‘High Pressure’ by Sam Blake

Synopsis

As temperatures soar across Europe during the hottest summer for forty years, a series of hoax terrorist attacks is generating panic in London. Then a bus blows up on Oxford Street and the hoaxes have suddenly become real.

Student Brioni O’Brien has been desperately trying to contact her older sister since she unexpectedly returned early from travelling, so when Marissa’s bag is found near the site of the explosion, she fears the worst.

Teaming up with terrorism expert Anna Lockharte to search for Marissa, Brioni discovers that her sister had got herself into a very dangerous situation – and that now she and Anna could be caught in the fallout.

My Review

I have a little confession to make- yes yet another one.  Although I have several of Sam’s books on my ever expanding ‘to be read’ mountain, I haven’t actually read them yet.  When I was invited to take part in the blog tour for ‘High Pressure’, I thought that it would be the ideal opportunity to become acquainted with Sam’s work.  Having read and thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘High Pressure’, I am now rather cross with myself that I left it this long to discover how good her books are.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘High Pressure’ but more about that in a bit.

I was drawn into the story from the very first word on the very first page.  The book seemed to develop a hold over me and it was a hold that I didn’t want to break.  I started reading ‘High Pressure’ and I found that I just couldn’t stop.  This story was so full of action that I thought that I might miss something if I was to put the book down for any length of time.  I couldn’t turn the pages  quickly enough as I worked my way through the book.  This was a story that stayed with me even when I didn’t have the book in my hand.  If I wasn’t actually reading the book, then I would be thinking about the story.  If I had to put the book to one side then I would immediately look forward to being able to pick the book up again.  The characters intrigued me and I couldn’t wait to find out what happened to them.  All too quickly I reached the end of ‘High Pressure’.  I found ‘High Pressure’ to be the true definition of a page turner.  The story certainly kept me guessing and certainly kept me on the edge of my seat.

‘High Pressure’ is superbly written.  Sam certainly knows how to grab the reader’s attention and draw them into what proves to be one hell of a story.  For me, the story hit the ground running and maintained a fast pace throughout.  Reading ‘High Pressure’ felt like being on one hell of a scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with several twist and turns along the way.  Just when you thought that you could take a moment to reclaim your stomach and gather your thoughts then off the action would go again.  Sam clearly cares about her characters and this shines through in the way she describes them.  She makes them seem just as real as you and I rather than characters in a book.  I love the way in which Sam makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story and at the heart of all of the action.

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘High Pressure’ and I would recommend it to other readers.  I will certainly be reading more of Sam’s work in the future.  The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.