I Read, Therefore I Blog

After 10 years it's time for a move ...

quippe — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 21:51:02 GMT

Not sure if anyone regularly checks out this blog (I know that don't update at regular intervals but it is still active). Now that LJ's moved it's servers to Russia, I'm not comfortable with continuing to post reviews here - especially reviews of books with LGBTQ characters because Russian law is very anti-LGBTQ and I don't want to try logging on one day to find that the whole blog has been deleted.

As a result, I've moved my review blog in its entirety to https://quippe.dreamwidth.org.

I hope that I'll see some of you there. Thank you for those who've commented or shared my reviews and here's to the next 10 years.

March Violets by Philip Kerr

quippe — Sat, 31 Dec 2016 21:48:03 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

Bernhard Gunther is 38-years-old, a veteran of the Turkish Front, and an ex-policeman. He’s also a private eye, specialising in missing persons, which means that he’s a very busy man. Because this is Berlin 1936, and people have a nasty habit of disappearing in Hitler’s capital.

A cluster of diamonds sets Bernie off on a new case – diamonds and a couple of bodies. The daughter and son-in-law of Hermann Six, industrialist millionaire and German patriot, have been shot dead in their bed and a priceless necklace stolen from the safe. As Bernie pursues the case through seedy Berlin nightclubs, the building sites for the new autobahns, and even the magnificent Olympic Stadium where Jesse Owens is currently disproving all the fashionable racist theories, he’s led inexorably into the cesspit that is Nazi Germany, travelling the murky paths from the police morgue where missing persons usually end up to, finally, Dachau itself.

Berlin, 1936. Bernie Gunther is an ex-policeman turned private detective who’ll take any kind of case except matrimonial because it isn’t worth a betrayed spouse turning their rage on him. As the city gears up to host the Olympics, Hermann Six (a wealthy steel magnate) hires Gunther to recover some stolen property for him – his daughter and her husband were murdered, their house burned down and their safe emptied of a priceless diamond necklace. Six wants the property recovered without any of the fuss that comes from involving the police, so Gunther agrees to pretend that he’s working for an insurance company investigating the arson. His investigations bring him into contact with Berlin’s seedy nightclubs, criminal gangs and the heart of the Nazi regime …

Philip Kerr’s debut novel is a crackling historical noir crime thriller (the first in a trilogy that later became a series) that goes to the heart of Nazi Germany and exposes the cynicism and corruption running throughout it. Gunther is a great character – a hard boiled detective in the Philip Marlowe mould – whose disillusionment with the Nazi regime led him to leave the police before he was pushed but whose smart mouth puts him in dangerous situations. I really enjoyed the depiction of 1936 Berlin – Kerr has clearly done his research and there’s a lot of detail about the geography and architecture that adds to the atmosphere – a section set in Dachau is particularly chilling. I also enjoyed the incorporation of real people from history – especially Goerring who managed to be menacing and sinister but also vaguely ridiculous – and the dynamic between Gunther and his ex-colleagues gives the book an edge but also works to propel the plot forward. It’s a shame that the female characters aren’t so well drawn – I had hopes for Inge Lorenz, a journalist forced out by Nazi policy that wants women to be wives and mothers only – but Kerr abruptly breaks her storyline off without warning and she is largely reduced to being a sex object for Gunther (although I am hoping this will be revisited in the next book). The mystery itself twists and turns neatly and with plenty of pace and while there’s plenty of violence (including sexual violence) it fits into the story rather than being gratuitous. All in all I thought this was an entertaining read and will definitely check out the sequel.

The Verdict:

Philip Kerr’s debut novel is a crackling historical noir crime thriller (the first in a trilogy that later became a series) that goes to the heart of Nazi Germany and exposes the cynicism and corruption running throughout it. Gunther is a great character – a hard boiled detective in the Philip Marlowe mould – whose disillusionment with the Nazi regime led him to leave the police before he was pushed but whose smart mouth puts him in dangerous situations. I really enjoyed the depiction of 1936 Berlin – Kerr has clearly done his research and there’s a lot of detail about the geography and architecture that adds to the atmosphere – a section set in Dachau is particularly chilling. I also enjoyed the incorporation of real people from history – especially Goerring who managed to be menacing and sinister but also vaguely ridiculous – and the dynamic between Gunther and his ex-colleagues gives the book an edge but also works to propel the plot forward. It’s a shame that the female characters aren’t so well drawn – I had hopes for Inge Lorenz, a journalist forced out by Nazi policy that wants women to be wives and mothers only – but Kerr abruptly breaks her storyline off without warning and she is largely reduced to being a sex object for Gunther (although I am hoping this will be revisited in the next book). The mystery itself twists and turns neatly and with plenty of pace and while there’s plenty of violence (including sexual violence) it fits into the story rather than being gratuitous. All in all I thought this was an entertaining read and will definitely check out the sequel.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Ladybird Book Of The Zombie Apocalypse by J. A. Hazeley and J. P. Morris

quippe — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 00:20:58 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

This delightful book is the latest in the series of Ladybird books which have been specially planned to help grown-ups with the world about them.

As in the other books in this series, the large clear script, the careful choice of words, the frequent repetition and the thoughtful matching of text with pictures all enable grown-ups to think they have taught themselves to cope. The subject of the book will greatly appeal to grown-ups.

J. A. Hazeley and J. P. Morris have written a brief but illuminating guide on what to expect in a zombie apocalypse written in simple language that even the dimmest of grown-ups should be able to understand. It’s a short book that uses illustrations from previous Ladybird guides to good effect and I found the section on how to deal with looters particularly useful. It’s a very short book but has plenty of laughs and is perfect for those of a certain age nostalgic for the non-fiction of their youth or for those keen to know what a zombie apocalypse may involve.

The Verdict:

J. A. Hazeley and J. P. Morris have written a brief but illuminating guide on what to expect in a zombie apocalypse written in simple language that even the dimmest of grown-ups should be able to understand. It’s a short book that uses illustrations from previous Ladybird guides to good effect and I found the section on how to deal with looters particularly useful. It’s a very short book but has plenty of laughs and is perfect for those of a certain age nostalgic for the non-fiction of their youth or for those keen to know what a zombie apocalypse may involve.

$uperhubs: How The Financial Elite & Their Networks Rule Our World by Sandra Navidi

quippe — Thu, 29 Dec 2016 23:17:51 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

$uperhubs is a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how the world’s most powerful titans pull the levers of our global financial system. Sandra Navidi reveals how these “SuperHubs” build their powerful networks and how their decisions impact all our lives

Learn what happens at the exclusive, invitation-only platforms – The World Economic Forum in Davos, the meetings of the International Monetary Fund, think-tank gatherings, and galas. This is the most vivid portrait to date of the global elite: the bank CEOs, fund managers, billionaire financiers, and politicians who, through their interlocking relationships and collective influence are transforming our increasingly fragile financial system and societies.

Sandra Navidi runs her own management consultancy with personal connections that have taken her to some of the most exclusive gatherings of the financial world, providing her with an up-close view of how these networks work. In this book, she purports to reveal how these networks developed and grew their power and how the decisions taken by those networks impact on global finance and the lives of everyday 99% like her readers. Unfortunately what she delivers is a slick but superficial summary of social network and regulatory theory, some anecdotes ripped from other sources about the financial crisis of 2007/2008, precious little analysis of how these networks actually operate or implement discussions, a grudging acknowledgement that the networks are a big part of the problem in social and financial inequality and a total failure to offer any solutions to the same.

The big problem with the book is that Navidi is too close to the source material. Her breathless accounts of being among the rich and powerful at these events prevents her from looking too closely at any individuals within them and indeed at times reads more like a not-so-subtle advert for her rolodex of contacts (I lost count of how many times she complimented the renown of Nouriel Roubini who she once worked for or George Soros). She despairs of the ‘old boys network’ mentality to the superhubs she describes, is disapproving of the sexism and racism that prevents the introduction of diversity (which she believes would be beneficial) and yet comments on Christine Lagarde’s “slim and elegant” appearance without irony. There’s no analysis of nepotism in these networks (although she discusses homogeneity), even though two of the few women in positions of financial power gained their roles courtesy of their parentage. The only ethnic minorities she dwells on are those who suffered juicy downfalls. Most damning though is the fact that she clearly hasn’t bothered asking her contacts whether there’s any appetite for change within the superhubs she describes, and I couldn’t help but draw the conclusion that this was because she didn’t want to bite the hand that feeds her. Ultimately, this read like Navidi’s attempt to build her own ‘intellectual expertise’ within her sector to further her value and while I can’t fault the lady for wanting to get ahead, nor can I recommend this book to anyone with a serious interest in the subject matter.

The Verdict:

Sandra Navidi runs her own management consultancy with personal connections that have taken her to some of the most exclusive gatherings of the financial world, providing her with an up-close view of how these networks work. In this book, she purports to reveal how these networks developed and grew their power and how the decisions taken by those networks impact on global finance and the lives of everyday 99% like her readers. Unfortunately what she delivers is a slick but superficial summary of social network and regulatory theory, some anecdotes ripped from other sources about the financial crisis of 2007/2008, precious little analysis of how these networks actually operate or implement discussions, a grudging acknowledgement that the networks are a big part of the problem in social and financial inequality and a total failure to offer any solutions to the same.

$uperhubs: How The Financial Elite & Their Networks Rule Our World will be released in the United Kingdom on 26th January 2016. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.

The Good Enough Mother by Anoushka Beazley

quippe — Thu, 29 Dec 2016 23:13:48 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

The good enough mother.

Gatlin – a leafy, affluent town: Chelsea tractors and ladies who lunch.

However, all is not as it seems. Drea, a most unnatural mother, struggles to find private school fees for her step-daughter Ava after her boyfriend leaves her for another woman.

Watching the yummy mummies she becomes inspired, hatching a daring and criminal plan … unleashing all hell in the quiet town of Gatlin.

Can Drea survive the fallout and the wrath of the PTA? A satirical black comedy about love, motherhood and the human condition.

40-year-old Drea Peiris’s partner, Alex, has left her for a younger woman and life in a chateau in the French countryside. Drea finds herself stuck with responsibility for her elderly Sri Lankan father who has a taste for Tamil pornography and Alex’s 14-year-old daughter, Ava, (from the wife he left for Drea). The problem is that Ava goes to the best fee-paying school in Gatlin and Alex’s new life means he can no longer afford the fees. Drea doesn’t want to put Ava into a state school because she’s thriving with the daughters of Gatlin’s great and good but that means Drea has to find £17,310 and fast.

Drea’s solution is to carry out armed robberies on Gatlin’s wealthier women but someone takes advantage of the atmosphere of fear that Drea’s created to start killing Gatlin’s great and good. With the handsome detective constable Rodman investigating the murders and a load of hot jewellery in need of fencing, the last thing Drea needs is for Ava to start making friends with the daughters of the women she robbed, women who are keen for Drea to get more involved in the PTA …

Anoushka Beazley’s debut novel is a satirical black comedy with some sharp observations about the wealthy upper classes and a warm relationship between Drea and Ava but it suffers from being over-written in places, Drea is so erratic that it’s difficult to sympathise with her at times, the developing romance is completely unbelievable and there’s a suicide theme that only comes up when needed to move the plot. I really enjoyed the relationship between Drea and Ava, which is warm and fierce and gave a believable motivation for Drea’s somewhat extreme actions but I wished that the same had been true of Drea and her father (who barely features). Drea herself is such an extreme character (veering from extreme depression to incredible aggression) that I found it difficult to relate to her, but Beazley gives her some sharp one-liners and I enjoyed her caustic observations on Gatlin’s yummy mummies and their pretensions. The attraction between Drea and DC Rodman seems to exist solely to serve the plot and never feels earned and I found the ending rather stretched possibility. All that said though, there’s a lot of potential here that promises good things in future books and I would definitely check out Beazley’s next book.

The Verdict:

Anoushka Beazley’s debut novel is a satirical black comedy with some sharp observations about the wealthy upper classes and a warm relationship between Drea and Ava but it suffers from being over-written in places, Drea is so erratic that it’s difficult to sympathise with her at times, the developing romance is completely unbelievable and there’s a suicide theme that only comes up when needed to move the plot. I really enjoyed the relationship between Drea and Ava, which is warm and fierce and gave a believable motivation for Drea’s somewhat extreme actions but I wished that the same had been true of Drea and her father (who barely features). Drea herself is such an extreme character (veering from extreme depression to incredible aggression) that I found it difficult to relate to her, but Beazley gives her some sharp one-liners and I enjoyed her caustic observations on Gatlin’s yummy mummies and their pretensions. The attraction between Drea and DC Rodman seems to exist solely to serve the plot and never feels earned and I found the ending rather stretched possibility. All that said though, there’s a lot of potential here that promises good things in future books and I would definitely check out Beazley’s next book.

The Transition by Luke Kennard

quippe — Thu, 29 Dec 2016 00:25:09 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

What do you do with a generation who’ve had everything, but still can’t grow up?

Perhaps this is you.

Perhaps you spend more than you earn.

We know.

Perhaps you still live with your parents.

We know.

Perhaps those ignored bills and reminders have become threats and court summons.

We can help.

Welcome to The Transition

While taking part in THE TRANSITION you and your partner will spend six months living under the supervision of your mentors, two successful adults of a slightly older generation. Freed from your financial responsibilities, you will be coached through the key areas of the scheme until you are ready to be reintegrated into adult society.

Employment.

Nutrition.

Responsibility.

Relationship.

Finances.

Self-respect.

At the end of your six months – who knows what discoveries you’ll have made about yourself? The ‘friends’ you no longer need. The talents you’ll have found time to nurture. The business you might have kick-started.

Who knows where you’ll be?

It’s the near future. 34-year-old Karl Temperley makes a living writing student essays and product reviews for anonymous employers but the money doesn’t support the lifestyle he or his wife Genevieve want. To pay off rising credit card bills he gets involved in a click-farm enterprise that turns out to be a front for criminal activities and finds himself arrested and facing 15 months in jail. Fortunately his friend, Kenton, knows of an alternative: Karl and Genevieve can sign up to a pilot programme called The Transition. For 6 months they’ll live with an older couple and learn about employment, nutrition, responsibility, relationships, bills, investment and self-respect. Many of The Transition’s graduates have gone on to start successful businesses but while Karl and Genevieve’s programme sponsors – Stu and Janna – seem pleasant enough, Karl, begins to suspect that not everything about the programme is on the level and something far more sinister is going on …

Luke Kennard’s debut novel is a satire on Millennials but the humour isn’t sharp enough or black enough to hit its targets, the Millennials are unsympathetically portrayed as victims of their own sense of entitlement, the conspiracy elements don’t make a lick of sense, the allusion to a central text made for some pretentiously bad writing and ultimately I just didn’t care about anyone enough to be invested in how their story ended. Karl had potential to be an interesting character – lacking in ambition, self-pitying and self-sabotaging, his personality is in conflict with the programme’s purpose, but I didn’t believe in his devotion to Genevieve (who in is a two-dimensional hot chick with an unexplained mental illness that makes her easy to manipulate) and as a result didn’t care about Stu and Janna’s painfully obvious attempts to split them up. The Transition itself didn’t convince as a cult – mainly because Kennard keeps its motives vague, the use of a central text called The Trapeze seemed there solely to indulge poor writing in the name of mystery and because Kennard relies on the old saw that it controls bad media about itself. The inept resistance is limp and ineffectual (which is mainly the point) but means that there’s no real sense of danger and the writing just isn’t funny. There’s scope for a great novel about Millennials but this smug, self-satisfied limp effort doesn’t work and I would hesitate before reading Kennard’s next book.

The Verdict:

Luke Kennard’s debut novel is a satire on Millennials but the humour isn’t sharp enough or black enough to hit its targets, the Millennials are unsympathetically portrayed as victims of their own sense of entitlement, the conspiracy elements don’t make a lick of sense, the allusion to a central text made for some pretentiously bad writing and ultimately I just didn’t care about anyone enough to be invested in how their story ended. Karl had potential to be an interesting character – lacking in ambition, self-pitying and self-sabotaging, his personality is in conflict with the programme’s purpose, but I didn’t believe in his devotion to Genevieve (who in is a two-dimensional hot chick with an unexplained mental illness that makes her easy to manipulate) and as a result didn’t care about Stu and Janna’s painfully obvious attempts to split them up. The Transition itself didn’t convince as a cult – mainly because Kennard keeps its motives vague, the use of a central text called The Trapeze seemed there solely to indulge poor writing in the name of mystery and because Kennard relies on the old saw that it controls bad media about itself. The inept resistance is limp and ineffectual (which is mainly the point) but means that there’s no real sense of danger and the writing just isn’t funny. There’s scope for a great novel about Millennials but this smug, self-satisfied limp effort doesn’t work and I would hesitate before reading Kennard’s next book.

THE TRANSITION will be released in the United Kingdom on 26th January 2016. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.

Shadows On The Moon by Zoe Marriott

quippe — Tue, 27 Dec 2016 00:37:51 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

This Cinderella doesn’t crave love. She only wants revenge …

Suzume is a shadow weaver. Her illusions allow her to be anyone she wants – a fabulous gift for a girl desperate to escape her past. But who is she really? A heartbroken girl of noble birth? A drudge scraping by in a great house’s kitchens? Or Yue, the most beautiful courtesan in the Moonlit Lands? Whatever her true identity, she is determined to capture the heart of a prince – and use his power to destroy those who murdered her family. Nothing will stop her. Not even love.

Suzume lives with her father (a poet and minor nobleman), her mother (a great beauty from a noble house) and her orphaned cousin Aimi. While her mother is away, Suzume’s quiet life is changed forever when the Moon Prince (ruler of the Moonlit Lands) finds her father guilty of treason and sends troops who execute him and murder Aimi. Suzume only escapes because she’s a shadow weaver, able to create illusions that concealed her from the troops and because she’s protected by the family’s cinderman, Youta, a fellow shadow weaver who begins to teach her about her gift.

Suzume’s mother marries Terayama, a friend of Suzume’s father and an ambitious nobleman who sees a visiting delegation from Athazie as his ticket for advancement in the Moon Prince’s court. Suzume feels a connection with Otieno, the son of the delegation’s leader, but when her mother falls pregnant she discovers a secret that puts her life in jeopardy and sets her on a course for revenge ...

Zoë Marriott’s YA fantasy standalone reimagining of Cinderella transforms the fairy tale’s key elements into an intelligent revenge tale set in a quasi-Japanese society that takes in issues of self-harm and although the romance element didn’t quite work for me, the fantasy elements made for an enjoyable read that kept me turning the pages until the end. Marriott does particularly well with depicting Suzume’s emotional journey in the book – I believed in the reasons for her self-harm, her guilt and her suppressed rage and desire for revenge and her relationships with her mother, Terayama, Youta, Otieno and Akira all feed into her character and shape her development. I wished that there had been more depth to the romance with Otieno who is a character with a lot of potential – instead it’s too much of an insta love thing with little real contract to justify the bond – but Akira does make up for that as she certainly has the more interesting backstory and a great twist that I really enjoyed. Also interesting is Suzume’s mother – a flawed woman driven by her own ambition, need and also jealousy and uncertainty – and I wished that Terayama had some of the same depth. The shadow weaving elements are integrated effectively into the story and the world building is solid and interesting. All in all this is a good, page-turning read and I will check out Marriott’s other work.

The Verdict:

Zoë Marriott’s YA fantasy standalone reimagining of Cinderella transforms the fairy tale’s key elements into an intelligent revenge tale set in a quasi-Japanese society that takes in issues of self-harm and although the romance element didn’t quite work for me, the fantasy elements made for an enjoyable read that kept me turning the pages until the end. Marriott does particularly well with depicting Suzume’s emotional journey in the book – I believed in the reasons for her self-harm, her guilt and her suppressed rage and desire for revenge and her relationships with her mother, Terayama, Youta, Otieno and Akira all feed into her character and shape her development. I wished that there had been more depth to the romance with Otieno who is a character with a lot of potential – instead it’s too much of an insta love thing with little real contract to justify the bond – but Akira does make up for that as she certainly has the more interesting backstory and a great twist that I really enjoyed. Also interesting is Suzume’s mother – a flawed woman driven by her own ambition, need and also jealousy and uncertainty – and I wished that Terayama had some of the same depth. The shadow weaving elements are integrated effectively into the story and the world building is solid and interesting. All in all this is a good, page-turning read and I will check out Marriott’s other work.

Thanks to Walker Books for the review copy of this book.

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

quippe — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 23:41:59 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny isle of Trisda, pining from afar for the wonder of Caraval, a once-a-year, five-day performance where the audience participates in the show.

Caraval is Magic. Mystery. Adventure. And for Scarlett and her beloved sister Tella it represents freedom and an escape from their ruthless, abusive father.

When the sisters’ long-awaited invitations to Caraval finally arrive, it seems their dreams have come true. But no sooner have they arrived than Tella vanishes, kidnapped by the show’s mastermind organiser, Legend.

Scarlett has been told over and over that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But nonetheless she quickly becomes enmeshed in a dangerous game of love, magic and heartbreak. And real or not, she must find Tella before the game is over, and her sister disappears forever …

17-year-old Scarlett lives on the isle of Trisda with her younger sister Tella (short for Donatella) and their father (Trisda’s governor) who has physically and psychologically abused them ever since their mother left him. Tella takes refuge in sexual affairs and alcohol but Scarlett places her hopes in an arranged marriage to a mysterious count, figuring that it’s the only way she and Tella can escape their situation.

Then Scarlett receives a letter from Legend, the Master of Caraval (a magical game played each year over 5 days where the winner gets a fabulous prize), inviting the sisters to the Isle de los Suenos to play for a wish. But Tella is kidnapped shortly after they arrive and Scarlett is told that the game is to find Tella or risk losing her forever. She forms an uneasy alliance with Julian (a sailor “friend” of Tella’s) to solve Legend’s clues and beat other players prepared to do anything to win.

When nothing in Caraval is real and everyone is performing, Scarlett must navigate agendas and threats both physical and emotional to find her sister, and in doing so discover she’ll discover inner resources she never thought possible …

Stephanie Garber’s debut YA fantasy novel (the first in a duology) has an interesting premise and some creative world building but is ultimately a glib affair with a disturbing message that it’s okay to lie, manipulate and emotionally abuse someone (including showing no respect of physical boundaries) provided it’s ultimately for their own good and there’s True Love at the end. While I could believe in Scarlett and Tella as being abuse victims and have that shape their characters (especially Scarlett’s desire to keep Tella safe), I never got a sense that they actually cared for each other – especially given the final reveal. Scarlett is a passive character, led around by her nose and making bad decision after bad decision. Her romance with Julian is very much an insta-love affair based on him being hot, sexually aggressive and invading her personal space when she asks him not to so the fact that he’s her reward for being put through every kind of hell left a very sour taste. The father is two-dimensional and the count similarly underdrawn. There are some neat ideas in the world-building of Caraval but the dubious sexual politics means that despite the open ending I won’t be reading on.

The Verdict:

Stephanie Garber’s debut YA fantasy novel (the first in a duology) has an interesting premise and some creative world building but is ultimately a glib affair with a disturbing message that it’s okay to lie, manipulate and emotionally abuse someone (including showing no respect of physical boundaries) provided it’s ultimately for their own good and there’s True Love at the end. While I could believe in Scarlett and Tella as being abuse victims and have that shape their characters (especially Scarlett’s desire to keep Tella safe), I never got a sense that they actually cared for each other – especially given the final reveal. Scarlett is a passive character, led around by her nose and making bad decision after bad decision. Her romance with Julian is very much an insta-love affair based on him being hot, sexually aggressive and invading her personal space when she asks him not to so the fact that he’s her reward for being put through every kind of hell left a very sour taste. The father is two-dimensional and the count similarly underdrawn. There are some neat ideas in the world-building of Caraval but the dubious sexual politics means that despite the open ending I won’t be reading on.

CARAVAL will be released in the United Kingdom on 26th January 2016. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

quippe — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 22:32:29 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

He’d been drawn here by the grass and the bees and the strange sensation that this was a magical place, that the bones of the world were a little looser here, double-jointed, twisting back on themselves, leaving spaces one could slip into and hide …

Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps – gaps to trip you up, gaps to slide through so you can disappear forever. So when young, beautiful Roza goes missing, the people of Bone Gap aren’t surprised. After all, it isn’t the first time someone’s slipped away and left Finn and Sean O’Sullivan on their own.

Finn knows that’s not what happened with Roza. He knows she was ripped from the cornfields by a man whose face he can’t remember. But only Petey Willis, the beekeeper’s fiery daughter, suspects that lurking behind Finn’s fearful shyness is a story worth uncovering.

16-year-old Finn lives with his brother Sean in the small farming town of Bone Gap, Illinois. Their father died when they were young and Sean put his plans to study medicine on hold, taking a job as a paramedic in order to look after Finn when their mother got married and moved away. When Finn finds a badly injured young woman hiding in their barn, he and Sean nurse her back to health but the woman, Roza, refuses to explain where she came from or how she came to be there. Despite this the three grow close with romance blossoming between Roza and Sean but when Roza is disappears at a market fair, the only witness is Finn and he’s unable to give Sheriff Apple a credible description of the man who took her.

Gossip flows like water in Bone Gap and some suspect the boys in Roza’s disappearance. The only person who believes Finn is Petey Willis, the strong-willed daughter of the local beekeeper. But strange things are happening in Bone Gap and stranger discoveries are about to be made …

Laura Ruby’s award-winning standalone YA novel is a beautifully written, moving magical realist fable that touches on Greek mythology and takes in the difficulties of being different with an interesting twist that genuinely surprised me. Finn is a well drawn character and I believed in his relationships with his brother (especially the strain that Roza’s disappearance creates between them) and his best friend Miguel (who’s more interested in trying to get a girlfriend). The romance between Finn and Petey (who has her own insecurities about her appearance, especially as Finn is so attractive) is sweetly drawn and works well with sharp, bittersweet dialogue. However it was Roza who was the real stand out character for me – her experiences with the mysterious kidnapper are genuinely chilling and I enjoyed her backstory of life in Poland (albeit it’s somewhat rose-tinted and romanticised) and experiences in college as they all go to explain her personal strength and the decision she makes at the end. Ruby also does well at creating small town life, the gossip, the strange characters and the way that everyone knows (or suspects they know) everyone else’s business. The slow pace may deter some readers but I think it gives a dreamy quality that adds to the magic and I look forward to Ruby’s next book.

The Verdict:

Laura Ruby’s award-winning standalone YA novel is a beautifully written, moving magical realist fable that touches on Greek mythology and takes in the difficulties of being different with an interesting twist that genuinely surprised me. Finn is a well drawn character and I believed in his relationships with his brother (especially the strain that Roza’s disappearance creates between them) and his best friend Miguel (who’s more interested in trying to get a girlfriend). The romance between Finn and Petey (who has her own insecurities about her appearance, especially as Finn is so attractive) is sweetly drawn and works well with sharp, bittersweet dialogue. However it was Roza who was the real stand out character for me – her experiences with the mysterious kidnapper are genuinely chilling and I enjoyed her backstory of life in Poland (albeit it’s somewhat rose-tinted and romanticised) and experiences in college as they all go to explain her personal strength and the decision she makes at the end. Ruby also does well at creating small town life, the gossip, the strange characters and the way that everyone knows (or suspects they know) everyone else’s business. The slow pace may deter some readers but I think it gives a dreamy quality that adds to the magic and I look forward to Ruby’s next book.

BONE GAP is released in the United Kingdom on 29th December 2016. Thanks to Faber & Faber for the ARC of this book.

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough

quippe — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 23:40:09 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

Louise

Since her husband walked out, Louise has made her son her world, supporting them both with her part-time job. But all that changes when she meets …

David

Young, successful and charming – Louise cannot believe a man like him would look at her twice let alone be attracted to her. But that all comes to a grinding halt when she meets his wife …

Adele

Beautiful, elegant and sweet – Louise’s new friend seems perfect in every way. As she becomes obsessed by this flawless couple, entangled in the intricate web of their marriage, they each, in turn reach out to her.

But only when she gets to know them both does she begin to see the cracks … Is David really the man she thought she knew and is Adele as vulnerable as she appears?

Just what terrible secrets are they both hiding and how far will they go to keep them?

Louise works as a part-time receptionist at a local psychiatrists’ practice. As a single mum with a 6-year-old son, she doesn’t have much time to date, which is why she’s so thrilled when she meets an attractive, intelligent man at a bar with whom she feels a passionate connection and ends up kissing him. The problem comes the next day when she’s introduced to that man – David – as her new boss and also sees David’s stunningly beautiful wife, Adele who David neglected to mention before or after their kiss.

Although Louise and David resolve to be just friends and colleagues, there’s no denying their chemistry. But when Louise bumps into Adele while dropping her son off at school, it leads to an unlikely friendship being formed. But the closer Louise gets to both David and Adele, the more secrets she discovers about their marriage and the more she realises that something is very wrong …

Sarah Pinborough’s latest novel is a psychological and supernatural thriller that’s sharply observed and keeps you guessing until the end when there’s a great twist that’s (mostly) earned. The heart of the book is the love triangle between Louise, David and Adele and I think it just about works, although the friendship between Adele and Louise was more convincing given that it’s built on guilt and manipulation and the fact that they can talk to each other whereas the relationship between Louise and David seems mostly based on sexual attraction. I particularly enjoyed Adele’s point of view as Pinborough uses her chapters to skilful unveil that there’s something else going on with her and that there’s something sinister about the love and devotion she has for her husband – all of which is reinforced by Louise’s interactions with David, which slowly become more threatening. The supernatural elements are delicately handled and Pinborough skilfully weaves in Adele’s backstory care of a diary kept by a friend of hers. The twist ending relies on a key piece of information being held back until virtually the final chapter, which could be argued to be a bit of a cheat but I think just about works in the context of the overall story as there are a couple of hints about it so it’s not a complete surprise. All in all though I found it a gripping read and I really hope it becomes a hit for Pinborough.

The Verdict:

Sarah Pinborough’s latest novel is a psychological and supernatural thriller that’s sharply observed and keeps you guessing until the end when there’s a great twist that’s (mostly) earned. The heart of the book is the love triangle between Louise, David and Adele and I think it just about works, although the friendship between Adele and Louise was more convincing given that it’s built on guilt and manipulation and the fact that they can talk to each other whereas the relationship between Louise and David seems mostly based on sexual attraction. I particularly enjoyed Adele’s point of view as Pinborough uses her chapters to skilful unveil that there’s something else going on with her and that there’s something sinister about the love and devotion she has for her husband – all of which is reinforced by Louise’s interactions with David, which slowly become more threatening. The supernatural elements are delicately handled and Pinborough skilfully weaves in Adele’s backstory care of a diary kept by a friend of hers. The twist ending relies on a key piece of information being held back until virtually the final chapter, which could be argued to be a bit of a cheat but I think just about works in the context of the overall story as there are a couple of hints about it so it’s not a complete surprise. All in all though I found it a gripping read and I really hope it becomes a hit for Pinborough.

BEHIND HER EYES is released in the United Kingdom on 26th January 2017. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.

Blade And Bone by Catherine Johnson

quippe — Mon, 12 Dec 2016 23:31:52 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

Can Ezra escape the terror of the revolution?

Young surgeon Ezra McAdam must hasten to France to find his missing friends – but Revolutionary Paris is a dangerous place to be if you’re English.

Citizen Renaud is keen to enlist Ezra’s help experimenting with reanimation. The regular beheadings are providing useful fodder for his research.

But Ezra mustn’t be distracted from his search. He needs to find Loveday and rescue the young prince Mahmoud – at all costs.

It’s several months after SAWBONES. Ezra McAdam has been building his surgeon’s practice while Loveday accompanies Prince Mahmoud to Paris where they plan to sell the ruby in order to pay for passage to Istanbul. When Loveday writes to Ezra saying that Mahmoud has gone missing, he knows that he has to go and help her. But Paris is in the grip of the Revolution and English people are viewed as spies and enemies of the revolution.

Fortunately Ezra knows the doctors Bichat and Figuad from his master’s funeral and they in turn introduce him to Citizen Renaud, a doctor carrying out experiments on the heads of those killed by Madame Guillotine. Intrigued and repulsed both by the science being practiced and the ideals of the Revolution being perverted, Ezra befriends a street child, Luc to help him find his friends but the Russians are already on Mahmoud’s trail and the fever of suspicion and violence in the city means that no one can be trusted ...

Catherine Johnson’s historical YA sequel is a breakneck paced affair rich in historical detail and strong at dealing with racial prejudice but at times the pacing is too brisk and for me some of the characterisation (especially Loveday) suffered as a result, which is a shame as it’s a strong book that tackles a fascinating time. Ezra really develops in this book – I particularly enjoyed his moral and physical queasiness at assisting in Renaud’s experiments and I enjoyed his interactions with the dashing General Dumas (a real person from the period). Luc is also a welcome addition – smart but vulnerable I wished that there had been more interaction between him and Ezra and Mahmoud really gets downgraded as a side character thanks to his arrival. Likewise some of Loveday’s behaviour seemed out of character given the events in SAWBONES and existed to serve the plot more than her and Ezra’s history (I particularly disliked her impetuousness, which only showed to prove how little she’d learned). Johnson’s got a strong feel for the period – conveying a sense of what Paris was like as the Terror starts to gear up and Ezra behaves like a young man of the time but the plot does jump at times (notably the tacked on postscript) and I wished there’d been more room to breathe. With the duology completed, I would definitely check out Johnson’s next book.

The Verdict:

Catherine Johnson’s historical YA sequel is a breakneck paced affair rich in historical detail and strong at dealing with racial prejudice but at times the pacing is too brisk and for me some of the characterisation (especially Loveday) suffered as a result, which is a shame as it’s a strong book that tackles a fascinating time. Ezra really develops in this book – I particularly enjoyed his moral and physical queasiness at assisting in Renaud’s experiments and I enjoyed his interactions with the dashing General Dumas (a real person from the period). Luc is also a welcome addition – smart but vulnerable I wished that there had been more interaction between him and Ezra and Mahmoud really gets downgraded as a side character thanks to his arrival. Likewise some of Loveday’s behaviour seemed out of character given the events in SAWBONES and existed to serve the plot more than her and Ezra’s history (I particularly disliked her impetuousness, which only showed to prove how little she’d learned). Johnson’s got a strong feel for the period – conveying a sense of what Paris was like as the Terror starts to gear up and Ezra behaves like a young man of the time but the plot does jump at times (notably the tacked on postscript) and I wished there’d been more room to breathe. With the duology completed, I would definitely check out Johnson’s next book.

Thanks to Walker Books for the review copy of this book.

Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson

quippe — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 23:42:46 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

Kolymsky Heights.

A frozen Siberian hell lost in endless nights. The perfect location for an underground Russian research station.

A place so secret it doesn’t officially exist.

Once there, the scientists are forbidden to leave. But one scientist is desperate to get a message to the outside world.

So desperate, he sends a plea across the wilderness in order to summon –

The only man alive who can achieve the impossible.

When Professor Lazenby receives a coded message from a Russian scientist called Rogachev, it sends the British and US secret service into a tizzy. Rogachev has a secret – one that he’s only prepared to reveal to Johnny Porter, a Gitksan Indian from Canada with a gift for languages and a background in biology and anthropology. But there’s a snag. Rogachev is in a top secret research facility in a remote part of Siberia where security is so tight that no one can get in without Moscow authorisation and anyone sent there can only leave when they die. Somehow Porter must achieve the impossible and pull off a desperate plan that could fall apart at any moment …

Lionel Davidson’s spy thriller is a peculiar read – essentially a Cold War story published after the collapse of the USSR it’s hopelessly overwritten (every piece of research appears on the page), has a real old school taciturn hero (irresistible to women, of course) and an utterly preposterous revelation but which also builds an effective sense of tension that kept my attention until the end. What drew me to the novel was the novelty of having a hero who’s from the Canadian First Nations and I was interested in how Davidson makes use of that to keep the plot moving in a way that felt credible. Porter himself is a bit of a superman – cool under pressure, lusted after by women, and a multilingual polymath – as such he’s difficult to believe in as a person but is an old school hero for those who like their spies taciturn, resourceful and utterly ruthless (a scene where he contemplates murder is particularly chilling). I liked the equally cool, calm and collected Medical Officer Komarova who while being a love interest, has some agency of her own and is equally resourceful (notwithstanding a somewhat painful final exchange with Porter). Davidson clearly did a lot of research as the writing is incredibly detailed – at times this helps conjure a sense of reality (e.g. Russian slang on the base) but at times it gets in the way of the story (e.g. details about a Japanese ship). The big reveal is utterly ludicrous but Davidson nevertheless maintains a sense of tension and suspense that kept me turning the pages, especially in the final chapters. Ultimately while this book didn’t quite work for me I would check out Davidson’s back catalogue.

The Verdict:

Lionel Davidson’s spy thriller is a peculiar read – essentially a Cold War story published after the collapse of the USSR it’s hopelessly overwritten (every piece of research appears on the page), has a real old school taciturn hero (irresistible to women, of course) and an utterly preposterous revelation but which also builds an effective sense of tension that kept my attention until the end. What drew me to the novel was the novelty of having a hero who’s from the Canadian First Nations and I was interested in how Davidson makes use of that to keep the plot moving in a way that felt credible. Porter himself is a bit of a superman – cool under pressure, lusted after by women, and a multilingual polymath – as such he’s difficult to believe in as a person but is an old school hero for those who like their spies taciturn, resourceful and utterly ruthless (a scene where he contemplates murder is particularly chilling). I liked the equally cool, calm and collected Medical Officer Komarova who while being a love interest, has some agency of her own and is equally resourceful (notwithstanding a somewhat painful final exchange with Porter). Davidson clearly did a lot of research as the writing is incredibly detailed – at times this helps conjure a sense of reality (e.g. Russian slang on the base) but at times it gets in the way of the story (e.g. details about a Japanese ship). The big reveal is utterly ludicrous but Davidson nevertheless maintains a sense of tension and suspense that kept me turning the pages, especially in the final chapters. Ultimately while this book didn’t quite work for me I would check out Davidson’s back catalogue.

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

quippe — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 22:06:31 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off the most daring heist imaginable.

But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re fighting for their lives.

Double-crossed and badly weakened, they’re low on resources, allies and hope.

While a war rages on the city’s streets, the team’s fragile loyalties are stretched to breaking point.

Kaz and his crew will have to make sure they’re on the winning side … no matter what the cost.

It’s a couple of days after SIX OF CROWS. Kaz Brekker has a plan to get Inej back from the double crossing Jan Van Eck, but the merchant is determined to get Kaz to hand over Kuwei so that he can secure a monopoly over parem and has allied with crime boss Per Rollins in order to outmanoeuvre him. Unable to trust anyone and with his usual resources unavailable to him, the crew find themselves low on options with nowhere to turn and as the pressure mounts, the cracks in their relationships begin to widen. It’ll take all of Kaz’s cunning and ingenuity to turn this around and the cost may be too high – even for him …

The sequel to Leigh Bardugo’s SIX OF CROWS is a thrilling YA fantasy crime caper with excellent world building, plenty of twists, humour, sadness and betrayal that had me desperately turning the pages until the end. All of the clever ploys and scams that made SIX OF CROWS so exciting are present here and I really enjoyed trying to work out what Kaz’s real move was. I enjoyed the friendships that grow here in the gang especially Inej and Nina as the only female characters and the way Bardugo fleshes out Jesper both through his relationship with his father and his interactions with Wylan (who also grows here). I welcomed the appearance of some old friends from THE GRISHA TRILOGY, who are used well and serve the plot and I thought Van Eck was an effective villain – smart, cruel and well resourced and yet whose weakness is his own contempt for the criminal element. There are some heart breaking scenes in the book, which I can imagine upsetting some fans but which I think are justified and well executed and I can also see some fans being disappointed with the underplayed romance between Kaz and Inej but I think it was really well written and completely true for each of them and each does develop in their own way. If I’m being critical then I did guess some of the developments (but not all) and I thought that the introduction of Dunyasha and the Kherguud soldiers came a little too late for them to be truly effective antagonists but none of this spoilt my enjoyment of what’s genuinely an excellent book and I really look forward to reading what Bardugo does next.

The Verdict:

The sequel to Leigh Bardugo’s SIX OF CROWS is a thrilling YA fantasy crime caper with excellent world building, plenty of twists, humour, sadness and betrayal that had me desperately turning the pages until the end. All of the clever ploys and scams that made SIX OF CROWS so exciting are present here and I really enjoyed trying to work out what Kaz’s real move was. I enjoyed the friendships that grow here in the gang especially Inej and Nina as the only female characters and the way Bardugo fleshes out Jesper both through his relationship with his father and his interactions with Wylan (who also grows here). I welcomed the appearance of some old friends from THE GRISHA TRILOGY, who are used well and serve the plot and I thought Van Eck was an effective villain – smart, cruel and well resourced and yet whose weakness is his own contempt for the criminal element. There are some heart breaking scenes in the book, which I can imagine upsetting some fans but which I think are justified and well executed and I can also see some fans being disappointed with the underplayed romance between Kaz and Inej but I think it was really well written and completely true for each of them and each does develop in their own way. If I’m being critical then I did guess some of the developments (but not all) and I thought that the introduction of Dunyasha and the Kherguud soldiers came a little too late for them to be truly effective antagonists but none of this spoilt my enjoyment of what’s genuinely an excellent book and I really look forward to reading what Bardugo does next.

Zebra Crossing by Meg Vandermerwe

quippe — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 22:56:40 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

Set in the underbelly of a pulsating Cape Town during the 2010 World Cup, this is the compelling and bold imagining of what it might feel like to live in another’s skin.

Ghost. Ape. Living dead. Young Chipo has been called many names, but to her mother – Zimbabwe’s most loyal Manchester United supporter – she has always just been Chipo, meaning gift. On the eve of the World Cup, Chipo and her brother flee to Cape Town hoping for a better life and to share in the excitement of the greatest sporting event ever to take place in Africa.

But the Mother City’s infamous Long Street is a dangerous place for an illegal immigrant and albino. Chipo is caught up in a get-rich-quick scheme organised by her brother and the terrifying Dr Ongani. Exploiting gamblers’ superstitions about albinism, they plan to make money and get out before rumours of looming xenophobic attacks become reality. But their scheming has devastating consequences.

It’s 2009 in Zimbabwe. 17-year-old Chipo is an albino girl used to being abused by other people who call her ghost or ape. She and her older brother George grew up with their mother (a massive Manchester United fan) working in the family bar, but the bar was demolished by the Zimbabwe government and their mother died. When George loses his job working for a general, he decides that they should go to South Africa, believing that with the World Cup due there in 2010 there’ll be more opportunity to make money.

In Cape Town they move in with George’s old friends, twins David and Peter but far from being paved with gold, South Africa’s streets are filled with danger for immigrants and when Chipo’s actions bring the group into contact with Dr Ongani, they engage in a get-rich-quick scheme to fleece tourists by using Chipo’s albinism only for the unthinkable to happen …

Meg Vandermerwe’s debut literary YA novel focuses on the poverty and danger faced by illegal immigrants in South Africa and the particular horrors saved for those with albinism in a well-crafted novel more concerned with place and character than in providing an event-filled plot. There’s a lot to admire about the novel – Vandermerwe creates a well drawn cast of characters, each with their secrets and sorrows and each doing their best to try and survive in a country where many people don’t want them and see them as taking their jobs. I found Chipo too passive as a character – the only agency she really shows is when she visits Dr Ongani (sinister and suave, a born predator), which is when the horrors really start – but this is partly because of how she’s treated due to her condition, which has left her cowed not least because George constantly tells her how stupid she is. My main quibble with the book actually is the relationship between George and Chipo because there never seems to be any love there, he sees her as a burden and then as a money making scheme but never as a person and I wasn’t convinced by this due to the portrayal of their childhood and the impact of their mother. That said, I enjoyed the build of tension as each character makes compromises and the difficulty of daily life and would definitely read what Vandermerwe writes next.

The Verdict:

Meg Vandermerwe’s debut literary YA novel focuses on the poverty and danger faced by illegal immigrants in South Africa and the particular horrors saved for those with albinism in a well-crafted novel more concerned with place and character than in providing an event-filled plot. There’s a lot to admire about the novel – Vandermerwe creates a well drawn cast of characters, each with their secrets and sorrows and each doing their best to try and survive in a country where many people don’t want them and see them as taking their jobs. I found Chipo too passive as a character – the only agency she really shows is when she visits Dr Ongani (sinister and suave, a born predator), which is when the horrors really start – but this is partly because of how she’s treated due to her condition, which has left her cowed not least because George constantly tells her how stupid she is. My main quibble with the book actually is the relationship between George and Chipo because there never seems to be any love there, he sees her as a burden and then as a money making scheme but never as a person and I wasn’t convinced by this due to the portrayal of their childhood and the impact of their mother. That said, I enjoyed the build of tension as each character makes compromises and the difficulty of daily life and would definitely read what Vandermerwe writes next.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

My Embarrassing Dad’s Gone Viral by Ben Davis

quippe — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 22:37:02 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

Hi guys!

I bet every one of you knows what it’s like to have an embarrassing parent – right? But let me tell you, my friend, NOBODY has a dad like mine. He takes embarrassing to a whole new level. If embarrassing was an Olympic sport, my dad would have, like, a gazillion gold medals.

He thinks he’s some kind of survival guru. And he’s make me and my sister live through the agony of his back-to-basics life with him. But what he doesn’t know is that he’s an INTERNET SENSATION!

People all over the world are waiting for the next hilarious video. And thanks to my clever secret filming, I’ll soon have enough money to convince Mum to come home …

When 12-year-old Nelson Lambsley comes home from school to find that his mum has left his dad’s reaction is to quit his job as an estate agent and move Nelson and his 5-year-old sister Mary to Norfolk, where he’s bought a run down house with an outside toilet in the middle of nowhere. His dad wants to take them all back to nature – just like his hero Panther Blimmington-Weltby does on his survivalist TV shows and in his books – which is why he’s sold the TV, the computers and all of Nelson’s computer games and banned the internet from their house!

When Nelson comes into possession of a laptop and webcam, he records his dad doing his back-to-nature activities and finds himself with a viral hit on his hands. As the number of subscribers to his YouTube channel rises, Nelson finds that he’s making money from advertising revenue and he thinks that if he earns enough, then maybe it’ll convince his mum to come home – assuming that he can find out where she went first …

Ben Davis’s comic novel for children aged 9+ (illustrated by Mike Lowery) is an entertaining book with some laugh-out-loud moments but I wasn’t completely comfortable with the fact that Nelson is basically filming his dad’s emotional breakdown. Nelson’s a resourceful main character and I enjoyed his relationship with Mary (whose devotion to Gertrude the chicken is very sweet) and his developing friendship with Kirsty and Ash who go from being forced to hang out with him to aiding and abetting his schemes. I wish that there’d been more of his relationship with his dad before his mum left because the focus on his dad’s hatred of technology without any consideration for the effect on his children makes him unsympathetic (although kindly neighbour Primrose does show some empathy for his behaviour). Similarly, I also wished that Nelson’s mother had more page time because I couldn’t believe in her ability to walk away without making any attempt to keep in touch. The supporting characters are broadly sketched and although I enjoyed the Elvis fan teacher, I wished that the laughs at the expense of the harbour master and his wife hadn’t made Tourette’s and narcolepsy the punch line to jokes. That said, there are some genuinely funny moments and there was enough here to make me want to check out Davis’s other comic novels for kids.

The Verdict:

Ben Davis’s comic novel for children aged 9+ (illustrated by Mike Lowery) is an entertaining book with some laugh-out-loud moments but I wasn’t completely comfortable with the fact that Nelson is basically filming his dad’s emotional breakdown. Nelson’s a resourceful main character and I enjoyed his relationship with Mary (whose devotion to Gertrude the chicken is very sweet) and his developing friendship with Kirsty and Ash who go from being forced to hang out with him to aiding and abetting his schemes. I wish that there’d been more of his relationship with his dad before his mum left because the focus on his dad’s hatred of technology without any consideration for the effect on his children makes him unsympathetic (although kindly neighbour Primrose does show some empathy for his behaviour). Similarly, I also wished that Nelson’s mother had more page time because I couldn’t believe in her ability to walk away without making any attempt to keep in touch. The supporting characters are broadly sketched and although I enjoyed the Elvis fan teacher, I wished that the laughs at the expense of the harbour master and his wife hadn’t made Tourette’s and narcolepsy the punch line to jokes. That said, there are some genuinely funny moments and there was enough here to make me want to check out Davis’s other comic novels for kids.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Dry by Jane Harper

quippe — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 22:28:59 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

You know, I look at Luke Hadler and on the surface he had it all – great wife, two kids, decent enough farm, respect in his community. Why would a man like that turn around one day and destroy his family? It makes no sense. I just can’t understand how someone like him could do something like that.”

Falk rubbed a hand over his mouth and chin. It felt gritty. He needed a shave.

Luke lied. You lied.

“Raco,” he said. “There’s something about Luke you need to know.”

Australia is in the grip of its worst drought in a century; it hasn’t rained in the small country town of Kiewarra for two years. Tensions in the community become unbearable when three members of the Hadler family are brutally murdered. Everyone thinks Luke Hadler, who committed suicide after slaughtering his wife and six-year-old son, is guilty.

Policeman Aaron Falk returns to his home town for the funeral of his childhood best friend, and is unwillingly drawn into the investigation. As questions mount and suspicion spreads through the town, Falk is forced to confront the community that rejected him twenty years earlier. Because Falk and Luke Hadler shared a secret, one which Luke’s death threatens to unearth. And when Falk probes deeper into the killings, secrets from his past begin to bubble to the surface.

Aaron Falk is a policeman based in Melbourne and specialising in white collar crime and fraud but 20 years ago he and his father were run out of Kiewarra (a small country town) when he was suspected in involvement in the death of 16 year old Ellie Deacon whose body was found in a river, weighed down by stones. Falk’s alibi was his best friend, Luke, but no one believed that thanks to a one-line note Ellie left with Falk’s name on it and the fact that everyone knew they were friends.

Falk returns to Kiewarra for Luke’s funeral but this is no ordinary death: Luke’s believed to have murdered his wife and young son before committing suicide. Everyone believes it’s an open and shut case but Luke’s parents emotionally blackmail Falk into investigating because they know the alibi Luke gave him was false. Falk reluctantly joins forces with the local police officer, Greg Raco, who has questions of his own about the deaths. But Kiewarra’s in the grip of a terrible drought and tensions within the town are exacerbated by Falk’s past and the secrets that surrounded Ellie Deacon’s death are starting to come out …

Jane Harper’s debut crime novel is a well constructed story split between two time periods that shows the fractures in small town life made worse by a horrendous drought. I liked the novelty of a detective whose speciality isn’t murder and I thought Harper did a good job of taking a character weighed down by guilt and frustration who’s taken outside his comfort zone while Raco is a sturdy sidekick (a good copper in his own right rather than a lazy hick). Harper also makes the most of her small town setting – I believed in the dying businesses and dying farms caused by the devastating drought and the effects that it has on the local population as crops fail, animals die and desperation starts to set in. I particularly enjoyed the way Harper unspools the Ellie storyline, showing the tensions and passions at play in the set of friends and the ripples it continues to cause years later but wish the ending had given more of a hint as to whether justice would actually be served. I very much hope that Harper produces a series following Falk as I would definitely read on but failing that I’d also read her next work.

The Verdict:

Jane Harper’s debut crime novel is a well constructed story split between two time periods that shows the fractures in small town life made worse by a horrendous drought. I liked the novelty of a detective whose speciality isn’t murder and I thought Harper did a good job of taking a character weighed down by guilt and frustration who’s taken outside his comfort zone while Raco is a sturdy sidekick (a good copper in his own right rather than a lazy hick). Harper also makes the most of her small town setting – I believed in the dying businesses and dying farms caused by the devastating drought and the effects that it has on the local population as crops fail, animals die and desperation starts to set in. I particularly enjoyed the way Harper unspools the Ellie storyline, showing the tensions and passions at play in the set of friends and the ripples it continues to cause years later but wish the ending had given more of a hint as to whether justice would actually be served. I very much hope that Harper produces a series following Falk as I would definitely read on but failing that I’d also read her next work.

THE DRY will be released in the United Kingdom on 12th January 2017. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.

The First Rule Of Survival by Paul Mendelson

quippe — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 22:26:52 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

Seven years ago, in Cape Town, South Africa, three schoolboys were abducted in broad daylight on consecutive days.

They were never seen again.

Now, a new case for the unpredictable Senior Superintendent Vaughn DeVries casts a light on the original enquiry; for him, a personal failure which has haunted and changed him. Struggling in a mire of departmental and racial rivalry, DeVries seeks the whole truth, and unravels a complex history of abuse, deception and murder. Encountering friends, colleagues and friends, DeVries realises he doesn’t know who he can trust.

In 2007 Colonel Vaughn DeVries was the lead investigator in the kidnapping of 3 boys in Capetown, South Africa. The boys were kidnapped in broad daylight on consecutive days and despite a high profile investigation, no trace of them was ever found.

No trace, that is, until 2014.

DeVries and Warrant Officer Don February are called to a farmer’s market where the bodies of two of the missing boys, each wrapped in plastic, have been found in skip. This is the break DeVries has been waiting for and with the possibility of finding the third victim alive, he’s keen to chase down every lead to discover who was responsible. But the Capetown police department is riddled with politics and racial rivalry and there are those in authority keen to see him fail. Unsure who to trust, DeVries finds himself increasingly confiding in John Marantz, an ex-British intelligence officer with sources of his own and a willingness to use means that even DeVries finds distasteful ...

Paul Mendelson’s debut crime novel (the first in a series) is a promising look at the racial and political tensions at play in modern South Africa told in a dark “Saffer Noir” style but it’s held back by an unsatisfying plot and antagonists whose motivations are thinly explained at best. The use of the South African landscape (which is evocative and rich and helps set the tone for the novel) is great as is the depiction of inter-police rivalries and corruption as the department succumbs to individual ambition and grievances rooted in the apartheid past. Unfortunately it’s difficult to empathise with DeVries – racist and driven by his gut – he’s an old school policeman unwilling to engage or even sympathise with the political and media forces buffeting his boss and protector Brigadier Du Toit and as such, I had difficulty buying into him. Equally difficult to believe in is DeVries self-appointed nemesis, David Werner (head of internal affairs) and Julius Mngomezulu (sidekick to General Sempiwe Thulani, Du Toit’s boss) who are thinly characterised to the point of being two-dimensional while Marantz is little more than a plot get-out-of-jail card there to provide some answers when needed and Don February has some enigmatic secret that I wasn’t too interested in discovering. There’s enough here to ensure I’ll check out the sequel but I really need more rounded characters if I’m to stick the series out.

The Verdict:

Paul Mendelson’s debut crime novel (the first in a series) is a promising look at the racial and political tensions at play in modern South Africa told in a dark “Saffer Noir” style but it’s held back by an unsatisfying plot and antagonists whose motivations are thinly explained at best. The use of the South African landscape (which is evocative and rich and helps set the tone for the novel) is great as is the depiction of inter-police rivalries and corruption as the department succumbs to individual ambition and grievances rooted in the apartheid past. Unfortunately it’s difficult to empathise with DeVries – racist and driven by his gut – he’s an old school policeman unwilling to engage or even sympathise with the political and media forces buffeting his boss and protector Brigadier Du Toit and as such, I had difficulty buying into him. Equally difficult to believe in is DeVries self-appointed nemesis, David Werner (head of internal affairs) and Julius Mngomezulu (sidekick to General Sempiwe Thulani, Du Toit’s boss) who are thinly characterised to the point of being two-dimensional while Marantz is little more than a plot get-out-of-jail card there to provide some answers when needed and Don February has some enigmatic secret that I wasn’t too interested in discovering. There’s enough here to ensure I’ll check out the sequel but I really need more rounded characters if I’m to stick the series out.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

Gilded Cage by Vic James

quippe — Sun, 27 Nov 2016 23:09:31 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

Not all are equal.

In a modern Britain, everyone must endure ten years of slavery for a magically-skilled aristocracy.

Here, a teenage boy dreams of rebellion.

His sister thirsts for knowledge and will find love.

And a dangerous young aristocrat will remake the world with his dark gifts.

Not all will be saved.

One glorious summer, Luke’s family is torn apart. He’s expecting nothing more sinister than exams, while his sister Abi anticipates university. But they’ll be separated to do their slavedays – a decade of labour demanded by law, enforced by a magically-skilled aristocracy.

Luke will dream of rebellion in a barbaric factory town. Abi will navigate the malice of a high-born estate, and find an unlikely love. But the siblings must choose sides as Britain moves from anger to defiance. They’ll become entangled in acts of savagery and magic, as nobles vie for power. No one is safe and none will emerge unscathed. Is there a better way – or will a dangerous young aristocrat remake the world with his dark gifts?

Following the overthrow of Charles I by Cadmus Parva-Jardine, Britain has been ruled by magically-gifted aristocrats. Those who lack Skill (magic) must surrender 10 years of their lives working as slave labour. During these slavedays, they have no legal rights and earn no payment. Their only choice is when to serve.

When 18-year-old Abi discovers that she and her family (17-year-old Luke, 10-year-old Daisy and their parents) can serve their slavedays working on Lord Jardine’s estate, her parents agree on the basis that it’s better than going to Millmoor (a notorious slavetown with a high fatality rate). But something goes wrong. Luke is separated from the family and assigned to Millmoor where he falls in with a group of rebels determined to overthrow the slavetown system while Abi finds herself navigating the power games of Lord Jardine, his Heir (the brutish Gavar) and his younger son Silyen who has his own agenda. Worse, she’s falling in love with the middle son, Jenner who was born Unskilled.

It isn’t long before the siblings find themselves politically at odds in a world where the Unskilled are used as pawns in the vicious games of the elite …

Vic James’s debut YA novel (the first in a trilogy) combines fantasy with dystopia in a smartly conceived, well-executed world where everyone’s motives are open to interpretation, bad people do good things and the stakes are impressively high. I loved the world-building – James creates a credible world of magic and aristocracy and I really enjoyed the Millmoor scenes (a Dickensian hell with a 1984 vibe). The political system is well developed and James does well at explaining how it works without info-dumping – particularly clever is her use of multiple points of view to flesh out the various factions and their agendas. The downside of the multiple viewpoints is that it left some characters underdeveloped – notably Abi whose intelligence and naivety didn’t quite work for me (I could have done without her insta-love for the bland Jenner as it lacks the page time to justify it) – but the apparent antagonists (particularly Gavar and Silyen) are subtly shaded (sinister and cruel but also capable of good) and promise much in future books. Although some of the plot twists are a little too telegraphed, James doesn’t pull her punches with brutal scenes and the ending promises much in the sequel, which I will definitely be reading.

The Verdict:

Vic James’s debut YA novel (the first in a trilogy) combines fantasy with dystopia in a smartly conceived, well-executed world where everyone’s motives are open to interpretation, bad people do good things and the stakes are impressively high. I loved the world-building – James creates a credible world of magic and aristocracy and I really enjoyed the Millmoor scenes (a Dickensian hell with a 1984 vibe). The political system is well developed and James does well at explaining how it works without info-dumping – particularly clever is her use of multiple points of view to flesh out the various factions and their agendas. The downside of the multiple viewpoints is that it left some characters underdeveloped – notably Abi whose intelligence and naivety didn’t quite work for me (I could have done without her insta-love for the bland Jenner as it lacks the page time to justify it) – but the apparent antagonists (particularly Gavar and Silyen) are subtly shaded (sinister and cruel but also capable of good) and promise much in future books. Although some of the plot twists are a little too telegraphed, James doesn’t pull her punches with brutal scenes and the ending promises much in the sequel, which I will definitely be reading.

GILDED CAGE will be released in the United Kingdom on 26th January 2017. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.

Chasing Embers by James Bennett

quippe — Sun, 27 Nov 2016 23:03:02 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

There’s nothing special about Ben Garston.

Or so he’d have you believe. He won’t tell you, for instance, that he’s also known as RED BEN. Or that the world of myth and legend is more real than you think.

Because it’s his job to keep all that a secret.

But now a centuries-old rivalry has resurfaced, and the delicate balance between his world and ours is about to be shattered.

Something is hiding in the heart of the city – and it’s about to be unleashed.

Ben Garston is a man of secrets. He has to be. As a signatory to the Pact of 1215, he’s pledged to keep the world of magic hidden from the world of men and in return for the rest of his fellow dragons going to the Long Sleep he is protected as a Remnant by the Guild of the Broken Lance from being hunted by any human or other magical creature. But not every Remnant agrees with the pact and when Ben is attacked by the descendent of a family with a centuries old grudge against him, he discovers that there are those who have never accepted the Pact and now see an opportunity to bring it all down …

James Bennett’s urban fantasy novel (the first in a new series) draws heavily on English folklore and African myth to build a rich fantasy world but it can’t make up for leaden writing, a main character who bumbles from trap to trap without any sense of agency and an underwritten love interest reduced to complaining and being used as bait. My big problem with this book is Ben Garston – a character who’s a dragon should be fascinating but instead Ben’s a melancholic drunk who mopes after his ex-girlfriend Rose McBriar (a student so woefully underwritten that she’s reduced to complaining that he doesn’t tell her the truth and getting captured by the antagonists for their own nefarious purposes). I enjoyed the scenes where Ben is in dragon form because Bennett has clearly put a lot of thought into the biology and mechanics of it all, but the dragon fight scenes (as indeed were the human fight scenes) are slow, leaden affairs and Ben isn’t much of an investigator – essentially lurching from one trap to another with no wit or agency to start putting facts together until they’re practically slapping him in the face. Ben’s sometime ally, the Fay ambassador Blaise Von Hart is part Cabaret MC, part Herr Lipp and the three witches Babe Cathy, Miss Macha ad Nan Nemain have potential as twisted versions of the virgin, whore and crone stereotypes but aren’t given the page time to evolve. The scenes building on African myth and Egyptian legend are interesting but again, stifled by two-dimensional characters. Ultimately there isn’t enough here for me to want to continue with this series, although I would check out Bennett’s other work.

The Verdict:

James Bennett’s urban fantasy novel (the first in a new series) draws heavily on English folklore and African myth to build a rich fantasy world but it can’t make up for leaden writing, a main character who bumbles from trap to trap without any sense of agency and an underwritten love interest reduced to complaining and being used as bait. My big problem with this book is Ben Garston – a character who’s a dragon should be fascinating but instead Ben’s a melancholic drunk who mopes after his ex-girlfriend Rose McBriar (a student so woefully underwritten that she’s reduced to complaining that he doesn’t tell her the truth and getting captured by the antagonists for their own nefarious purposes). I enjoyed the scenes where Ben is in dragon form because Bennett has clearly put a lot of thought into the biology and mechanics of it all, but the dragon fight scenes (as indeed were the human fight scenes) are slow, leaden affairs and Ben isn’t much of an investigator – essentially lurching from one trap to another with no wit or agency to start putting facts together until they’re practically slapping him in the face. Ben’s sometime ally, the Fay ambassador Blaise Von Hart is part Cabaret MC, part Herr Lipp and the three witches Babe Cathy, Miss Macha ad Nan Nemain have potential as twisted versions of the virgin, whore and crone stereotypes but aren’t given the page time to evolve. The scenes building on African myth and Egyptian legend are interesting but again, stifled by two-dimensional characters. Ultimately there isn’t enough here for me to want to continue with this series, although I would check out Bennett’s other work.

Mistletoe And Murder by Robin Stevens

quippe — Sat, 26 Nov 2016 23:33:12 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

”These attacks are not merely pranks or accidents,” said Daisy gravely. “They are intended – and I believe something truly terrible will happen before Christmas Day.”

Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are spending the Christmas hols in snowy Cambridge. Hazel has high hopes of its beautiful libraries and inviting tea-rooms – but there is danger lurking in the dark stairwells of Maudlin College.

Two days before Christmas, a brutal accident takes place – but the Detective Society suspect murder. Faced with fierce competition from a rival agency, they must use all their cunning and courage to find the killer (in time for Christmas Day, of course).

It’s several weeks after JOLLY FOUL PLAY. Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are at Cambridge University to spend Christmas with Daisy’s older brother, Bertie. Hazel’s particularly excited that Alexander Arcady (head of the Junior Pinkertons) will be there with his friend, George Mukherjee, because she hasn’t seen him since FIRST CLASS MURDER.

Bertie’s friend, Donald Melling (the heir to a large fortune) has been the victim of a series of increasingly dangerous pranks, apparently caused by his twin brother, Chummy with whom he frequently argues so Daisy makes a bet with the Junior Pinkertons over proving that Chummy wants to kill Donald for his fortune. But two days before Christmas it’s Chummy who’s found dead when one of his own pranks goes wrong. The police think it was an accident but all four detectives are convinced there’s foul play afoot and it will take all their deductive skills and cunning to identify the culprit ...

The fifth in Robin Stevens’s bestselling middle grade crime series is another fiendishly plotted murder mystery with the added complication of a love triangle between Wells, Wong and Alexander and the introduction of newcomer George Mukherjee, a British Indian with an intellect and strength of will to match Daisy’s. Stevens shows that female students at Cambridge were treated as second-class citizens (both through having limited funds and because they weren’t entitled to be awarded degrees) and well uses the real secret Cambridge climbing society. I also enjoyed how Stevens develops the wedge put in Wells and Wong’s friendship in JOLLY FOUL PLAY, throwing in Hazel’s crush on Alexander and Alexander’s crush on Daisy to add emotional tension but then introducing the practical and intelligent George who shares many of Hazel’s experiences with racism and has an intellect to match Daisy’s to avoid what could be yet another dull love triangle. In fact Stevens does particularly well at highlighting 1930s racism, including the blatant abuse suffered by Chinese student Alfred Chung at Chummy’s hands and also Daisy and Hazel’s assumptions about George’s ethnicity. The only bum notes are the way a constable is left to investigate the deaths (which I didn’t quite believe) and the fact that the bodies aren’t immediately removed while the reaction to a revelation at the end of the book didn’t quite ring true for the times to me but otherwise I really enjoyed this book and look forward to book 6.

The Verdict:

The fifth in Robin Stevens’s bestselling middle grade crime series is another fiendishly plotted murder mystery with the added complication of a love triangle between Wells, Wong and Alexander and the introduction of newcomer George Mukherjee, a British Indian with an intellect and strength of will to match Daisy’s. Stevens shows that female students at Cambridge were treated as second-class citizens (both through having limited funds and because they weren’t entitled to be awarded degrees) and well uses the real secret Cambridge climbing society. I also enjoyed how Stevens develops the wedge put in Wells and Wong’s friendship in JOLLY FOUL PLAY, throwing in Hazel’s crush on Alexander and Alexander’s crush on Daisy to add emotional tension but then introducing the practical and intelligent George who shares many of Hazel’s experiences with racism and has an intellect to match Daisy’s to avoid what could be yet another dull love triangle. In fact Stevens does particularly well at highlighting 1930s racism, including the blatant abuse suffered by Chinese student Alfred Chung at Chummy’s hands and also Daisy and Hazel’s assumptions about George’s ethnicity. The only bum notes are the way a constable is left to investigate the deaths (which I didn’t quite believe) and the fact that the bodies aren’t immediately removed while the reaction to a revelation at the end of the book didn’t quite ring true for the times to me but otherwise I really enjoyed this book and look forward to book 6.

Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon

quippe — Sat, 26 Nov 2016 23:15:34 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

Dear Sir or Madam,

The minions of Castle Hangnail seek a new master to overtake all dark and evil duties and responsibilities. Magical abilities are absolutely required*, as is a knack for smiting, blighting, and general malevolent behaviour. An intimidating appearance is a plus!

If interested, please send word via raven to the guardian of Castle Hangnail.

*Except in the case of Mad Scientists

Sincerely
The Minions of Castle Hangnail

When Molly shows up at Castle Hangnail’s doorstep to fill the vacancy for a Wicked Witch, the castle’s minions are suspicious. After all, she is twelve years old, barely five feet tall, and quite … polite. It’s not exactly what they had in mind for wicked. But the castle desperately needs a Master or else the Board of Magic will decommission it, leaving the minions without the home they love.

Molly may not be as spectacularly cruel and devilishly demanding as the castle’s previous Masters, but when she produces some rather impressive magic, the minions feel hopeful she’ll be approved by the Board of Magic. They even start to like her. It turns out, though, that Molly is hiding quite a few secrets, including one that could mean the end of Castle Hangnail.

The Minions of Castle Hangnail have a problem: they’ve been without a Master since the “death” of Vampire Lord Voltan and having filed 11 extensions already with the Board of Magic, they’re under pressure to find a new Master now or Castle Hangnail will be decommissioned, sold to property developers and the Minions distributed to new Masters. Desperate, the guardian wrote to evil sorceresses, wicked witches, mad scientists inviting them to the Castle but it’s not an attractive proposition – the Castle isn’t very big and doesn’t have a lot of money.

So it’s a relief when 12-year-old Molly arrives to take up the role as Wicked Witch. She’s much younger than the Castle’s previous Masters and the guardian isn’t sure just how Wicked she really is, but provided she passes the 4 tests set by the Board of Magic to prove that she can serve as the new Master, he’s prepared to accept her. The problem is that Molly is hiding a secret – one that could bring the whole weight of the Board of Magic down on Castle Hangnail’s inhabitants for good …

Ursula Vernon’s self-illustrated humorous fantasy novel for children aged 9+ is an absolute delight from start to finish with a fine cast of characters, sharp humour, a lot of warmth and wonderful illustrations. I absolutely adored the relationship that Molly develops with the guardian (who she names Majordomo) – each of them unsure of the other, each of them with secrets but each devoted to the Castle and the other inhabitants. My favourite scenes are those where Molly takes on a property developer who’s bullying people in a nearby village and has designs on Castle Hangnail but I also loved her interactions with the Minions (Pins and Lord Edward were my favourites, but I also loved the Minotaur cook who tolerates no balderdash and has an aversion to the letter Q) and a scene where she transforms a downtrodden donkey into a dragon had me laughing out loud. Vernon keeps tight control of her plot and the final quarter (where Molly’s deceptions are revealed and a genuine Evil Sorceress challenges her for the Castle) is excellent and I liked the way she draws a distinction between being evil and being wicked and ultimately shows the importance of friendship, loyalty and kindness. I don’t have a bad thing to say about this book and urge you to read it.

The Verdict:

Ursula Vernon’s self-illustrated humorous fantasy novel for children aged 9+ is an absolute delight from start to finish with a fine cast of characters, sharp humour, a lot of warmth and wonderful illustrations. I absolutely adored the relationship that Molly develops with the guardian (who she names Majordomo) – each of them unsure of the other, each of them with secrets but each devoted to the Castle and the other inhabitants. My favourite scenes are those where Molly takes on a property developer who’s bullying people in a nearby village and has designs on Castle Hangnail but I also loved her interactions with the Minions (Pins and Lord Edward were my favourites, but I also loved the Minotaur cook who tolerates no balderdash and has an aversion to the letter Q) and a scene where she transforms a downtrodden donkey into a dragon had me laughing out loud. Vernon keeps tight control of her plot and the final quarter (where Molly’s deceptions are revealed and a genuine Evil Sorceress challenges her for the Castle) is excellent and I liked the way she draws a distinction between being evil and being wicked and ultimately shows the importance of friendship, loyalty and kindness. I don’t have a bad thing to say about this book and urge you to read it.

Ragdoll by Daniel Cole

quippe — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 22:07:41 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

The nation is gripped by the infamous “Ragdoll Killer”.

Every news bulletin and headline is obsessed with this story.

Your friends, your neighbours and colleagues are all talking about it …

One body. Six victims …

A body is discovered with the dismembered parts of six victims stitched together like a puppet, nicknamed by the press as a ‘ragdoll’.

Assigned to the shocking case are Detective Fawkes, recently reinstated to the London Met, and his former partner Detective Baxter.

The ‘Ragdoll Killer’ taunts the police by releasing a list of names to the media, and the dates on which he intends to murder them.

With six people to save, can Fawkes and Baxter catch a killer when the world is watching their every move?

In 2010, Detective William Oliver Layton-Fawkes (known as Wolf) arrested Naguib Khalid (nicknamed the Cremation Killer) for burning 27 young women to death in 27 days. But the trial falls apart with allegations of police brutality, unreliable evidence and allegations that Wolf was obsessed and desperate. When Khalid’s found not guilty, Wolf tries to beat him to death in court. As a result he loses his job and is committed to a mental hospital. Then a couple of years later, Khalid is found standing over the body of a burning woman. A popular campaign sees Wolf reinstated to his job but demoted to Detective Sergeant.

In 2014 a grotesque puppet compiled from the body parts of 6 people is found pointing at Wolf’s flat. The killer then releases a list of 6 people who s/he intends to kill and the dates on which s/he intends to do it. Last on that list is Wolf himself. Wolf and his former partner, DS Emily Baxter race to identify the body parts and protect the 6 victims, but with hysterical media interest and a killer who seems able to anticipate their every move, the odds seem stacked against them …

If you can get through the first chapter of Daniel Cole’s debut novel without throwing the book against a wall, then you’ll probably enjoy this ludicrous thriller that doesn’t leave any cliché unturned, has no concept of how the legal system, police or media works and revolves around an emotionally unstable protagonist who’s an utter pig to those around him and incompetent police officers who pander to his whims. Although Cole’s got a gift for describing places (London’s geography is well drawn), there’s a lot of inter-scene head hopping and a key twist relies on the scenes from Wolf’s point of view deliberately not revealing key information. The female characters are shallowly characterised – particularly Wolf’s ex-wife and stereotypical ambitious journalist, Andrea, although Baxter doesn’t fair much better (and naturally they both love him. The humour falls flat, the murders are ridiculously contrived and Wolf such an unprofessional head case that I found myself rooting for the two-dimensional killer. There were so many mistakes that I literally stopped counting and the lack of any grounding in reality meant I really couldn’t get into it at all. The open ending raises the possibility of a sequel but I definitely won’t be reading on.

The Verdict:

If you can get through the first chapter of Daniel Cole’s debut novel without throwing the book against a wall, then you’ll probably enjoy this ludicrous thriller that doesn’t leave any cliché unturned, has no concept of how the legal system, police or media works and revolves around an emotionally unstable protagonist who’s an utter pig to those around him and incompetent police officers who pander to his whims. Although Cole’s got a gift for describing places (London’s geography is well drawn), there’s a lot of inter-scene head hopping and a key twist relies on the scenes from Wolf’s point of view deliberately not revealing key information. The female characters are shallowly characterised – particularly Wolf’s ex-wife and stereotypical ambitious journalist, Andrea, although Baxter doesn’t fair much better (and naturally they both love him. The humour falls flat, the murders are ridiculously contrived and Wolf such an unprofessional head case that I found myself rooting for the two-dimensional killer. There were so many mistakes that I literally stopped counting and the lack of any grounding in reality meant I really couldn’t get into it at all. The open ending raises the possibility of a sequel but I definitely won’t be reading on.

RAGDOLL will be released in the United Kingdom on 23rd February 2017. Thanks to Hachette for the ARC of this book.

The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch

quippe — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 21:54:07 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

Suspicious deaths are not usually the concern of PC Peter Grant or the Folly, even when they happen at an exclusive party in one of the flats of the most expensive apartment blocks in London. But Lady Ty’s daughter was there and Peter owes Lady Ty a favour.

Plunged into the alien world of the super-rich, where the basements are bigger than the houses and dangerous arcane items are bought and sold on the open market, a sensible young copper would keep his head down and his nose clean. But this is Peter Grant we’re talking about.

He’s been given an unparalleled opportunity to alienate old friends and create new enemies at the point where the world of magic and that of privilege intersect. Assuming he survives the week …

It’s several months after FOXGLOVE SUMMER and PC Peter Grant is enjoying his romance with river goddess Beverley, even though his mum is on at him to settle down and give her grandchildren. Then Lady Tyburn decides to call in the favour Peter owes her from WHISPERS UNDERGROUND. Tyburn’s daughter, Olivia, was at an illicit party in a flat in One Hyde Park (site of the most expensive flats in London) where another partygoer, Christina Chorley, has died from a drug overdose. Tyburn wants Olivia kept out of the case but that’s difficult when Olivia is dead set on incriminating herself.

When Dr Walid (assisted by newcomer Dr Vaughan) detects signs of magic in Chorley’s body, Peter teams up with PC Guleed and finds himself investigating both the world of the 1% and the world of those who trade in magical artefacts. But even Peter’s gift for trouble can’t prepare him for the danger he finds himself in when he discovers that Lesley has an interest in his investigation …

The sixth in Ben Aaronovitch’s PETER GRANT SERIES is a plot twisting return to form that advances the Faceless Man storyline while cleverly tying back to events in the preceding books. Although the drug overdose storyline is a bit of a red herring (and the investigation is more stumbling from one event to another rather than actual investigation), I really enjoyed the window it opened into Lady Tyburn’s home life and the way it ties into Peter’s own relationship with Beverley (and I particularly enjoyed his mum’s pidgin interrogation of where it’s going). Also good is Peter’s professional relationship with Guleen (who is a fantastic character and in fact praise should be given to the diversity of the cast in the book), the way questions are introduced about Nightingale and whether he has his own agenda and the way Aaronovitch expands his world building to bring in US wizards and newcomers Lady Helena and her daughter Caroline. What I really enjoyed though is the tie backs to bits in the earlier books and the way Aaronovitch uses it to advance the overarching story – small cameos in previous books are picked up and developed here and there are more hints here on what the Faceless Man is trying to achieve. Ultimately, this restored everything I enjoyed about the series and I am really looking forward to the next book.

The Verdict:

The sixth in Ben Aaronovitch’s PETER GRANT SERIES is a plot twisting return to form that advances the Faceless Man storyline while cleverly tying back to events in the preceding books. Although the drug overdose storyline is a bit of a red herring (and the investigation is more stumbling from one event to another rather than actual investigation), I really enjoyed the window it opened into Lady Tyburn’s home life and the way it ties into Peter’s own relationship with Beverley (and I particularly enjoyed his mum’s pidgin interrogation of where it’s going). Also good is Peter’s professional relationship with Guleen (who is a fantastic character and in fact praise should be given to the diversity of the cast in the book), the way questions are introduced about Nightingale and whether he has his own agenda and the way Aaronovitch expands his world building to bring in US wizards and newcomers Lady Helena and her daughter Caroline. What I really enjoyed though is the tie backs to bits in the earlier books and the way Aaronovitch uses it to advance the overarching story – small cameos in previous books are picked up and developed here and there are more hints here on what the Faceless Man is trying to achieve. Ultimately, this restored everything I enjoyed about the series and I am really looking forward to the next book.

Age Of Anger: A History Of The Present by Pankaj Mishra

quippe — Sun, 13 Nov 2016 22:28:15 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

How can we explain the origins of the great wave of paranoid hatreds that seem inescapable – from American “shooters” and ISIS to Trump, from a rise in vengeful nationalism across the world to racism and misogyny on social media?

In Age Of Anger, Pankaj Mishra answers our bewilderment by casting his gaze back to the eighteenth century, before leading us to the present.

He shows that as the world became modern those who were unable to fulfil its promises – freedom, stability and prosperity – were increasingly susceptible to demagogues. The many who were left, or pushed, behind, reacting in horrifyingly similar ways: intense hatred of invented enemies, attempts to re-create an imaginary golden age, and self-empowerment through spectacular violence.

Making startling connections and comparisons, Age of Anger is a book of immense urgency and profound argument. It is a history of our present predicament unlike any other.

Inspired by the rise of the Hindu nationalists to government in India in 2014, Pankaj Mishra attempts in this book to explain that the rise of the demagogues together with the attraction of extremist groups such as ISIS to the westernised youth. He specifically draws parallels between the current world situation with the political, economic and social disorder that occurred during the right of the 19th century European capitalist economies and involved notions of the clash of civilisations and obvious inequalities that led to widespread anger but goes on to argue that the modern plight is heightened by the promotion of individualism and the rise of globalisation.

Central to the book is the notion of “ressentiment” or the increase in mutual hatred and irritability against everyone else and Mishra takes on subjects from the rise of Hindu nationalism, the rise of ISIS and the rise of far-right demagogues like Le Pen and Trump. A lot of research has gone into this book, with Mishra citing a dazzling array of political philosophers including Nietzsche, Hegel, and Rousseau. For me the most interesting parts of the book were where Mishra draws parallels between the ideologies of Timothy McVeigh (the Oklahoma bomber) and Ramzi Ahmed Yousef (who masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center attack) and I was interested to learn that they were in adjacent cells in prison.

It’s a prescient book – not least given the vote for Brexit and Trump’s impending presidency – and it’s chilling to read of the 19th century and 20th century attacks on liberal elites as the same language is used again today. Some of the political philosophy went over my head and Mishra covers such a wide array of time periods and political movements that at times it was difficult to keep up but I found his arguments convincing and fascinating and I would definitely check out his other work.

The Verdict:

Inspired by the rise of the Hindu nationalists to government in India in 2014, Pankaj Mishra attempts in this book to explain that the rise of the demagogues together with the attraction of extremist groups such as ISIS to the westernised youth. He specifically draws parallels between the current world situation with the political, economic and social disorder that occurred during the right of the 19th century European capitalist economies and involved notions of the clash of civilisations and obvious inequalities that led to widespread anger but goes on to argue that the modern plight is heightened by the promotion of individualism and the rise of globalisation.

AGE OF ANGER will be released in the United Kingdom on 26th January 2017. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.

Shoot The Messenger by Shane Kuhn

quippe — Sun, 13 Nov 2016 20:47:55 GMT

The Blurb On The Back:

Meet John Lago: hitman, film fan, dangerously in love.

The object of his affection is Alice, who also happens to be John’s nemesis, a fellow killer and now the wife he never knew he wanted. Together, this thrill-seeking, lethal couple aim to take over John’s former employers Human Resources Inc – a group of assassins who get close to their high-profile targets in the guide of office interns.

But an anonymous tip about an FBI mole in the organisation drives a wedge between the happy couple and all hell breaks loose in a hail of bullets.

Till death do us part.

It’s 3 years after KILL YOUR BOSS and John Lago is in prison, having been captured by the FBI. But if Assistant Director Fletcher thinks he can control the interrogation, he’s got another thing coming. Lago will give Fletcher all the information he wants, but he has one demand: he wants to see Alice. While Fletcher uses the information Lago gives him to track Alice down, Lago tells the story of how he tracked Alice down after what happened in Honduras and how the two got married and proceeded to take over Human Resources Inc. But every marriage has its problems and when the couple are paranoid killers who get a tip that Human Resources Inc has been infiltrated by a FBI mole, their marriage breaks down in a more deadly way than most and the bullets really begin to fly …

Shane Kuhn’s black comedy crime thriller sequel to KILL YOUR BOSS is a laugh-out-loud thrill ride that kept me entertained despite a few pacing issues towards the end and a plot twist that manages to be guessable without making a huge amount of sense. I really enjoyed the twisted courtship between John and Alice (especially the mutual shooting) and how that devolves amid mutual suspicion and paranoia following the tip that there’s an FBI mole in Human Resources Inc. There are some genuinely hilarious scenes (my favourites revolve around their posing as interns in an organisation where Alice is trying to kill a target and John is trying to keep him alive with the pair trying to kill each other in the interim) and I loved the introduction of Sue (a ruthless, technically proficient Human Resources Inc employee who becomes John’s confidant). However there are also some pacing issues (I didn’t need to see John go through another training rebirth no matter how entertaining it was) and a key twist towards the end really didn’t make a lot of sense given the way the story unravels. I also think there were points where Alice risks becoming a two-dimensional psychopathic killer sex doll and I wished that she’d been as switched onto risks as John tells us he is. That said, I really enjoy the energy to these books and the black humour really appeals to me. If Kuhn produces a third novel then I’d definitely read it or failing that, his next project.

The Verdict:

Shane Kuhn’s black comedy crime thriller sequel to KILL YOUR BOSS is a laugh-out-loud thrill ride that kept me entertained despite a few pacing issues towards the end and a plot twist that manages to be guessable without making a huge amount of sense. I really enjoyed the twisted courtship between John and Alice (especially the mutual shooting) and how that devolves amid mutual suspicion and paranoia following the tip that there’s an FBI mole in Human Resources Inc. There are some genuinely hilarious scenes (my favourites revolve around their posing as interns in an organisation where Alice is trying to kill a target and John is trying to keep him alive with the pair trying to kill each other in the interim) and I loved the introduction of Sue (a ruthless, technically proficient Human Resources Inc employee who becomes John’s confidant). However there are also some pacing issues (I didn’t need to see John go through another training rebirth no matter how entertaining it was) and a key twist towards the end really didn’t make a lot of sense given the way the story unravels. I also think there were points where Alice risks becoming a two-dimensional psychopathic killer sex doll and I wished that she’d been as switched onto risks as John tells us he is. That said, I really enjoy the energy to these books and the black humour really appeals to me. If Kuhn produces a third novel then I’d definitely read it or failing that, his next project.