Arabesque by Colin Mulhern

ar·a·besque [ar-uh-besk]

noun

2. a pose in ballet in which the dancer stands on one leg with one arm extended in front and the other leg and arm extended behind.

Be the best.

Gymnast. Friend. Thief?

Amy May is the best at everything she does.

But how do you know you’re really the best until you’re tested? Until you are pushed to the limit?

A botched kidnapping drags Amy and her best friend into the depths of a criminal underworld, a world where the players think with bulelts and blackmail. Where they will stop at nothing to get what they want.

And what they want only Amy May can provide.

So anyway I was at the Lighting the Future YLG/SLG/SLA Conference in June and on the Sunday I popped along to the Catnip/Bounce exhibitor table to say hello to the lovely Non from Catnip who I see far less than I ought as she is great fun to chat to and is a lovely human being ™.

When I got there we aid hello and she said:”I have a book for you!” Now I like it when people say that because it generally means I am going to get a book. Then she said “It is Colin Mulhern’s new title, Arabesque!”

At that point a thrill went through me, because a) Colin is a nice guy and the one time I met him he was super-awesome and b) Clash was a mind-blowingly brilliant book.

Non told me she loved Arabesque, she thought it was excellent and that everyone that had read it had gotten really excited about it and that it is the kind of novel that needs a film to be made of it as it is cinematic in scope.

Well Non was WRONG! No – not about its excellence, but about the fact that it should be made into a film. Arabesque would make a good television mini-series – of the HBO variety even though the novel contains no swearing – seriously I did not even notice the lack of profanity until Non mentioned it when w were chatting and it is not even missed. Although set over a relatively short time-span Arabesque contains more action, terror, thrills and twists than a novel twice its’ size!

I will just say

OH MY GOD! Arabesque is FREAKING FANTASTIC!

Abductions, Murder, Cat burglary, Crime, Twists, Shocks, Thrills and more!

Amy May and Mia are two brilliant characters – Amy has been raised to be an alpha-extrovert and the best in everything that she does, Mia her best friend is content to be in her shadow, as sparring partner and confidant. It is when they are in the grips of the criminals that the story shines, Amy is introduced to the glam side of crime – the bits we see in the movies the high life, wealth, champagne in an attempt to woo her to join the criminal enterprise. Mia gets the stick – she is used to pressure Amy and sees the true face of crime – the poverty and abuse that enables the gang leaders to profit.

Seriously – read this book it is good! It is better than good, my eyes were glued to the page and the ending… I will say nothing about the ending except:

What the hell? Dude that was unexpected!

Arabesque is a powerful thriller, gripping and intense it did not disappoint me it could not have ended any other way (but i can’t believe you left me hanging like that!)

Like all excellent stories it left me wanting more!

Thank you!

Arabesque is published in September by Catnip Publishing