Book Description
'A dark tale that gets under your skin. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the page' Gemma Rogers, author of The Feud
Dark, disturbing and gripping. This is not for the faint of heart.
Nurse. Protégé. Murderer.
Marcus Gove has been all these things. He’s reached the pinnacle of his art and now it’s time for him to take a protégé. Lovely Lucy is perfect for the role, or she will be . . .
Artist. Teacher. Daughter.
Lucy Williams is just like everyone else. She’s had some success as an artist, not so much success in love, but she’s getting by. But soon she’s going to have to become something else if she wants to be a survivor.
Detective. Ex-husband. Underdog.
Ray Lewis’s career isn’t heading anywhere. But he’s a solid detective and he’s determined to find Lucy no matter what the upper brass throw at him.
Three people. Nineteen days. Who will live and who will die?
REVIEW
Review for 'The Cellar' by John Nicholl.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for John Nicholl and Boldwood Books
Publication date 7th November 2022
This is the seventh book I have read by this author. I have previously read 'Killing Evil' and 'The Doctor' (First book in the 'Dr David Galbraith' series) and 'The Wife' (Second book in the Dr Galbrailth series), 'The Father' (Third book in the Dr Galbraith series), 'The Carmarthen Murders' (First book in the 'Carmarthen Crime' series) and 'The Tywi Estuary Killings' (Second book in the 'Carmarthen Crime' series) which I would also highly recommend.
I was originally drawn to this book by its unique eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. I loved John's other books called 'Killing Evil' and 'The Doctor' (which is the first book in the Dr Galbraith series), 'The Wife' (which is the second book in the Dr Galbraith series), 'The Father (which is the third book in the Dr Galbraith series), The Carmarthen Murders' (the first book in the 'Carmarthen Crime' series) and 'The Tywi Estuary Killings' (the second book in the 'Carmarthen Crime' series) and if this is half as good as they are it's bound to be a page turner. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Boldwood Books. I have yet to read a book published by Boldwood Books that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of 40 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in Carmarthen and Brechfa, Wales 🏴 , UK 🇬🇧 and Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain 🇪🇸. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture. The fact that I live in Wales and only live a few miles from Carmarthen is amazing as I'm hoping to recognise a few local places.
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonists are Marcus Grove, Lucy Williams, DS Laura Kesey and Detective Ray Lewis. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.
OMG!!!! Yet another fantastic success by John!! What a read!! Just Wow!!! This is one of the best psychological thrillers and series I have read in a long time,in fact that I have ever read!!!
The book is written perfectly and with such vivid descriptions it really feels that you are with the protagonists walking the streets of Wales with your heart pounding in a race against time.
Clear your schedules before picking this up because you won't be able to put it down!!
The storyline is absolutely addictive and gripping. I seriously WOULD NOT even start this book unless you have cleared your schedule because you will not be able to put it down!!! I absolutely blew through it in one sitting and it genuinely was unputdownable!!! A true page turner absolutely rammed with suspense, tension and everything you want when you read a psychological thriller. This would be absolutely amazing if turned into a movie, if done right of course!!! This is an absolutely gripping and addictive storyline.
Yet another absolutely gripping and addictive page turner from John Nicholl. I have yet to come across one of his books that I don't absolutely love!! This dark psychological thriller has the perfect amount of suspense, gore and tension to keep you absolutely hooked throughout!! I love the fact that this book is based in Carmarthen which is literally 15 minutes away from me by car. . The fact that I recognised so many places really brought the story to life. John really describes Carmarthen perfectly and even when this book is filled with crime and murder he manages to portray the beauty of local areas. I love that John mentions the vegetarian cafe on Merlins Lane in Carmarthen (Waverley Stores & Vegetarian Cafe in anybody is interested to know what it is called and wants to visit themselves). The storyline is absolutely ram packed with crime, mystery, murder, suspense, tension, and everything you could ask for in an addictive psychological page turner!! It also has just the right amount of humour in to lighten the mood which I always love in crime books. Will I say more? Nope, sorry for the tease but you'll just have to pick up a copy to find out more. I can't go spoiling it for future readers now can I? I love how John wrote this book giving the readers so many different perspectives from various characters so you get such a good insight into what is happening including from the killer. I found the storyline to be unique which always a bonus with so many crime novels around it can get frustrating reading similar story lines constantly. I absolutely loved the ending and I wanted to congratulate John on his focus of Domestic abuse victims which is such an important topic that needs to be talked about more. I think I'll have to leave this here as I dont want to risk giving anything away but needless to say this book is an absolute must read with an unexpected ending. I would love to see this turned into a movie!!
I previously met one of the main protagonists DS Laura Kesey in the second Book in the 'Carmarthen Crime' series 'The Tywi Estuary Killings'. I was pleased to "meet" her again. Detective Sergeant Laura Kesey who was another huge part of the team and is very likeable and hard working although I do worry what is going to come of her relationship with Janet after bringing her holiday to a quick end. My heart went out to Lucy who was just trying to earn some extra money and show off her art work. I also loved Ray who I don't think I have met previously and who made me laugh a few times. He reminded me of Detective Inspector Gareth Gravel from the 'Dr Galbraith' and 'Carmarthen Crime' series by John although not quite as big an attitude problem!! I would love to meet Ray again as he is one of those characters that will stay with you well after finishing the book. All the characters are realistic and strong and John's vivid descriptions make them leap out of the pages. Regardless of whether you love or hate them these characters worked perfectly to make this book absolutely unputdownable and I cannot wait to get stuck into John's next book which is guaranteed to be another explosive page turner!!
I really cannot compliment and recommend this book more. It is a heart racing, nail biting, suspense packed psychological thriller that will stay with you for one hell of a long time.
Congratulations John on yet another absolutely addictive nail biting edge of your seat novel. This is exactly why you are on my favourite author list!!! As always I'm looking forward to reading your next page turner and success 🥂 !!!
Overall a unputdownable, heart racing, nail biting and addictive psychological thriller
Genres covered in this novel include Fiction Classics, Contemporary Urban Fiction, Thriller, Hardboiled Mystery, Adventure Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Suspense, Action & Adventure, Psychological Thriller, Contemporary Fiction, Women's Fiction Classics, Mystery, Urban Fiction, Police Procedural, Death & Grief, Cromer Fiction and Crime Thriller amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as Charlie Gallagher, Mark Edwards Lisa Regan, Carol Wyer, DK Hood and anyone looking for a page turning series.
272 pages.
This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle, free on kindle unlimited, £22.38 in paperback and £23 in hardcover via Amazon at the time of review which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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About The Author
John Nicholl is an award-winning,bestselling author of numerous psychological thrillers and detective series, previously published by Bloodhound. These books have a gritty realism born of his real-life experience as an ex-police officer and child protection social worker. Boldwood will be publishing the new title in his Galbraith series in September and a new psychological thriller in November 2022. Alongside these, they will be reissuing his bestselling backlist from May 2022
John Nicholl, an ex-police officer, social worker and lecturer, is the award-winning, #1 bestselling author of numerous darkly psychological suspense thrillers. He began writing after leaving his job heading up child protection services. You can contact John at johnnichollauthor@gmail.com
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