Book Tour: Random Acts of Unkindness by Jacqueline Ward
Random Acts of Unkindness by Jacqueline Ward
Hi Guys!
Today is my spot on the Random Acts of Unkindness blog tour and I have for you my five favourite things about the book!
*disclaimer* I organised the blog tour for this book. However, all my opinions on the book are honest.
But first, here’s some more information!
About the Book
How far would you go to find your child?
DS Jan Pearce has a big problem. Her fifteen year old son, Aiden, is missing. Jan draws together the threads of missing person cases spanning fifty years and finds tragic connections and unsolved questions.
Bessy Swain, an elderly woman that Jan finds dead on her search for Aiden, and whose own son, Thomas, was also missing, may have the answers.
Jan uses Bessy’s information and her own skills and instinct to track down the missing boys. But is it too late for Aiden?
Set in the North West of England, with the notorious Saddleworth Moor as a backdrop, Random Acts of Unkindness is a story about motherhood, love and loss and how families of missing people suffer the consequences of major crimes involving their loved ones.
Random Acts of Unkindness is the first in the DS Jan Pearce series of novels.
Five Favourite Things about Random Acts of Unkindness
DC Pearce
The absolute first thing that I must mention is how brilliant D. C. Pearce is as a protagonist. She is a fascinating character to follow and really manages to pull the reader into the story. She’s broken, struggling but she’s also fierce, loyal and determined. She bends the road between moral and wrong, consistently questioning her own decisions which just made me love her all that much more. She was wonderful to read about and definitely made this book that much more interesting because of her presence.
Intense, Gripping & Dark
These are just three words that can be used to describe Random Acts of Unkindness. The story starts with an old lady dead in her home, and her eyes have been eaten by Starlings. Gruesome. Dark. Addictive. Thrilling. From here the book spirals down a dark path as a case and a story unravels itself. It keeps the reader hooked at they weave through a story of missing people throughout decades. Is it just a coincedence? Or is there more going on than it seems?
Missing People’s Case
This book really focusses on missing people and it really hit me hard with empathy. When someone goes missing and is never found, the parents, friends and other family members are all just left wondering. Do they carry on with their lives or do they wait? This book dabbles with this dilemma, looking at the ways in which a person going missing can ruin so many things. It’s never simple and it never gets forgotten.
Past & Present Colliding
One of the things that this book does really well is jumping between the past and the present. With the two stories running side by side and connecting and colliding throughout the book, it helped to make this book that much more entertaining. I was enthralled with Betty’s story and Jan’s own story as well. I loved how it all twisted together to help mould the future as well. It definitely made the story that much more gripping and intriguing to read.
Addictive Writing
Last, but certainly not least, I also loved the writing style of this book. Right from the offset I found myself rapidly turning the page to find out what was going to happen next. Jacqueline Ward has done a brilliant job of writing a story that is both descriptive and compelling. It is full of vibrant characters, a fascinating plot and just wonderful writing. I, for one, am very much looking forward to the next book that she writes!
About the Author
Jacqueline Ward writes short stories, novels and screenplays. She has been writing seriously since 2007 and has had short stories published in anthologies and magazines. Jacqueline won Kindle Scout in 2016 and her crime novel, Random Acts of Unkindness, will be published by Amazon Publishing imprint Kindle Press. Her novel SmartYellowTM was published by Elsewhen Press in 2015 and was nominated for the Arthur C Clarke Award in 2016. Jacqueline is a Chartered psychologist who specializes in narrative psychology, gaining a PhD in narrative and storytelling in 2007. She lives in Oldham, near Manchester, with her partner and their dog.
Follow the Tour
What would you do if your child went missing?
