CHAOS VECTOR starts right after where Velocity Weapon left off, and plunges you straight into more political intrigue, action, subterfuge, and enough double crossing to make your head swivel as if possessed. And like Velocity Weapon, O’Keefe will lead you merrily on a chase while feeding you breadcrumbs so you think you know exactly what’s going on and then? Blindside you with a fabulous curve ball.

Nothing is as it seems and, while we know Biran and Sanda are straight arrows carrying the weight of twisted plot threads, everyone—including those closest to the siblings—have storied pasts that leave you to wonder about allegiance and motives. 

I was so happy to see more page time given to characterisation, as familiar faces put in an appearance—and we learn more not only about Graham, Nox, and Arden, but also Tomas and the dreaded Nazca. What was also interesting is finding out about Prime Director Okonkwo, and the creation of the Keepers and GC, as well as the secrets they protect. And, in doing so, O’Keefe fills in some much needed background on the players who were foundational in events leading up to where we are now. 

As far as characters go, I would liked to have seen Rainier’s storyline given centre stage rather than that of Jules Valentine’s. The latter being used more as a vehicle, and less of a character in and of herself. I felt the impact of Rainier’s eventual revelations could have hit such a sweet spot had we been following her path (as a major player) rather than Jules. But then, that’s just my own personal opinion.

Of course, I don’t want to spoil anything so I’m not discussing some major and very juicy plot points. But just know you’re in for as many surprises in Chaos Vector as there were in Velocity Weapon. Let’s just say there’s definitely plenty of action, hair-raising battles, lots of backstabbing, plenty of misdirects, and any number of revelations that just may leave you dumbfounded.

Then, of course, there is one other exciting thing to talk about and … oh, no, wait, that would be telling. And, as I’ve already said, this review contains no spoilers so, guess what, you better grab a copy for yourself, and get reading!

Dear Writer,

While it might be true, you are the next Truman Capote, budding Frank Herbert, or even maybe the Ernest Hemingway. You really should know that I am unable to give you any advice on how to outline, write, rewrite, market, or even sell your book. I no longer have the connections to refer you to the best literary agent, let alone a competent one. Besides, my limited time does not allow me the luxury of reading any and all material you decide to send me, unsolicited, let alone give you an opinion on. And even if I could, there are only so many hours in the day and like any of my species (a one-time over-worked editor) I have a limited life span. Which, I might add, is getting shorter by the minute having to answer your questions and emails.

Reading a manuscript, appending tracking notes, and giving pertinent advice about it, is not only time-consuming, but is a paid, skilled job performed by professionals. My advice to you is not to ask an editor to do this job for you, for free, unless you're friends, and I mean, a really close friend. Otherwise, you should be willing to compensate the editor as you would your lawyer, your dentist, or doctor, when seeking their professional advice and help.

If you are still looking for free advice and some pertinent articles on writing then, by all means, become a subscriber to my blog.

Yours sincerely,

Alexandra
a retired ex-editor

I absolutely love the Great British Bake Off so, when I saw this book challenge I though 'yeah, sign me up for that one.'

ON YOUR MARKS – A Book You Can’t Wait To Read

I can't wait to read The Last Mandarin, a fast-paced, all-too-real thriller co-written by #1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny and award-winning journalist Mellissa Fung, global politics become personal for two unlikely heroines.

The Last Mandarin is an electrifying study of absolute power and voracious greed, political terror and personal conviction. But it is also, as to be expected from the minds of Louise Penny, beloved author of the Gamache novels, and Mellissa Fung, an acclaimed international journalist, an intimate examination of choice, of sacrifice, of memory and myths, both cultural and personal. It is the story of a mother and daughter, as well as a compelling international thriller about the precarious balance of power across the world, and within a family. And what happens when both break down.

SIGNATURE BAKE – A Book From Your Favourite Genre

This series, Her Majesty Investigates, by SJ Bennett just goes from strength to strength and this title is one that's been on my radar for a while. 

SHOWSTOPPER – A Book With A Beautiful Cover

Though I love SFF and read a lot of crime fiction, I also love a good historical novel now and then, and recently discovered The Boleyn Curse which also just happens to have a great cover.

The court of young King Henry VIII seethes with secrets and scandals, but every ambition has its price. Elizabeth Boleyn, loyal wife to Thomas Boleyn and devoted mother to Anne, Mary and George, believes she can navigate the shifting tides of court life. But when she catches the eye of the lascivious king, Elizabeth is drawn into a perilous game and the cost of her defiance will echo through the generations.

SOGGY BOTTOM – A Book That Made You Cry

There are not many book that make me cry but there was a certain scene in Foundryside that, when a certain character died, got me really choked up. And yes, I may have shed a tear or two.

HOLLYWOOD HANDSHAKE – Your Perfect Book

I read The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett last year and it was, for me at least, the perfect fantasy read (if ever there was one). Excellently written from cover to cover, a unique setting and clever world building, I was hooked from page one.

LEAVING THIS WEEK – A Book You Didn’t Finish

Ugh, I have read one too many books that ended up being a DNF for one reason or another. 

STAR BAKER – A Five Star Read

My 5-Star read? Has to be the superb second book in the Shadow of the Leviathan series, A Drop Of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett.

AND THE WINNER IS – A Book By A Favourite Author

As anyone who reads knows, it's really hard to choose just one book as a winner/favourite out of all the books we read week to week. So asking me to choose just one is thrown me into a quandary. I want to say one of the above mentioned books but is that cheating?

So I'm going to choose THE TAINTED CUP (mentioned above) — book one in the Shadow of the Leviathan series by Robert Jackson Bennett — as it's the book I read that got me back into reading fantasy again after a very long hiatus.

And you Dear Reader, what would make it onto your Great British Bake Off list?

Community Echoes:

• Cliff

This novella may only be 102 pages long, but each and ever page of In Shadows We Fall drips with palace politics, intrigue, and deception. Madson’s Aurealis award-winning prequel to the Vengeance trilogy, rips along at a blistering pace leaving the reader no time to pause and catch their breath. Let alone stop to reflect as, in a pitched battle of wits, the Empress Li plots the downfall of her God-Emperor husband, the Emperor Lan.

Madson literally drops us straight into the heart of this story from the outset, with the Empress plotting against her cheating husband with two of her trusted guards, Cheng and Koto. And before we know what’s really happening, Li has murder two people in the dead of night. I mean, come on, this woman really wants revenge.

“My knife failed to glint dramatically in the light, but it did not fail to pierce the soft skin of the man’s neck. His throat offered resistance like aged meat, but I had no time for finesse. I ripped the blade through it, spraying blood. His eyes opened. He wheezed. Bubbled. Failed. Crimson spilled upon the page before I could snatch it away, though snatch it away I did. Just as wide, fearful eyes found me they began to roll back, though whether he recognised my face I would never know.”

Just as quickly, we begin to understand why—not only has the Emperor found a replacement for his wife in the form of a younger more amenable paramour, one he even flouts in open court to humiliate her. He’s plotting to betray his own country, using mercenaries, thereby plunging Kisia into a prolonged war with their northern neighbour, Chiltae. A war Li knows her country can ill afford to wage, let alone its people.

In Shadows We Fall delivers brilliantly on both world building and plot, and while others have said the weak link is characterisation. I beg to differ. I think the whole concept is one long character study, done at its best, I might add. In which we get to grips with Empress Li, her motives, her pain, the turmoil, and more to the point, just what she’s willing to do and sacrifice in order to bring down Lan. And if that means using her 3 year-old son as an assassin, then so be it.

The writing is effortless and at all times we are fully engaged in events as they move at a brisk pace. Everything unfolds in Li’s last few days in the palace, to quite the unexpected, explosive end, in which fate has the final word.

For me, this novel is a masterful exposition of a moment in time, encapsulated in blood-dripping violence and intrigue that will leave you breathless at the end.

While Andrew Taylor beautifully evokes the stifled atmosphere of New York City under siege during the War of Independence (also referred to as the ‘Revolutionary War’). And gives us a plausible enough character in the guise of Mr. Edward Savill, a clerk for the American Office based in London. The over-all arcing storyline could have done with some judicious (if not) ruthless editing to bring the unwieldily mess into a more manageable read. As it stands, The Scent of Death meanders all over the place, so much so, that at one point I had to abandon it.

It wasn’t so much from boredom, as tedium from an over abundance of exposition and story lines, that could have, IMHO, been a little more succinct and to the point. It’s one thing to describe a place, in detail, and evoke a sense of being there, and then, quite another to drown the reader in minutia.

That isn’t to say I didn’t, in the end, enjoy this historically set mystery, just that I would have liked to have arrived at its conclusion a lot faster than I did. Especially as at the latter stages of Savill’s journey of discovery, it feels like the author suddenly rushed the ending, in comparison that went before.

That said, the characters were, for the most part, well-drawn and delineated. As was the setting, from the gritty, realistic brutality of Canvas Town, down to the rest of the city struggling under shortages.

Much of the intrigue and mystery of the novel is centred around the Wintour family which Savill is lodging with, rather than the war itself. But this too suffers from a meandering narrative that fails to deliver any real surprises at the book’s end.

All in all, while The Scent of Death may be well researched and accurate in certain detail, it suffers from glacial pacing and unsympathetic characters who lacked any emotional depth to make the mystery worth bothering about.

I so wanted to ‘like’ EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE by Peter May but, in the end, this one was a little too staged, with sluggish pacing. Moments that could have and should have been tense, and dramatic, were lost amid the travelogue descriptions that sucked up more than their fair share of page length. It’s all very well to set the scene, but quite another to go on and on with too much incidental detail, that it becomes tedious.

The characters themselves were under developed and, at times, a little too opaque, if not, obvious. The plodding French detective who smokes too much. The far-left leaning reporter who dresses like a film star. To the femme fatale psychologist MacLeod falls in love with who seems to be as clueless as Enzo. Never mind that one too many of the situation they found themselves in—whether finding convenient clues on Google, to someone standing on a plaque dedicated to a dead dog—were all a little to contrived for my liking.

The lead character of Enzo—has already enjoyed an amazing life with two daughters by different women, a divorced wife, a dead mistress and a drastic career change resulting in moving to another country. All this before the book even starts—sounded too much like a drop-out hippie (think Scottish comedian Billy Connolly) rather than the respected forensic specialist turned professor he’s supposed to be. And for someone who was supposed to have been at the top of his game, a specialist in his field, he doesn’t know how to use a computer, is somewhat laughable. Suspension of disbelief is stretched to the max.

Add in the fact that he’s perpetually being on the derogatory side when in the company of women, from eyeing and ogling a 23 year-old student’s breasts to lusting after a woman he’s only just met, and the ex of one of his (supposedly) closest friends. It make the man come across as lecherous. Or, as a Scot might say, a dirty old man! Maybe the author was pouring a little bit too much of himself into Enzo than is considered healthy. Either way, it didn’t endear the character to me in any way, shape, or form.

That said, if you like the simplistic kind of murder mysteries, where the befuddled hero steadfastly unravels all the arcane clues to their conclusion—contrived or otherwise—then you might like this. Otherwise I suggest you look elsewhere.

The Last Smile in Sunder City is a dark urban fantasy and the first book in a planned series, the Fetch Phillips Archives, which promises a great deal more in depth world building and character development. And, even for a debut, Arnold packs it in—for a world that once ran on magic nothing will ever be the same. Every conceivable magical creature, and there are some that even defy imagination, the loss of magic has been devastating. Some died instantly, age catching up with them, while others linger, clinging to the vestiges of their past lives, caught in something of a twilight world.

Enter Fetch Phillips, a man for hire, and a habitual drunk, with a mysterious past that haunts him.

At the beginning, Fetch is hired to find a missing professor, an ageing vampire, who has suddenly vanished. And, as he begins to investigate this seemingly benign case of a missing person, we’re treated to a great deal of delicious world building, intriguing back story, and the current lay of the land. Including introductions to some of what, I assume, will be supporting characters in subsequent instalments to come.

Arnold unravels the story through two timelines, the first of which focuses in on Fetch locating the missing professor. And, the more he stumbles around Sunder City hoping to come across clues, the more we get to know Fetch, the city, and those who are left clinging to life. Told in the first person POV—in an almost noir detective style—Fetch Phillips is imbued with a great deal of disparaging observational wit.

What’s also obvious from the get go is, Fetch Phillips is a broken man.

Just how he got there is explained in the second thread, set in the past—in flashback—giving us glimpses of what led up to his participation in the loss of magic—and the tragic events that brought about the downfall of magical creatures and, of course, Fetch Phillips himself.

Full of intriguing world building, and a number of interesting characters, The Last Smile in Sunder City is a thoroughly engrossing read. And while there is little to no action, that in and of itself is not a bad thing. I only noticed near the end when we did have a flurry of activity, that little had gone on beforehand. But, going out in a blaze of glory or is that, gore? Fetch learns the hard way what happens when hope rears its ugly head and offers a chance at redemption.

Not to spoil things, Fetch finds his man, or is that, vampire, and the truth about the young woman the professor was tutoring. And thus, we know from events set in motion, that there is a lot more yet to come, both from the past and in the future.

My only complaint is that I would have liked to have seen a little more depth to the supporting characters. But, as it is, I’m sure we’re going to get more as the series progresses. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Fetch Phillips, Sunder City, and the denizens of this lost world.

Ack-Ack Macaque by Gareth L. Powell, is a cleverly plotted and thoroughly immersive alternative future in which you believe a monkey can fly a spitfire. With its well-drawn characters, page-turning intrigue, and clever plot twists—never mind, several neat surprises I never saw coming—it will have you chugging back the strong coffee way into the wee small hours of night, just to finish it.

This is one of those reads that, just when you think the stakes couldn’t get any higher, Powell dials up the adrenalin and ups the ante. All the while leaving you breathlessly rooting for the good guys, as they battle against not only the odds, but their own insecurities and doubt. Thankfully, Victoria, Merovech and, of course, the monkey of the moment himself, Ack-Ack Macaque, throw themselves into the fray determined to change the outcome, no matter the personal cost. And with guns blazing, take the reader on an action-packed, roller-coaster ride of fun and adventure.

A clever hybrid of SF, with a dash of alternative history, melded with a fabulous helping of Steampunk. Powell skilfully blends genres all without missing a single beat. Putting Ack-Ack Macaque up there with the best of them and one you’ll find yourself talking about long after you’ve finished reading the last page.

In short, Powell shows us his prowess and proves he is fast becoming a master storyteller.

The world building in Race the Sands treads familiar ground and gives us an Egyptian style setting and culture, living along a great river—the Aur—surrounded by desert. A fabulous dressed fantasy city, the Heart of Becar, and the usual slew of towns and villages with people focused with making a living off the land.

Where Race The Sands differs from the standard tropes, is two-fold. The spiritual needs of the population are administered to by Augurs, and not priest. Only the purest of the pure can become augurs. Gifted with the ability to read people’s auras and determine their future fate, after death. Individuals with flawed auras are not reborn as birds, or as higher animals, but bugs, rats, and insects. Or worse, those with the darkest of souls are reborn as chimeric monsters known as, Kehoks.

It’s these monsters, or kehoks, that are central to the story. The Becarians love to race and, what do they race? Why, of course, kehoks. Impossible to tame, and nearly as impossible to train, nonetheless, monsters are corralled and trainers are engaged by the wealthy to teach riders how to—at the bare minimum—control these monsters, long enough to race them. Race them and become champions and never want for anything else in life. Making this a dream for some as a way to escape poverty and misfortune.

Which brings us to our two main characters: Tamra, a trainer with a storied past. Once upon a time champion rider who, after injury, becomes a trainer. But, after a disaster on the race track the previous year, where both her kehok and rider died. She’s fallen from grace and favour and desperate to find a championship winning combo of kehok and rider.

As chance would have it, Tamra finds Raia, a runaway, who likewise down on her luck is desperate to earn enough money to buy off her parents and win her freedom. Raia’s backstory sets her up perfectly. Used and abused by those who should have given her love. Raia is willing to do what ever it takes to be free.

The story has a number of interesting layer that, personally, I just wished had been given as much depth and background as both Tamra and Raia’s backstories. As it is, there are a number of other intriguing threads woven into the plot, which is, in general, narrated from Tamra and Raia’s POV.
Joining Tamra and Raia is Dar, a prince who is thrust into the position of Emperor in waiting when his brother Zarin, the Emperor, dies. Leaving the realm open to invasion and war due to a weird set of politics and law. Laws that say Dar cannot be crowned the next Emperor till the vessel for his brother’s soul is found. Giving us a another series of plot threads involving palace intrigue, backstabbing, a lot of gossip, and espionage.

Then we have Augur Yorbel, a kindly scholar with a gentle nature who has—in a way—befriended the young Prince Dar, and goes on his own quest to help discover Zarin’s vessel when the Augurs who have been set the task, fail. And what he discovers is the surprise twist for the entire story.

The last character in this mix I want to talk about is Tamra’s patron, the very eccentric Lady Evara, who, it can be said, adds some comic relief while also being something of a surprise. Her backstory was as intriguing and as complex as Tamra’s and the reasoning behind her motivation. I found her to be a fun addition to the disparate troupe thrown together by circumstances.

What Durst has done is bring together a number of intriguing elements through these characters giving us plenty of action and adventure, drama, and plot twists. The story is—in part—a coming of age story. A story about family, bonding, and what makes family well, family, whether you’re a high-born prince, a lowly kehok rider, or a monster. And with Tamra, there is no distinction. She is the glue that holds them, and the story, all together.

I will say, apart from a few annoying dips and being a little long-winded, this is a rollicking good fantasy romp out in the desert. Climb on board your chosen kehok and just enjoy the ride, and let the wind whip through your hair!

Oh dear, where do I start? Let’s get this one out the way first, billed as Kill Bill meets High Plains Drifter, RED NOISE is neither. It lacks the finesse, the heart, the emotion, and most importantly, the brutal action that peppered both Kill Bill and High Plains Drifter or any damn spaghetti western.

RED NOISE should be a cracking good read given its premise, a lone gunman who comes to town, get’s ripped off, and decides to clean out the bad guys and save the day. Sad to say, this version misses the mark by a couple of thousand light years.

Our erstwhile anti-hero is a miner, a woman, who prefers to be alone, and, we’re repeatedly told, has a scarred face. A point that is emphasised a couple of times, but to what end, I’m not sure? To make her behaviour more acceptable, more man-like, because that’s how the character comes across. As if, at the last minute, the author changed his mind.

But that aside, man or woman, this should have been so much more, and wasn’t. There is little if any world building, and scant details or background to the set up on the ageing space station. Instead we’re offered up a ‘Mysterious man’ scenario who, having been cheated, takes out a form of twisted revenge under the guise of cleaning up the spaceport.

But what we’re never given is any reasoning behind anyone’s behaviour, actions, or motives beyond the banal. These people are bad … in fact, they’re all sad rejects, and the bad is what we’re told. Like everything in this drab story, we’re ‘told it’ rather than shown.

The same with the so-called action pieces, most of which happen off page so we are just ‘told’ once again, what happened. So that everything becomes one long monotonous piece of exposition punctuated by the occasional inane dialogue that, believe me, is not in any way funny, droll or witty—as advertised.

There is nothing witty here, nothing vaguely or remotely interesting because the characters themselves lack any definition, depth, or background. The most exciting character described—and this happens about the halfway mark (200 plus pages in)—is NUKE, a guy with a nuclear bomb attacked to his heart, who’s in exile from the station… well, for obvious reason, otherwise this dull story would be over in a heartbeat, with a large explosion.

The MC herself lacks any depth, detail, or background and is otherwise referred to, throughout, as just the Miner. Or, because of a brief conversation with one of the heavies, Boss Feeney, early on, as either Jane, because she saw a book title, or Mick, because her hacked bank account name is, Mickey ‘Fucking’ Mouse. It’s all rather puerile.

And if this woman rubbed her chin once, she rubbed it every fecking five sentences.

Even with a lack of connection, empathy, or depth to the characters, this still could have been an interesting read if there had actually been a story, any real action, and less meandering of everyone from point A to point B, through endless dirty dull grey corridors, with endless explanations of the piss smell everywhere.

At 200 pages in my mind was apt to wander, as the repetition became mind-numbingly boring.

The author clearly dropped the ball when it comes to any kind of plot. Decided we didn’t need any world building, or depth, to a set of paper-thin characters whose only motivation seem to be in beating one another up. So that, in the end, I could not have cared less about anyone in this plodding excuse of a story that makes me wonder, why, oh why was this a Nebula Award finalist?

In conclusion, there is nothing fun, fast or entertaining about RED NOISE. May I humbly suggest you avoid it, as you might die of sheer boredom or otherwise drown in the author’s 440 pages of verbal diarrhoea!

This is a wonderfully written story about four young people, ranging in ages and backgrounds, set during World War Two, detailing all the horrors and ravages of war, and its effects on those struggling to survive. Vivid and sometimes, horrific moments punctate the spare prose of each character’s short chapters.

The four main characters: Florian (the Knight) a young Prussian with a mysterious stolen artefact, Joana, a Lithuanian nurse, and Emilia, an idealistic and damaged Polish girl who, at 15, is pregnant after being raped by Russian soldiers.

A fact we learn slowly over the course of the book, like many other heartbreaking details about each characters life. Their family, friends, and the tragedy each carries within them: secrets that weight them all down. Too young to carry such a heavy burden, but forced to by circumstances and war. The brutality that’s thrust upon them, and how each, in their own way, is forced to deal with pain unimaginable. The guilt and the shame they carry. And the horrors they have witnessed.

Despite the heavy weight subject, and the gruesome descriptions, we’re also offered a great deal of hope and light and small acts of heroism. Especially through the philosophical wisdom of the old Shoe Poet, whose positivity and moments of observational humour breaks up some of the bleakness. Sorry Eva too manages to momentarily divert us with her straightforward comments, opinionated about everything and everyone.

But the main focus are the four intersection stories of Florian, Joana, Emilia and Alfred, a young sailor who spends a great deal of time lost in his head narrating letters he’ll never write, to a girl from his childhood.

I loved the alternating chapters and the alternating points of view. Sepetys carefully weaves historical facts into what is a fictional account, and gives us glimpses of what life was like for those fleeing two mighty armies hellbent on destruction, at any cost: including the lives of innocent children.

Her prose perfectly captures the heartbreak and sets a tone we can relate too—whatever our age—to these four young people struggling for survival. Some of them will make it, others will not be so lucky. Sadly history tells us about the ship our characters were escaping to, the Wilhelm Gustloff, which was torpedoed by the Soviets in January 1945 with over 10,500 people onboard, more than 9,000 of whom perished in the frozen sea that fateful day.

Moving and uncomfortable, heartbreaking and yet, at times, also uplifting, SALT TO THE SEA is a look into what happens to displaced people, lost in the cracks of history, forgotten, and gives them a gentle, insistent ‘voice’ to be heard, by us, the reader.

The first question has to be, how did a girl from Birmingham (in the UK) end up training as a bounty hunter, in the US?

It was all in the name of research! Once I knew that Lori Anderson would be a bounty hunter I knew I needed to find out as much as I could about the realities of that job - and about how it felt being a woman in the largely male dominated profession of bounty hunting - in order to make Lori as a character, and the story itself, as authentic as possible. I researched it online and via books and TV, but there's no substitute to getting out there and finding things out first hand. By flying over to California and training with a really experienced bounty hunter, and in getting to speak with some great women who do the job for real, I felt better able to write about Lori's world and all the challenges she faces.

What part (if any) of your training as a bounty hunter formed the basis of your character, Lori Anderson, in DEEP DOWN DEAD?

All of the scenes which involve the 'business' of bounty hunting are informed by my training - in that there are specific processes and documentation that have to be followed and produced, and so I've tried to keep these as true to life as possible while also not letting the day-to-day stuff that's less interesting slow down the action. There are the little practical details too - things like the plexiglas divider in Lori's truck and her use of plasti-cuffs - that come directly from my training. But there are also things that are different from how I was trained - Lori (and JT her ex-mentor) operate in an old school way - they're lone operators - whereas in California where I trained it's much more the norm for bounty hunters to work in teams. This contrast is a main feature in the story of the second book in the series - DEEP BLUE TROUBLE - as Lori finds herself having to team up with a group of bounty hunters in San Diego and the differences in how they work (among other things!) is an increasing source of friction!

DEEP DOWN DEAD could be called 'Southern Noir' but it's so much more than that. Why the US and the South for your debut novel, and not say, London or Birmingham?

Ooooh I love the 'Southern Noir' term! I guess I wanted to set a thriller in the US because it's such a great backdrop for an action thriller - the scale of size and the individual personalities of each state makes it a perfect setting and one with endless possibilities as the series progresses. If I'd set it in the UK Lori would have ended up travelling around the M25 or up and down the M40 motorways!! I actually got the idea for the story when I was doing the drive Lori does from West Virginia to Florida, so it felt natural to set the book there. I'm also a big fan of US action thrillers - my writing heroes are people like Lee Child, Jeff Abbott, and John D MacDonald - when I think action thriller I automatically think US!

What made you decide to write Lori in the first-person POV?

It's how I heard her voice. When I was thinking about the story snippets of dialogue or narrative in her voice would come to me (usually as I was driving, in the bath or in a meeting for my day job!!) and when I jotted them down they'd always be in first person. It just seemed natural to write her in first person when I sat down at my keyboard to start the book.

And lastly, what can we expect for Lori in DEEP BLUE TROUBLE?

Well, the story picks up a few days after DEEP DOWN DEAD ends so I can't say too much or I'll give away the ending of that book... but, in essence, DEEP BLUE TROUBLE sees Lori in pursuit of a fugitive that she's caught once before. It takes place mainly in Florida and San Diego, and has Lori teaming up with a retired PI and a team of Californian bounty hunters to try and apprehend the fugitive before he makes it across the border to Mexico. It's about family secrets, betrayal and revenge, and again Lori faces some impossible choices.

AUTHOR BIO

Steph Broadribb aka www.crimethrillergirl.com has an MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) and trained as a Bounty Hunter in California. Her debut thriller DEEP DOWN DEAD was shortlisted for the eDunnit eBook of the year award, the Dead Good Reader Award for Fearless Female Character, and Dead Good Reader Award for Most Exceptional Debut.

Nahri is a young woman living by her wits on the streets of Cairo, running lucrative cons and healing rituals and staying one step ahead of being caught. She knows nothing about who she is or where she came from, but knows she has a gift for languages, and can heal herself from just about anything.

It’s while she’s conducting an elaborate con of a young woman possessed by a daemon spirit, that Nahri’s story takes a turn when she accidentally summons a fiery, good looking djinn warrior. Furious at being summoned by a mere mortal, Dara soon realizes that the young woman who summoned him is being chased by flesh-eating ghouls, who in turn are being controlled by an ancient foe: the Ifrit.

Fleeing the Ifrit and ghouls on an enchanted carpet, Dara kidnaps Nahri wondering why the Ifrit are so interested in this nondescript human. He soon realizes there is more to Nahri than meets the eye, and takes her out in the deep desert, to meet a friend he thinks might have the answers. But Dara has little time to find out more as the Ifrit—hellbent on capturing not only Nahri, but also in killing him—chase them further and further into the unforgiving desert.

Knowing what it might cost him and, as a result, Nahri, Dara decides the only safe place for them both is the legendary city of brass: Daevabad. A city hidden behind a magical veil, ruled by the Djinn or, to be exact, the Daeva. But there’s no guarantees they will be welcomed, even if they do live long enough to outrun the Ifrit. There are warring factions and mistrust raging through the city, where the six tribes of djinn live side by side with the Shafit—the mixed-blood human underclass—who are viciously mistreated by the magical Daeva.

The first third of The City of Brass is taken up with Nahri and Dara fleeing through the desert, a fast-paced beginning that I read on one sitting, I was that captivated from the get go. Not only do we get to know more about both Nahri and Dara, and his tragic history (seen in clever moments of flashback) but the snappy banter between the two characters flips between sarky jibes and irritation, but also shows a grudging friendship begin to form between them.

It’s when they finally reach Daevabad that the story takes a slower pace, but, nonetheless, an interesting one as new characters and situations present themselves. Where the initial conflict, such as it was, was between Dara and Nahri, now Nahri is thrown in the deep end of Daeva politics and the machinations of the ruling Qahtani family. And more specifically, we find out more about Prince Alizayd, the youngest son of the Qahtani ruler.

This second third and more of the story, is more politics and conflict, as each character struggles with their own personal plight. Dara, whose violent past still haunts him, might also be his undoing and the death of him. While Nahri finds she is less of a guest of the King, and more of a pawn and prisoner. As she slowly learns more about the city, its inhabitants, politics, and life of the Shafit. Everyone around her seems to have an agenda and hidden motives, as Nahri finds to her cost, when she is befriended by Ali. He may be a second son, and a prince and warrior, but he too has his own agenda and hidden secrets.

All of which makes for a lot of palace intrigue and political turmoil. And, while you think this all sounds rather dull and boring, I found it quite the opposite. Chakraborty has, through a lot of research, added a great deal of depth, as well as many layers to the story itself, never mind the characters. Each of whom are imbued with faults and flaws, and personal tics that really bring them all to life. This really is a conflict-driven plot with plenty of physical and more subtle violence, that never overwhelms the emotional side and turmoil of the character’s stories. All of which are richly detailed.

The City of Brass is like nothing I’ve read in a very long time. The world building is exceptional, helped in part by a very long history to the Middle East and beyond. A history and its myths Chakraborty happily mines to its depths, and adds so much more to this story with her own vivid imagination. She leaves no stone unturned to create a world which lives and breathes, and whose pulse you feel as you turn and read each and every page.

Death, loss, betrayal, and yes, love, The City of Brass has its fair share of emotion amid the confusion and turbulence of a city on the verge of exploding: Daevabad and the Daeva are about to take sides … as the limits to truth, trust, and loyalties are pushed to the extreme. The explosive ending resonates long after the last page is read.

If you haven’t read this one yet, you’re missing out on one of the best epic fantasies written in decades.

Today I want to talk about some of my favourite SciFi books from years gone by. In fact, two series by an author you just might never have heard of or ever read.

Brian M. Stableford — The British-born Stableford has written well over 50+ novels, but I want to highlight two of his earlier series from 70s that, for me at least, epitomised the kind of science fiction being written back then, that I was reading.

The HOODED SWAN series:

After years of surviving in his wrecked ship on an unnamed, desolate world, Grainger is charged for the cost of his rescue and finds himself unable to pay. Salvation comes when he is indentured as pilot of the revolutionary starship Hooded Swan and thrust into a series of gripping adventures in the service of New Alexandria. With only his wits and the not entirely reliable help of an alien mind parasite to call upon, in each novel Grainger and the Hooded Swan are pitted against a new puzzle or menace. And all the time he is paying off his fine, bit by bit, until he can call himself a free man again.

• Halcyon Drift (1972)
• Rhapsody in Back (1973)
• Promised Land (1974)
• The Paradise Game (1974)
• The Fenris Drive (1974)
• Swan Song (1975)

The DAEDALUS MISSION, in which a research ship is sent out to find out what’s happened to a number of colony ships and their passengers—sent out between 100 to 200 years earlier—sets up a series of adventures for the mostly scientific crew of seven, on these newly developed worlds. And all is not as it should be as the crew of the Daedalus find out.

• The Florians (1976)
• Critical Threshold (1977)
• Wildeblood's Empire (1977)
• The City of the Sun (1978)
• Balance of Power (1979)
• The Paradox of the Sets (1979)

What can I say, these read like serialised action adventures, with the erstwhile reluctant hero of the Hooded Swan series—Grainger—being aided and abetted by an alien parasite that lived deep inside his brain. While, Alex (yes, my namesake) in the Daedalus Missions heads up the scientists investigating what has happened to the six colonies.

Of course, looking back at both series, the cover art was true to form for the 70s, colourful and wildly suggestive. The Hooded Swan series kept to a theme of a spaceship which was in keeping with the theme, while the Daedalus series covers did—for the most part—at least, reflect the various stories being told.

It’s fun to look back now and think ‘wow, how did anyone think to pick these books up, let alone read them.’ Well, I did.

This is a solid outing from Matthew Palmer, an author that knows his stuff. SECRETS OF STATE, is a thriller with all the right ingredients, that hit all the right notes. The characters are nothing new, but familiar territory is okay as long as there is enough elsewhere to make up for it. And while the plot is nothing new either—terrorists stealing a nuclear weapon to blow up a city—again, that was okay, as the author came at this from a slightly different angle, with a new view while covering old ground, which freshened up a doomsday scenario with likeable enough characters that were engaging.

Set against the backdrop of simmering tensions between India and Pakistan, Palmer gives us a what-if that’s oh so plausible right now. And while most authors are focused on the usual suspects and setting that are becoming tired, he reminds us that the world at large is still a very dangerous place and has far more players on the world stage than we usually think about.

What sets SECRETS OF STATE apart from the average read, are the small things. And it’s not often we get a view of places like Mumbai and it’s slums—never mind the people that live there. A thoroughly enjoyable, and quick read, so much so I’ll be buying a few more of Palmer’s works as I suspect they’ll be just as enjoyable a romp as SECRETS OF STATE was.

STATE OF TERROR, a taut, tense, whiplash-inducing thriller, is so up to the minute in world events it seems like the authors, Hillary Clinton and crime fiction author, Louise Penny, had a crystal ball to look into scrying possible scenarios … no, wait … they did. In the form of Ms. Clintons and her years as Secretary of State. Her experience and skill, among other things, provide the backdrop to this immensely addictive thriller.

From the well delineated characters, including the secondary characters who are just as pivotal in the plot, through to the non-stop and relentless pace. We are whisked along by the unfolding events all the while chewing the inside of our cheeks, fretting along with Secretary of State, Ellen Adams, and her closest confident and Counsellor, Betsy Jameson.

These two women whose bond throughout was a joy and a surprise, never mind the clever wit and snark. I also love that relationships play a large part in events, decision, and actions throughout. Which makes the stakes all the more threatening when they’re seen intimately, up-close and personal with frightening consequences.

Political intrigue, high-stakes espionage, traitors, misdirects, subterfuge, and the ultimate terror of a radical terrorist group laying hands on not one nuclear weapon, but three, set the stage and scope for this well-plotted emotional roller coaster ride of a thriller. That, in the end, had real bite.

Grab a large glass of your favourite wine, curl up on the sofa and get ready for Ellen and Betsy to get it done—two truly iconic women!

This chess-inspired 8th outing of the cranky melancholy police investigator, Arkady Renko, is a fast-paced romp through the underbelly of corrupt police/politicians/media in Putin’s crumbling modern Russia. Where just about everyone has an agenda hustling from the streets to the highest office, for everything from stolen goods to billion ruble contracts. And where Cruz Smith’s cast of well-drawn characters are all doing their best trying to avoid being collateral damage amid the warring factions.

I enjoyed the pace, which is fairly brisk and doesn’t lag, because a lot of the action is split between a number of the characters, not just our world-weary investigator. While Renko is essentially trying to discover who killed investigative reporter, Tatiana Petrovna, and more importantly, why, he connects her murder to that of recently assassinated mafia kingpin, Grisha Grigorenko. And, as he pieces together snippets of information, he stumbles upon a much larger picture than just revenge, or murder, collusion and corruption at the highest levels.

What I love about Cruz Smith’s writing is his seedy bunch of twitchy characters doggedly trying to keep ahead of the action, while also dropping in actual historical events, into the background—events like the sinking of the Kursk in the Baltic and the utter destruction of the city of Konigsberg (in an isolated slice of Russia abutting the baltic sea) and the building of the secret city of Kaliningrad. And thus, Cruz Smith cleverly draws us into a tangled web of secrets, lies, and corruption.

While Renko engages in a game of cat and mouse with mobsters trying to find answers to Tatiana’s murder, his old friend and partner, Victor, along with Zhenya and his girlfriend Lotte, are left behind in Moscow trying to unravel a mystery of their own, never mind survive being murdered. Of course, all the loose ends slowly begin to make connections, leading to a confrontation along with a number of revelations and an open-ending finale that tells us that even Renko cannot bring everyone to justice in a world ruled by corruption.

I can recommend this one if you enjoy a good thriller with plenty of misdirection, well-drawn characters, snappy dialogue, with plenty of grit and background detail that all helped bring this one to life.

Let me just say up front, this is not a book for the faint of heart, and would definitely be PG-13 if not higher given some of the content, themes and descriptions. Including some grisly deaths. But that said, all of it is within context to the world in which this story is set. It’s a dark, definitely bleak story, and yet?

And yet, the author, Robert Jackson Bennett, does something unique amid all the darkness he gives us hope, he gives us humour and plenty of courage, as his characters fight through the harsh realities of their lives and situations. In the end, despite the tragedies and hardship, friendship, commitment, strength and courage bring a disparate band of diverse characters together to overcome a great deal.

I was blown away with the world building in this one, which was beautifully wrought in all it’s grim darkness. The characters themselves range from the well written protagonist, Sancia Grado, a small time thief, to several secondary characters that support and surround her story and journey, to some wonderfully sketched foes who just wreak of evil intent.

Our heroes hardships unite them in going up against a terrifying foe the likes of which they (and us) have yet to fully understand.

Throughout Bennett teases us with Sancia’s past, and events that formed and shaped her childhood and life. Taking us on a wild ride of revelation after revelation, as he spins us a marvellous fantasy hideous in places, but hopeful in others. And gives us just enough humour, levity, and light to lessen the bleak situation our erstwhile heroine finds herself in when, as a petty thief tasked with stealing what, at first glimpse, is a simple wooden box, turns out to be so much more. Giving us, the reader, one hell of a ride along with Sancia, as she tries to figure it all out without getting herself killed in the process.

This intricate, complex, well defined, tightly woven story is dense, ambitious and, in the end, delivers on a grand scale. Thoughtful, and hopeful, it’s devastating but it’s also a book you won’t be able to put down till you’ve finished and then, you’ll be left wanting more. I know I was.

I can’t wait for book two, Shorefall, to see what happens next.

I truly had high hopes for this debut novel from author, June Hur, given its subject material, late 18th to early 19th century Korea, in a period of scandal and turmoil. Catholic priests were risking life and limb to infiltrate Korea and spread the word of the One God. And while Hur uses this as the backdrop to her novel, I felt it missed the mark.

The Silence of Bones could have been so much more than just a murder-mystery. All the right ingredients were there. A mysterious priest converting Koreans to Catholicism, a high born lady dressing as a man and smuggling forbidden books into the capital city, and an Inspector at the police bureau seeking revenge for the death of his parents, and redemption from his family’s shame.

Except, we are given Seol’s story. Here is a young woman (16) sold into indentured slavery from one master to the police bureau in the capital, who becomes a ‘Damo’. A woman who has to be present for the sake of decency when an officer of the law is interviewing, searching, or talking to a female suspect.

Seol isn’t too happy to find herself in her current situation, torn from what little family she had left, and burdened with a promise to search from her dead older brother’s grave, for her older sister. This is essentially the backbone of the story, as she helps the venerable Inspector Han discover who the murderer is, while figuring out her place in this new world she finds herself in.

All this makes for a somewhat intriguing mystery, but without any real depth and lacking any true emotion. I felt indifferent to the characters and the story as it unfolded, and couldn’t quite put my finger on why. Mostly it came down to the fact I was being told a story, rather than “immersed” in the story. I never got a real sense of place, nor of the characters themselves. We didn’t get to feel the sights and sounds, nor connect with any emotion on a substantive level.

Even the main character of Seol was want to wander off at tangents, as the author gave us mini info dumps in the middle of something the character was doing, or saying. That said, there were still a few interesting moments but never enough to make up for the disjointed feel to the narrative as a whole.

This was, for the most part, just an okay read. Not great, but not awful either, just average.

First of all, let me start by saying I thoroughly enjoyed Velocity Weapon from beginning to end. And, like any good roller coaster ride, this one starts off with a few gentle reveals, and slowly—at first—builds up to a number of startling revelations, as you crest a peek, wondering what the hell is coming next and then? Suddenly you are being plunged head first over a dramatic cliffhanger, rolling at breakneck speed towards the next clever twist in the plot. So that, just when you think you have an inkling of what might be going on, O’Keefe pops your bubble and blindsides you. Nothing, as they say, is ever what it seems. As it should be with any good story.

Introducing our characters, the story opens with Gunnery Sergeant Sanda Greeve waking up in a medical bay after a battle, and discovering not only is she on an enemy ship, but she’s naked and … oh, look, only has one leg!

Before we know it, she makes another starling discovery. The ship she’s on is tech far in advance of that of her own people—the Primes—but more, it has a sentient AI. The Light of Berossus or, Bero, as he introduces himself to Sanda, has scooped up her emergency pod thereby saving her for a slow sure death. But wait, there’s another twisted surprise in store for our beleaguered Sergeant. Bero tells her it is now 230 years in the future after the battle of Dralee.

I mean, come on, what a great opening.

Intersecting Sanda and Bero’s story, we have Biran, Sanda’s brother, a newly anointed ‘Keeper’ who’s about to get into a lot of trouble, never mind, political intrigue, even before he’s read his acceptance speech. And oh boy, does O’Keefe drop us, and poor Biran, straight into the deep end from the get go. The poor guy has to navigates shark infested political waters but seems to find a mentor in Keeper Lev. But is his saviour really an alley, or just using him for his own ends?

Well, we all know the answer to that, no one is ever as they seem. And, awash in trying to make sense of just what’s going on, Biran—and us along for the ride—has to act fast and on his feet. Believing he is acting for the best interested of Ada, finds out just who is friends really are. And while we watch him inadvertently chumming the deep water he’s frantically treading, we get to meet the major players in Biran’s circle and sphere. The Keepers of Prime. Living a life of what is for most, a life of luxury, on a space station circling the dwarf planet Ada. A planet picked for its location, specifically for the Prime Corp. to build another of its all-important Gates. A Casmir Gate that affords the Gate-Keeping Primes access to near instant travel across the galaxy.

Young, inexperienced, and way out of his depth, nonetheless, Biran, goes all out to find out what’s really going on, and what not only happened to his sister at the merciless battle of Dralee, but why their nearest neighbour in the system, the Icarions, are so hell bent on destroying Ada, the Keepers, and, it would seem, the Gate itself.

There is a subtle and not so subtle interplay of politics—via Biran’s threads—and what’s happening on Ada. And then, there’s the reality of life in space, as seen in Sanda’s thread, thinking she is the last living person in the system, mourning the loss of everyone she ever loved and held dear.

Then there is the even more harsh reality of life on the fringes of society, as seen via Jules Vicenza, part of a nickel and dime crew dodging the law, and other criminal gangs, while heisting anything left lying around, unguarded. Jules, and her cohorts, live in the Grotta—a backend festering carbuncle on the arse of the gleaming city-dome, that is Alexandria-Atrux. But the proverbial shit hits the fan for Jules and the team when the heist what they think is an unguarded cache of the drug, Wraith. And discover much more than they bargained for when Jules steals some data pads, and more, a vial of pearly liquid. Thereby setting off a string of events that will cost them all dearly.

I won’t go into details but will tell you, the author will keep you on your toes, so pay attention, there’s a lot going on here. So much so, it’s all but impossible to distill it all down into a few short paragraphs. What we have is solid world building, a crew of well fleshed out characters, and a plot with plenty of twists and turns as to give you neck ache. But, be warned, not everything ends as you might think, as O’Keefe sets us up for what is surely to come in subsequent instalments of this enjoyable series.

Oh, I do so love, a complicated, twisty plot. And O’Keefe certainly delivers.

This incredibly short novella by Alastair Reynolds—all 176 pages of it—offers so much promise but, for me at least, it failed to deliver. I think if the author had bothered to write a full-length novel and added better depth to both the story itself never mind the characters, it might have been an over-all better read.

As it is, there is a total lack of credibility to the time travel aspect and theory, which, while an intriguing idea, is not expounded upon at any length or depth. And just comes across as sloppy writing.

Which is a shame, because the author could have come at it from any number of angels and we could have still believed better than as it stands.

Had Permafrost been presented as such, we might be able to suspend our sense of disbelief better. But then again, only if the characters themselves had been in any way, shape, or form, believable.

As it was I felt the MC was there more as an after thought. Permafrost seems to be more about the concept of time travel than an actual story about people involved in trying to time travel, especially as we are supposed to believe they are out to save the world. Though what from, other than—apparently—their own hubris, I don’t know.

Nothing is fully explained—whether that’s motivation, plot, or characters—nor is the concept of Permafrost’s time travel given more than a cursory explanation via a flimsy backstory. Then there is the whole ending which, quite honestly, left me laughing, and not in a pleasant way. It was ludicrous.

The story hinges on a set of parameters set up by the author, himself, about how the characters would time travel, and about the paradoxes that would be created up and down the timeline and then, ignores his own rules right at the end, without consequence.

Let me explain. The story hinges on the fact a character, Antti, is supposed to go back, find what everyone is looking for, then fly it to an exact location to be found in the book’s present by our main protagonist, Valentina. But … the main character destroys the experiment after being warned by Antti that they are creating a desolate future beyond their own present. So in destroying the experiment in her now, she stops Antti ever going back to begin with (still with me here?) so how is it, all this is ignored without time “grandfathering” up and down the time stream? Which would, of course, result in them all forgetting, and the item never arriving in the present in order to save the world, which it does?

All in all, this is a rather dull, uninteresting look at the possibility of time travel, via characters who are never fully fleshed out or given any depth. With sloppy science, never mind a flawed rational that flopped badly at the end because the author forgot the plot.

You don't have to become an expert on a subject to write about it, but you do have to do research and due diligence in order to write with authority and make your work sound plausible. Authenticity is key, that's why I love authors who do their research like Steph Broadribb, author of the Lori Anderson crime thriller series. Broadribb went to the US and learnt all should could by working as a bails bond person in order to lend authenticity to her characters and world building. 

You can't get it anymore first hand than that.

Even science fiction authors have to start somewhere. Having a fundamental understanding of the sciences helps. Which is probably why I have such a hard time reading or taking horror or fantasy seriously, to my mind at least, most lack any cohesive background or believable world building.

That said, authors who do ground their work with structure, can knock it out of the ball park. Take S. A. Chakraborty's Daevabad series. This author has put so much effort into her characters, setting, and palace politics, and grounded her magical realm with so much realism, as to make it all seem so very plausible. This makes her storytelling all the more compelling never mind enjoyable because she's paid attention to every detail.

I suppose the same could be said about writing blog posts as writing a full-length novel, or even, short stories, after all, you could argue that each post we write and present is, in and of its self, a short story. It should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. It needs structure, logic, and while it can have whimsy as well, it also needs to, in the end, say something, if not about a subject or topic then, at least about us, as the author.

We are, after all, authors on a quest, world building our own habitat in the ether between the ones and zeros, looking to connect with other like minded people.

I guess whether it's books or just blog posts, the key to connecting with our readers is to be as authentic to ourselves as possible. 

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

THE ASHES OF LONDON by Andrew Taylor is a well plotted murder-mystery set amid the aftermath of the Great Fire of London, in 1666, and the political turmoil following the Civil War. Wherein a number of the ‘Fifth Monarchists’ continue to fan the flames of sedition long after the failed Commonwealth in the belief they can still bring about the installation of King Jesus; And a heaven on earth.

The intertwining threads of this story are seen through the eyes of the two main characters: James Marwood, caring for his ageing father who’s suffering from the onset of dementia. This young man’s struggle is heartfelt; living down his father’s past while trying to make a living for them both, he’s caught in a web of lies, secrets, and betrayal while longing for a quiet ordinary life.

Catherine ‘Cat’ Lovett is the daughter of a fugitive ‘Regicide’ who, while in the care of her Aunt and Uncle, is raped by their son Edward. Throw in the fact that her Uncle has arranged a marriage of convenience and sold Cat’s inheritance to his own benefit, you can understand why she takes matters into her own hands. Not to spoil the reveal, Cat has her revenge but with devastating consequences for her, and those around her.

Andrew Taylor has fully fleshed out this unlikely pair, who carry quite the burden between them, both seemingly doomed by their fanatical fathers. Historical fact is blended seamlessly with fiction, blurring the lines with enough detail that brings every scene to life, so much so, you can almost smell smoke in the air. All of Taylor’s characters are true to their nature, and the age in which they live in, displaying the foibles and failings of the times. And in the case of Marwood—this wonderfully drawn character—there’s also a sense of duty and courage despite his situation and station in life.

All in all, a thoroughly engrossing read. I read this one in less than two days sucking up every last detail, learning a great deal along the way I didn’t already know, about this period in history. I highly recommend this one whether you are into historical fiction, or not. Well drawn, fully-fleshed out, plenty of intrigue and action, and a cast of characters Shakespeare or Marlowe might have conceived and written about.

From the minute I saw the cover for Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire by Dan Hanks, I fell in love with it and knew I had to get my hands on a copy. Well, the cover conveyed everything this brilliant piece of escapist fun promised, and then some. A blisteringly fast-paced archaeological adventure populated with a number of dynamic characters, hell bent of either saving the world, or destroying it. In what is an imaginative and fresh take on a much loved trope.

This pulp-fiction fantasy is part Indiana Jones inspired, with a good measure of The Mummy movies thrown in, topped off with plenty of Tomb Raider action. You should know that from the get go, you are in for one hell of a roller coaster ride into the unknown. Chasing down legend and myth, along side a cracking character that had me cheering every time she punched the lights out of a Nazi bad guy!

Captain Samantha Moxley is a take no nonsense hero that even when bloody nosed and bleeding, struggles on because she knows it’s the right thing to do. And when it’s about saving family? You never give up, and you never give in. Having fought in, and lived through the war, Sam has seen enough for one lifetime, but when recruited by a shadowy US Government Agency, sees more than her fair share of the weird, macabre, and down right scary other worldly creatures.

And just when she thinks it’s time to hang up her gloves, she hears of a plot to kidnap her sister—a ruse possibly—to drag her back into the fray. And so, in battling monster in order to save her sister, once more gets dragged into the thick of the action. And finds herself, with her sister Jess, Jess’s archaeologist boyfriend, Will, chasing down fabled artefacts that will unlock a mythical and priceless treasure trove: the Hall of Records.

This is everything you could wish for in a pulpy action-filled fantasy, great characters—like Agent Taylor (lots of great shading) and the scary otherworldly Agent Smith (shivers), Teddy, an old friend of Sam’s from the war and fellow fighter pilot. Who, along with Sam, does most of the sleuthing to solve the various puzzles and riddles they come up against during the hunt.

Along with some really snappy dialogue, and crisp snarky banter between the feuding sisters, we are treated to a number of lighter moments that break up on the adrenaline pumping action. As Hanks show us he knows how to handle both character, dialogue, and pacing. Giving us well-balanced counter reasoning for Taylor’s motives and thus, showing us both sides of the argument to who is right. But is anyone every right?

When it comes down to it, Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire, is pure adrenaline-fuelled escapist fun. And if you’ve watched any of the Mummy or Indiana Jones movies, you know exactly what kind of ride you’re in for. From puzzles to boobytraps in the labyrinthine depths below Paris, to the dead rising, to bus chases across the Egyptian desert, with guns blazing. To painful choices, sacrifice, bloody scrapes, and near-death escapes, you certainly won’t have time to catch your breath. Believe me, I didn’t.

With an ending that said there was more to come, I can’t wait to see what Dan Hanks come up with next for both Sam, and maybe, Jess as well.

It doesn’t get any better than this! Steve Cavanagh has done it again, pulling out all the stops to bring another fast-paced, thrilling, rollercoaster read. A thoroughly compelling story in which the devil truly is in the details.

Eddie Flynn is back in the arena, the courtroom that is, playing the ‘fall’ guy and sitting second chair to Rudy Carp, the lawyer representing actor, Bobby Solomon, in the case of the century. Thing is, Eddie has been talked into playing the fall guy by going after the cops who, Carp has convinced Eddie, planted evidence at the scene of a heinous crime, implicating Bobby Solomon in the murder of his wife and security guard.

While Eddie isn’t convinced either way, not yet at least, he’s taken the ‘second’ chair and, in doing so, the opportunity to do what he does best, because Carp Law has offered him something he needs right now. A boring, secure job in a big law firm, in order to win back his wife. He needs this, he tells himself. Because the one thing Eddie Flynn doesn’t want to lose right now, is his daughter. And if it means going ‘straight,’ and getting out of the way of the bad guys, Eddie is going to give it his best shot.

But not everything is going to go according to plan, as always. Cavanagh throws every possible spanner into the works, and mixes it up, putting Eddie back in the firing line, and in the sights of not just a couple of corrupt cops, but a serial killer.

As always, the author amps up the tension on several levels, as Flynn and Carp get set to defend Bobby Solomon, unaware there is another player in the room. One who has his own agenda and, a need to kill. Cavanagh alternates between Flynn’s side of the story, told in the first person, and that of serial killer and clever chameleon, Joshua Kane—and if this creepy unnerving guy doesn’t give you goose bumps, no one will.

I particularly like the way the author has written the alternating parts of this story, because while Kane is clearly a main story component, it’s through Eddie’s eye and thoughts that the story really opens up. Eddie is at the emotional heart of the story. Here’s a man trying hard to keep it altogether, because not only has he vowed to himself to do the right thing, but if he doesn’t change, he knows he will lose his wife and daughter for good.

So while we read about Kane and his past, and what makes him a cold-blooded killer, heartless to a fault. Eddie keeps us grounded in reality. And, in between the sensational details of a murder trial, a game of cat and mouse begins. But rest assured, Eddie Flynn is no mouse. He’s going to need his background as a conman not just to help get Bobby Solomon off a murder conviction, but to out-smart, and out-play a killer in their midst.

Aided by a well-round cast of characters that each have their own unique personalities, with some crackling twists and turns that had me furiously page turning, the climatic end left me almost breathless and dizzy.

Intense, taut, adrenaline-fuelled, plausibly plotted, cleverly twisted, and masterly engineered to leave you wanting more. Eddie Flynn and his author deliver a thoroughly absorbing and entertaining read.

The premise for SCYTHE by Neal Shusterman is a really good one. It comes across as being unusual—here we have people who train to deal death as a means of culling the growing population in a world were everyone is, technically, immortal. This is a story that should have everything going for it. Sadly, however, the author fails to deliver on a rich promise in a satisfying or fulfilling way and the awful black and white view on morality is absurd for a so-called utopia.

Which brings me to the utter lack of world building. There is none!

The author has decided his audience is savvy enough to know when he says death has been conquered through technology, he doesn’t then have to explain how, he just mentions everyone has ‘Nanites’ in their system that takes care of everything … including death. But there is no science to back this up, nor how the ‘Cloud’ now called the Thunderhead, became self-aware after amassing the sum of all human knowledge.

Why, for example, are the Scythes allowed to ‘glean’ at random, with any weapon they choose? And by what mechanism did the Scythes come into being to begin with?

Let’s take about the main characters of Citra and Rowan. Here we have two stand-ins that could have been lifted from the pages of either DIVERGENT or THE HUNGER GAMES. Neither of whom stand out in any way. Lacklustre at best, paper-thin at worst, they are a vapid means to an end when it comes to storytelling.

Oh, and don’t get me started on one of my pet-peeves: insta-love. The pair are devoid of any chemistry, but that’s okay, they still ‘fall’ in love anyway. This is just sloppy, lazy writing.

Then there are the secondary characters, who come across as animated caricatures. Take the buffoon High Scythe who, despite programable nanites to take care of his health, decides he wants to be middle aged and overweight. Then there is the psychopathic serial killer bad guy, Scythe Goddard, whose Harry Potter blue robe glittering with diamonds, goes around murdering gleaning at will—en-masse—with impunity. Because these people have no depth of character, no background, or emotive context, their actions come across as simply crude and shocking.

Like the teens who think it’s funny to leap out of tall buildings to ‘splatt’ on the pavement below, because they’ll get great ice cream at the revival centre. And besides, they’re not really dead, just almost dead. You know, because of the nanites. Seriously, this is just ridiculous.

Who in their right mind thinks this is okay? What’s also sad is that this kind of senseless writing is gifted praise and garners prizes.

In the end this came across as a pointless, overly long story, full of plot holes, aided and abetted by a lack of characterisation, with dull plodding prose, and utterly no world building whatsoever. While the best parts of Scythe—the journal entries and the two scythes, Faraday and Curie—to my mind, were never fully-realised, which is a shame because I think I would have liked their story better.

This is one weird-assed dystopian-utopia that went ‘splatt’ on the pavement from utter ennui!

SPACESIDE follows on two years after the events that take place the end of Planetside without so much as missing a beat. And Mammay doesn’t play catch up, like some authors might do, but goes straight to Butler having to deal with the aftermath of his decision—having become the most infamous person in the galaxy. Both mentally and physically, he’s shaken, and he’s lost confidence in himself, and his decision making process. He’s seeing a shrink, not sleeping well, and doubting and second guessing himself at ever juncture.

And then, when he starts seeing Cappans sat on the bus, as he’s going to work. You know something is up. Butler struggles to figure out whether he’s seeing thing, being paranoid, or hallucinating from stress. Is what he saw real? And are there hybrid Cappans on the planet, or is his past just giving him waking nightmares?

Again, Mammay has written a cleverly twisted plot dropping Butler (and us) into the middle of what, at first, looks like a simple case of corporate espionage, but given Butler’s background and history, it soon becomes apparent that there is more going on, than meets the eye. And suddenly, we’re deep into a mystery, wrapped in a thriller, loaded with suspense, that’s fraught with intrigue.

Once more we follow the clues at the same times as Butler, trying to make sense of what’s going on. Grandstanding his thoughts and emotions, and working through his thought processes and internal conflict, something that makes Spaceside feel so much more intimate. Here we have a man, normally use to action within a defined command structure, facing down his own indecision at the same time he’s coping with the consequences of his previous actions, including the subsequent loss of his wife. All of which helps flesh out Butler on a very personal level. Not just as a narrator of the story.

“Your whole life you do big, important things. You speak and people listen. Then suddenly that’s over, and you’re wasting your life doing some bullshit job that doesn’t matter, where nobody cares what you do as long as you show up for the company functions.”

I really enjoy this style of first person, in depth reactive analysis, through a main character, when it’s done this well. Butler is so well written, that he’s able to carry the entire story and, make us believe. It’s a joy to read this kind of clever writing, that not only keeps us second guessing, but also able to blindside us with a few neat plot twists. Till, even up until the end, we’re not sure just how Butler is going to get out of this one, alive!

The author also brought back a couple of other characters bleeding over from Planetside, to help aid and support Butler, including the now retired General Serata who, like Butler, is now living with the consequences of what happened in Planetside. While also giving us a solid cast of secondary characters that were, in and of them selves, really interesting as well.

What Mammay’s stories offer are a uniquely different take in what is a crowded MilSF market. What I especially love about his storytelling, never mind the witty dialogue, is the strength of his main character, Butler. All in all, this series is not only clever, it’s smart.

This debut novel from the imaginative and decidedly twisted mind of S J Bennett is one of the best reads I’ve had this year, and that’s saying something given the quality of reads I’ve had of late. But what Bennett has done is capture the essence of Her Majesty, QEII, and turned her into a veritable royal Miss Marple in this lovely homage to Agatha Christie. Our much beloved sovereign is on top form in THE WIDSOR KNOT, sleuthing her way quietly through her ninetieth birthday celebrations, at Windsor Castle, during the spring of 2016.

For me, Bennett really captures both the best of a Christie novel, with an MC second to none. Updating for a modern sensibilities, complete with multiple murders, a clever, layered mystery, and political intrigue that is spot on—with a ‘hot button’ topic and issue ripped directly from today’s headlines. Throw in a great supporting cast of characters not least of which, aiding and abetting Her Majesty is Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie Oshodi, who’s the perfect foil to QEII. And you have a smart, elegant, clever murder mystery that delivers on so many levels.

With sneak peeks into life as we might imagine it, within the walls of Windsor castle, and the daily life of a long-serving Queen. Not to mention, the involvement of the Met Police and MI5 who are left high and dry when you have the resource to hand that the Queen does. Razor sharp observations, droll and as dry as the Sahara, our erstwhile sleuth, Her Majesty the Queen of England, is one of the most unusual characters to pop up solving crime in, well, a long time. And some of the throw away scenes between her and Philip are, well, priceless.

“Last thing you want is to be discovered in a royal palace with your goolies out.” “Philip!” “No, I mean it. No wonder everyone’s keeping it hush-hush. That, and protecting your fragile nerves.” The Queen threw him a look. “They forget. I’ve lived through a world war, that Ferguson girl, and you in the navy.”

I can still hear the Queen’s quiet, lilting voice echoing in my head along with that of Rozie, the Queen’s accomplice in crime-solving. Two wonderfully written characters, piecing together a series of nasty murders that all lead back to … well, that I cannot tell you, it would spoil the fun. Just go pick up your own copy and find out for yourself just who did what, to whom and why. The Windsor Knot has all the hallmark signs of being a long-running, best-selling cosy-mystery series that I, for one, am going to thoroughly enjoy reading.

Long may you reign, Lilibet!

Inspector Ashwin Chopra (Retd) a former member of the Mumbai police, is now one of my favourite characters. In this second installment of the Baby Ganesh series, we find Chopra settling into retirement as a private investigator, working out of an office in his new digs, a restaurant named after his wife, Poppy. This wonderful gem of a story fairly zips along at a motorised rickshaw pace, combining a number of threads that both delight and amused. And even if we think the arrival of both Queen Elizabeth and the Crown Jewels on a visit to Mumbai might seem impossible, we believe because Khan makes us believe.

Certainly I believe in Khan’s characters, who are all well drawn, including Chopra who is thoughtful, kind, intelligent, and a tad old-fashioned. He wistfully hankers for another time and is aware enough to realise how odd that makes him seem in the eyes of others. But it’s his integrity that stands out, Chopra lives in a world where bribery and corruption are the norm but he steadfastly refuses to give in, and let it consume him.

Whimsical, endearing, and upbeat, this mystery is told with a twinkle in the author’s eye. Chopra’s wry observations are engaging and humorous, offering up brief glimpses into life for millions in the bustling metropolis that is Mumbai. And while the story focuses on the theft of the Koh-i-Noor diamond, Chopra and his associate, Rangwalla, Baby Ganesh, and young Irfan—a street beggar turned waiter at Chopra’s restaurant—are seen chasing down leads on a number of cases.

I loved that we get to see Rangwalla and Chopra’s wife, Poppy, off on their own adventure, tracking down a stolen bust at the school where Poppy works. It’s these fun excursions elsewhere that add so much more to the depth and overall enjoyment of the read. As each character struggles to piece together and solve their own mysteries in these fun side-plots.

This is, at once, both a cozy mystery, and a lighthearted comic look at Indian life and culture. There is wit, drama, mystery and plenty of fun, with characters whose lives you become invested in, as this quirky, off-beat, mystery resolves itself to a very satisfying conclusion. And what’s not to love about a Cadbury chocolate loving baby elephant, named Ganesh?

Go on, you know you want to have a read!

There are, I am sure, plenty of well written books that I have yet to read, but until I discover them THE SILENCED by Anders de la Motte has to be one of the best plotted novels I’ve ever read. Certainly up there with the best of them. Showing a depth and skill mastered by few, de la Motte has woven together a deeply compelling story as seen from a handful of characters. Each of these finely detailed personas tells a part of the story, and each chapter seamlessly dovetails into the one before, and the one after, at a thrilling pace that never lags.

The dialogue is crisp, snappy, and yes, in places, darkly funny. From observational quips by various characters offering up snippets of detail, to snarky comments about colleagues and their habits, Anders never misses an opportunity to dress a scene, or fill out the background on a character. All without so much as slowing down a riveting pace that, at times, is almost blistering. And then again, at times, also thoughtful. The author manages to find that perfect balance and delivers a thoroughly engrossing read.

I was hooked from opening scene, and interplay between the young Detective Inspector, Julia Gabrielsson, and the newcomer to her division, Amante, complete with his own tortured history. These two opposites are thrust into the depth of what seems to be a cover-up (at best) or worst, something deep, dark, and very ugly; A conspiracy with far reaching consequences.

Anders, for his part, builds the pace and reveals just enough to keep the reader guessing each step of the way, as characters begin to reveal their true nature, and more, test their allegiances. From the wily police commissioner, Oscar Wallin, to the slippery politician Jasper Stenberg, to Stenberg’s father-in-law, Karl-Erik, always plotting in the wings. Everyone is not who they appear to be, including the once shining hero, David Sarac, the pivotal character who, in the end, just wants to set the record straight before he dies.

Everyone has an agenda or an axe to grind, and Anders never misses a beat showcasing them all within the majesty of the city that is Stockholm. In and of it self, a character.

THE SILENCED—an action-packed thriller from beginning to end—is the ultimate story of power struggles, brutality, corruption, and betrayal!

Not all fantasy has to be grim.

After having a back and forth chat with an online friend about fantasy reads, I admitted I had never read GRRM and was not likely too, ever. The truth is I’ve not read a great deal of fantasy over the last 4-5 years and it took the likes of the masterful SA Chakraborty and her Daevabad trilogy to rekindle my love of the genre before Covid hit us hard.

Well, not all aspects of the genre, which has, in the intervening years since I started, spawned as many sub genre as science fiction has. Including the one I dislike the most and the one that seems to be a fantasy fan’s favourite these days if BookTok is anything to go by. I’m talking about grimdark. The very same genre that GRRM seems to be like writing. The kind that is extra violent. The kind wikipedia says of:

“Grimdark is a subgenre of speculative fiction with a tone, style, or setting that is particularly dystopian, amoral, and violent.”

My fantasy reading preference lean more towards the stories of Chakraborty and Bennett and a clutch of other new and emergent authors. Writers adding a fresh new slant to some familiar tropes and making them their own. Check out these authors if you haven’t already done so:

• Luke Arnold — The Last Smile in Sunder City

• Devon Madson — We Ride The Storm, In Shadows We Fall

• SA Chakraborty — City of Brass

• Sarah Beth Durst — Race the Sands

• Dan Hanks — Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire

• Malinda Lo — Ash

• Jim C. Hines — The Stepsister Scheme, The Mermaid’s Madness

• Robert Jackson Bennett — Tainted Cup, Foundryside

And you, what new fantasy authors have you discovered lately, if any?

I can’t go on. I mean it, I simply cannot go on … reading this book. This is one long monotonous boring read. It’s the equivalent of a long straight driveway covered in grey chippings. This endless ribbon of uniform grey that stretches off into the distance, hard and uneven under foot, unyielding in form or feature. That’s how reading THE SILENT GIRLS feels.

There’s a total lack of any emotional depth to the characters, and while the author tells us a great deal about the main protagonists past, we know nothing about him. It’s like he had a past and then, popped up in the future, as a middle-aged man looking after his dead sister’s daughter. And therein lies the problem with not only the characters, but the lack of story itself.

We’re told everything, I mean, everything, but nothing. There’s a lot being said, but it has nothing (so far) to do with the story and reads like way too much filler. And while this is supposed to be a murder mystery, there is no murder, so far as I can tell.

I read 90 pages last night, and stopped at chapter 15. Chapter FIFTEEN, and nothing has happened.

There’s possibly a missing girl, but even by chapter fifteen, after pages, and pages of filler, we still don’t know if the girl has run away, been kidnapped, or is lying dead somewhere. Because we have no breadcrumbs, no hints, no nothing about anything or anyone. We have plenty of descriptions of the countryside in up state Vermont. We know about Frank Rath’s distant past. But not why he went from being a promising detective to a washed out PI.

The only evil lurking seems to be in the imagination of the author, but he’s not up for telling us about it, yet!

Oh, don’t get me wrong. He opens the book with a superfluous prologue that does nothing for the story (so far as I’ve read), and seems to be there only to shock. Look, here’s something nasty. But even reading it just left a dull taste in my mouth because it’s so badly written as to be a weird scene lifted from a Stephen King novel. It tells the reader how evil (this being a very young child at that) people can be.

And like the scene between Rath and the run-away young woman’s father—who may or may not be a pimp, who may, or may not sell drugs—it comes at you from out of left field. One minute the two men are testing each other’s testosterone levels, and then?

Bang! Our PI with supposedly a bad back is pushing a man twice his size and weight down onto the floor in a weird confrontation that is disjointed and out of place. The whole scene is badly constructed and had me re-reading it to make sure I hadn’t missed something, it was so preposterous.

The author has Rath eyeing up every woman and female child as if (a) they’re an affront to his maleness and manhood which he needs to lock away, or (b) reacting like a pervert staring at a young girl, or getting aroused by a sales woman racking her fingernails on his wrist. Which is kind of disturbing on so many levels, let me tell you.

I cannot empathise with Frank Rath on any level, nor any character so far, and I am so bored with the writing I felt my eyes glazing over as I read. Tedious, plodding and lacking any interest or impact, you could say it’s criminal that this one ever got published.

The one thing you can be certain of when reading a Steve Cavanagh, Eddie Flynn novel, is great plotting. Always cleverly twisted with plenty of red herrings, mis-directs, and side-bars to make you wonder where the plot’s heading next. And so it is with THE LIAR the third in the Eddie Flynn series of legal thrillers.

Throw in a great, well delineated set of characters with their own idiosyncratic tics, and you have the perfect delivery vehicles for said twisted plot.

Eddie Flynn is one of those wonderfully nuanced characters with plenty of chinks in his battered armour. But even when he’s employing somewhat dubious methods you know he’s doing it for all the right reasons.

“Doing something illegal, so long as I believed it was right, normally didn’t bother me. This bothered me. If I came out of this in the next ten minutes without being arrested I promised myself I would take a step back for my own good.”

Eddie has heart, Eddie is a shades of grey hero with an iffy past. One that helps him outsmart, and sometimes, out manoeuvre the bad guys. And with a Cavanagh novel, you’re never quite sure just who the bad guys might turn out to be.

The secondary characters are just as well-fleshed out as Eddie. And I have come to really enjoy Eddie’s meet ups with both Agent Harper, a feisty firecracker of a personality with a great gut instinct, and Judge Harry Ford, a man with a perchance for wisdom, who enjoys a good nightcap, or three.

It’s also the secondary plot lines—something Cavanagh pays great attention to—that adds such depth to this series. There is always, but always, something else going on, not quite in the background, that usually ties-in, in some way, with the main plot; usually with consequences. This time around, it’s an old case of murder that Judge Harry Ford lost when still a defence lawyer. A case that still haunts him and for good reason.

Set at a blistering pace, with plenty of twists and turns, THE LIAR is as much a page turner as earlier books in this series. An addictive, fast, fun and thrilling read, you won’t be disappointed with THE LIAR.

I had high hopes for THE MOSCOW DECEPTION by Karen Robards, which is neither a thrilling read, nor set in Moscow. That is, till the last couple of very rushed chapters. This novel suffers from several fundamental flaws that should have been address in the editing stage, but, sadly, were over-looked. Major amongst these is the constant repetitious phrases by the author that, in the end, become annoying and jarring. In point of case, the use of ‘split second’. In a split second this, in a split second that—and twice in several paragraphs, one after another.

Then there was the constant use of the term, ‘non-father’ in describing Mason, the man she had known for years as her father. I lost count of that one. The author also spent a great deal of time—in the first half of the book—having her protagonist looking over her shoulder, and worrying about dark shadows, and things unseen. All this by way of conveying how ‘tense’ the situation was. But all this made me think was that this character was overly paranoid, and without any significant reason. As the author didn’t think to offer too much by way of any explanations as to why.

The opening started off so promisingly, with the main protagonist, Bianca St Ives (among one name of many) laying in wait, in the pouring rain, to assassinate a top CIA manager who, we are told, is hell bent on having her assassinated. This whole opening segment was a missed opportunity, as, in the end, nothing happens, someone else kills the CIA bigwig, though we never get to find out who. Bianca then spend way too much time monologuing about what may or may not happen as a result.

Quite frankly, it wasn’t in the least bit exciting, and the false jeopardy was annoying. Here is a lead character, supposed (we are again told) to be the product of a gone-wrong CIA operation, a test-tube baby, meant to be a ‘super-soldier’ AKA Jason Borne. Bianca St Ives, however, is no Jason Borne, and this contrived story lacks any credibility in comparison. We are neither shown, or given any examples as to why she might be considered a threat to National Security, or in having any skill set other than being an accomplished thief (which we are told, again). But accomplished is way too high an accolade, given it’s all about the reverse dress, gizmos and gadgets (which she doesn’t really use) and a lot of flimflam and talk.

There is no actual action.

The one thing she does steal, or is a part of stealing—which comes at the end of the book—is Priam’s Treasure. And only with the help of a down on their luck circus troupe who do all the heavy lifting, as it were, plot wise.

The lack of any pacing along with way too much ‘filler’ that I ended up skipping over, made for a lacklustre read. There was little to no tension, other than a few contrived moments that seemed ill fitted to the characters, and over all story. And then, only served to allow a romantic interlude with Colin, a good-looking (and aren’t they all) Interpol agent on her trail.

No pacing, a lack of a cohesive story, a thin to transparent plot, paper thin characterisation, and cliched dialogue make for this being a deception on the reading public, nothing more.

The first in a trilogy by Michael Mammay, Planetside melds the best in the military science fiction tradition with a murder-mystery, and a droll and somewhat jaded perspective of the lead protagonist, in the guise of Col. Carl Butler. Who, with a healthy dose of scepticism, in an action-packed plot infused with plenty of action, gets to the bottom of the odd disappearance of a young lieutenant.

But what should be a simple premise—find out what happened to Lt. Mallot—turns out to be anything but simple, for Butler and his team. And when he doesn’t trust the team he’s been given, any more than the commander of Capa Base, Col. Butler’s job becomes a game of matching wits with those around him. Military personnel who, at best, are either not enthusiastic about helping, or are doing their best to hinder his investigation while hiding secrets of their own.

What Planetside is, at its heart, nestled within a framework of military science fiction, is a multi-layer and very cleverly written mystery. And while Butler delves further into what happened, layer after layer is peeled back to reveal an insidious underbelly of corruption and ambition. Well, we all know about people using the mantra, “I’m doing all this to save humanity,” is a cover for their behaviour usually means they are so focused in their belief, as to forget they are probably selling their soul for a lie.

Which is exactly what we find in this story. Small discrepancies, minor incidents, all begin to add up. And the more he digs, the more everyone stonewalls his investigation. To the point where Butler realises the only way he’s going to get to the truth is to go planetside to confront the problem head-on and, hopefully, in doing so, finally get some answers.

Well, Butler finally gets his answers and, so do we. In a taut twisting build-up, pieces of the jigsaw puzzle slowly fall into place, as we arrive at resolution, I for one, wasn’t expecting, in a truly twisted endgame that well, quite literally, blew Planetside wide apart!

With flowing, easy to read prose, a congenial, well-defined MC, and a twisted plot layered with ruses and complexity, Planetside is one of the best military SF reads I’ve had in a long while. Mammy certainly has all the right credentials to write what is, a thoroughly absorbing mystery built within a futuristic framework, with plenty of nail-biting action as the bullets and rockets explode. Plenty enough to satisfy even the most jaded SF palate.

In The Dark Spaces by Cally Black, is a totally immersive sci-fi adventure shaded with dark overtones. In some respects it’s also a fast paced, heart-pounding, cannot put it down thriller. And let me be the first to say, the pacing is enough to give you lactic acid build up in your muscles just sitting on the couch, reading this one. In The Dark Spaces is so well paced with each chapter smoothly flowing into the next, so that the story just sucks you along for the ride. I simply couldn’t put this one down.

Short, sharp, event-filled chapters detail the almost none stop action as our erstwhile hero, 14 year old Tamara (Weku) an illegal stowaway aboard the ill-fated deep space hauler, Jolene, is witness to untold horrors. A Crow-like alien race attacks the freighter killing everyone aboard, except that is, Tamara and her tiny cousin, Gub. Tamara finds herself trapped in the freighter’s stores when the attack first starts, but manages to work her way back through the ship, inside the walls, unseen. A place she knows well, as they have been her hiding places for her entire short life. A life that means nothing to the freighter’s crew and owners, if they were to catch her.

It’s not the crew who catch her, though, when making her way to the kitchens to find her aunt—a cook aboard the freighter—and upon finding her dead, hides in a pantry with the defenceless Gub. But the violent enemy are going room by room, floor by floor, killing all the crew. Tamara, use to thinking on her feet to avoid encounters with the crew, has to do something. Something to distract these strange thin black aliens garbed in shiny black armour, and draw them away from the only living family she has left in a seemingly cold hearted universe. Gub. And herein lives the heart and soul of this story, just what is Tamara willing to do in order not only to save her own life, but that of a baby, to make it out alive.

Everything, is the answer.

It is astounding what the author, Cally Black, puts Tamara through. The decisions this young teenager has to make, never mind the bitter, heartbreak choices she’s presented with at each step along the way. Decisions that would break even the best of us. But plausibly, and with so much turmoil and heart, Black shows us just how Tamara not only survives, but starts to bond with her captors in ways only someone so innocent could. With her heart in the right place.

It’s through this focus on her survival, that we get to know more about both Tamara’s world and that of the Crow People, the Garuwa. And Tamara’s place within the troop that has, in effect, kidnapped her—and no spoilers here on just how she manages to do that, it’s so damn clever. We get to know the enigmatic leader, Tootoopne, to individual members of the squad, Wooloo and Tweetoo who in turn slowly bond with Tamara too.

This is no easy read, it was, for me, at least, heart-wrenching in places, so much so that I found myself shedding a tear or two. This is a story that goes right for the emotional jugular and never lets up. It’s tough, brutal, heartbreak, heart—warming, uplifting, and at times, will break you into little pieces. Yet … yet at the same time, we slowly see the bonds of family and friendship, we see the hope breaking through and, in the end, a way is found for an uneasy truce to be forged between Garuwa and humans.

This is a powerful read, and testament to the author that she not only threaded the needle but made it all work in such a way as to leave a reader wrecked by the end—but in a good way.

If you are looking for outstanding world building, a character with such heart she will bleed you dry, snappy dialogue, and secondary characters that reach out to you from the page, then I suggest you grab yourself a copy of In The Dark Spaces, and be prepared for one hell of a read!

The central focus of this novel is the character of Flavia de Luce, the 11 year-old phenom who narrates and carries the entire weight of this suspense-mystery novel. And she does it admirably, or, I should say, the author has created a character so well defined, so well fleshed out, with an array of quirks and foibles that, as a character, gives her such great depth. Quite something for a middle-aged male author to achieve. He’s made it so that Flavia de Luce is not only believable, she feels as real as any of my nieces … if they had lived in the 1950s, that is.

Flavia de Luce jumps straight out at you, grabs you by the arm, and starts talking to you as if you were a co-conspirator in her life and the unfolding mystery that lands on her doorstep — literally. Her thoughts are effervescent bubbles that pop to the surface, one after another, in a constant stream, bringing to life the action, the scenery and the characters that populate The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie. And, through her, her thoughts and actions, the whole story comes brimming to life with the kind of detail that is also, at times, laugh out loud funny.

There is a great deal of astute and observational humour in this novel, that had me laughing, smirking, and nodding my head with a smile. I felt transported back to another time, and got lost in a 50s English countryside that felt, well, almost familiar to me. The places and setting were all lovingly described, and given their own little quirks as was Buckshaw, the de Luce’s country estate. Each as much a minor character in the story, as were the supporting characters themselves, who added just enough to carry the plot along at a delightful, slow-burn.

This is not a fast-paced, action-packed story, but a gentle bicycle ride through the winding back roads of Village life, its pace and setting reminiscent of a really good Agatha Christie novel. It’s all about the build up, about finding and fitting together the clues. Looking at suspects, making deductions and following ideas and inspiration in the way you imagine a young Sherlock Holmes might do.

This is most definitely Flavia de Luce’s story, and the other characters, including her immediate family, are there in support, and, as such, are not as fully defined in nature. But that isn’t to say they are paper thin, on the contrary, they all pop off the page with their own set of quirks and foibles — from the two older sisters Ophelia and Daphne, to her recluse stamp-collecting father, and his faithful servant and friend, Dogger.

Alan Bradley has created a richly detailed world that feels like it should exist, somewhere within the folds of the English countryside. Not only that, he’s populated a string of villages and homes with just the kind of characters you come to expect, if you’ve read a good Agatha Christie novel. And more, he’s made them all quite unique to this little corner of the world. A world that I’ve fallen in love with, along with the delightful Flavia de Luce and her family. I’m looking forward to seeing what other mysteries and murders Flavia will get involved in, and solve.

Welcome to the world of an 11 year-old Miss Marple, armed with a bicycle named Gladys.

Jane Harper has done it again. She has captured lightning in a bottle not once, but twice. With FORCE OF NATURE she has crafted a second beguiling novel, with a tapestry of threads that crisscross throughout the story weaving a masterpiece of misdirection till the final reveal. A surprise, I for one, never saw coming. The clever red herrings, the subtle misdirects, she does it all to perfection. You think you know what’s going on? You don’t. And believe me, I’m pretty good at sussing out the culprit early on. Not this time around.

Harper’s oh so believable cast of characters—highlighting the best and worst of human nature under duress, and in a hostile environment—are people you might know, people you might have met or worked with, people who, as the story progresses, start to come apart. I loved every scene and every page detailing what happened to the five women as they set out on what should be, a bonding weekend. As they dissolve into a female version of Lord of the Flies. Every bitching, snide remark, every possible slight, and hurt revealed. Every fibre of these women is shredded, slowly and surely, to they become their own worst enemies.

For me, this is writing at its best. The detail, the emotion, the pain and the secrets, are all slowly laid bare for us. Every scab is picked at till it bleeds, and we see what’s beneath the thin veneer of respectability. Five women from the same company, but from different strata, thrown together and then, go feral. But there is so much more than that, so much more than the in-fighting. Lives and secrets opened up along with the lies and deceit. And why people do what they do. Harper gets in there, beneath the skin, and exposes it all.

Aaron Falk, who was, for the most part, the focus of THE DRY, takes almost a back seat in FORCE OF NATURE, as Harper alternates chapters featuring the slow dissolution of the five women, and between Falk, his new partner, Carmen, and the search for the missing woman. Each dynamic has its part to play in the story as a whole, and each chapter dovetails cleverly to keep you guessing. I liked how we got to see a bit more of Falk’s history with his father, filling out more of his own backstory, while not deflecting from the story at hand, the missing women lost in an unforgiving outback.

A rugged brutal landscape that is the perfect backdrop to this kind of story, and a character in and of it self. All adding to the tension that slowly builds towards a heartbreaking reveal. Nothing and no one is ever what they seem, and Harper makes sure we are left wondering right up till the last few pages about the who, why, and how.

Clever twist and turns, so that you never quite know what’s going to happen next, or what these women might say or do next, is, believe it or not, a gripping read. Try it for yourself, you will not be disappointed.

I had high hopes for THE MOSCOW DECEPTION by Karen Robards, which is neither a thrilling read, nor set in Moscow. That is, till the last couple of very rushed chapters. This novel suffers from several fundamental flaws that should have been address in the editing stage, but, sadly, were over-looked. Major amongst these is the constant repetitious phrases by the author that, in the end, become annoying and jarring. In point of case, the use of ‘split second’. In a split second this, in a split second that—and twice in several paragraphs, one after another.

Then there was the constant use of the term, ‘non-father’ in describing Mason, the man she had known for years as her father. I lost count of that one. The author also spent a great deal of time—in the first half of the book—having her protagonist looking over her shoulder, and worrying about dark shadows, and things unseen. All this by way of conveying how ‘tense’ the situation was. But all this made me think was that this character was overly paranoid, and without any significant reason. As the author didn’t think to offer too much by way of any explanations as to why.

The opening started off so promisingly, with the main protagonist, Bianca St Ives (among one name of many) laying in wait, in the pouring rain, to assassinate a top CIA manager who, we are told, is hell bent on having her assassinated. This whole opening segment was a missed opportunity, as, in the end, nothing happens, someone else kills the CIA bigwig, though we never get to find out who. Bianca then spend way too much time monologuing about what may or may not happen as a result.

Quite frankly, it wasn’t in the least bit exciting, and the false jeopardy was annoying. Here is a lead character, supposed (we are again told) to be the product of a gone-wrong CIA operation, a test-tube baby, meant to be a ‘super-soldier’ AKA Jason Borne. Bianca St Ives, however, is no Jason Borne, and this contrived story lacks any credibility in comparison. We are neither shown, or given any examples as to why she might be considered a threat to National Security, or in having any skill set other than being an accomplished thief (which we are told, again). But accomplished is way too high an accolade, given it’s all about the reverse dress, gizmos and gadgets (which she doesn’t really use) and a lot of flimflam and talk.

There is no actual action.

The one thing she does steal, or is a part of stealing—which comes at the end of the book—is Priam’s Treasure. And only with the help of a down on their luck circus troupe who do all the heavy lifting, as it were, plot wise.

The lack of any pacing along with way too much ‘filler’ that I ended up skipping over, made for a lacklustre read. There was little to no tension, other than a few contrived moments that seemed ill fitted to the characters, and over all story. And then, only served to allow a romantic interlude with Colin, a good-looking (and aren’t they all) Interpol agent on her trail.

No pacing, a lack of a cohesive story, a thin to transparent plot, paper thin characterisation, and cliched dialogue make for this being a deception on the reading public, nothing more.

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto is an absolute blast of fun-filled, darkly twisted humour. And don’t get me started on the complicated family dynamics, which adds not only more humour but also a great deal of depth to this over-the-top family caper that’s worthy of it’s own sitcom.

Truly, Sutanto nails the archetypes of Ah Mas and Ah Yis perfectly, so much so I was nodding my head knowingly and grinning like an idiot. Yes, I’ve met some of these women in my own childhood, and remember them all with fond memories. They always all know what’s best even when they have no idea what’s best!

At it’s heart, _Dial A for Aunties _is both, at once, a comedy of errors and a heartfelt romance. Sutanto delivers on every level with the melodrama and humour, thanks to the idiosyncratic nature of the four sisters, while giving us a twisted joyride courtesy of the unexpected ‘death’, and throws in a bit of hot romance to stir our emotions even further. So that, when we’re not feeling it for poor dutiful Meddelin ‘Meddy’ Chan, we’re either laughing our socks off at the situation—which goes from bad, to worse, to OMG I can’t believe this happening—to swooning along with Meddy over the love of her life, Nathan.

Sutanto gives us the best kind of romantic comedy with plenty of misdirects, heartbreak, moments of sheer OTT fun, and suspend-your-sense-of-disbelief laugh out loud moments, as the 3 aunties and Meddy’s mother do their best to help their beloved niece and daughter get rid of the body … I never stopped laughing or shaking my head as hapless Meddy tries desperately to extract herself, and her aunties, from events as they spiral out of control.

I loved the aunties and their biting banter, and the wonderful insight into the family dynamics of their Chinese Indonesian heritage, traditions, and rituals. This is a fabulously entertaining and engaging read that tips into the territory of farce and the ridiculous which will make you laugh, while the romance will happily make you grin from ear to ear.

Sit back, let loose with Meddy and her meddlin’ aunts, and have some fun!

here are, I am sure, plenty of well written books that I have yet to read, but until I discover them THE SILENCED by Anders de la Motte has to be one of the best plotted novels I’ve ever read. Certainly up there with the best of them. Showing a depth and skill mastered by few, de la Motte has woven together a deeply compelling story as seen from a handful of characters. Each of these finely detailed personas tells a part of the story, and each chapter seamlessly dovetails into the one before, and the one after, at a thrilling pace that never lags.

The dialogue is crisp, snappy, and yes, in places, darkly funny. From observational quips by various characters offering up snippets of detail, to snarky comments about colleagues and their habits, Anders never misses an opportunity to dress a scene, or fill out the background on a character. All without so much as slowing down a riveting pace that, at times, is almost blistering. And then again, at times, also thoughtful. The author manages to find that perfect balance and delivers a thoroughly engrossing read.

I was hooked from opening scene, and interplay between the young Detective Inspector, Julia Gabrielsson, and the newcomer to her division, Amante, complete with his own tortured history. These two opposites are thrust into the depth of what seems to be a cover-up (at best) or worst, something deep, dark, and very ugly; A conspiracy with far reaching consequences.

Anders, for his part, builds the pace and reveals just enough to keep the reader guessing each step of the way, as characters begin to reveal their true nature, and more, test their allegiances. From the wily police commissioner, Oscar Wallin, to the slippery politician Jasper Stenberg, to Stenberg’s father-in-law, Karl-Erik, always plotting in the wings. Everyone is not who they appear to be, including the once shining hero, David Sarac, the pivotal character who, in the end, just wants to set the record straight before he dies.

Everyone has an agenda or an axe to grind, and Anders never misses a beat showcasing them all within the majesty of the city that is Stockholm. In and of it self, a character.

THE SILENCED—an action-packed thriller from beginning to end—is the ultimate story of power struggles, brutality, corruption, and betrayal!

THE BREACH has everything going for it, a great premise, scary action tinged with an overlay of creeping terror, and a promise of a shock or two along the way. That said, however, this one fell short, for me at least, on one major count: characterisation. And anyone who knows me, and reads my reviews regularly will know, it put a great deal of emphasis on characters and their arcs. I want to see them grow, I want to see depth, I want to believe in these people and, therefore, how they’re challenged by the situations they find themselves in.

Sadly, The Breach never quite delivered on any of those counts when it comes to the two main protagonists. Whose shoulders, quite frankly, the weight of this story, and its premise, fall upon. They never really hit the right notes, especially Freya Medlock (the Journalist) who had about as much depth as the paper she was printed on. A generic female with little if any personality.

The other main character, a steeplejack by trade, Shep (short for Shepard) does at least have a little more going for him, but not much. I wanted so much more from these two, that the author just failed to deliver on. For instance, Shep is in an exceptionally dangerous line of work, he literally hangs off the side of soaring brick towers, and petrochemical factory structures hundreds of feet up in the air, in all weather.

Yet, all these scenes setting up who he is and what he does, and these amazing set pieces of daring, all fall flat. We never really get a feel for the danger he’s in. When we should be feeling his vertigo, and keen sense of awareness, we’re given a guidebook tour of the view or his wandering thoughts. And thus, the prose lack any real edge to it.

Which belies how creepy and downright horrific everything becomes—accompanied by a foreboding sense of terror—when Shep (and then later, Shep and Freya) are beneath ground during one of Shep’s ‘Urbex’ missions into a restricted abandoned site hidding a frightening secret.

It’s here, in these two chapters, that we really see everything ‘light’ up and come to life in a way only a nightmare can—in a dark, damp, creepy fashion. Making us wonder what’s behind us, stalking us from the deep dark depths of our own imaginations.

Here is Hill’s writing strength—which are too few and far between the humdrum set of the rest of the novel—that make this a terrifying read. And, as such, The Breach could have been an outstanding horror read but, in the end for me at least, it just never quite reached the finish line.

Way too much filler and not enough action.

I can’t go on. I mean it, I simply cannot go on … reading this book. This is one long monotonous boring read. It’s the equivalent of a long straight driveway covered in grey chippings. This endless ribbon of uniform grey that stretches off into the distance, hard and uneven under foot, unyielding in form or feature. That’s how reading THE SILENT GIRLS feels.

There’s a total lack of any emotional depth to the characters, and while the author tells us a great deal about the main protagonists past, we know nothing about him. It’s like he had a past and then, popped up in the future, as a middle-aged man looking after his dead sister’s daughter. And therein lies the problem with not only the characters, but the lack of story itself.

We’re told everything, I mean, everything, but nothing. There’s a lot being said, but it has nothing (so far) to do with the story and reads like way too much filler. And while this is supposed to be a murder mystery, there is no murder, so far as I can tell.

I read 90 pages last night, and stopped at chapter 15. Chapter FIFTEEN, and nothing has happened.

There’s possibly a missing girl, but even by chapter fifteen, after pages, and pages of filler, we still don’t know if the girl has run away, been kidnapped, or is lying dead somewhere. Because we have no breadcrumbs, no hints, no nothing about anything or anyone. We have plenty of descriptions of the countryside in up state Vermont. We know about Frank Rath’s distant past. But not why he went from being a promising detective to a washed out PI.

The only evil lurking seems to be in the imagination of the author, but he’s not up for telling us about it, yet!

Oh, don’t get me wrong. He opens the book with a superfluous prologue that does nothing for the story (so far as I’ve read), and seems to be there only to shock. Look, here’s something nasty. But even reading it just left a dull taste in my mouth because it’s so badly written as to be a weird scene lifted from a Stephen King novel. It tells the reader how evil (this being a very young child at that) people can be.

And like the scene between Rath and the run-away young woman’s father—who may or may not be a pimp, who may, or may not sell drugs—it comes at you from out of left field. One minute the two men are testing each other’s testosterone levels, and then?

Bang! Our PI with supposedly a bad back is pushing a man twice his size and weight down onto the floor in a weird confrontation that is disjointed and out of place. The whole scene is badly constructed and had me re-reading it to make sure I hadn’t missed something, it was so preposterous.

The author has Rath eyeing up every woman and female child as if (a) they’re an affront to his maleness and manhood which he needs to lock away, or (b) reacting like a pervert staring at a young girl, or getting aroused by a sales woman racking her fingernails on his wrist. Which is kind of disturbing on so many levels, let me tell you.

I cannot empathise with Frank Rath on any level, nor any character so far, and I am so bored with the writing I felt my eyes glazing over as I read. Tedious, plodding and lacking any interest or impact, you could say it’s criminal that this one ever got published.

This is the second book in the Caleb Zelic series and, like Resurrection Bay, is relentless in its pacing as Caleb once again is trust into the centre of a murder mystery. Continuing a few months on from the aftermath of events that took place in book one, Caleb, beset by nightmares, is barely making a go of it and struggling physically and mentally. When, out for a run, he’s approached by a homeless man and given a cryptic note asking for help. Unable to resist, of course, Caleb follows the down-and-out to a dark alley and, everything from there on in goes to hell in a hand basket!

Poor Caleb, you have got to feel for this guy. So well written by Viskic he feels like someone you know or should know—a friend of a friend—he seems so familiar. Fighting the world on several fronts not least of which is battling through an ordinary day dealing with talking people, we get to know so much more about Caleb, and just how hard it is to be deaf in a speaking, hearing world. Viskic does an outstanding job of making us feel and live through Caleb’s eye. And yes, his ears too. Every missed word, every simple situation made all the more difficult by the obstacles he faces.

But Caleb is undaunted by his hearing impairment, and though he struggles, it’s made him who he is, more acutely aware of others in a way we cannot comprehend. And Viskic really reflects this so well in her writing. How he interacts with others and, just as importantly, how they, in turn, interact with him. It’s all so brutally honest.

It’s also both jarring, and so cleverly done. This is what makes for a far more interesting read, because Viskic’s characters are working within this framework, along with us, the reader. Making Caleb one hell of an interesting character never mind he’s determined, stubborn to a fault, and never, but never give up once he’s committed to doing something. In this case, finding out who killed the woman in the red dress.

With plenty of mystery, false leads, any number of ruses and misdirects, Viskic keeps things moving along at a decent pace, and never flags with both the plot, details, or character involvement. Even down to the secondary characters carried over from Resurrection Bay. We’re treated to more details and background, learn more about the community itself, where Caleb grew up, including more involvement with his younger fucked up brother, Ant.

It all makes for a thoroughly absorbing read. I was so invested in what was going on, I read this one in three very nail biting sittings. So determined to find out what was going on, who the killer or, killers, where, and whether or not we’d see Caleb get back together with Kat, his estranged wife.

And Fire Came Down takes on a lot and delivers lightning in a bottle for a second time. Tense, fraught, razor-sharp observations and, as I said, relentless. Caleb takes us on another journey of discovery, both personal and emotionally, as well as thematically. And while the ending ties up a number of threads by the end, it also poses a few more that we just know are going to be answered in the next instalment, in Darkness For Light.

While this might read OK as a standalone, I suggest reading Resurrection Bay first, as it will give more depth and background to the characters, plot, and setting. Never mind, just what makes Caleb tick.

Another outstanding read from beginning to end, I highly recommend this series.

THE RECKONING is not a book for the faint of heart, nor anyone who doesn’t like animal cruelty, violence, or graphic action in a fight scene. That’s because author, James McGee, accurately portrays the gritty underbelly of early 19th century London, when Britain is at war with France, and the Napoleonic Wars raged across Europe.

This is McGee’s sixth novel in the Matthew Hawkwood series, but my first outing and not to be my last. The author skilfully makes this easy to read as a standalone, without the need to have read previous installments. Any references made to previous escapades and adventures are all told within the context of the story, and add to the over-all story and background of our erstwhile hero, Hawkwood. A man who’s as straight as an arrow, and happy to bend the wrong rules for the right reasons. Especially in pursuit of justice for a killer’s victims.

I thoroughly enjoyed the rich detail that McGee has woven into a tight tapestry of what life was like during this period, in English history. And loads us up with plenty of intrigue on any number of levels. Not just a murder mystery, with Officer Hawkwood trying to trace a killer with little or no clues to go on. This is also a political thriller, with plenty of insight to the inner workings of the government, or, I should say, a number of departments, and high society of the day. Specifically, the warped sexual proclivities of the upper echelon and their ilk.

It is McGee’s descriptions of this sordid world, that while repugnant, show us just how life was for so many—the struggle for survival on a daily basis, brutal and cutthroat. And yet, within this world there are moments of lighthearted banter, jovial comradeship, and small slither of light. It is not all darkness and gloom, not all pain and drudgery.

McGee also lightens the load with wonderfully drawn characters, Hawkwood may carry the bulk of the story, but the other characters are as well crafted and fully fleshed out. I specifically like Jago, a rapscallion of a man who is Hawkwood’s right hand man, and has Hawkwood’s back. Then there is James Read, the Chief Magistrate at Bow Street, and Hawkwood’s ‘boss,’ who is the ‘moral’ compass, and even Read’s clerk, Twigg, was someone you don’t soon forget, as he provided some droll moments of humour. Even the Coroner’s surgeon, Quill, in his ‘death’ house, provided a welcome chance for the author to provide us with some great banter back and forth.

With plenty of colourful, engaging characters, going up against the entrenched bureaucracy of Brooke, Addington and Saxby, and with some keenly written snappy dialogue, McGee weaves an excellent story to a very real backdrop of history. He combines plenty of action and yes, plenty of violence, to keep a reader turning the page. And for me, this was a real page turner. I read THE RECKONING over two days, sucking up and relishing every detail.

While I enjoyed this novel, I will admit it might not be to everyone’s taste. As I stated, there is plenty of violence within the context of the story, and in part, the details are a little on the grisly side—but never overly gory, at least, not for me. If you like your murder mystery with a historically accurate background, a bunch of well-shaded characters, and a lot of period action (pun intended) then you will probably enjoy this one as much as I did.

I do love me a thoroughly twisted and suspenseful mystery and The Last Thing He Told Me is exactly that. Laura Dave throws Hannah, step-mum to Bailey, right in at the deep end of the ocean and, I might add, us along with them. We’re left peering over Hannah’s shoulder the whole way, as she desperately tries to figure out what’s going on and, just who the hell her new husband is, before all is lost.

This is as much a character study of Bailey and Hannah as it is a mystery, and Laura Dave does a great job of slowly unraveling said mystery one breadcrumb at a time, leaving the reader in the dark as much as Hannah and Bailey. I had my suspicions and, just when I thought I knew what was happening, the author adds a whole new set of wrinkles. And that’s when you realise you have no idea who Hannah’s husband Owen is anymore than Hannah does.

The tensions throughout are never over played, and there’s just enough going on by way of mystery to keep us guessing as to who Owen actually is, and why he’s vanished at the start of the novel. And boy, when you find out, how the past stitches into the present, and just where or, I should say, what the future holds, it’s totally not what you’re expecting. The twists are so damn clever. All of which I can’t talk about here, in this review least I spoilt the surprises. You will just have to find out for yourself. And let me tell you, they were well worth the subtle build up.

We have a small supporting cast who are all well delineated and play their parts well. But the story is, at its heart, not just a mystery but a story of a woman and teenager bonding and coming together in the face of a dawning revelation.

It’s about how Dave takes these characters, throws them off a cliff, and then, shows us how they not only survive, but help one another in the face of uncertainty and mounting adversity.

The Last Thing He Told Me is tightly written, taut and suspenseful, and a thoroughly absorbing mystery that doesn’t let up until the last page. So if, like me, you love slow-burning cleverly-written thrillers, then this one is a definite must.

Simply put, this is an excellent read.

This debut novel from the imaginative and decidedly twisted mind of S J Bennett is one of the best reads I’ve had this year, and that’s saying something given the quality of reads I’ve had of late. But what Bennett has done is capture the essence of Her Majesty, QEII, and turned her into a veritable royal Miss Marple in this lovely homage to Agatha Christie. Our much beloved sovereign is on top form in THE WIDSOR KNOT, sleuthing her way quietly through her ninetieth birthday celebrations, at Windsor Castle, during the spring of 2016.

For me, Bennett really captures both the best of a Christie novel, with an MC second to none. Updating for a modern sensibilities, complete with multiple murders, a clever, layered mystery, and political intrigue that is spot on—with a ‘hot button’ topic and issue ripped directly from today’s headlines. Throw in a great supporting cast of characters not least of which, aiding and abetting Her Majesty is Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie Oshodi, who’s the perfect foil to QEII. And you have a smart, elegant, clever murder mystery that delivers on so many levels.

With sneak peeks into life as we might imagine it, within the walls of Windsor castle, and the daily life of a long-serving Queen. Not to mention, the involvement of the Met Police and MI5 who are left high and dry when you have the resource to hand that the Queen does. Razor sharp observations, droll and as dry as the Sahara, our erstwhile sleuth, Her Majesty the Queen of England, is one of the most unusual characters to pop up solving crime in, well, a long time. And some of the throw away scenes between her and Philip are, well, priceless.

“Last thing you want is to be discovered in a royal palace with your goolies out.” “Philip!” “No, I mean it. No wonder everyone’s keeping it hush-hush. That, and protecting your fragile nerves.” The Queen threw him a look. “They forget. I’ve lived through a world war, that Ferguson girl, and you in the navy.”

I can still hear the Queen’s quiet, lilting voice echoing in my head along with that of Rozie, the Queen’s accomplice in crime-solving. Two wonderfully written characters, piecing together a series of nasty murders that all lead back to … well, that I cannot tell you, it would spoil the fun. Just go pick up your own copy and find out for yourself just who did what, to whom and why. The Windsor Knot has all the hallmark signs of being a long-running, best-selling cosy-mystery series that I, for one, am going to thoroughly enjoy reading.

Long may you reign, Lilibet!

WE RIDE THE STORM by Devin Madson has definitely been a wild ride of murder, mayhem, and enough twists and turns to make a reader dizzy! Madson is not averse to throwing in a good blindside. So that, just when you think you know what’s going on, she sucker punches you in the gut with a twist you never saw coming.

Well, for me at least, there were some really delicious twists I never saw coming. And let me tell you, that’s a rare achievement in and of itself.

It is this gift, along with the narrative and telling the story through the eyes of not one, but three main protagonist, and, in the first person no less, that seals the deal. Making WE RIDE THE STORM one of the best reads I’ve had, well, since Chakraborty’s DAEVABAD series of books. Madson has created three outstanding threads and then, has woven them into a fast emotional cohesive roller coaster read that meant I was page turning at a faster rate than I’m normally use to.

The choice of showing us this world through three sets of eyes is, for me, a clever way to tell a story that is much larger in scope than just a single individual protagonist might show us. Thus giving us a better foundation of the factions and players involved in an escalating war between nations.

I really enjoyed how Madson approached this aspect of her world building, in creating the set up, the battles, the politics and the repercussions of decisions and actions taken. It makes for a rich, satisfying read without the usual info dumps fantasy is want to throw at us. The author gives us just enough to make up our own minds about the central factions involved: the Roman-inspired Chiltae in the north, the horse-loving Levanti of the dry plains, and, in the southern region, the Japanese-styled Kisia Empire where politics and protocol rule the day.

This sets us up to enjoy three very different styled cultures, their politics, religion, and daily lives, which are all in stark contrast to one another.

The other aspect of reading three individual threads, and in the first person, gives us a chance to really connect with the characters on different level and see not only their thoughts, but feel the depth of their emotions too. How they react to difficult event and respond to the drama forced upon them makes it gut-wrenching and painfully personal. The pain and the brutality they suffer, the confusion, the doubt, plus the small moments of triumph mixed in with the dreadful realisation that despite their best efforts to the contrary, they might not change the course of the war, survive unscathed, or even come out of the war alive.

All makes for a compelling, page turning read.

Of the three characters, while I thoroughly enjoyed Miko’s personal war in her fight to save Kisia from an invading Chiltae army, it was Cassandra who captured my attention the most.

Here is a woman forced by strange circumstances into a life where she’s not only become a whore, in order to live, but one of the best, and highest paid assassins Chiltae has ever known. But that’s not all. Cassandra has a whole other set of daemons. Real or imagined? You’ll find out. From the strange voice in her head: Her. Who is also able—in times of great stress—to take over Cassandra’s body. To the the fact she hears the dead singing and calling out where ever she goes, you wonder how this woman has not only managed to survive, but hasn’t gone quite mad in the meantime. I am so looking forward to learning more about her as this series progresses.

The least exciting of the three, for me personally, was the straight arrow, Rah e’Torin, of the Levanti. While it was interesting to learn more about him, his people, and his battle of wits and strength against not only his Chiltae capturers, but one of his own, Herd Master Gideon. I felt he never really had as much of an impact as did Miko or Cassandra. Others may say differently. That’s the delight of a book like WE RIDE THE STORM. There’s something for everyone in here. Oh, and did I mention, ritual beheading? Yeah … that’s what I thought too.

From some deliciously witty dialogue, to political intrigue at its best, to devious machinations and betrayal on a brutal scale, we are delivered a thoroughly immersive read where the action is visceral, the characters compelling, and an over-arching story that will leave you, I hope, like me, wanting more!

Inspector Ashwin Chopra (Retd) a former member of the Mumbai police, is now one of my favourite characters. In this second installment of the Baby Ganesh series, we find Chopra settling into retirement as a private investigator, working out of an office in his new digs, a restaurant named after his wife, Poppy. This wonderful gem of a story fairly zips along at a motorised rickshaw pace, combining a number of threads that both delight and amused. And even if we think the arrival of both Queen Elizabeth and the Crown Jewels on a visit to Mumbai might seem impossible, we believe because Khan makes us believe.

Certainly I believe in Khan’s characters, who are all well drawn, including Chopra who is thoughtful, kind, intelligent, and a tad old-fashioned. He wistfully hankers for another time and is aware enough to realise how odd that makes him seem in the eyes of others. But it’s his integrity that stands out, Chopra lives in a world where bribery and corruption are the norm but he steadfastly refuses to give in, and let it consume him.

Whimsical, endearing, and upbeat, this mystery is told with a twinkle in the author’s eye. Chopra’s wry observations are engaging and humorous, offering up brief glimpses into life for millions in the bustling metropolis that is Mumbai. And while the story focuses on the theft of the Koh-i-Noor diamond, Chopra and his associate, Rangwalla, Baby Ganesh, and young Irfan—a street beggar turned waiter at Chopra’s restaurant—are seen chasing down leads on a number of cases.

I loved that we get to see Rangwalla and Chopra’s wife, Poppy, off on their own adventure, tracking down a stolen bust at the school where Poppy works. It’s these fun excursions elsewhere that add so much more to the depth and overall enjoyment of the read. As each character struggles to piece together and solve their own mysteries in these fun side-plots.

This is, at once, both a cozy mystery, and a lighthearted comic look at Indian life and culture. There is wit, drama, mystery and plenty of fun, with characters whose lives you become invested in, as this quirky, off-beat, mystery resolves itself to a very satisfying conclusion. And what’s not to love about a Cadbury chocolate loving baby elephant, named Ganesh?

Go on, you know you want to have a read!

GLORY MAIN by Henry V. O’Neil is one of those books, once started, you cannot put down. Classic military science fiction, Glory Main harks back to the likes of Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, Barry B. Longyear Enemy Mine, and David Weber’s Honor Harrington series of novels, and along with well fleshed out characters, clever world-building, and is a fast-paced gripping read.

Featuring a small diverse group of enduring characters who are thrown headlong into a life or death survival situation, Glory Main jumps right in at the deep-end. Our cast of struggling survivors include a young, greenhorn lieutenant, a shipboard shrink, a Spartacan Scout, read: special forces commando type, and a map-maker who also happens to be a conscientious objector. This alone should tell you what to expect from four such opposed personalities. Throw in that they’re stranded on a harsh almost barren world amid a bitter and terrible war, were lies from Command are the norm. And fighting not only themselves, the local flora and fauna, and a slow death by starvation, but an enemy who, as it turns out, looks like them—The Sims. The Simulants. The facsimiles—And the stage is set for one hell of a battle of survival, wits, determination and sheer will against the mounting odds.

Plausibly written throughout, the tech and its use in Glory Main is very familiar and yet, still manages to have the futuristic and otherworldly edge to it. As does the setting. Just when we think we understand what’s going on, O’Neil tosses in another roadblock and obstacle for the characters to over come. But far from painting his characters into tight corners, creating either false jeopardy or contriving situations, you feel you are there, on this gritty, unforgiving world suffering through the worst with each and every character. And while written in the first person POV, as seen through the eyes of Mortas, the story still unfolds naturally, and realistically.

The best part of any story, for me at least, is whether or not the author manages to pull off a plausible blindside, something O’Neil does right near the end, in Glory Main. Not only was I (like many I suspect) happily surprised with a clever plot twist, but I suspect O’Neil has set us up for what we know must come in successive installments. And yes, I can’t wait for the next in the series. The world-building, language, descriptions and info dumps—when they came—never once over shadowed or weighed the story down and the pacing was near on perfect.

All-in-all, Glory Main is a well-written, fast and compelling read. Henry O’Neil certainly knows the military, and knows how to craft an engrossing story. And whether or not you enjoy reading military science fiction or not, the story, which is character-driven and character-based, is still worth a read!

Glory Main is everything an updated version of Starship Troopers should be, a cracking good read.

In THE PHLEBOTOMIST, Chris Panatier takes us into the heart of an almost Orwellian dystopian future set in 2067 (so not a too far distant future) where a mega corporation, PATRIOT, controls everything. From what people eat, to how people live after an apparent nuclear disaster starts a chain of events, allowing the corporation greater, and greater control under the guise of helping others survive after the first and subsequent nuclear strikes, and the devastation that followed.

In this future the corporation collects blood donations from the populace in order to help survivors in the Grey Zones. In return for their blood, collected every 45 days, people are given a monthly food box with rations enough to survive along with the basics. But people are also encouraged to give more blood in order to earn extra credits. And some, we learn, give more than they should.

But here’s the catch, the more generic your blood type, O pos or O neg, the more you can earn. So those with universal blood are earning more than those with rarer blood groups, AB pos and AB neg and the like—who are considered lowbloods.

Thus, the city has become a series of annexed ghettos of varying degrees, others worse off by simply being born with the wrong blood type and consigned to poor areas, and barely surviving.

Enter the unlikeliest protagonist in the guise of Willa Wallace, a grandmother, a survivor and more importantly, an old fashioned phlebotomist—an expert and specialist in the collection of blood and blood products. Willa works for Patriot—now the de-facto government—at a blood collection bank convinced she’s doing her part for saving lives.

It’s not long after the author has established the hierarchy, background, and what everyone’s everyday lives are like, that things start to go wrong … wrong that is, for Willa. It starts with a blood-hacker and known criminal trying to force her hand to pass off bad blood. But Willa is having none of it. However, the confrontation disturbs her and, when her cooler loaded with blood meant for Central Collections breaks down, Willa is forced to rush the defective cooler to the depot herself.

What happens next are a string of events that force Willa to reevaluate everything she think she knows, and everything she’s ever been told since the first nuke hit. Because, the truth is far more frightening when she realises who and more importantly, what Patriot are!

This revelation totally blindsided me in the best way possible, so that I was well and truly invested from that point on in finding out—along with Willa—what the hell was going on. And, along with a wily ex-marine and hacker, the Locksmith, falls in with Locks team in uncovering the truth and exposing Patriot for who they really are.

The characters are well delineated, and next to Willa, I loved Lock for her fierce loyalty and inability to give up. I especially enjoyed the evolution of Everard—who was a great character sketch in and of himself. Along with this great bunch of characters, the pacing is none-stop and relentless, in this 310 page novel, as it gallops to a very satisfying ending along with a handful more smaller revelations.

A fast, absorbing read, almost cerebral at times with themes that are current and spot on for events unfolding today, The Phlebotomist is a fresh take on an old tried and tested trope, given it a unique twist of its own that, in the end, was bloody good!

This was Abaddon Books first anthology which features fourteen very assorted stories in which the invited authors were given carte blanche by editor, David Thomas Moore, to put Holmes, Watson, Mrs. Hudson and yes, even Inspector Lestrade, anytime and anywhere they want. And, as a result, we are presented with a varied and eclectic mix that include a female Holmes, a gay Holmes, a couple of classic Holmes, a Holmes who owns a travelling circus and, just as much fun, a Holmes who is a summoned demon; but more on that later.

Anthologies are, for me at least, something akin to a divining rod; they can be a hit or miss. Among this collection, however, there are some truly outstanding stories. A couple come with really cool settings, others neat twists, many with clever banter between the characters, but what all these ‘stand-out’ stories share is excellent story-telling by their respective authors.

Authors such as Jamie Wyman who takes Holmes and Watson and drops them into Mid-West America in a travelling carnival. A killer story which gave me a truly memorable opening act to the anthology. I sucked up A Scandal In Hobohemia so quickly I arrived at the end with the equivalent of ice-cream brain-freeze. What a neat re-casting of our favourite characters, I mean, Holmes reborn as the Master of Ceremonies, Sanford Haus, Irene Adler as Adele Trent a Pinkerton investigator, with her colleague Jim Walker taking on the Watson role. Never mind the recasting of Mrs. Hudson as … no, I better not!

Fun, fast-paced, richly detailed and immensely readable. As was A Woman’s Place by Emma Newman gifting us a look into a possible future Britain where a dubiously benign DotGov watches everyone but Holmes. A Holmes who, as it turns out …what? Oh, I can’t tell you that either without spoiling the fun. Needless to say the unflappable Mrs. Hudson steals the whole show at the end, when all is revealed.

Following on from Newman comes A Study In Scarborough from the cleverly cunning mind of Guy Adams, whose writing I love. This seemingly innocuous tale of journalist Arthur Doyle interviewing the retired actor, John Watson, was so delicious that I had to go back and read it a second time. The inter-cut of the BBC radio play dialogue add a touch of the 50s to a story that unfolds like an origami crane, never quite as you think it might.

Not to be outdone, in The Small World of 221B Ian Edginton gives us, what at first read seems like a classic Doylesque-written Watson and Holmes tale, but one that turns out to have another rather clever twist at curtain-close. I loved the premise and execution. And, again, like A Study In Scarborough by Adams, this was deftly written.

Whatever the time or place, none went quite as far afield—or is that beyond time and space itself?—as did Adrian Tchaikovsky in his, The Final Conjuration, in which minor magician and one of the 7 great wizard Lord’s apprentice, Wu Tsen, must once again recruit the aid of his pet demon, the Sherlock …

What, pet demon? Yes, that’s exactly what I thought. Tchaikovsky takes Holmes out of his usual setting, and throws him headlong into a fantastical world of magic. One in which magic is unable to deduce let alone ‘see’ truth—a world in which only the Sherlock can. By the end of this I felt almost sorry for poor Wu Tsen having to deal with the foibles and quirks of the Sherlock. Great fun!

Just when I thought the writing couldn’t get any better. When I’m still smiling to myself over the fate of Wu Tsen. I started reading another superbly written magical fantasy set in a world that, I have to admit, I’ve kind of fallen in love with. Well, at least the idea of it.

In The Innocent Icarus by James Lovegrove everyone has an ability. Everyone is gifted with a unique talent. For our fine fellow Dr. Watson, it is super strength and the ability to withstand pain. But, in this world populated by people who can fly, run fast, distinguish unique smells, or swim under water, we discover that Holmes is nothing more than an ‘Ordinary’ …

And yet, not so ordinary, when he uses his unique talents and skills of deduction to solve the murder of one Sir Hugh Lancaster. With its alternate Victorian-era setting, straight-laced manners, and almost steampunk-feel, The Innocent Icarus really delivers what I hoped all the stories in the anthology might, a thoroughly engrossing, richly detailed, well-delineated character story to read.

It’s the sheer quality of storytelling by this handful of authors that makes Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets a cut-above the rest, and well worth buying to read for those stories alone.

The central focus of this novel is the character of Flavia de Luce, the 11 year-old phenom who narrates and carries the entire weight of this suspense-mystery novel. And she does it admirably, or, I should say, the author has created a character so well defined, so well fleshed out, with an array of quirks and foibles that, as a character, gives her such great depth. Quite something for a middle-aged male author to achieve. He’s made it so that Flavia de Luce is not only believable, she feels as real as any of my nieces … if they had lived in the 1950s, that is.

Flavia de Luce jumps straight out at you, grabs you by the arm, and starts talking to you as if you were a co-conspirator in her life and the unfolding mystery that lands on her doorstep — literally. Her thoughts are effervescent bubbles that pop to the surface, one after another, in a constant stream, bringing to life the action, the scenery and the characters that populate The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie. And, through her, her thoughts and actions, the whole story comes brimming to life with the kind of detail that is also, at times, laugh out loud funny.

There is a great deal of astute and observational humour in this novel, that had me laughing, smirking, and nodding my head with a smile. I felt transported back to another time, and got lost in a 50s English countryside that felt, well, almost familiar to me. The places and setting were all lovingly described, and given their own little quirks as was Buckshaw, the de Luce’s country estate. Each as much a minor character in the story, as were the supporting characters themselves, who added just enough to carry the plot along at a delightful, slow-burn.

This is not a fast-paced, action-packed story, but a gentle bicycle ride through the winding back roads of Village life, its pace and setting reminiscent of a really good Agatha Christie novel. It’s all about the build up, about finding and fitting together the clues. Looking at suspects, making deductions and following ideas and inspiration in the way you imagine a young Sherlock Holmes might do.

This is most definitely Flavia de Luce’s story, and the other characters, including her immediate family, are there in support, and, as such, are not as fully defined in nature. But that isn’t to say they are paper thin, on the contrary, they all pop off the page with their own set of quirks and foibles — from the two older sisters Ophelia and Daphne, to her recluse stamp-collecting father, and his faithful servant and friend, Dogger.

Alan Bradley has created a richly detailed world that feels like it should exist, somewhere within the folds of the English countryside. Not only that, he’s populated a string of villages and homes with just the kind of characters you come to expect, if you’ve read a good Agatha Christie novel. And more, he’s made them all quite unique to this little corner of the world. A world that I’ve fallen in love with, along with the delightful Flavia de Luce and her family. I’m looking forward to seeing what other mysteries and murders Flavia will get involved in, and solve.

Welcome to the world of an 11 year-old Miss Marple, armed with a bicycle named Gladys.

I fell in love with this book right from the get-go. I mean, what could be better—it’s a wonderfully written western about a strong-willed woman set on the frontier. A frontier which just happens to be, yes, you guessed. Mars.

Mary Griffith is just the kind of character I love. She’s full of quirky foibles, piss and vinegar and, after being summarily dumped by the British Arean Company (a great name by the way) she’s reduced to making do and making ends meet by doing the one thing her Irish-ancestors were always good at: brewing ale and running a bar!

What’s more, Mary is not alone; with three daughters to look after and a menagerie of misfits and left-overs, Mary struggles admirably between a rock (the British Arean Company hellbent on closing her down or, at the very least, undermining her) and a hard place. Mars herself.

Kage Baker has a keen eye for characterisation, and deftly leads us (and Mary) on a merry dance of ups and downs, scrapes and battles, as we wonder how Mary (and her motley idiosyncratic crew) will get out of her latest dilemma and, in doing so, stick it to the British Arean Company in the process. But the story isn’t as simple as that. It’s layered enough as a character portrait (of Mary at least) as much as it is part action-adventure and mystery. Throw in a healthy measure of wry humour and satire, as far as I am concerned, you have a winning mix.

The Empress Of Mars is a page-turning, rollicking good read and the kind of adventure story I loved as a kid, and adult alike. I hope you’ll love it too.

THE STOCKHOLM OCTAVO by Karen Engelmann is a wonderfully written historical thriller full of intrigue, fans—and yes, I mean those kind of fans. Fans women use to use to fan themselves with, and more, with a deft hand, secretly signal to friends and lovers—hinting at mystery, murder, and a dash of romance. A story that is as much about cartomancy as it is about history, is decked out with an unusual cast of characters, ‘The Eight,’ who are lead character, Emil Larsson, must find in order to achieve his destiny.

Set in Stockholm, Sweden, at the end of the eighteenth-century, we find out Emil Larsson’s destiny isn’t his own, it’s tied up with that of the King of Sweden. All of which is the author’s way of opening up the various levels of society represented in the story, from seedy gaming houses and tap rooms, to the lofty levels of the government and royal palace and sumptuous world of Gustav III. Revolution is brewing on many levels, as the world in which Emil finds himself, is undergoing tumultuous change.

Engelmann’s writing is fluid, graceful, and wonderfully nuanced, sucking the reader into the story where the descriptive prose conjure locations, activities, and conversations that evoke this world, perfectly. This is not by any means a fast, action-packed story, but a slowly nuanced complex story told from a number of POV, centred around Emil Larsson. A story that paints a richly detailed world of manners, morals, and a belief a person can rise above the station they’re dealt in life if but given a chance or, dealt the right hand of cards.

An enjoyable, immersive experience. Highly recommended.

Steve Cavanagh has done an outstanding job of writing a riveting thriller that grabs you from the opening line, right on through to last page. Setting a pace that makes you feel you can smell the burnt rubber from the Ninja road bikes in one chase scene that would give Steve McQueen a run for his money.

THE DEFENCE is no ordinary, pedestrian courtroom drama, far from it. With a taut tight time frame mixing high-tension action with nail-biting moments where Eddie Flynn, our erstwhile hero, has to figure out his next move, or face the prospect that he might be the reason his daughter dies. The battle of wits and skills is on from the get go.

The tension rolls off the page in waves, like the mirage-inducing heat in the desert. But Eddie comes with a background and just enough know-how to use a combination of brains and brawn. Battling not only his past, and the demons that still haunt him, but the Russian Mob, hell bent on using him in their own twisted game of cat and mouse.

Caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place, Cavanagh has us second guessing everyone’s motives, from the Feds, prosecutor, and witnesses on down. And Flynn isn’t in the clear either. Despite doing his best to run the gauntlet between the Russians, the Italian mafia, and the Feds pinning everything on him, we just know we’re in for one hell of a roller coaster ride.

And boy, does Cavanagh deliver!

From moments where we’re not sure what’s going on, and who we think Eddie can trust, to a couple of near-death stunts that John McClane would be proud of in any Die-Hard movie. Con man turned lawyer, Eddie Flynn, is risking it all for the woman who stole his beating heart: his daughter.

The characters, including the low-lifes, are well-drawn, and have enough depth to make your skin crawl. The pacing is such that you will not want to put this one down, as I found out, reading it in just two page-turning sessions. The scene is one we’re all familiar with, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

If you’ve seen any Die-Hard type movie of the last twenty years, you will know what to expect. The unexpected, lots of twists and turns, and a hero who simply will not give up, under any circumstances.

With plenty of layers, mis-directs, heart-pounding action, and adept sleight of hand, THE DEFENCE has something for everyone—including, a great story.

Eddie Flynn is my new anti-hero hero and Judge Ford is not far behind!

This chess-inspired 8th outing of the cranky melancholy police investigator, Arkady Renko, is a fast-paced romp through the underbelly of corrupt police/politicians/media in Putin’s crumbling modern Russia. Where just about everyone has an agenda hustling from the streets to the highest office, for everything from stolen goods to billion ruble contracts. And where Cruz Smith’s cast of well-drawn characters are all doing their best trying to avoid being collateral damage amid the warring factions.

I enjoyed the pace, which is fairly brisk and doesn’t lag, because a lot of the action is split between a number of the characters, not just our world-weary investigator. While Renko is essentially trying to discover who killed investigative reporter, Tatiana Petrovna, and more importantly, why, he connects her murder to that of recently assassinated mafia kingpin, Grisha Grigorenko. And, as he pieces together snippets of information, he stumbles upon a much larger picture than just revenge, or murder, collusion and corruption at the highest levels.

What I love about Cruz Smith’s writing is his seedy bunch of twitchy characters doggedly trying to keep ahead of the action, while also dropping in actual historical events, into the background—events like the sinking of the Kursk in the Baltic and the utter destruction of the city of Konigsberg (in an isolated slice of Russia abutting the baltic sea) and the building of the secret city of Kaliningrad. And thus, Cruz Smith cleverly draws us into a tangled web of secrets, lies, and corruption.

While Renko engages in a game of cat and mouse with mobsters trying to find answers to Tatiana’s murder, his old friend and partner, Victor, along with Zhenya and his girlfriend Lotte, are left behind in Moscow trying to unravel a mystery of their own, never mind survive being murdered. Of course, all the loose ends slowly begin to make connections, leading to a confrontation along with a number of revelations and an open-ending finale that tells us that even Renko cannot bring everyone to justice in a world ruled by corruption.

I can recommend this one if you enjoy a good thriller with plenty of misdirection, well-drawn characters, snappy dialogue, with plenty of grit and background detail that all helped bring this one to life.

STATE OF TERROR, a taut, tense, whiplash-inducing thriller, is so up to the minute in world events it seems like the authors, Hillary Clinton and crime fiction author, Louise Penny, had a crystal ball to look into scrying possible scenarios … no, wait … they did. In the form of Ms. Clintons and her years as Secretary of State. Her experience and skill, among other things, provide the backdrop to this immensely addictive thriller.

From the well delineated characters, including the secondary characters who are just as pivotal in the plot, through to the non-stop and relentless pace. We are whisked along by the unfolding events all the while chewing the inside of our cheeks, fretting along with Secretary of State, Ellen Adams, and her closest confident and Counsellor, Betsy Jameson.

These two women whose bond throughout was a joy and a surprise, never mind the clever wit and snark. I also love that relationships play a large part in events, decision, and actions throughout. Which makes the stakes all the more threatening when they’re seen intimately, up-close and personal with frightening consequences.

Political intrigue, high-stakes espionage, traitors, misdirects, subterfuge, and the ultimate terror of a radical terrorist group laying hands on not one nuclear weapon, but three, set the stage and scope for this well-plotted emotional roller coaster ride of a thriller. That, in the end, had real bite.

Grab a large glass of your favourite wine, curl up on the sofa and get ready for Ellen and Betsy to get it done—two truly iconic women!

SAWBONES is raw, gritty and, at times, violently graphic. The characters themselves could have been ripped out of a Dime novel of the day back in the late 1800s—with a woman on the run after being accused of murder she didn’t commit, Indians on the warpath, and a saddle-weary Army Captain with a dire secret of his. Each adds their own story to the narrative as seen through the eyes of Lenhardt’s heroine, Catherine Bennett. A woman with the audacity to think she could be a doctor in a man’s world.

Escaping from the stifling confines of NYC after being wrongly accused of murder, Bennet flees to the Texas frontier with help form a childhood friend, James, and her Irish maid, Maureen. But the West is filled with more than its own fair share of dangers, from drunken cowpokes, to bounty hunters, and those trying to make a fast buck any where they can. Each character more despicable than the last.

Heading toward a frontier town, the wagon train Maureen and Catherine—now calling herself Laura Elliston—are travelling on is attacked by marauding Indians. Everyone, except Laura, is brutally murdered. Chased off by an Army patrol, Laura is rescued by Captain William Kindle and his men. However, in the fight, Kindle is severely injured. But thanks to Laura’s skill as a surgeon, she’s able to save Kindle’s life. And thus, as the two are thrown together by chance and circumstances, a romance ignites.

While Sawbones is, at times, a page-turner with lots of gung-ho action, Lenhardt does try to tempers her unflinching portrayal of the West—and the prevailing attitudes of the times—with some thoughtful moments between the various characters. But even out in the wild west love can be a burden when trying to hide in plain sight. As passions run high between Kindle and Elliston, betrayal may have the last word in any hope of happiness for the couple. A spectre from Kindle’s past rides into town and demands the ultimate sacrifice of them. The result is an ending that goes completely over the top.

This is no rosy, glossy love-story, but a visceral look at how life in the wild west might have looked. With characters whose lives are torn apart by circumstances, in a brutal world vividly brought to life by Lenhardt’s style of storytelling. Sadly, for me, what was lost in all this gore and extreme violence, is a decent storyline.

If you like your westerns with an overload of violence, and a heavy dose of romance, then maybe you’ll enjoy taking a ride out west with Lenhardt’s Sawbones.

I don’t normally read contemporary or literary fiction, in the same way I like to avoid getting a nasty skin rash — through avoidance. But after reading a couple of reviews, and seeing it listed on a couple of blogs as a book to read I found myself staring at the cover in my local bookstore and thinking, okay, maybe this won’t be so bad. Maybe I won’t get a skin rash, vomit, swoon or faint from cracking open its pages. So I bought it.

Sure enough, I checked myself regularly through out the reading process and, no rashes. I did, however, laugh a lot—because of Ove’s droll observations and the awkward situations he found himself dealing with—and smiled at the nicknames he gave everyone in his neighbourhood, including the mangy cat. I was also left shaking my head in wonder, when the seemingly innocent act of drilling a hole in the ceiling turns out to be a lot more than drilling a hole in the ceiling.

There is so much more going on in Ove’s life, that trickles in through those first few chapters which, by the end, make you sit up and realise what’s really going on. And just why there is no colour left in Ove’s life anymore.

Death is a strange thing. People live their whole lives as if it does not exist, and yet it’s often one of the great motivations for the living… For the greatest fear of death is always that it will pass us by. And leave us there alone. All people at root are time optimists. We always think there’s enough time to do things with other people. Time to say things to them. And then something happens and then we stand there holding on to words like ‘if’. People said Ove saw the world in black and white. But she was color. All the color he had.

Poignant, funny, uplifting and yes, at times, heartbreakingly sad, Ove has lived a simple life that’s anything but simple. In that the challenges he’s had to overcome, and the people—good and bad—that have shaped and moulded the boy through to the man that he becomes, all become part of the very cleverly written backstory. From Ove’s interactions with his father, through to the loving relationship he has with his wife, Sonja, and how they met and fell in love.

But it’s in the present we see how Ove’s life slowly transforms through the interactions with his (somewhat) friends and neighbours. Flawed people who make mistakes, argue (a lot) and drive Ove nuts yet, who at times, also touch Ove deeply in ways even he never expected — especially his next door neighbour, Parvaneh and her two young daughters. And even though Ove tells these people exactly what he thinks of them, they still manage to be there and to rally round, and change a grumpy old man’s life, in ways he never expected all for the better.

A Man Called Ove is an immensely enjoyable read and one you will not easily forget. Certainly, it touched me deeply.

This is a solid outing from Matthew Palmer, an author that knows his stuff. SECRETS OF STATE, is a thriller with all the right ingredients, that hit all the right notes. The characters are nothing new, but familiar territory is okay as long as there is enough elsewhere to make up for it. And while the plot is nothing new either—terrorists stealing a nuclear weapon to blow up a city—again, that was okay, as the author came at this from a slightly different angle, with a new view while covering old ground, which freshened up a doomsday scenario with likeable enough characters that were engaging.

Set against the backdrop of simmering tensions between India and Pakistan, Palmer gives us a what-if that’s oh so plausible right now. And while most authors are focused on the usual suspects and setting that are becoming tired, he reminds us that the world at large is still a very dangerous place and has far more players on the world stage than we usually think about.

What sets SECRETS OF STATE apart from the average read, are the small things. And it’s not often we get a view of places like Mumbai and it’s slums—never mind the people that live there. A thoroughly enjoyable, and quick read, so much so I’ll be buying a few more of Palmer’s works as I suspect they’ll be just as enjoyable a romp as SECRETS OF STATE was.

Joe Lansdale’s western, THE THICKET, is wickedly smart, funny, vulgar, violent, philosophical and yes, even at times, a little whimsical. All in part due to the wonderful, quirky cast of characters and, of course, Lansdale’s own voluble prose. Prose prickling with acute observations, jibes, laconic wit, and snappy dialogue that reflect the era and characters, perfectly.

Lansdale also manages to sketch out an opening scene that’s akin to free-crack to a drug-addict: irresistible. I mean, come on, our young hero’s life is turned up side down and sideways within a heartbeat, and who does he end up going on a quest with? A philosophical-spouting dwarf (and circus escapee) who knows how to pistol-whip, a black ex-slave who has a perchance for digging up the dead when he’s not paid, and a wild boar who’s taken a liking to him. Throw in a love-interest for Jack who persuades him to help her escape the brothel were she works, and you have a recipe for explosive action, humorous antics, and a fast-paced plot that delivers right up to the end.

Each character in this western is finely detailed with their own distinct quirks and failings that add layers of depth to this story of rescue and redemption. Each is taking up Jack’s quest for their own personal reasons, and all looking to leave their pasts behind them, with a hope they can find a better future. Lansdale doesn’t hold back on the gritty details, so much so, you can almost taste and smell the grit, grim, and rot. But he also tempers the pervading darkness with plenty of snarky humour and lighter moments.

It takes a great deal of skill as an author to find just the right balance in what could have been a dark, brooding story, but Lansdale pulls it off with remarkable aplomb.

THE THICKET is a riveting, funny, darkly droll read, with a cast of characters you’ll be rooting for. I know I was.

Jane Harper has done it again. She has captured lightning in a bottle not once, but twice. With FORCE OF NATURE she has crafted a second beguiling novel, with a tapestry of threads that crisscross throughout the story weaving a masterpiece of misdirection till the final reveal. A surprise, I for one, never saw coming. The clever red herrings, the subtle misdirects, she does it all to perfection. You think you know what’s going on? You don’t. And believe me, I’m pretty good at sussing out the culprit early on. Not this time around.

Harper’s oh so believable cast of characters—highlighting the best and worst of human nature under duress, and in a hostile environment—are people you might know, people you might have met or worked with, people who, as the story progresses, start to come apart. I loved every scene and every page detailing what happened to the five women as they set out on what should be, a bonding weekend. As they dissolve into a female version of Lord of the Flies. Every bitching, snide remark, every possible slight, and hurt revealed. Every fibre of these women is shredded, slowly and surely, to they become their own worst enemies.

For me, this is writing at its best. The detail, the emotion, the pain and the secrets, are all slowly laid bare for us. Every scab is picked at till it bleeds, and we see what’s beneath the thin veneer of respectability. Five women from the same company, but from different strata, thrown together and then, go feral. But there is so much more than that, so much more than the in-fighting. Lives and secrets opened up along with the lies and deceit. And why people do what they do. Harper gets in there, beneath the skin, and exposes it all.

Aaron Falk, who was, for the most part, the focus of THE DRY, takes almost a back seat in FORCE OF NATURE, as Harper alternates chapters featuring the slow dissolution of the five women, and between Falk, his new partner, Carmen, and the search for the missing woman. Each dynamic has its part to play in the story as a whole, and each chapter dovetails cleverly to keep you guessing. I liked how we got to see a bit more of Falk’s history with his father, filling out more of his own backstory, while not deflecting from the story at hand, the missing women lost in an unforgiving outback.

A rugged brutal landscape that is the perfect backdrop to this kind of story, and a character in and of it self. All adding to the tension that slowly builds towards a heartbreaking reveal. Nothing and no one is ever what they seem, and Harper makes sure we are left wondering right up till the last few pages about the who, why, and how.

Clever twist and turns, so that you never quite know what’s going to happen next, or what these women might say or do next, is, believe it or not, a gripping read. Try it for yourself, you will not be disappointed.

I spent a day reading this fast paced, fun read, that takes you on another Dan Brown whirlwind ride. This time around it’s the US Capital, Washington DC, as opposed to some European City. But whatever the city, you know to suspend your sense of disbelief on the the first page, and just jump in.

The author packs in the right ingredients with just the right amount of action and intrigue to keep you flipping the pages in fast succession. Whether or not the characters look like they (and the rather outlandish situations they subsequently find themselves in) were written with a movie in mind can be forgiven because, well, let’s just say, they’re easily identifiable with and leave it at that. Regardless, you will find yourself there with them and, if not rooting for them, at least enjoying gallivanting all over Washington’s famous monuments, and seeing them in a new light. The dialogue is unabashed, the info dumps easy to digest, and the characters written in the mould we’ve come to expect.

Whether you like Dan Brown, or not, is beside the point. We all know he doesn’t write great literature, what he does write is accessible, fun, though-provoking, fast-paced thrillers that are a thoroughly enjoyable read. You can’t go to wrong with this one. If a fan already, I recommend you buy the hardback edition, if not, then wait for the paperback, or check it out from the library.

As far as I am concerned, this is worth skipping a couple of Starbuck’s lattes to buy. Always a fun read.

Steve Cavanagh has done an outstanding job of writing a riveting thriller that grabs you from the opening line, right on through to last page. Setting a pace that makes you feel you can smell the burnt rubber from the Ninja road bikes in one chase scene that would give Steve McQueen a run for his money.

THE DEFENCE is no ordinary, pedestrian courtroom drama, far from it. With a taut tight time frame mixing high-tension action with nail-biting moments where Eddie Flynn, our erstwhile hero, has to figure out his next move, or face the prospect that he might be the reason his daughter dies. The battle of wits and skills is on from the get go.

The tension rolls off the page in waves, like the mirage-inducing heat in the desert. But Eddie comes with a background and just enough know-how to use a combination of brains and brawn. Battling not only his past, and the demons that still haunt him, but the Russian Mob, hell bent on using him in their own twisted game of cat and mouse.

Caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place, Cavanagh has us second guessing everyone’s motives, from the Feds, prosecutor, and witnesses on down. And Flynn isn’t in the clear either. Despite doing his best to run the gauntlet between the Russians, the Italian mafia, and the Feds pinning everything on him, we just know we’re in for one hell of a roller coaster ride.

And boy, does Cavanagh deliver!

From moments where we’re not sure what’s going on, and who we think Eddie can trust, to a couple of near-death stunts that John McClane would be proud of in any Die-Hard movie. Con man turned lawyer, Eddie Flynn, is risking it all for the woman who stole his beating heart: his daughter.

The characters, including the low-lifes, are well-drawn, and have enough depth to make your skin crawl. The pacing is such that you will not want to put this one down, as I found out, reading it in just two page-turning sessions. The scene is one we’re all familiar with, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

If you’ve seen any Die-Hard type movie of the last twenty years, you will know what to expect. The unexpected, lots of twists and turns, and a hero who simply will not give up, under any circumstances.

With plenty of layers, mis-directs, heart-pounding action, and adept sleight of hand, THE DEFENCE has something for everyone—including, a great story.

Eddie Flynn is my new anti-hero hero and Judge Ford is not far behind!

THE ROMANOV PROPHECY is another fast-paced thriller that is pure popcorn entertainment from the first page, till the last. A rip-roaring romp through the streets, and politics, of Moscow, in a possible near-future where Russia, looking for it’s roots, is set on the restoration of the Monarchy. And looking for the next in line, and most direct heir to the murdered house of Romanov, a Commission is assembled.

Straight out of the gate, Miles Lord—a black American lawyer and part of the firm looking into the background of the hot favourite to ascend the throne, Stefan Baklanov—is running for his life, as gunmen open fire on him in the middle of a lunchtime crowd. From here on in Miles is in a race to piece together who is shooting at him, and want him dead, and why.

Part of what makes a Steve Berry novel entertaining and fun is the twist he takes on the tried and tested formula, adding his own touches like having a tall, athletic, black man the unlikely hero racing against time, the odds, corrupt government officials, the Russian mob, and an unlikely group of men hellbent on making Baklanov their Tsar puppet.

Throw in a love-interest with a twist of her own—she’s a circus acrobat—and have the pair thrust into the midst of an ancient prophecy they have to solve along the way. And the story is ripe for plenty of action, near-escapes, shoot-outs, as the pair piece together the clues that take them from Moscow, to St. Petersburg, Siberia and back to America.

What I also love about a Steve Berry novel is the history he always manages to incorporate. Most of what’s quoted in THE ROMANOV PROPHECY is documented fact. What’s Berry has done is take those facts and created a very plausible, if somewhat fantastical story that has you thinking.

The settings are authentic, the secondary characters have some depth to them, and the dialogue is exactly what you’d expect for this kind of thriller. The plot and pacing are brisk, and play out nicely to a very satisfactory conclusion. All-in-all, a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto is an absolute blast of fun-filled, darkly twisted humour. And don’t get me started on the complicated family dynamics, which adds not only more humour but also a great deal of depth to this over-the-top family caper that’s worthy of it’s own sitcom.

Truly, Sutanto nails the archetypes of Ah Mas and Ah Yis perfectly, so much so I was nodding my head knowingly and grinning like an idiot. Yes, I’ve met some of these women in my own childhood, and remember them all with fond memories. They always all know what’s best even when they have no idea what’s best!

At it’s heart, Dial A for Aunties is both, at once, a comedy of errors and a heartfelt romance. Sutanto delivers on every level with the melodrama and humour, thanks to the idiosyncratic nature of the four sisters, while giving us a twisted joyride courtesy of the unexpected ‘death’, and throws in a bit of hot romance to stir our emotions even further. So that, when we’re not feeling it for poor dutiful Meddelin ‘Meddy’ Chan, we’re either laughing our socks off at the situation—which goes from bad, to worse, to OMG I can’t believe this happening—to swooning along with Meddy over the love of her life, Nathan.

Sutanto gives us the best kind of romantic comedy with plenty of misdirects, heartbreak, moments of sheer OTT fun, and suspend-your-sense-of-disbelief laugh out loud moments, as the 3 aunties and Meddy’s mother do their best to help their beloved niece and daughter get rid of the body … I never stopped laughing or shaking my head as hapless Meddy tries desperately to extract herself, and her aunties, from events as they spiral out of control.

I loved the aunties and their biting banter, and the wonderful insight into the family dynamics of their Chinese Indonesian heritage, traditions, and rituals. This is a fabulously entertaining and engaging read that tips into the territory of farce and the ridiculous which will make you laugh, while the romance will happily make you grin from ear to ear.

Sit back, let loose with Meddy and her meddlin’ aunts, and have some fun!

THE BREACH has everything going for it, a great premise, scary action tinged with an overlay of creeping terror, and a promise of a shock or two along the way. That said, however, this one fell short, for me at least, on one major count: characterisation. And anyone who knows me, and reads my reviews regularly will know, it put a great deal of emphasis on characters and their arcs. I want to see them grow, I want to see depth, I want to believe in these people and, therefore, how they’re challenged by the situations they find themselves in.

Sadly, The Breach never quite delivered on any of those counts when it comes to the two main protagonists. Whose shoulders, quite frankly, the weight of this story, and its premise, fall upon. They never really hit the right notes, especially Freya Medlock (the Journalist) who had about as much depth as the paper she was printed on. A generic female with little if any personality.

The other main character, a steeplejack by trade, Shep (short for Shepard) does at least have a little more going for him, but not much. I wanted so much more from these two, that the author just failed to deliver on. For instance, Shep is in an exceptionally dangerous line of work, he literally hangs off the side of soaring brick towers, and petrochemical factory structures hundreds of feet up in the air, in all weather.

Yet, all these scenes setting up who he is and what he does, and these amazing set pieces of daring, all fall flat. We never really get a feel for the danger he’s in. When we should be feeling his vertigo, and keen sense of awareness, we’re given a guidebook tour of the view or his wandering thoughts. And thus, the prose lack any real edge to it.

Which belies how creepy and downright horrific everything becomes—accompanied by a foreboding sense of terror—when Shep (and then later, Shep and Freya) are beneath ground during one of Shep’s ‘Urbex’ missions into a restricted abandoned site hidding a frightening secret.

It’s here, in these two chapters, that we really see everything ‘light’ up and come to life in a way only a nightmare can—in a dark, damp, creepy fashion. Making us wonder what’s behind us, stalking us from the deep dark depths of our own imaginations.

Here is Hill’s writing strength—which are too few and far between the humdrum set of the rest of the novel—that make this a terrifying read. And, as such, The Breach could have been an outstanding horror read but, in the end for me at least, it just never quite reached the finish line.

Way too much filler and not enough action.

This is the second book in the Caleb Zelic series and, like Resurrection Bay, is relentless in its pacing as Caleb once again is trust into the centre of a murder mystery. Continuing a few months on from the aftermath of events that took place in book one, Caleb, beset by nightmares, is barely making a go of it and struggling physically and mentally. When, out for a run, he’s approached by a homeless man and given a cryptic note asking for help. Unable to resist, of course, Caleb follows the down-and-out to a dark alley and, everything from there on in goes to hell in a hand basket!

Poor Caleb, you have got to feel for this guy. So well written by Viskic he feels like someone you know or should know—a friend of a friend—he seems so familiar. Fighting the world on several fronts not least of which is battling through an ordinary day dealing with talking people, we get to know so much more about Caleb, and just how hard it is to be deaf in a speaking, hearing world. Viskic does an outstanding job of making us feel and live through Caleb’s eye. And yes, his ears too. Every missed word, every simple situation made all the more difficult by the obstacles he faces.

But Caleb is undaunted by his hearing impairment, and though he struggles, it’s made him who he is, more acutely aware of others in a way we cannot comprehend. And Viskic really reflects this so well in her writing. How he interacts with others and, just as importantly, how they, in turn, interact with him. It’s all so brutally honest.

It’s also both jarring, and so cleverly done. This is what makes for a far more interesting read, because Viskic’s characters are working within this framework, along with us, the reader. Making Caleb one hell of an interesting character never mind he’s determined, stubborn to a fault, and never, but never give up once he’s committed to doing something. In this case, finding out who killed the woman in the red dress.

With plenty of mystery, false leads, any number of ruses and misdirects, Viskic keeps things moving along at a decent pace, and never flags with both the plot, details, or character involvement. Even down to the secondary characters carried over from Resurrection Bay. We’re treated to more details and background, learn more about the community itself, where Caleb grew up, including more involvement with his younger fucked up brother, Ant.

It all makes for a thoroughly absorbing read. I was so invested in what was going on, I read this one in three very nail biting sittings. So determined to find out what was going on, who the killer or, killers, where, and whether or not we’d see Caleb get back together with Kat, his estranged wife.

And Fire Came Down takes on a lot and delivers lightning in a bottle for a second time. Tense, fraught, razor-sharp observations and, as I said, relentless. Caleb takes us on another journey of discovery, both personal and emotionally, as well as thematically. And while the ending ties up a number of threads by the end, it also poses a few more that we just know are going to be answered in the next instalment, in Darkness For Light.

While this might read OK as a standalone, I suggest reading Resurrection Bay first, as it will give more depth and background to the characters, plot, and setting. Never mind, just what makes Caleb tick.

Another outstanding read from beginning to end, I highly recommend this series.

Following on from an earlier post, Celebrating Military SF, and for those of you who are looking for something different, why not try one or two of the novels mentioned below. Each offers an alternate perspective and narrative to the category it is listed under. 

Of course, this is by no means a definite list but rather a cross section of books I've read over the years. 

ALIEN & FUTURE CULTURES

• CODE OF CONDUCT by Kristine Smith

• DUNE by Frank Herbert

• FOREIGNER by C. J. Cherryh

• GOLDEN WITCHBREED by Mary Gentle

• THE SNOW QUEEN by Joan D. Vinge

ALIEN GATEWAYS

• GATEWAY by Frederik Pohl

• MIDNIGHT AT THE WELL OF SOULS by Jack L. Chalker

ALIEN INVASION 

• THE VISITORS by Clifford D. Simak

• THE PUPPET MASTERS by Robert A. Heinlein

• CHAGA by Ian McDonald

• CHILDHOOD'S END by Arthur C. Clarke

• DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS by John Wyndham

ALT TIMELINE & ERAS

• ACK-ACK MACAQUE by Gareth L. Powell

• EUROPE, IN AUTUMN by Dave Hutchinson

• THE LEGION PROPHECY by Mark A. Latham

COLONISATION

• DESTINATION: VOID by Frank Herbert

• DRAGONFLIGHT by Anne McCaffrey

• EARTHSEED by Pamela Sargent

DYSTOPIAN

• DARWIN'S RADIO by Greg Bear

• DAUGHTER'S OF MOAB, THE by Kim Westwood

• YEAR ZERO by Jeff Long

FIRST CONTACT 

• ANCIENT SHORES by Jack McDevitt

• CONTACT by Carl Sagan

FUTURISTIC DISASTERS

• THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN by Michael Crichton

• BEYOND THE BARRIER by Damon Knight

• BLOOD MUSIC by Greg Bear

MILITARY SF

• EMBERS OF WAR by Gareth L. Powell

• GLORY MAIN by Henry V. O'Neil

• HUNTING PARTY by Elizabeth Moon

• ON BASILISK STATION by David Weber

• VALOR'S CHOICE by Tanya Huff

• VIRTUES OF WAR by Bennett R. Coles

HUMANITY TRANSFORMED

• BABEL-17 by Samuel R. Delany

• FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON by Daniel Keyes

• SOLDIER, ASK NOT by Gordon R. Dickson

• THE SEEDLING STARS by James Blish

• THE SPEED OF DARK by Elizabeth Moon

Hopefully, this will give you some ideas of what book to chose next.

THE RECKONING is not a book for the faint of heart, nor anyone who doesn’t like animal cruelty, violence, or graphic action in a fight scene. That’s because author, James McGee, accurately portrays the gritty underbelly of early 19th century London, when Britain is at war with France, and the Napoleonic Wars raged across Europe.

This is McGee’s sixth novel in the Matthew Hawkwood series, but my first outing and not to be my last. The author skilfully makes this easy to read as a standalone, without the need to have read previous installments. Any references made to previous escapades and adventures are all told within the context of the story, and add to the over-all story and background of our erstwhile hero, Hawkwood. A man who’s as straight as an arrow, and happy to bend the wrong rules for the right reasons. Especially in pursuit of justice for a killer’s victims.

I thoroughly enjoyed the rich detail that McGee has woven into a tight tapestry of what life was like during this period, in English history. And loads us up with plenty of intrigue on any number of levels. Not just a murder mystery, with Officer Hawkwood trying to trace a killer with little or no clues to go on. This is also a political thriller, with plenty of insight to the inner workings of the government, or, I should say, a number of departments, and high society of the day. Specifically, the warped sexual proclivities of the upper echelon and their ilk.

It is McGee’s descriptions of this sordid world, that while repugnant, show us just how life was for so many—the struggle for survival on a daily basis, brutal and cutthroat. And yet, within this world there are moments of lighthearted banter, jovial comradeship, and small slither of light. It is not all darkness and gloom, not all pain and drudgery.

McGee also lightens the load with wonderfully drawn characters, Hawkwood may carry the bulk of the story, but the other characters are as well crafted and fully fleshed out. I specifically like Jago, a rapscallion of a man who is Hawkwood’s right hand man, and has Hawkwood’s back. Then there is James Read, the Chief Magistrate at Bow Street, and Hawkwood’s ‘boss,’ who is the ‘moral’ compass, and even Read’s clerk, Twigg, was someone you don’t soon forget, as he provided some droll moments of humour. Even the Coroner’s surgeon, Quill, in his ‘death’ house, provided a welcome chance for the author to provide us with some great banter back and forth.

With plenty of colourful, engaging characters, going up against the entrenched bureaucracy of Brooke, Addington and Saxby, and with some keenly written snappy dialogue, McGee weaves an excellent story to a very real backdrop of history. He combines plenty of action and yes, plenty of violence, to keep a reader turning the page. And for me, this was a real page turner. I read THE RECKONING over two days, sucking up and relishing every detail.

While I enjoyed this novel, I will admit it might not be to everyone’s taste. As I stated, there is plenty of violence within the context of the story, and in part, the details are a little on the grisly side—but never overly gory, at least, not for me. If you like your murder mystery with a historically accurate background, a bunch of well-shaded characters, and a lot of period action (pun intended) then you will probably enjoy this one as much as I did.

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  military science fiction
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There is one thing you can be sure of, modern science fiction gives us plenty of choice to choose from when it comes to sub-genres. Of course, it all depends on who you speak to about what may, or may not, make it onto the list but, for arguments sake, here are a few of what makes it onto my list.

• Alien Invasion

• A. I. (Artificial Intelligence | Nano Tech | Virtual)

• Colonisation (also: Terraforming)

• Dystopian

• First Contact

• Galactic Empire

• Generational Ships

• Military SF

• Near Future

• Parallel Universes

• Post Apocalypse

• Robots & Androids (see also AI above)

• Space Exploration

• Space Opera

• Time Travel

• Utopian

Of these, I think I dislike time travel the most, while on the flip side, one of my favourites is military SF. But what is it about one that I dislike, and what is it about the other, that I like? Well, I thought you would never ask.

Time travel, by its very nature is, for me at least, problematic from the get go. But let's make it clear, for us, as humans—and I have read a great deal of scientific data—there is nothing that will convince me that we can, as complex physical structures, travel either forward in time, let alone backward.

Two reasons pop up straight away.

1. The nature of time itself, and

2. Size matters

While it's theoretically possible that matter, at the atomic and subatomic level, might be transmitted forward and backwards and, quite possible is (for all we know), when you scale up to human size complex creatures, you hit all sorts of barriers. And, without going into all the nitty gritty details (and giving a lecture) I cannot see us 'flipping' from one time to another, anymore than we could jump from point A to point B—whether it is through a wormhole as in the movie, Interstellar or otherwise.

And don't get me started on the lovely idea of transporters, as in Star Trek—which is also, in its own way, a form of time travel. Definitely a topic I might take up in a post, one day.

But back to sub-genre, and my fav sub-genre: military SF. 

Now, anyone who knows me, and knows me well, will know just how much I love a good military SF read. It might be the fact I come from a military family, and my own background is several years service, or it could be how military SF is structured, the framework that is familiar and usually, action-packed too. Given that a great deal is either first contact, alien invasion of one sort or another, wars between worlds or empires, or war full stop.

It usually entails one or a more characters like Juan 'Johnny' Rico in Robert Heinlein's classic, Starship Troopers, joining up to do their civic duty, earn citizenship, and fight aliens on some distant planet. Or like the fresh-faced Lieutenant Jander Mortas, in Glory Main by Henry V. O'Neil, in which he's marooned on an alien battlefield teaming up with other survivors in order to figure a way to get off planet, alive. Or, taking a slightly different approach, as in my recent read, Planetside by Michael Mammay, in which an all but retired Colonel is asked to do one last so-called simple investigation for a missing lieutenant, on a hostile planet.

There are some excellent choices to choose from—and no, this is not a complete list by any stretch of the imagination, just some suggestions to get you going:

• WAR OF THE WORLDS (1898) H. G. Wells

• STARSHIP TROOPERS (1959) by Robert A. Heinlein

• DORSAI (1959) Gordon R. Dickson

• THE FOREVER WAR (1974) by Joe Haldeman

• HAMMER'S SLAMMERS (1979) by David Drake

• RIMRUNNERS (1989) by C.J. Cherryh

• ON BASILISK STATION (1993) by David Weber

• A HYMN BEFORE BATTLE (2000) by John Ringo

• VALOR'S CHOICE (2000) by Tanya Huff

• TRADING IN DANGER (2003) by Elizabeth Moon

• MUTINEER (2004) by Mike Moscoe

• OLD MAN'S WAR (2005)  by John Scalzi

• GLORY MAIN (2012) by Henry V. O'Neil

• VELOCITY WEAPON (2019) by Megan E. O'Keefe

• PLANETSIDE (2019) by Michael Mammay

All very different kinds of military SF. And yes, women do write military SF just in case you didn't know already. Anyway, I hope you decide to try at least one of the suggested books, or find something among the myriad books available, that you'll like. And, of course, let me know what your favourite SF sub-genre is, if any.

Following on from a recent post I read in which readers create a chain of six books leading from a monthly title, The Tipping Point (2002) by Malcolm Gladwell — I thought I would join in, but, of course, having never read this  title, nor knowing the author, I hit my first hurdle.

Then I gave it a moment's thought and wondered about the title, 'tipping point,' which brought me of all places to physics. Yes, that kind of tipping point—the point where there is no turning back, where a thing will go from being balanced, to being unbalanced. Which in turn reminded me of a book I read, The Missing Informant by Anders de la Motte. Where David Sarac the main character and, in fact, a number of characters in this fast-paced thriller face their own 'tipping points,' and, as the various story threads weave and intertwine, we're pulled toward the story's gripping and climactic ending.

Informants and tipping points brought me then to Secrets of State by Matthew Palmer, another thrilling read in which tensions between Pakistan and India are at a critical point. And where one piece of planted intel could lead to all out nuclear war. A thoroughly plausible scenario with the focus on two countries more likely to bring us to the brink of destruction than the Middle East, fractured and fighting amongst themselves.

Thinking about secrets and nuclear tensions reminded me of another recent read, Sarah Paretsky's Fallout in which V.I. Warshawski finds herself leaving behind her beloved Chicago on route to Kansas in the hunt of a missing film student. But as readers of Paretsky know by now, northing is ever straight forward for Vic, who finds herself mixed up in a mystery from the past and a Cold War-era missile silo. Great fun.

Book five, again written by Parestky, and tied in with nuclear war and buried secrets, is Critical Mass (yes, another physics term—critical mass, like tipping point, being a point of no return). Critical Mass is one of my all-time favourite books and not because of Paretsky's writing or her long time character V.I. but because of the subject matter she chose to focus on: Physics. Moving seamlessly between past and present, Paretsky ties in several threads that connect Warshawski's closest friend, Viennese-born Lotty Herschel, to events that took place in Vienna and Germany in WWII. Lies, secrets and silence.

Book six in the chain was a little less obvious, it's The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny. Which, in it self, is book eleven in the series focused on the fictional village of Three Pines. And features the now retired head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec, Armand Gamache. What opens to be a straight forward murder-mystery when 9 year-old Laurent Lapage goes missing turns out to be anything but. And the further Gamache delves, the further down the rabbit hole we all go in the search for answers. The connection here, weapons of mass destruction. While not nuclear, still, nonetheless, are at the centre of this cleverly written mystery. And who writes it better than Louise Penny, no one!

Tipping points and critical mass were key in every one of these well-plotted and thrilling reads that share six-degrees of separation to each other. Whatever your tipping point, I hope you find time to check out one or two of these novels and authors, and give them a try.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

WE RIDE THE STORM by Devin Madson has definitely been a wild ride of murder, mayhem, and enough twists and turns to make a reader dizzy! Madson is not averse to throwing in a good blindside. So that, just when you think you know what’s going on, she sucker punches you in the gut with a twist you never saw coming.

Well, for me at least, there were some really delicious twists I never saw coming. And let me tell you, that’s a rare achievement in and of itself.

It is this gift, along with the narrative and telling the story through the eyes of not one, but three main protagonist, and, in the first person no less, that seals the deal. Making WE RIDE THE STORM one of the best reads I’ve had, well, since Chakraborty’s DAEVABAD series of books. Madson has created three outstanding threads and then, has woven them into a fast emotional cohesive roller coaster read that meant I was page turning at a faster rate than I’m normally use to.

The choice of showing us this world through three sets of eyes is, for me, a clever way to tell a story that is much larger in scope than just a single individual protagonist might show us. Thus giving us a better foundation of the factions and players involved in an escalating war between nations.

I really enjoyed how Madson approached this aspect of her world building, in creating the set up, the battles, the politics and the repercussions of decisions and actions taken. It makes for a rich, satisfying read without the usual info dumps fantasy is want to throw at us. The author gives us just enough to make up our own minds about the central factions involved: the Roman-inspired Chiltae in the north, the horse-loving Levanti of the dry plains, and, in the southern region, the Japanese-styled Kisia Empire where politics and protocol rule the day.

This sets us up to enjoy three very different styled cultures, their politics, religion, and daily lives, which are all in stark contrast to one another.

The other aspect of reading three individual threads, and in the first person, gives us a chance to really connect with the characters on different level and see not only their thoughts, but feel the depth of their emotions too. How they react to difficult event and respond to the drama forced upon them makes it gut-wrenching and painfully personal. The pain and the brutality they suffer, the confusion, the doubt, plus the small moments of triumph mixed in with the dreadful realisation that despite their best efforts to the contrary, they might not change the course of the war, survive unscathed, or even come out of the war alive.

All makes for a compelling, page turning read.

Of the three characters, while I thoroughly enjoyed Miko’s personal war in her fight to save Kisia from an invading Chiltae army, it was Cassandra who captured my attention the most.

Here is a woman forced by strange circumstances into a life where she’s not only become a whore, in order to live, but one of the best, and highest paid assassins Chiltae has ever known. But that’s not all. Cassandra has a whole other set of daemons. Real or imagined? You’ll find out. From the strange voice in her head: Her. Who is also able—in times of great stress—to take over Cassandra’s body. To the the fact she hears the dead singing and calling out where ever she goes, you wonder how this woman has not only managed to survive, but hasn’t gone quite mad in the meantime. I am so looking forward to learning more about her as this series progresses.

The least exciting of the three, for me personally, was the straight arrow, Rah e’Torin, of the Levanti. While it was interesting to learn more about him, his people, and his battle of wits and strength against not only his Chiltae capturers, but one of his own, Herd Master Gideon. I felt he never really had as much of an impact as did Miko or Cassandra. Others may say differently. That’s the delight of a book like WE RIDE THE STORM. There’s something for everyone in here. Oh, and did I mention, ritual beheading? Yeah … that’s what I thought too.

From some deliciously witty dialogue, to political intrigue at its best, to devious machinations and betrayal on a brutal scale, we are delivered a thoroughly immersive read where the action is visceral, the characters compelling, and an over-arching story that will leave you, I hope, like me, wanting more!

<img height="693" width="1279" data-zoom-src="https://cdn.u.pika.page/UnvrqeQcN9O0Lj-1-TsuzWFHRAna70IjkesVK-ccdyA/s:3840:3840/fn:Screenshot-2024-12-08-at-16.50.42/plain/s3://pika-production/y5ep5bogmixv07jvjq8hfj5kscfn" data-original-src="https://cdn.u.pika.page/jElgHzF1xbTxFjsdLtIsfHIP4EDIhhrHYRhwdPEgOc0/fn:Screenshot-2024-12-08-at-16.50.42/plain/s3://pika-production/y5ep5bogmixv07jvjq8hfj5kscfn" alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/75396/2026/bcba2a2067.jpg">

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  welcome to the future
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Or, all the futuristic stuff I've always dreamed of owning.

And who hasn't dreamed of owning items we see in a movie, or on TV. I remember my friend Linda and I desperately wanting to join the USS Enterprise so we could each have a phaser, not realising till much later on, that this meant we might end up being an Infamous Red Shirt — usually the first characters to get shot at or die a grisly death in nearly every episode of Trek! But that didn't stop us dreaming or pretending during lunch break that our bananas were communicators. Flipping them open, and then, talking to them. 

No wonder I was considered a weird kid at school. 

It didn't stop with Trek, I lusted after the tech in most SF TV shows I’ve watched over the years. From light sabres to magnetic boots, to the TARDIS and Firefly's 'Serenity'. I wanted it all and, when I found out I needed H. G. Wells' Time Machine to travel into the future, I started creating my own fictitious hardware and tech by writing it into existence. Hey, why not? I have a very vivid imagination.

Funny thing these days is technology is catching up fast. There was a time when I dreamed of a Dick Tracey watch, and now, I owe an Apple iWatch. Like the flip phone inspired by Star Trek, and the diagnostic beds now in existence, to a version of the tricorder being used on the ISSN — The Lab-On-a-Chip Application Development Portable Test System (LOCAD-PTS) is used by astronauts and is designed specifically to biochemical molecules with the purpose of "identifying microbes on space station services" through use of the Gram Staining Method. 

We even have a sort of hover bike now on sale based on drone tech, but scaled up considerably. 

Hover boards are not that far away! 

Let's just hope that sentient Toasters (a.k.a. the Cylons) are a long way off in the far future. I also wonder when we'll get memory crystals, or crystal storage technology? 

Maybe that's not so far off as we think. Whatever the tech, we know that science fiction can inspire real-life technologies and, if we live long enough, might even be witness to some incredible breakthroughs in the decades to come.

Meanwhile, if you are interested in checking out a great listing of future tech featured in SFF books going back to 1899, check out the Glossary of SF Ideas, Technology and Inventions. Which, I might add, is an amazing resource—never assume you came up with the idea first, you'll probably find out H. G. Wells, Verne, Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, to some SF fanatical TV scribe beat you to it. 

See you in the future!

<img height="775" width="1200" data-zoom-src="https://cdn.u.pika.page/_mGfTuRJqaIqFXuNE6n78SXUbxXSd9zOsoQMs1JSvfA/s:3840:3840/fn:Crime-Fiction/plain/s3://pika-production/mzu8rlxq48j9yi5899uvgsunnn6b" data-original-src="https://cdn.u.pika.page/T3hyzaZ8hujqRA_fWPBwtoagtg8duVak-5w5ndN8Vys/fn:Crime-Fiction/plain/s3://pika-production/mzu8rlxq48j9yi5899uvgsunnn6b" alt="" loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/75396/2026/e1605a7ae4.jpg">

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  follow the clues
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Or, to be exact, a life of crime reading, all of which began several years ago. Up until then, I would say I read a mixed bag and cross section of genre. And, up until then, I was probably reading close to 80% speculative fiction. I say speculative because at one point I moved from almost exclusively reading SF through most of my teen years, to reading some fantasy, a little paranormal, and some supernatural. I never really took to horror, in the same way I strongly dislike ‘horror‘ movies. It always boils down to violence, and I’m just not interest.

Which makes it all the more odd that I eventually wandered into reading crime fiction. But then again, crime fiction is an umbrella term I think we all use to cover quite a cross section of tropes that fit neatly, and some not so neatly, under that umbrella.

We’re all familiar with the whodunnit, courtroom drama, murder-mystery, suspense, cozy mysteries, police procedurals, detective stories, and, of late, forensics and psychological thrillers, which, yes, I also include under the umbrella. The latter are usually quite different to the modern thriller which, these days, tends to be about someone from an alphabet organisation (CIA/NSA/MI6/FBI), running around the planet trying to stop international criminals, terrorists, or organised crime and the like.

I don’t remember exactly which book started it all, that kind of recall escapes me these days. I just know that I picked up several more titles all considered ‘crime fiction,’ one of those was a Louise Penny novel from her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache stories: Bury Your Dead. It just happened to be on the shelf and caught my eye, and I saw it was set here, in Québec City. How could I not read it?

From there on in, I was hooked. Hooked on Louise Penny, the fictional village of Three Pines, and more, crime fiction at large.

If you haven’t read any Louise Penny, may I humbly suggest you do, but don’t start as I did, with what I think is book six. Start with book one, Still Life, and work your way through. The character development in this series is excellent, and unlike any other series I’ve ever read.

And you? What recommendations do you have for me, and what are your favourite genres.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

I spent a day reading this fast paced, fun read, that takes you on another Dan Brown whirlwind ride. This time around it’s the US Capital, Washington DC, as opposed to some European City. But whatever the city, you know to suspend your sense of disbelief on the the first page, and just jump in.

The author packs in the right ingredients with just the right amount of action and intrigue to keep you flipping the pages in fast succession. Whether or not the characters look like they (and the rather outlandish situations they subsequently find themselves in) were written with a movie in mind can be forgiven because, well, let’s just say, they’re easily identifiable with and leave it at that. Regardless, you will find yourself there with them and, if not rooting for them, at least enjoying gallivanting all over Washington’s famous monuments, and seeing them in a new light. The dialogue is unabashed, the info dumps easy to digest, and the characters written in the mould we’ve come to expect.

Whether you like Dan Brown, or not, is beside the point. We all know he doesn’t write great literature, what he does write is accessible, fun, though-provoking, fast-paced thrillers that are a thoroughly enjoyable read. You can’t go to wrong with this one. If a fan already, I recommend you buy the hardback edition, if not, then wait for the paperback, or check it out from the library.

As far as I am concerned, this is worth skipping a couple of Starbuck’s lattes to buy. Always a fun read.

As I didn't have a post for today, I thought I would do something book related! And, of course, if you would like to do your own version of this, steal away.

WHO — Name an author you would love to have a 'One to One' with.

It would have to be Louise Penny. I was lucky enough to see her at a book signing last year, here locally. And got my obligatory 3 seconds with her as she wrote me a personal message in the book I was buying: GLASS HOUSES. But I would love to sit down with her and do a full-on interview at length, over coffee and cakes at the Bistro.

WHAT — What genre do you most gravitate to?

It use to be always science fiction but then, over the last couple of years, I turned to a life of crime … crime fiction reading, that is. I love me a good mystery, police procedural, or a good spy thriller these days. The Cold War is definitely not over yet.

WHERE — Where do you prefer to read?

Anywhere. But as a preference, I guess I would have to go with the couch in the lounge, for comfort's sake. You know, with the blanket and a cup of Earl Grey tea, hot.

WHEN — What time of day do you prefer to read?

As above, my answer would have to be, anytime. Anytime I can squeeze in a few minutes, especially when reading a really good book. I don't want to be away from it for any length of time. And yes, I read on the porcelain throne (don't you?)

WHY — Why is your favourite book your favourite book?

Eh, maybe as a child or teenager, I had one book I would call my fav. But now, I would say any book with well-conceived characters, well-written snappy dialogue, and a clever plot will be my fav book while reading it. I want to be amazed, wowed and wooed! I know, I don't ask a lot do I?

BONUS — How do you go about selecting what you will read next?

Gee, really? Okay … By tarot cards, at midnight, under a Gibbous moon, having sacrificed my lunch on an altar made of polished pebbles from a beach off the coast of Goa, while dress as a Goth, with black-eye make-up, smelling of hibiscus flower with water collected at dawn's first light, from an island in the Caribbean in a conch seashell handed down from mother to daughter … what, no, seriously … wait … where are you going, there's more … come back!

Other Posts on this theme:

• Newsonaut

• Noisy Deadlines

• Thomas Rigby

• What the Fran

• Explicating Elle

• David Meissner

• There Smiling

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Barry Eisler just keeps getting better and better with each book he writes.

INSIDE OUT is the second Ben Treven story, sadly I haven’t read the previous outing but that didn’t spoil this one in anyway. Thankfully, Eisler doesn’t waste time playing catch up in his opening chapters but writes thought-provoking, stand-alone thrillers that deliver on every level, whether or not they feature characters who’ll become part of a series.

It’s how Eisler takes you straight into the heart of the story and characters that makes him a captivating writer. He sets the scene, he builds the characters with just the right amount of background detail and shading (no one is paper thin, black and white, or without a hidden agenda or motives) his characters come with their own share of baggage so you know exactly where each one is coming from, from the get-go. Eisler also delivers the punches, and by god he’ll make you squirm, and smile, and wince, and nod your head knowingly as you read this one. At times wonderfully nuanced, it’s also in your face and brutal, revealing, and all at once, thought provoking.

Inside Out is a deceptive look into the black abyss of what goes on behind closed doors in the corridors of power and politics that is so close to reality, you wonder if, in fact, he’s writing fiction at all.

If you love well-researched, well-written and well-plotted thrillers, this one is a must read!

Thank you Barry, I can’t wait for the next one.

What the writer says, and what the editor thinks:

This is just a Beta Release — It's haemorrhaging errors

I fixed chapter 23 — the remaining 72 chapters are, however, crap

I'll just kill off this character — procrastinating, has no idea how to proceed

And a time machine appeared in the middle of the kitchen — is addicted to contrived situations

This is just a temporary solution — she's killed off yet another character

I'll finish the edits by Monday — a decade from now

There's no way I can estimate that — they will finish the first draft possibly this century

What's a run-on sentence? — shoots self in head

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish, which is now being hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

• Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.

• Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.

• Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.

• Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s topic is Book Titles That Describe Me/My Life.

1. A Twist of the Knife by Becky Masterman — Someone who I considered a good friend, even a best friend at one time, took it upon themselves to take a knife, figuratively, and stab me in the back to a couple of others who, at one time, I considered friends. Sad to think that this has probably happen to more than me over the years. I will never understand these people or their motivation.

2. 2nd Chance by James Patterson — I got a second chance in 2016 when I survived a brain fart. I've tried to live each and every day in the moment ever since.

3. Force of Nature by Jane Harper — as a child, my mother often referred to me as a force of nature, unstoppable. I just kept running till the battery ran out.

4. The Informationist by Taylor Stevens — yep, this is definitely me, always collection useless and not so useless facts, data, and information about anything that interests me. I'm a knowledge sponge.

5. Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny — I'm sure I speak for many at this moment in time and history when I say I feel like I'm currently living in the Kingdom of the Blind; surrounded by people who refuse to see the truth of what's going on in the world at large. [see also: All The Devils Are Here by Louise Penny.]

6. The Lost Man by Jane Harper — I sadly lost contact with someone I considered my soulmate after leaving the military, way back when. He will always be, to me, The Lost Man. I truly wish I knew what happened to him in the intervening years since.

7. Silent Scream by Angela Marsons — So many times over the years, I have wanted to say something to someone but, at the last minute, had to bite my tongue least I say something out of hand. And, as a consequence, silently screamed to myself in utter frustration because of the situation. I'm sure we've all done this at some point in our lives.

8. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett — despite everything going on in life, I've always felt when I'm out in nature far away from the madding crowd and civilisation, I've been able to see the colour of magic in nature in the harmony that surrounds me. You either know what I'm talking about or you don't.

9. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll — yes, at times I've felt like I fell down the rabbit hole chasing the White Rabbit for answers, and ended up in Wonderland. A confusing place I never felt I fit in.

10. The Door Into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein — as a kid, I had this notion that a door in a walled garden was the door that always lead into summer. I'm sure it had something to do with where we lived at the time, near a large estate with a walled garden, where we used to sneak into the orchard to steal apples.

And you, what books made it onto your list this week?

Sometime I think that everything I ever learnt about how to write, I learnt from reading Ursula K. Le Guin novels [with humble apologies to my favourite English teacher]. Even now, I still find myself reaching for one of Le Guin's works, not just for that spark of inspiration, but to remind myself on the how. How did she write this scene, capture that character, make it all work?

And just to interject here, Le Guin also wrote some edifying articles and posts. One need only look at her, "On Rules of Writing, or, Riffing on Rechy" to get a taste of her knowledge, wit, and insight. Certainly, you can't do any worse than reading through her articles on writing, especially, and specifically, "What Makes A Story?"

"I define story as a narrative of events (external or psychological) which moves through time or implies the passage of time, and which involves change.

I define plot as a form of story which uses action as its mode usually in the form of conflict, and which closely and intricately connects one act to another, usually through a causal chain, ending in a climax.

Climax is one kind of pleasure; plot is one kind of story. A strong, shapely plot is a pleasure in itself. It can be reused generation after generation. It provides an armature for narrative that beginning writers may find invaluable."

My research isn't just confined to Mme. Le Guin. I also find myself referring to other SF luminaries such as Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke and Herbert. They each have added to my knowledge, and to stretching my horizons well beyond Earth's gravity well, and aided me in building my language of description. While I hope I've learned my lessons, I'm not naive enough to simply think I can stop learning. On the contrary, I know I will never—as a writer never mind as a human being—stop learning.

Not until, that is, they nail the coffin lid down and tell me to shut up already!

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

First of all, let me just begin by saying this debut novel by Aussie author, Emma Viskic, is outstanding. Truly a remarkable novel on just about every level. It's not long, at just 280 pages, so I read this in one frantic, page-turning day!

Let's start with the well crafted, well delineated characters. I love Caleb Zelic who narrates the story. He's such a great down-to-earth character, feisty and oh so different from the usual MC in that he just happens to be deaf. This makes for a wholly unique POV both in the visuals and descriptions, and more, the dialogue.

Choppy and jarring, we see the world how Caleb hears it. With broken sentences that obviously make for a few comic and laugh out loud moments. And, of course, because of this difference, we feel every ounce of Caleb's frustration. His determination to not to give in, stubborn to the last. Which inevitably causes clashes with both his work partner, Frankie—who, by the way, is another excellently flawed character—and his ex-wife, Kat. It's only when we learn why Kat and Caleb spilt that we understand the weight of emotions involved.

This thread of the plot is wonderfully written. The tug and pull between the two characters are at the heart of Caleb's state of mind. And provide a lot of the backstory to Caleb. And I love Kat as a character too, along with her family, of whom I'm sure, we'll see a lot more of. I especially want more of Kat's mother, Maria!

And then there's Frankie—Caleb's 57 year-old, ex-cop partner and on the wagon drunk—with an acerbic wit who's a great counterbalance to Caleb. Throw in a clutch of secondary characters that were so well written, I felt like I knew them. And Viskic has assembled the perfect cast for this taught, tense mystery full of twists and turns I was caught out several times.

The plotting is superb, as we follow Caleb and Frankie trying to figure out why Caleb's friend, Gary, has been murdered while investigating a fraud case. What on the surface seems straightforward enough, becomes a deadly race against time, as one by one, people close to the case begin turning up dead.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed RESURRECTION BAY and the almost, at times, poetic descriptions Viskic writes:

“. . . she was a study in tones: her skin a smooth wash of burnt umber, sienna touches to her hair, the unexpected flash of blue eyes. The genes from all her Koori ancestors distilled to a heady perfection.”

There are moments of heart-pounding terror, as seen through Caleb's eyes, to moments of joy and heartbreak with ex-wife, Kat. And some very funny moments with Frankie, that keep this one light and entertaining, counterbalancing the moments of off-camera violence when the heavies start to slice-and-dice people. And then, there's an ending I never saw coming, as Viskic throws in a cleverly disguised curve-ball that threw me for a loop.

This is an amazing debut, with believable characters, brisk pacing and plotting that might make your head turn in the wrong direction. Hang on for the ride. Now, I can't wait to grab a copy of the second in the series, AND FIRE CAME DOWN.

Let me just say up front, this is not a book for the faint of heart, and would definitely be PG-13 if not higher given some of the content, themes and descriptions. Including some grisly deaths. But that said, all of it is within context to the world in which this story is set. It’s a dark, definitely bleak story, and yet?

And yet, the author, Robert Jackson Bennett, does something unique amid all the darkness he gives us hope, he gives us humour and plenty of courage, as his characters fight through the harsh realities of their lives and situations. In the end, despite the tragedies and hardship, friendship, commitment, strength and courage bring a disparate band of diverse characters together to overcome a great deal. 

I was blown away with the world building in this one, which was beautifully wrought in all it’s grim darkness. The characters themselves range from the well written protagonist, Sancia Grado, a small time thief, to several secondary characters that support and surround her story and journey, to some wonderfully sketched foes who just wreak of evil intent.  

Our heroes hardships unite them in going up against a terrifying foe the likes of which they (and us) have yet to fully understand. 

Throughout Bennett teases us with Sancia’s past, and events that formed and shaped her childhood and life. Taking us on a wild ride of revelation after revelation, as he spins us a marvellous fantasy hideous in places, but hopeful in others. And gives us just enough humour, levity, and light to lessen the bleak situation our erstwhile heroine finds herself in when, as a petty thief tasked with stealing what, at first glimpse, is a simple wooden box, turns out to be so much more. Giving us, the reader, one hell of a ride along with Sancia, as she tries to figure it all out without getting herself killed in the process. 

This intricate, complex, well defined, tightly woven story is dense, ambitious and, in the end, delivers on a grand scale. Thoughtful, and hopeful, it’s devastating but it’s also a book you won’t be able to put down till you’ve finished and then, you’ll be left wanting more. I know I was.

I can’t wait for book two, Shorefall, to see what happens next.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish, which is now being hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

• Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.

• Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.

• Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.

• Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s topic is Buzzwords or Phrases That Make Me Want to Read (or Avoid) a Book.

Makes Me Want To Read A Book

1. Pirates: From an early age of reading I've always had a thing for pirates, whether they're raiding the high seas, or doing the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs. I love me a good book about pirates.

2. Found Family: Who doesn't love a story that includes found family? I just finished reading the first book in Robert Jackson Bennett's the Founders trilogy, FOUNDRYSIDE, which included the protagonist, Sancia eventually finding her tribe.

3. Tense Psychological Thriller: If done well, this beats out so many other genre hands down. Especially if it involves spies.

4. Slow-Burn: I'm up for this each and every time, whatever the circumstances or genre.

5. Small Town Mystery: I love cosy mysteries in general and yes, small town Agatha Christie style murder-mysteries in particular.

Makes Me Want To Avoid A Book

1. Enemies to Lovers: Is there anything more manufactured than this trope? One that is severely over used IMHO.

2. Heart Wrenching: An over-used phrase. Is every romance to be heart wrenching, I mean, seriously?

3. Insta Love: I cannot stand this trope. Give me slow-burn every time.

4. Love Triangle: Another over used trope especially in romance. Give it a rest.

5. For Fans Of: Rarely is a book described this way actually aimed at Fans Of a certain author or genre.

6. Unreliable Narrators: Again, another over used trope.

What is your favourite genre?

Ha! As if readers stopping by my blog don't already now, but in case you didn't, it's science fiction. And the even broader umbrella: speculative fiction.

Who is your favourite author in this genre?

One? Only one? You're kidding me … I'd have to say, as a child, maybe Robert A. Heinlein, but in my teenage years it was probably Anne McCaffrey and C. J. Cherryh I read the most. It's hard to choose only one because recently, I’d have to go with Michael Mammay and Megan E. O’Keefe as my picks, or maybe Cally Black. 

What is it about the genre that keeps pulling you back?

I've said it before, it's the sheer scope and range of the genre that's epic: from space opera, to military SF, climate SF, near future, dystopian, far-flung futures, colonisation, gadgets and tech, the possibilities are as endless as "what-if".

What is the book that started your love of this genre?

I think I posted earlier about the books that got me hooked into reading SF. Most of those earlier books were Robert Heinlein's juveniles: Red Planet, Podkyne of Mars, and Have Space Suit Will Travel. All fun adventure stories featuring young teenagers. 

If you had to recommend at least one book from your favourite genre to a non-reader/someone looking to start reading that genre, what book would you choose and why?

You only have to read through most of my posts to find me recommending this book or that author. But try Velocity Weapon by Megan O’Keefe as a fun place to start or Planetside by Michael Mammay.

Why do you read?

That's like asking me, 'Why do you breath?' It's an automatic response I have no control over. I have to read, just as I have to breath. 

Okay, now I'd love to know what your favourite genre is, let me know in the comments.

Community Echoes:

• This is my genre: SF by Joel

• This is my genre: Horror by Syl

• This is my genre: Fantasy by Thomas

• This is my genre: Golden Age Detectives by David

• This is my genre: Fantasy by Sylvia

THE STOCKHOLM OCTAVO by Karen Engelmann is a wonderfully written historical thriller full of intrigue, fans—and yes, I mean those kind of fans. Fans women use to use to fan themselves with, and more, with a deft hand, secretly signal to friends and lovers—hinting at mystery, murder, and a dash of romance. A story that is as much about cartomancy as it is about history, is decked out with an unusual cast of characters, 'The Eight,' who are lead character, Emil Larsson, must find in order to achieve his destiny.

Set in Stockholm, Sweden, at the end of the eighteenth-century, we find out Emil Larsson's destiny isn't his own, it's tied up with that of the King of Sweden. All of which is the author's way of opening up the various levels of society represented in the story, from seedy gaming houses and tap rooms, to the lofty levels of the government and royal palace and sumptuous world of Gustav III. Revolution is brewing on many levels, as the world in which Emil finds himself, is undergoing tumultuous change.

Engelmann's writing is fluid, graceful, and wonderfully nuanced, sucking the reader into the story where the descriptive prose conjure locations, activities, and conversations that evoke this world, perfectly. This is not by any means a fast, action-packed story, but a slowly nuanced complex story told from a number of POV, centred around Emil Larsson. A story that paints a richly detailed world of manners, morals, and a belief a person can rise above the station they're dealt in life if but given a chance or, dealt the right hand of cards.

An enjoyable, immersive experience. Highly recommended.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

GLORY MAIN by Henry V. O’Neil is one of those books, once started, you cannot put down. Classic military science fiction, Glory Main harks back to the likes of Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, Barry B. Longyear Enemy Mine, and David Weber’s Honor Harrington series of novels, and along with well fleshed out characters, clever world-building, is a fast-paced gripping read.

Featuring a small diverse group of enduring characters who are thrown headlong into a life or death survival situation, Glory Main jumps right in at the deep-end. Our cast of struggling survivors include a young, greenhorn lieutenant, a shipboard shrink, a Spartacan Scout, read: special forces commando type, and a map-maker who also happens to be a conscientious objector. This alone should tell you what to expect from four such opposed personalities. Throw in that they’re stranded on a harsh almost barren world amid a bitter and terrible war, were lies from Command are the norm. And fighting not only themselves, the local flora and fauna, and a slow death by starvation, but an enemy who, as it turns out, looks like them—The Sims. The Simulants. The facsimiles—And the stage is set for one hell of a battle of survival, wits, determination and sheer will against the mounting odds.

Plausibly written throughout, the tech and its use in Glory Main is very familiar and yet, still manages to have the futuristic and otherworldly edge to it. As does the setting. Just when we think we understand what’s going on, O’Neil tosses in another roadblock and obstacle for the characters to over come. But far from painting his characters into tight corners, creating either false jeopardy or contriving situations, you feel you are there, on this gritty, unforgiving world suffering through the worst with each and every character. And while written in the first person POV, as seen through the eyes of Mortas, the story still unfolds naturally, and realistically. 

The best part of any story, for me at least, is whether or not the author manages to pull off a plausible blindside, something O’Neil does right near the end, in Glory Main. Not only was I (like many I suspect) happily surprised with a clever plot twist, but I suspect O’Neil has set us up for what we know must come in successive installments. And yes, I can’t wait for the next in the series. The world-building, language, descriptions and info dumps—when they came—never once over shadowed or weighed the story down and the pacing was near on perfect. 

All-in-all, Glory Main is a well-written, fast and compelling read. Henry O’Neil certainly knows the military, and knows how to craft an engrossing story. And whether or not you enjoy reading military science fiction or not, the story, which is character-driven and character-based, is still worth a read!

Glory Main is everything an updated version of Starship Troopers should be, a cracking good read.

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So, today, I just want to share some of my fav female science fiction and fantasy authors with you. Some you might be familiar with, others less so.

URSULA K. Le GUIN (SFF) — I think just about everybody who reads SFF knows who she is and just maybe, has read at least one book, or series, written by her. To me she will always be the standard by which others are measured. From how well she told a story, to characterisation, world building, and tackling subjects that only a writer of her calibre would dare too. Try her LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS or THE DISPOSSESSED.

C. J. CHERRYH (SFF) — Cherryh has been turning out superb fantasy and SF reads for a few decades now, and I have never been disappointed with anything I have picked up from her. From here THE MORGAINE SAGA to the FADED SUN cycle, to her FOREIGNER series, it seems like she’s written something for everyone.

S.A. CHAKRABORTY (Fantasy) — Chakraborty’s DAEVABAD SERIES, I have to say, is one of the best damn fantasy series I’ve ever read, by any author, male or female. This author knows how to write compelling characters, kick-ass stories, set in a world of mythical Djinn that just suck you in from the very first page. Well, that’s how it was, for me at least.

PATRICIA A. McKILLIP (Fantasy) — McKillip is one of the first authors I read who introduced me to fantasy and made me fall in love with it. Able to create intricate worlds filled with characters we longed to be friends with, if not, to become. And take us on wild magical journeys to realms that only exist in imagination. Truly a gifted story teller. Try THE RIDDLE MASTERS OF HED, THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD or THE BOOK OF ATRIX WOLFE.

JOAN D. VINGE (SF) — Known probably more for her fantasy novels, THE SNOW QUEEN and sequel, THE SUMMER QUEEN, like Cherryh, Vinge wrote across the board, and it’s more of her SF work that I enjoyed. Her novella, TIN SOLDIER, started me down the rabbit hole of reading her work.

ANNE McCAFFREY (SFF) — Another name that many know, like Le Guin, but maybe, haven’t read. But her Pern Series of books were my reading material of choice way back when. I couldn’t get enough of her fantasies that featured genetically engineered dragons on a colonised world constantly under threat. Try the DRAGONRIDERS series or the DRAGONSINGERS series.

ELIZABETH MOON (SFF) — Moon is probably less known by many, but she still continues to write, prolifically. I think many don’t realise here is a women writing Military SF and doing it with a women’s flare and touch. Yes, there’s a little romance in there, but mostly, she gives her male counterparts a good run for their money. Try her FAMILIAS REGNANT series (SF) or PAKSENARRION series (fantasy) and VATTAS WAR (SF). All rip roaring fast paced adventures.

BARBARA HAMBLY (SFF/Horror) — I don’t think there is a genre Hambly hasn’t tackled but she does it with a difference, always choosing to tell her stories through the eyes of the under represented and unusual characters with lots of emotional depth and angst. And always with a keen, observational eye—stories rich with detailed descriptions. Try THE DARWATH series or her DRAGON series.

MARY GENTLE (Fantasy) — It was Gentle’s ORTHE duology featuring GOLDEN WITCHBREED and ANCIENT LIGHT (very Michael Moorcock in style) that stood out for me. But here again is a female author taking on every sub genre of speculative fiction, from high fantasy, cyberpunk, through to science fantasy.

SUZY McKEE CHARNAS (Science Fantasy) — Although MOTHERLINES and HOLDFAST CHRONICLES were probably marketed as SF, back in the day, when I bought them. I would say they lean more towards being classified as science fantasy these days. Her work was the first to introduce me to female centric feminist science fiction, as apposed to the action adventures I’d read up until then.

I hope you find someone new to read from amongst these authors. So please, check out their work and open yourself to a whole set of new worlds and experiences.

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When Pentagon bio-terror operative Roberto Diaz was sent to investigate a suspected biochemical attack, he found something far worse: a highly mutative organism capable of extinction-level destruction. He contained it and buried it in cold storage deep beneath a little-used military repository.

Now, after decades of festering in a forgotten sub-basement, the specimen has found its way out and is on a lethal feeding frenzy. Only Diaz knows how to stop it.

He races across the country to help two unwitting security guards—one an ex-con, the other a single mother. Over one harrowing night, the unlikely trio must figure out how to quarantine this horror again. All they have is luck, fearlessness, and a mordant sense of humour. Will that be enough to save all of humanity?

What I Thought

COLD STORAGE¹ is an incredibly fast read, not just because it’s only 308 pages long, but because it’s that kind of a story. A book you simply cannot put down. I read this in a day. Yes, seven hours on a Sunday, from beginning to end. I really didn’t want to stop as there was too much at stake. Yes, I know, it’s not real, but the science in COLD STORAGE, along with the excellently researched background to the alphabet soup government departments and processes, were spot on. 

The context for this story, a mutated, fast breeding ELE fungus capable of eradicating all life, as we know it, on this fair green earth, is so plausible as to scary the bejesus out of me! Based on reality, and stretched to the what-if point like any good author should, Koepp takes the reader on a wild, scary ride. But then, tempers the real-life horror with two flawed, familiar, and sympathetic characters—Teacake and Naomi—that you are immediately drawn too and root for. 

All the fingernail biting tension is further tempered with plenty of dry humour including the line that I think COLD STORAGE is going to be most remembered for: “The fucking deer just took the fucking elevator.” Uttered by the astonished Teacake (great name btw) who was a character I took an instant liking too.  

While it’s true Diaz and his partner, and senior officer, Trini Romano, get an opener to the book that will blow your socks off (and, might I suggest, not be read before bedtime! Trust me.) It’s Teacake and Naomi who, for the most part, carry the weight of the story. It’s the investment into their two lives that make us care, care about what happens, and adds the heart to what could be an otherwise chilling read. 

Over all, this is a riotous read. Suspend your disbelief at the first page, jump in with macabre glee, after all this is fiction, and have a fun, frightening, all to plausible ride on the horror-tinged train.

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1. You should note that this one got it’s cinematic release this year!

As with book one in this series from Robert Jackson Bennett, A Drop Of Corruption is an action-packed adventure come murder mystery, and fantastical exploration of a magical world that sees our erstwhile heroes, Dinios Kol and brilliantly eccentric Ana Dolabra, doing what they do best. Sifting through the clues however confounding and tedious a job, to catch a brilliantly clever killer.

This time around, Din and Ana are far away from all they know in Yarrowdale, a territory outside of the Empire. But one on the cusp of joining the Empire. That is, till a high ranking officer of the Treasury delegation leading the negotiations with the King is murdered. A murder that necessitates Ana’s sharp mind and Din’s formidable skill, as an engraver, at committing every last detail to memory.

Untangling a plot that has lies and corruption at every twisted turn, Ana and Din are in a race to find a killer and get to the heart of a mystery with so many layers and misdirects, you may be forgiven for feeling bewildered. But thankfully we have Din and Ana, the Empire, and all the checks and balances we wish existed in our own world.

“This work can never satisfy, Din, for it can never finish. The dead cannot be restored. Vice and bribery will never be totally banished from the cantons. And the drop of corruption that lies within every society shall always persist. The duty of the Iudex is not to boldly vanquish it but to manage it. We keep the stain from spreading, yes, but it is never gone. Yet this job is perhaps the most important in all the Iyalets, for without it, well … The Empire would come to look much like Yarrow, where the powerful and the cruel prevail without check. And tell me—does that realm look capable of fighting off a leviathan?”

A wonderfully complex murder and political mystery that flies along through a few hundred pages without ever missing a beat, without ever dragging or rushing, paced perfectly and with constant tension and high stakes and the satisfying feeling you get when you read a story that’s plotted and executed with confident mastery.

Bravo Mister Bennett, I cannot wait for book three, A Trade of Blood, coming out in June, to see where you take us next.

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While I loved that this is a murder mystery set in an OAP (Old Age Pensioners) retirement home. And one giving us a refreshing change of POV by a cast of characters right out of an Agatha Christie novel — though one updated for modern sensibilities — I never really got invested in either the characters or, the story as a whole. I think that was in part due to the way the author chose to tell the story. Not that this is a bad or negative thing, not in the least. But it was difficult for me to connect with what I was reading as I was always left wanting it to be a little more personal.

That said, I did thoroughly enjoy the romp by these savvy retirees still using every ounce of their smarts to come together and, with the aid of a marginalised police woman who they manage to get wrangled onto the case, try to piece together the clues and solve the case.

I'm also willing to give book two a read given that this one, while slow and a little meandering, wasn't as bad as some have claimed (though likewise, not as great as others have either.) What you need to know going into this series is that (a) it is a series and (b) I'm sure the characters will grow as will the plotting.

Take this one slowly and just enjoy the ride.

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Let’s face it, I really did poorly last year with my reads averaging one book per month with a long dry spell over the summer (as I was otherwise occupied). Ending with nothing read in November and December or, I should say, nothing finished. I did start THE LOST by Sarah Beth Durst in (I think) November but, sad to say, DNFd it to the TBR pile on the coffee table. And then, excited to get Len Deighton’s reissued BERLIN GAME, started reading that and, well, got sidetracked.

It’s still sitting on the side of the coffee table next to three stacks of unread or partially read books. I got a couple of chapters in and wasn’t feeling it. Though I do love me a good spy thriller set in 60s-70s pre smart phones when Gooks still had to do a lot of leg work. When it was all about connections and spy craft rather than tech. But, all that aside, I’m struggling to focus.

Cue my third read in as many months. A DROP OF CORRUPTION, a fantasy and the second in a series by Robert Jackson Bennett. I raced through book one earlier this year, pre-op, and loved the characters and world building, which was so different to the usual books I read, murder-mysteries and thrillers. I’m hoping as I’m familiar with the world and characters that I’ll find the same magic as I did in book one.

Wish me luck, I’m starting it this afternoon after lunch.

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