Blog Tour - Know Me Now by C J Carver

Today I am very pleased to welcome C J Carver to my blog to celebrate the ebook publication of her latest book. Know Me Now.

A gripping suspense thriller for fans of Angela Marsons, MJ Arlidge and Peter May, from CWA Debut Dagger winner CJ CarverA SUICIDE. A MURDER. A CONSPIRACY. DIGGING UP THE PAST CAN BE DEADLY . . .A thirteen-year-old boy commits suicide. A sixty-five-year old man dies of a heart attack. Dan Forrester, ex-MI5 officer, is connected to them both. And when he discovers that his godson and his father have been murdered, he teams up with his old friend, DC Lucy Davies, to find answers.But as the pair investigate, they unravel a dark and violent mystery stretching decades into the past and uncover a terrible secret. A secret someone will do anything to keep buried . . . 'A top notch thriller writer' SIMON KERNICK 'Perfect for fans of Lee Child and Mason Cross' GUARDIAN'CJ Carver is one of the best thriller writers working today' TOM HARPER

Publisher: Zaffre Publishing
ISBN: 9781785760310 

I really enjoyed Know Me Now. I have been reading a lot of easy read, Christmassy books over the last couple of months and I was ready to pick up a book that was completely different, and this was definitely the book to choose. It kept me up reading just another chapter to find out what happened next. I was on the edge of my seat many times during the book as Carver has really done her homework and planned it in so much detail as there are lots of twists and turns throughout the storyline which are so good. 

The suspense and drama happens from the go - Chapter One had me gripped and the pace never slowed throughout the whole book. The storyline was really believable and I love this type of book as it is all imaginable in todays world.  

The author, C J Carver, joins me today and tells me about how she has used her life experiences within her writing .............

I’ve always been interested in the dynamics of long-life friendship, especially how loyal people can be and what they might do when the chips are down.

Personally, I found myself on the horns of a dilemma when a friend of mine turned up on my doorstep wanting to hide from the police.  It turned out they were an addict – which I’d had no idea about – and had broken into an office to steal money.

My friend was a mess.  I brought them in, made them a cuppa, and talked.  Boy, did we talk.  I was fortunate that I didn’t have to call the police because my friend turned themselves in. But if they hadn’t… what would I have done?  How would I have felt if I’d called the police, or if I’d continued to harbour a criminal?

These questions inspired the friendships in this book, between a group of four people who’ve known one another since they were toddlers and are now adults, with children of their own.

I believe all my personal experiences inform my writing in some way, because they make up who I am, and they determine what I write.

For example, I’m very interested in psychology.  What makes people tick.  How they’re shaped by their childhoods.  My own upbringing, on a dairy farm, was pretty happy until I was sent away to boarding school.  Eight years old, badly bullied, I silently hoarded cheese until I thought I had enough, then ran away.  The police eventually picked me up and returned me to school.  When I began hoarding food again, the bullies came to me and asked if I’d let them join me.  I became their leader on a school break-out one Saturday afternoon and although we were picked up by the police fairly quickly, I was never bullied again.

I know what it’s like to be thrown into an alien world where you don’t know anybody; you’re an underdog, misunderstood and vilified.  I like to put my characters in similar situations, where they feel like a fish out of water, uncertain and vulnerable, and then I push them harder to see how they react.  Will they go to the authorities?  Or simply run away?  Turn their backs on something or someone they love in order to save their own skins?  What makes a hero?  Why does one man jump into the water to save his friend from a shark attack while another hides below deck?  Why are some people leaders, and others aren’t?

Writing exposes the author as much as it informs about the calibre of gun the villain uses, and I’m not sure what a professional psychologist would say about me if they studied my books.  Addicted to adventure, perhaps, and good underwear.  I guess I have a bit of a David and Goliath complex from my being bullied  - I do love seeing the bad guys swallow some of their own medicine.

Like all my novels, Know Me Now contains personal, real-life incidents, but I’m just not going to say precisely what they are.  It might spoil the story.

© CJ Carver

Thank you to C J Carver and her publishers, Bonnier Zaffre, for inviting me to take part in the tour and a copy of Know Me Now in return for an honest review. I really enjoyed the book and I hope that my blog readers pick up Know Me Now too and love it as much as I do, one hint though .... block out the whole weekend because you won't want to put it down.