You’ve been in deep shock. But you’re now in recovery. The coldness of the water helped, I’m sure. Slowed the possibility of neurological damage. And we’ve restored your electrolyte balance. Your prognosis is good.”

 “How long have I been here?” He looked at the chart. “Three days.”
 “And where is here?” He smiled to reassure me. “We’re a few miles away from Canary Wharf, in Hammersmith Hospital.” 
“What was I doing there, at Canary Wharf?”
 “That’s what we’re hoping you’ll tell us. Once you’re better.” He took a step back. “No need to worry about this now, build your strength, give it time.”

~~~

Each Day I Wake

By Seb Kirby

Then it came.

 The first memory. Clear, straight from nowhere, like a bright light piercing the darkness. 

I’m seeing it, living it. It’s me, looking on, seeing myself doing all this. I’m with a woman. She’s young, just turned nineteen, pretty. Cathy. Smart, sexy. We’re talking about our meeting in a pub and how I brought her to this place. This dark room with wood paneled walls covered with books. Making love to her. 

My adultery. No, I’m not that kind of person. Not the kind to lie to my wife. I have a wife. I have a wife. Yet here I am with Cathy. Something intense. Something I don’t want to see. Something I don’t want to have to recall. 

My hands round her throat, squeezing the life out of her. Watching her body go limp.

~~~

I met Seb Kirby through reading Take No More which was an exciting thriller ride into the art world... But this latest book, with the psychological framework has moved him into an area in which he has excelled! Let me say right upfront--Wow! You've got to check this one out if you are into psychological thriller/suspense!

The book opens with the main male character in the hospital with almost total amnesia. I say "almost" because while he sleeps he remembers--he remembers beautiful women who are taken to a place which appears to be a library. The man and young girl have sex, but the man then strangles the young girl. Is this a scene from his own memory? He doesn't believe he would commit adultery... but how can he have these memories?

 It was hard to imagine waking up and not knowing who you are... The police sent an officer, but could tell him nothing--no witnesses had been found but they did find that he was full of narcotics... Did he know anything about that?

But then to begin having dreams--dreams so real that it seems you are the person watching young women being murdered--would be absolutely terrifying! 

It was his wife that had been looking for him, Janet Markland, who told him he'd been gone from home for 10 days. His name was Tom and the woman, who he didn't recognize, told him she was looking forward to taking him home...

Janet told me my name is Tom Markland. By next month we’ll have been married for five years. I’m a reporter, working for The Herald, making a name for myself as an investigative journalist. We don’t have children yet, though we’re trying. It sounded as if she was speaking about someone else. But I trusted her. 
She was all I had. It must be me. I had to listen and learn these things about myself. Then, and only then, would I find a way to recall it all. “Where do we live?” 
She didn’t show any surprise at my question. “I told you that, dear. In Lichfield.” She paused and squeezed my hand. “Mr. Healey says you’re making good physical progress since they admitted you and you can go home in a few days provided you take complete rest. You can see the house then. It will help you piece things together.” 
I held on to those words.

~~~

Even coming home did not help, however. Tom didn't remember anything, but his wife began to share about their life and tell him small things that might bring back memories, even their favorite song had not yet done it, however.

But he did have another dream. This time the girl's name was Margot... and the script went as before, except this time, he could see something different. On the arm of the man was the tattoo of a red rose!

Tom hurried to the mirror in the bathroom. No! He didn't have any tattoos... Tom was not the man in his dreams!

With relief so real, he was now able to consider what he should do about what he was experiencing. His psychologist was not too helpful in this regard.

Thinking he was feeling better, he decided to go for a walk, without telling his wife...He knew where and what locations he passed, even though he didn't recall when he saw them, but then a flash of memory and he was back in the water, afraid of dying... Fortunately a man stopped to check if he was alright and it broke his flashback sufficient to allow him to deal with it... But it made him just that more determined to find out what had happened! Who had caused him to be in the water around the Wharf?

Back home, watching television, he saw her--Cathy! It was a news item about the girl in the first dream--about Cathy who was missing from her home and her mother was making an appeal. He called his wife to watch and told her it was one of the girls he'd dreamed about, but his wife was hesitant to support his involvement, remembering that his psychologist believed they were false memories...

Tom had not been impressed with his psychologist and was not about to share anything further about his dreams... He was ready to act; he would talk to the police... But he knew that they would naturally suspect him...and that he would continue to work to discover who had tried to kill him...and see if and how it was connected to the murder of the young women in his dreams...

The added dimension of the main character not having his personal memories increases the suspense for readers since we are finding out only what is occurring within the limitation of Tom's knowledge. The story captured my attention immediately and kept me enthralled until the final page. One interesting method by which the author brings clues is that Tom's wife had kept a scrapbook of Tom's news articles...By that he was able to learn much about his career and he then discovered he had moved into a new area--securities fraud--that he'd not been involved with in the past...

Another dream--this time he watches Rebecca die...and notices more about the hands of the murder--his fingers did not match Tom's. Now he was positive he was not that man. And the only way to clear himself was to find the murderer...

I loved this one. Kirby's rhythm of inserting dreams along with Tom's finding out more about his past, claims full attention to determine who the criminal(s) might be... A captivating and compelling read!

Her client was a killer. He had killed and would kill again. When she first met him she was attracted to him. That was the mistake she regretted now with all her heart. He was so likable, so respectful, so different from most of her clients. To be honest, for a short while, she’d fallen head over heels for him. To be honest, she still loved him in some way she knew she could never shake. Even when their pillow talk, as he would call it, turned to what she convinced herself were his fantasies about killing young women. And even if she did consider telling someone, he could always demonstrate his power over her because he had made it impossible for her to go to the police. She depended on him. More than she could say. More than she would admit to anyone, more than she could admit to herself. He was the one who provided her with the heroin that fed her habit. The real thing that had kept her sane when she did what she had to do in this life in which she found herself. She shivered.

She thought of the John Lennon song. Cold Turkey. Yes, it had her on the run. She hated herself for being this weak but she knew she would never be able to tell anyone about those girls. There were times when the way he looked at her made her think she might be next. But the only thing that mattered now was that he’d soon be here bringing her next fix with him.

~~~

GABixlerReviews

Seb Kirby is the author of the James Blake Thriller series (TAKE NO MORE, REGRET NO MORE and FORGIVE NO MORE) and the Raymond Bridges sci fi thriller series (DOUBLE BIND). Look out for the new stand alone psychological thriller EACH DAY I WAKE, available from September.
He says: "I've been an avid reader from an early age - my grandfather ran a mobile lending library in Birmingham and when it closed my parents inherited many of the books. From the first moment I was hooked. Now, as a full-time writer myself, it's my goal to add to the magic of the wonderful words and stories I discovered back then. 
"I've been fortunate to travel widely and I now draw on that experience in my writing. Favourite places (in no particular order) include: Venice, Florence, San Francisco, San Diego, Boston, New York, London, The English Lake District, Lisbon, Crete....."

Novel Merges Today's Waste Dumping Issue with Classical Art--Result: A Fantastic Mystery!

Image via Wikipedia

...a message posted earlier that day from Julia. I had not
seen it until now. I clicked to open the message. Her
last message: help me
There was an attachment. I clicked on its icon...the
screen filled up as the download was completed. It was
just a single picture...It showed a naked woman cradling
between her legs the head of a large swan. The woman
was corpulent, as beautiful women were supposed to be
in classical times. The swan's long neck was supremely
phallic. It was very sensual, very erotic...
That's Leda and the Swan...
So why send you an almost blank message and just
that picture?

Take No More
  (Kindle edition)




By Seb Kirby


This murder mystery turned into much more--a daring kidnapping, a husband's search, and a step into the world of art, and, specifically, lost art and the efforts used to try to find those treasures...I was hooked from the very beginning to a quite satisfactory ending!








It was August in London when he found her. Julia was away in Florence working on a project for her conservation studio, restoring paintings. He had not seen her for over a month. But there she was, right inside the door to the apartment. It appeared she had tried to get away from her attacker; blood was everywhere...

Of course, the police immediately thought of him as a suspect and set out to investigate from that perspective. James Blake had only justice on his mind and he immediately starting investigating his wife's murder on his own. But the clues that began to be found were disturbing, most importantly, an email from her that merely said, "help me".


First the police found evidence that suggested she was involved in an affair, but he refused to believe it..
.
Then James discovered that there was another reason she had taken her latest project. She planned to use new technology to search for lost art through a process by which layers painted under the present picture were examined to determine if something else had been painted on the canvas... He later learned that she and her boss had argued over what she was doing.


But the family who owned the large collection she was inspecting were well-known criminals, involved in all sorts of deadly activities, including illegal waste disposal...


And, worst of all, his brother, as a journalist, was following this story and had actually suggested the contact with the family to his wife!


Following the trail his wife had taken led him into more discovery, but soon he realized that there was somebody that wanted him to stop--and killing him to stop him was just as easy as any other method...

Because a mad man headed this criminal family...

...Raised with the potential to be special; as special as he
himself had become. Matteo had been prepared for a great
destiny just as his own father had prepared him.
And here it was - Leda and the Swan. It spoke to him, told
him how special he was.
If he looked long enough the figures would come to life.
The god was half man, half bird - that of course was the
appearance that he'd chosen...Could a man become a god?
As he sat in the chair, smoking the cigar, looking at the
painting, he was a god...
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
Paul_Cezanne_Leda_au_cygne.jpg*

Twists in the story began to occur...one great surprise, as well as unexpected tension in families as the puzzle is solved... During my reading, I found myself searching for the lost art and found a copy (top) and then realized that the story had inspired many other artists, including Cezanne (immediately above). So, for me, I not only thoroughly enjoyed a great novel, but learned more about lost art and the technologies now available to possibly find it...and also got to explore great classical art (and some modern ones) as a response to reading the book.

I found the mixture presented in Take No More an enthralling story that was compelling and dramatic in telling and a thrilling ride while solving the case. I loved the surprise ending, the inclusion of a more modern evil, the illegal dumping of waste, along with the search for lost classic art...and the romantic tale of James Blake, who loved his wife very much... Highly recommended!


GABixlerReviews