Chrissie Parkes

Though not my usual genre, I was encouraged by a friend to give this book a go and 'get in touch with my feminine side'. Funny that, 'cos I never realised I had one.
Anyway, this is a well written and engaging story written in the first person with plenty of tension and suspense thrown in, as well as believable characters and great action/dialogue. As well as dealing with the problems of any ordinary teenager, there are twists and turns, shocks and surprises along the way for our heroine and her rather 'disfunctional' family. The drama is penned in a very articulate way and the author has created an original work here which bodes well for the future/further books.
I'm off now to change my name to Jess and buy a dress or two. :-)… (mehr)

I received this book for review from the author Chrissie Parkes in exchange of an honest review.

After her parents separation, Hazel and her mother move back to Lambsridge, a small village where her history is rooted to. Unable to get along with the town kids, and humiliated in school by her other peers, Hazel's wish is to one day leave the small enclosure of her world and discover life outside of her small village. But Lambsridge is not what it seems and when her family is suddenly threatened, Hazel goes out of her way to learn the dark secrets and history of Lambsridge.

Hazel knows that once a month her family goes to church, and stays there for three days with the doors locked. They are warned to never open the doors, no matter what. While the children and mostly the women hide in the church, a select party of 'hunters' release the sheep and go on the hunt in the woods. Hazel is always warned to stay away from the woods, because of the wolves. When her best friends Glynn's father goes digging into the woods and tricks Hazel to go with him, she uncovers more then she was ready to bargain for.

I have to say, when I started reading the book it was not what I expected. And the conclusion, wasn't either. I was pleasantly surprised with the writing as well as the story line. The book riddled me with emotions. I felt bad for Hazel because she was lost in the world of adults who either took advantage of her, or didn't really listen to her. Her school life was terrible, the kids were just downright rude and I was actually surprised about what happened with her and one of the boys, I didn't really see that coming.

Oh and her mother, I couldn't stand her mother. I know she meant well, but she had a hard way of showing it and her father – ignoring her the way he did was heartbreaking as well. Of course at the end of the book it explains why her father was so detached, I want to say it made complete sense but a part of me ached he would close that bridge and be the father she needed. The book was filled with bad and good characters. It was a nice bland of a paranormal suspense and thriller about a twelve year old girl who is trying to find herself and why her family was falling apart. The secret was different and interesting and when the book started to pick up for me, I kept flipping through the pages trying to get to the end to learn the secret and what would happen next. I was so angry at her Uncle and what he did to her! But it was done fairly well. A read that I really enjoyed, with the main character that took me on a roller coaster ride through the end.… (mehr)

Note: I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the suspense involved throughout this book which added to the plot and story line having the reader try and figure out what was happening as the story progressed. The intensity of the storyline kept the reader interested in what was going on and made the book as a whole fast paced.

I thought that the characters overall were well written and multifaceted. Hazel was quite well rounded and the author fit her behavioral pattern to her age range perfectly.

This was a great read that I would recommend to anyone for a nice story line and just enough thrill for an afternoon read.

Also on http://lrjohnson13.blogspot.com/2012/12/book-review-lambsridge-wolves-by.html… (mehr)