Books to be Reviewed: Cree by Una

Thanks to ,m,mm,m, for sending me a copy of the graphic novel Cree by the author Una for reviewing. This work of fiction is designed to convey a powerful message about how to appreciate the people and places in your life using an informal style of annotated illustration.

"In the everyday struggle, when beauty fades from view, slow down, pause a moment, look, listen. You might find things brighter than clearer than they seemed – even when your heart, broken, still beating, beats ill, beats low."

I have browsed through this book already and a review will appear here once I have had time to fully appreciate the aims of this work. Anyone wishing to purchase a copy can do so here - Cree by Una.

Book Review: Midnight Comes at Noon

Prolific author Daniel Easterman starts this novel with a very unusual and intriguing premise of a whole village of people being replaced by a mysterious group of counterparts a short time before the visit of the President of The United States of America. A dramatic and bloody shootout follows in which the President is kidnapped along with his wife and a young girl in their care whose father is the main literary focus while he attempts to rescue the kidnappers victims.

This exciting and original beginning then develops into a typical story of pursuit which takes the protagonists around the world before the concluding scenes. As interesting as the first few chapters are, this take starts to lose its originality by halfway through and becomes rather predictable and unoriginal for its second half.

Book Review: The Sound of Falling by Scott D. Brillon

In The Sound of Falling author Scott D. Brillon takes the reader into the world of high-school student Bayard Bitter during a particularly difficult time in his and his friend's lives. Bayard is forced into dealing with the persistent bullying of his best friend and the downward spiral of drug abuse and lack of self-respect by the girl he has feelings for he gets into a series of fights and loses his way in his studies. An inappropriate girlfriend and being witness to a liaison between a teacher and student make matters worse and as the situation spirals out of control his friend confides in him a terrible secret.

This story expertly captures the drama that can complicate the lives of teenagers and makes the reader feel like they are witnessing the events for themselves and creating a wonderful sense of intrigue about how these events will conclude.

Books to be Reviewed: Missing Him by L Penn

Thanks to L Penn for providing me with a copy of her book Missing Him for reviewing. This is a work of fiction which is told through a series of flashbacks as a conflicted woman goes through therapy revealing secrets from her love life eventually leading to shocking result.

"While in therapy, the flawed and contradictory Emery Pearson struggles to explain her character with therapist Susan James. And in order to secure her release from troubling situations, she must prove she is no longer a threat to anyone she could possibly fall in love with... Ever again."

I am looking forward to reading what sounds like an unusual story. A review will appear on this website soon. Anyone wishing to purchase it now can do so here - Missing Him.

Book Review: Atlantis by David Gibbins

Author David Gibbins begins this novel with an archaeological discovery  in an ancient Egyptian tomb which sets the characters along the road of discovery in the quest of the lost city of Atlantis. Although this is very much a work of fiction, it contains a lot of factual information surrounding the legend of Atlantis to give it the feeling that it could be true. A series of follow-up discoveries lead a team, led by Jack Howard, to the Black Sea where the investigation of underwater ruins is complicated by an abandoned nuclear submarine and a well-equipped organization of piratical treasure-hunters.

This is a fast-paced story where one discovery quickly leads to another which is followed by rapid code-breaking and expert-level knowledge-based deduction from the collection of experts that are assembled here. The combined effect of quick-fire problem solving and archaeology  makes it feel like the author is attempting to create a cross between the Da Vinci Code and Indiana Jones; he fails miserably.

Book Review: Mister Roberts by Alexei Sayle

Anyone who knows the British comedian and author of this book, Alexei Sayle, will know that he has a reputation for the bizarre and here he provides a short novel with one of the most unusual stories that readers are likely to come across. Set in an expat community in Spain a boy with an irresponsible mother discovers an incredible machine which originates from another planet that gives him the ability to masquerade as a powerful, but mute, adult: Mister Roberts.

This is a short novel with a simple plot but one which is so boldly preposterous that it is instantly fascinating and makes the reader turn the page in a desire to know where this unusual premise can be leading. The story is also punctuated with amusing asides and similes, but gradually it reveals a more serious underlying message about how to behave responsibly when in possession of power.

Book Review: I Spy With My Little Eye by Linnea Mills

I Spy With My Little Eye is a non-fiction publication which reflects on a wide variety of modern behaviour and lifestyle choices. Author Linnea Mills examines subjects such as social media use, short-termism is politics and daily life, sexual attitudes, consumerism and celebrity culture among other themes and asks serious questions about the morality of modern society in Britain.

The author uses chapters that are defined by the seven deadly sins and seven heavenly virtues to categorize and dissect the subject matter. That, though, is not to say this is a religious book, it most certainly is not, instead these are used to clearly and effectively define to the reader what the chapter is about using a variety of well-referenced examples delivered in an engaging and easy-to-read style. Although this book deals with serious ideas, it is not a heavy book in either the way it is written nor in size.

Book Review: The Secrets of the Lazarus Club by Tony Pollard

The Lazarus Club is a fictional society of great Victorian minds, which include Brunel, Babbage & Stephenson, formed to share and bring together progressive and revolutionary ideas in their respective fields; an innocent and stuffy sounding group but one that has secret aims and rivalries that lead to murder. In author Tony Pollard's first work of fiction Dr George Phillips is invited to join this group of high-achievers but is used as a pawn, from the very beginning, by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to further his secret ambition to construct a world-changing piece of apparatus, an invention that others want to obtain for a much more sinister aim.

This historical thriller is full of intrigue, capturing perfectly the atmosphere of the time in Victorian dockyards, hospitals and the sickly River Thames, transporting the reader to those places in that time while weaving a gripping tale that, at times, is reminiscent of Dickens or Conan-Doyle but in a style that caters to modern readers.

Book Review: Mr Dixon Disappears by Ian Sansom

In Mr Dixon Disappears author Ian Sansom gives his second outing to his character, Israel Armstrong; mobile librarian to a small Irish town and, once again, a reluctant and incapable detective. Having settled successfully the previous Case of the Missing Books and been reluctantly  accepted as part of the scenery in his adopted home in County Antrim, Israel embarks on a new project, a display of the history of the town's oldest store, only to find himself as the chief suspect in the disappearance of Mr Dixon, the owner of the store.

This light-hearted story begins with an interesting and entertaining premise, with a style that is easy to read and relaxing, introducing many of the characters from the previous installment. However, after a promising start the author seems to have gone into auto-pilot and most of the characters in this tale end up having no purpose other than as a nod to fans of the previous story, almost as if they were a catch-phrase to be acknowledged in a mid 1980s sitcom.

Books to be Reviewed: I Spy With My Little Eye by Linnea Mills

Thanks to Linnea Mills for sending me a copy of her book I Spy With My Little Eye for reviewing. This is a non-fiction book which investigates modern life and morality in Britain, indeed, the tagline to the title is "A journey through the moral landscape of Britain".

"Which direction is our society heading in? Does it provide a good enough nurturing ground for the next generation to flourish? Is it time we took a good look at our values and behaviour and changed course? Dr Linnea Mills offers a frank discussion about the prevailing norms and values in today’s Britain, interpreted through the seven deadly sins and seven heavenly virtues. She tackles head-on topics as diverse as celebrity culture, work-life balance, immigration politics and economic divisions. This is a book for anyone with a keen interest in society, philosophy and politics. Get inspired and join the debate."

A review will appear on this website soon. For those who wish to purchase it now it is available here - I Spy With My Little Eye.

Book Review: The Religion by Tim Willocks

The Religion, by author Tim Willocks, is set upon the island of Malta in 1565 and follows the exploits of Mathias Tannhauser, an adventurer and mercenary who embarks on a mission to locate a Maltese Noblewoman's estranged son. This quest is set during the time and true events of the great siege of Malta, which pitched the Knight's Hospitaller and people of Malta against the combined forces of the Ottoman Empire and its allies, one of the last great crusader battles.

The Religion is an extremely well-researched and equally well-written novel but whilst large parts of the book are devoted to battle scenes, the prose does not adopt a descriptive, repetitive or hackneyed style; in fact the descriptions of combat are brutal, gory, poetic and written in a gripping style full of suspense with larger than life heroes and villains as the combatants.

Book Review: The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

It is interesting to note that Victor Hugo never wrote a novel called "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", this is an English translation of the original title which would better be named "Notre Dame of Paris". This title far better introduces the reader to the content of the book which focuses on a narrative around the cathedral rather than Quasimodo, the hunchback; in essence the book is driven by the location, not by the characters.

This, then, highlights the main drawback, for me, of this famous work of fiction, in that it dwells far too long upon creating the atmosphere of the cathedral and its surroundings in neglect of the plot of the book. It will have been said that this is a masterpiece of literature in the way it paints a portrait of life in this part of Paris at that point in its history but in my opinion the author takes far, far too long to get to the point and becomes very boring, a chore to read rather than a pleasure, a literary battle to even get to the point at which the Hunchback is introduced.

Book Review: So Shall We Reap by Colin Tudge

Food continues to become cheaper and accessible through supermarkets, but is it getting better, and is the current supply sustainable? In "So Shall We Reap" author Colin Tudge deals with such questions by linking gastronomy, the hunter gatherer and the rural economy to oil production, health, animal welfare and cut-throat business practices. In this book the reader learns about the global food industry and how it has changed throughout the last century and how these changes have resulted in the call for Genetically Modified Organisms by parties set to benefit economically by their introduction.

Although written by a scientist, who is able to rely on a wide variety of disciplines from which he provides evidence for his arguments, this book is an enjoyable and informative read, linking from one topic to another with great skill in something of a revelationary, but not preachy, style.

Book Review: Mogadishu Diaries, Bloodlines by Eddie Clay Thomkins III

"Mogadishu Diaries, Bloodlines" follows the exploits of a group of US Marines, between 1992-1993, taking part in the conflict in Somalia in which time local warlords were targeted by the US and UN in an attempt to restore stability to this East African country. In this book Eddie Clay Thomkins III provides a narrative account of the events in Somalia that preceded those which were made famous in the book and resultant movie, "Blackhawk Down".

In Bloodlines the author has created a book which is both interesting and easy-to-read, not getting bogged down in long, superfluous, background story but just getting straight into the action. Indeed, so easy it is to read that it actually feels a bit light for the subject matter and it is testament to the way that the events are described, in a reader-friendly way, that the end is reached so quickly that readers may feel a little short-changed in terms of the amount of content here.

Book Review: Slam by Nick Hornby

"Slam" is an amusing insight into the life of a teenager who is cruising through life, happy with his lot, until a small mistake changes his life forever. Nick Hornby is well-known for his books in which he writes about the feelings and emotions of the characters dealing with the type of situations that effect every day people and in Slam he does an incredible job of writing in the narrative of a teenager obsessed with skate-boarding.

This story is about how the main character, Sam, has to deal with the consequences of his actions as he is dealt with the problems of a man while still a teenager - the increasingly familiar issue of teenage pregnancy. What is interesting in this book is how Sam's perception of living with the consequences of his actions contrast with an alternative version of what could happen and how Sam, in the absence of a father figure, turns for life advice to the unlikely guru-like figure of the skater Tony Hawk.

Book Review: Whatever Loves Means by David Baddiel

Author, David Baddiel, sets his novel, "Whatever Love Means", during the hysteria surrounding the death of Princess Diana, in 1997, where a difference of opinion on how this historical event affects people's everyday lives drives the initial wedge between a married couple that begins a process in which, ultimately, several close relationships are utterly destroyed.

Played out to the backdrop of a national event in which many people try their best to turn into their own personal tragedy, a real rupture occurs in the life of Joe and his family as his wife dies in mysterious circumstances leaving him with their small child to look after. Not prepared to accept the official account of the circumstances of his wife's death Joe delves further into the tragedy only to find that he has been terribly let down by all of those who were closest to him.

Book Review: The World According to Bertie by Alexander McCall Smith

The "44 Scotland Street" novels are one of the series of books that Alexander McCall Smith is known for and this is the fourth installment. Set in Edinburgh the reader follows a snapshot of the lives of the inhabitants of Scotland Street, with the young Bertie as a central character, a boy who is unfortunate enough to have an over-protective and over-ambitious mother pushing him into music classes and yoga lessons when all he wants to do is be a normal little boy.

The strength of this book lies in the characters. Seldom have I read a book with so many interesting and unusual characters that quickly make the reader want to know more about them and find out where their story is going to end up; the art dealer and his new girlfriend the teacher, the Jacobites, the woman whose father "buys" her a husband and little Bertie himself. Unfortunately, this leads to the major weakness of this book; the reader never gets very deep into any of the characters lives, they are spread rather thinly through the book and not one of them has their narrative concluded. In other words there is no plot at all.

Book Review: Martyr by Rory Clements

Rory Clements' first novel, Martyr, is an intriguing crime thriller set in Elizabethan England. John Shakespeare is one of Francis Walsingham's Intelligencers, charged with tracking down Catholics and protecting Sir Francis Drake as England approaches war with Spain. In this novel Shakespeare investigates the mysterious death of one of the Queen's relatives and this drags him into the murky underworld of London and pits him against another of the Queen's powerful agents.

I have been a fan of detective novels since reading Sherlock Holmes as a teenager but have grown slightly tired of the standard crime novel recently so this mystery with an Elizabethan twist was a nice change. In this period there are no need for arrest warrants, information can be extracted through torture and threats while suspects can go missing without trace in the squalid prison system. The reader will find no subtle and scientific inquiry methods here, just rudimentary investigative skills, brutality and corruption; a wonderful change from jaded cops and high-tech forensic experts.

Book Review: Siege by Jack Hight

Siege is author, Jack Hight's, first novel, a fictional dramatization of the real-life siege and consequent fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. In this novel historical characters are portrayed in the years preceding the battle of Constantinople and ultimately in the battle for the city itself as well as the aftermath.

This book tells this historical tale from several years before the events of the battle and the author builds the political intrigue in a manner full of suspense. The opening chapters of the book also introduce a set of characters that the reader can believe in, as well as care about, on both the Christian and Islamic factions that are a part of these events. Even though the events preceding the battle perhaps occupy a little too much of this book, this part of the novel is well-written and the reader becomes engrossed in the small events that shape the lives of the main protagonists.

Book Review: Beatrice & Virgil by Yann Martel

In Beatrice and Virgil author, Yann Martel, introduces the reader to a writer who has become famous for a novel that is about animals but finds producing his follow-up book too much of a challenge for him, particularly as his plans are for a novel that takes an original perspective on the holocaust. After rejection from his publisher Henry decides to move his family to another city for a fresh start and it is there that, as unlikely as it may seem, he meets another writer who is struggling to write his own allegorical representation of the holocaust using animals in the form of a play.

I am a great fan of Yann Martel's most famous book, The Life of Pi, so with that in mind I was looking forward to enjoying another piece of masterful storytelling from this author, particularly given the original and unlikely premise; unfortunately I read Beatrice and Virgil instead.