The Last Thread by Ray Britain

Ray Britain has had an extensive career in the police force and has now written his first crime novel which he has self published.

It’s well worth a read and I really felt that Ray put his experience from when he was in the police into the book which made it really interesting and quite dark at times.

Here’s my review 

The first novel by author Ray Britain. 

A crime story following DCI Stirling and his team. I liked Stirling  and loved the fact he is quite a complex character that has lots about him and I enjoyed the relationships between him and his other characters. There were a lot of characters in the book and I had to make sure I remembered them all.

The book is very detailed in the way it follows the investigations and you can tell that the author has had a career in the police force. I would say it’s more real life policing than other crime books which is interesting but makes it slightly slower paced.

The book is very gritty and kept me guessing what was going to happen next. Great twists and turns.

Really enjoyed it and would highly recommend certainly looking forward to read about Stirling and his team again.

So you want to read? Non reader to reader

People always say to me, wow you read so much, how do you find the time?, I wish I could find time to read.

Or people say to me they just don’t like reading but wish they did.

I’ve written this so it may help some of these people out a little.

Firstly I don’t read as much as people may think or as much as I’d like. I read on average a book a week, unless  on holiday then I do generally read more. There are plenty of people out there that read much more than I do.

I read mainly on kindle. I never thought that I could be converted because I love books, the smell of them, how they feel, there’s nothing nicer than a new book in your hands. My friend had one for her Birthday about 7 years ago and kept saying I’d love it, I had some vouchers at the time so I indulged and told myself doesn’t matter I can still read ‘real’ books and just take the kindle on holiday. 

Now 7 years later I’m on my 4th kindle and don’t read books that often (I do still buy them, mainly hardback signed editions to keep). That doesn’t mean you have to read on an e-reading device as book is a book in whatever form or wherever you get it from, the internet, the local supermarket, the library.

Firstly you need to decide what you want to read. If you’re not a reader what sort of genre do you think you would enjoy and find interesting?? Crime? Science fiction? Romance? True stories? There’s so much choice out there now. Ask friends to recommend something they think you may enjoy. Pick a book and give it a go.

You have your book to read now you need the time to read it. We all have busy lives and when we are relaxing we’re maybe watching the television or on social media etc etc and all that is fine. My life is just as busy as yours and I use social media probably way too

much. A book will on average take around 7 hours to read, so one hour a day and that’s a book in a week, just 15 minutes a day and you’ve read a book in a month and that’s 12 books a year! Wow.

I said I read a book a week that doesn’t mean I allocate a whole hour in one go each day to read. I read at every available opportunity and I always have my book with me be it on kindle or a real book in my bag or even the kindle app on my phone. Drying my hair in the morning I read at the same time, waiting for a train or on a journey, if you’re a little early meeting your friend for a night out. This may only be a few minutes at a time but they all mount up. Half an hour in the morning before you get up, before you go to bed, before your favourite tv program. Instead of checking Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc ....

When I start a book I like to read in silence if I have too many distractions it takes longer to get into it. However once I’m involved in the story I can generally read while my boyfriend is watching the television or there’s other background noise.

I also used to insist in finishing a book if I had started it. Not anymore. I’d struggle to read something I wasn’t interested in, it would be a chore but I plough on and it would take me weeks and by the time I’d finished I didn’t want to read anymore for a while. Life is way to short to be reading books we don’t enjoy when there are plenty of books out there we would. Reading is meant to be a pleasure, a way to relax not a chore. If I read to 10% (around 30 - 50 pages) and I’m not enjoying it at all I have a quick look at some reviews to see what other people are saying about it or I ask friends who have read it what they thought. If the reviews aren’t great I give up and start something else. I used to feel guilty doing this but I don’t now. If I see that they say it’s a slow start then really good I may go on and read some more. 

If you’ve given up on it go and find another book to start the next day...don’t delay else you will get out of the habit.

I always have my next book ready but I generally don’t finish one, put it down and pick up the next. I like to reflect on what I’ve read and how much I’ve enjoyed it and start the next one the next day or a few hours later at least.

It’s also very good to leave reviews on Amazon, goodreads, social media etc this really helps the authors out. If you’ve loved the book let everyone including the author know. We all know how nice it is to have someone tell us something nice. The reviews don’t have to be war and peace and don’t give the story away as that’s really not helpful to anyone. Just star rate it and write something even if you just say brilliant!! If you didn’t enjoy it that’s fine but think about what you put. Don’t just say that was rubbish hated every minute, explain what you didn’t like and why, you didn’t connect to the characters or you found it a little slow etc. Authors will love your reviews so please think about doing them going forward they only take a few minutes.

I hope this has helped anyone who wants to read or read more that thinks they can’t find any time to do it.

Happy Reading and I’m looking forward to hearing your recommendations for books I should read. 

Nicola 😊🤓📖