Up coming Blog Tour

 I am taking part in my first blog tour 😲🙈 My review for the 3 book Alex Cohen series will be available on Jan 20th

A Christmas Past by John Trotter.

⭐⭐⭐

Outline...

Ebeneezer Scrooge was the mean spirited miser in Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. This short story sets out to examine why the young Ebeneezer came to despise Christmas.

My Review...(spoiler alert)

The author has given us a little pre Christmas taster with this mini investigation into the origins of Scrooge. It's an appetite whetter for the many Dickens fans. This is a solid tale, competently told which is both the strength and weakness of this short story (14 pages.) 

A short story often gives a view from a different perspective or a twist in the tale and I feel this story does to a certain degree but it could have gone a little further. The revelation that Ebeneezer hates Christmas because he had a traumatic Christmas in his younger days, I think would not be a surprise to most people.

Perhaps if the story was in the first person perspective from his mother, father or sister's viewpoint or if we drilled down into the 5 whys of his fathers alcoholic bullying it may have been elevated  even more. 

A Christmas past is the first in an annual serial. Look out for part two at Christmas 2021

The author has a very good knowledge of the characters of A Christmas Carol alongside an excellent  command of language. His  chosen setting of Scrooge's youth is one that is ripe for investigation. Clearly he has all the tools to build a interesting  tale. I just feel he could have gone deeper or come at it from a differing standpoint.

About the author...

John Trotter is a lifelong Newcastle United FC  fan from Hexham and regular contributor to https://twitter.com/game_ne1 . He is currently based in Lancaster.

 

A Pig Squeal at Midnight by Michael Thame

 

⭐⭐⭐

Outline...

Based on real people and real events. A Pig's Squeal at Midnight tells the story of four young siblings (John, Tom, Chrissie and Mary) and their friend Philly as they evacuate from the slums of Liverpool to rural Shropshire. Here they meet Meg, whose parents become hosts for the evacuee girls. Initially Meg resents the intrusion but eventually they all become firm friends. As well as dealing with the impending war and being transplanted to an unfamiliar environment, the children become aware of a pig rustling operation and set out to find the culprits.

My Review...

This is the first children's book that I have reviewed (or even read) for decades, so I found it difficult to judge where to pitch my review. In the end I decided to review it as I would for an adult book. I gave it 3 stars. However I think a regular reviewer of children's books would probably have given it more. 

While there is a vast amount of TV Programmes, films and books about World War 2 there is not that much, comparatively speaking, in the mainstream about the evacuees. As an aside, I remember speaking to my dad and asking if his village had any evacuees. He said that they had a few, one of which grew up to be the singer Petula Clarke.😲 Anyway I digress, back to the book.

The characters of the children are engaging and sympathetic and you feel invested as they progress on their adventure. There are several simple sketch illustrations which are a great help in imagining the children and several locations in which the action takes place.

I felt the book fell into two areas. The first one is the operation to catch the pig thieves. It put me in mind of a boy's own or famous five adventure. The author is cunning in using this to draw child readers in with this and while doing so they cannot fail to take in the historical points of the evacuation and the war. Learning by stealth. I like it! Like blending the veg and hiding it in the yorkshire pud!

While the plot to catch the pig rustlers was engaging it was the second area (the historical context) that I found more intriguing, The change from industrial slums to the rural area is a huge culture shock for them. We begin the tale with the children  embarking on their journey into the unknown and I found the chapter where the children are massed in the school hall, not knowing where they are going, chaos all around quite moving. Even more so when you read that this is based on a true story.

In addition there is an appendix at the back of the book that gives some statistics on Operation Pied Piper (the evacuation of built up areas) The scale and pace of this is quite breathtaking. The Government of today could learn some lessons from decisiveness and organisation of the Government in pre war Britain.

This book is as an engaging, entertaining and educational tool for children and would sit well alongside titles like "Carrie's War" and "Goodnight Mr Tom,"

A Pig Squeal at Midnight is the first part of the Conyers Street Gang Series. Other titles include...

"GeeGee and the Germans"

"Spies, Lies and Dangerous Skies" and 

"Land of Dragons"

Selected Quotes...

"It was noisy in the hall, but it was serious, not fun. No one quite seemed to know what was going on, including the teachers and the parents.

"None of them really knew what poaching was to start with, and when Uncle Fred told them it was catching wild rabbits and shooting pheasants or ducks or whatever you could find, so that you could take it home and cook it, none of them understood why it was illegal."

"We don't have anything like this amount of food back in Liverpool. Mam and Pop can't afford it, or it's too rationed. The war doesn't seem to be happening here."

About the author...

Michael Thame was born in Kent in 1974 and it was a lightbulb moment 42 years later that would result in the Conyers Street Gang series of whodunits. It's a series that brings to life the real life childhoods of John, Tom, Chrissie and Mary Boden and their friends GeeGee and Philly Brown.

For decades Michael listened to his grandfather, Tom Boden, as he told of his time in the Liverpool Blitzes, as an evacuee and of his time in the Royal Navy. Michael committed these memories to paper for future generations of his family. This was the kernel from which the Conyers Street Gang would grow.

Today Michael lives in Didsbury Manchester and has two daughters.Whereas Tom Boden provided the inspiration, his daughters provide the motivation to keep going.

DeLuca by Darren Arthurs

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Blurb...

Breanna Deluca is a wisecracking, streetwise woman whose mundane life of delivering groceries and dreaming of becoming an international DJ is interrupted when she's asked to find her old childhood friend who mysteriously disappeared a few months before.

What should be an easy payday turns into something more complicated than she had ever imagined where she will find her herself mixing with drug lords, European criminals, gym owners, car salesmen and a dangerous gangster with his own reason for finding the missing woman.

DeLuca is a character you'll immediately love and find yourself rooting for in this funny story of lost friendships and family connections.

 

My Review...

While the plot is interesting, the main driver is the colourful personality of the main character the self named Breanna DeLuca. Her life is drudge, interspersed with daydreams of success as a hip, D.J. She is approached by an old friend's father to help find his missing daughter. He thinks DeLuca may have an insight as to where his daughter may hide and is willing to pay.

We follow the sassy and brassy, innocent, fast talking, kind hearted and cunning girl on her adventures. It must be a challenge to write a unworldly, naive but brash extrovert into one person. You would think that some of those character traits do not sit well together but the author pulls it off in fine style. She is  a character you can really get behind and you end up living the adventure through her eyes. Also I thought it very brave for a male author to attempt to write this through a young, black, female's viewpoint too. I wouldn't have gone anywhere near it! Does he pull it off? You would probably have to ask a young, black, female but I thought it was great.

In any good double act there is a straight man. Breanna's comedy/investigative partner is Pavek. He is a big grumpy, quiet, Polish, freelance bruiser who likes nothing more than to sit in peace and feed the ducks. He's my type of guy. Some of the best scenes are between these two. 

Breanna takes us on her underworld odyssey through sweaty gyms, handsy car mechanics, hacking boltholes and libraries to find her old friend. Setting us up for an O.K  corral of a showdown. 

As well as being a grumpy old man, I'm also a bit on the miserly side. One of the perks of reviewing is often free books! There is a nasty rumour that I even turn the gas off when I turn the bacon over! 😲 But I am willing to actually pay to read the forthcoming sequel. That's how much I enjoyed this novella.

DeLuca is refreshing palette cleanser of a mini novel. It is short (168 pages) and bright and breezy. If your'e looking for a "Shuggie Bain" or "Angela's Ashes" this ain't for you. It is however a revitalizing reset for the reader. Perhaps something is telling me to take a break from the heavy stuff and enjoy the literary lighter side.

An enjoyable, feel good, happy, vivid, character driven, short, cosy crime thriller.    

                                                                              

Selected quotes...

"But money enjoys the company of money, and once you have a lot, it seems more lines up to join the party."

"She would work much faster with Herman Munster  behind her cracking skulls and fetching her drinks."

"Say what you will about Pavek," thought Breanna he's got more going on in that head than previous steroid abuse."

"Maybe he was just bringing her along for the ride to stop her from redecorating his place with pink wallpaper and posters of Beyónce."

"then she would travel like a fat man on a greased slide."

"...let alone a woman with an afro and tiger print matching tracksuit, a lesser man could feel intimidated by being confronted by curves and animal print clothes. The sight of her purple toenail varnish beneath her white Adidas sliders might make him run a mile."

"nothing stands between an uncomfortable woman and a toilet."

About the Author...

Darren is a hobbyist writer living in Swindon. He comes up with stories whilst driving to work and they niggle away at him, fleshing out details and characters until he has to write it down. He mostly reads crime and historical drama. DeLuca is his third book and a sequel has already been written and is in the editing phase. He is currently being plagued by plans for a fantasy book that he is worried will keep him busy for all of 2021. 

Riverflow by Alison Layland

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Blurb...

After a beloved family member is drowned in a devastating flood, Bede and Elin Sherwell want nothing more than to be left in peace to pursue their off grid life. But when the very real prospect of fracking hits their village, they are drawn into the frontline protests. During a spring of relentless rain, a series of mysterious threats and suspicious accidents put friendships on the line and the Sherwell's marriage under unbearable tension. Is there a connection with their uncles death? As the river rises under torrential rain, pressure mounts, Bede's sense of self begins to crumble and Elin is no longer sure who to believe or what to believe in.

My Review...

This is a lovely unusual book. It does not really fit into a genre. Or I should say it fits partially into several genres and possibly even invents a small new genre of it's own. Those of us who read a lot often get struck in the straight lines of a genre or trope. There is a lot to be said for the certainty of genre. You know where you are, where you are going and how you are going to get there. A good writer can deliver a good narrative inside any given genre. But what most of us regular readers long for is something different that bends the lanes of formulae. There are plenty of allegedly genre busting books out there but very few are well written. This one is well done and does not bust genres but does blur the lines between genres.

This book is fiction and there is a crime but it is not really "crime fiction," as the crime only becomes really evident in the last few chapters, even though there are hints and whispers through-out the book.

It is nearest to a psychological thriller. However in most thrillers the threat and danger are more evident through-out. In Riverflow we do not even see the threat. It only slowly emerges from the narrative.

Riverflow begins as sort of country soap opera, where an eco-friendly couple are trying to assimilate and inspire the rural community. Slowly, one by one, things start to go wrong. So , from the idyll, a slow downward spiral for them begins to materialize. Is it just what happens in life? is it bad luck?or is something more sinister involved. I am going to have to place this book in several of my categories including Welsh interest because it set on the Welsh Marches and the author is a member of "Crime Cymru."

Even the main protagonist  of Riverflow is not your run of the mill. Bede is a self-sufficient, long haired, mechanic. He has a chip on his shoulder, is surly and an all round sanctimonious knob head ( yes! I know he sounds like me!) The inconvenient truth is constantly hammered home by Bede. The author has taken a big gamble by having this moody loner as the hero.

The author has a lovely comfortable style of writing. It is easy to read. It is like reading downhill, you just sort of freewheel.

This book is an entertaining pastoral and moral tale with a thrilling culmination.

Selected quotes...

"Elin sometimes conceded that they were not so much teaching by example as simply living by their consciences."

"During one visit to his mum's hospice bedside, as he braved the veneer of cheer and kindness thinly cloaking the inevitability of death."

"It's the human race needs saving! the world will keep turning long after we've pushed ourselves to extinction."

"She picked up her book, ready to escape to someone's world."

"Nothing stays the same. You know that as well as I do. Like the riverflow. There are peaceful times but even theres the scratch, scratch, scratch or erosion. imperceptible but...there. Until its time for big change, for renewal and the floods come."

About the author

Alison Layland is a freelance writer and translator who lives and works on the Welsh borderlands. She is the author of two novels, Someone else's conflict and Riverflow, both published by Honno Pres and also translates from German, French and Welsh.

Private Lives by J.G. Harlond

 

⭐⭐⭐

The blurb...

England, 1942. While reluctant wartime detective Bob Robbins is enjoying a few days’ holiday on the North Devon coast he becomes involved in a shooting incident on a derelict farm. An elderly farmer lies injured, and then disappears. A young man is found shot in the chest. Bob reports the incident to the local police force, but they are so over-stretched with extra duties he finds himself in charge of the case. In urgent need of assistance, Bob requests the help of the young police recruit Laurie Oliver. They take rooms at ‘Peony Villas’, an unusual sort of guest house run by an ex-West End diva, where a troupe of London actors are in residence, and where Bob soon finds himself involved in yet another peculiar mystery..

My review...

Bob is an old widower with dodgey knees, who talks to his dead wife. He is also a retired detective inspector, who has been pressed back into service due to manning issues arising from the war. Bob's on his holidays, birdwatching near Bideford, when he hears a shotgun. He walks up the hill to a local farm and sees a young farm hand dragging an injured possibly dead farmer. He gets told to clear off and does so, until he hears a pistol shot. Bob returns to the farm to find the young farm hand dead but no sign of the old farmer. Bob reports it to the local and very unco-operative police and ends up getting pressganged into taking on the investigation. He sends for his trusty young, educated side kick Laurie Oliver and settles in to his accomadation. He ends up staying at a sort of hotel where the guests are all travelling actors and singers. The neighbour is a grumpy curmudgeon and the chef is suffering from PTSD from the Great War. He may also be supplemtenting rations with something a little different! 

So it's a very good set-up. Plenty of potential suspects, conflict and comedy opportunities. The investigation iteslf centres around who will inherit the two farms that the missing farmer worked.

I can appreciate that we needed an insight into who would be the beneficiary if the old farmer was indeed dead. However, a problematic issue, for me,  was the vast family history trees involved in working out how several of the protaganists were connected. A case of "my next door neighbour's aunty's best friend was married to Bob's daughter" type of thing. I often had to read back over what I had already read to try and gain some clarity. This was exacerbated by the fact that at least three of the characters had another alias and one character had had additional three identities. I would recommend having a notepad and pencil at the ready.

These quibbles not withstanding, now we get onto what the author does well. She does great job of evoking the rural west country  during the war period. You can really feel yourself settling down in the pub drinking scrumpy because there is no beer left as the army lorries thunder through streets built for carthorses.

She also excels at painting a picture of a era where time stretched out rather than rushes by as today. It is a setting that is just as alien to us today as Star Wars is. 

The highlight with regards to mystery is not the whodunnit but the search for the missing (dead?) old farmer and why cant they find his corpse?

 

The comedy elements are well played out too. Loved the cat wrangling cook. The rescuing of the Inspector from the farm privy on a motorbike was a favourite also.

There is a lovely relationship between senior, experienced, worldly wise D.I. and junior less experienced but better educated D.C. 

 

A gentle,  comedic, immersive mystery that plonks you firmly in the west country eighty years ago. Last of the summer wine meets Foyle.

Selected Quotes...

"Hearsay usually carries a lump of disagreeable truth. Never overlook hearsay, even when you cant use it in evidence."

"She says I look like Jimmy Stewart, the Hollywood actor.'

"Does she indeed? tell her how much a British bobby earns, see if she changes her mind."

"He followed his grumpy new relative through a jumble of pint-wielding elbows to an arched bar decorated with horse brasses and government issue respirators"

"Twenty minutes until supper: time enough to raid a broom cupboard for a nine-millimetre pistol while the cook was boiling the potatoes."

"Mr Pots," she murmured,

"whatever are you doing with your cats?' Then she recalled the game pie he'd served the night before...."

"Mrs Healy's mouth was pinched tight like a miser's purse."

About the author...

J.G. Harlond (Jane) grew up near the sea in the South West of England. She studied in Britain and the United States, obtaining a BA (Hons) in Cultural Studies, an MA in Social and Political Thought, and teaching qualifications. For many years, Jane worked in European international schools and wrote school textbook material. In 2010, she gave up an enjoyable, safe, and successful job to also write fiction.

Jane’s fascination with historical novels began while still at school, when she would read anything by Jean Plaidy or Daphne Du Maurier instead of doing her homework. Later, she moved on to a much wider range of books, but particularly liked Dorothy Dunnett, John Le Carré, and Mary Wesley: three very different authors whose well-chosen prose weaves intrigue and sharp descriptive detail into compelling stories. What interests her most about fiction is the manner in which a reader can experience the universal emotions of love, hate, jealousy, and greed through invented narrative, and the way it demonstrates how real and fictitious characters’ life choices affect and are affected by real events and other people’s actions. Jane’s novels also consider the influence of genetic inheritance, showing how family traits, physical appearance, and personality can follow through or skip and re-emerge in different generations.

When she’s not writing, Jane is busy looking after an aging but spirited horse, trying to keep a small but demanding garden in order, and doing her best to stay up to date with what her family is doing in various parts of the world. Travel, it seems, is something of a Harlond family trait.

Crimson Snow by Jason R Vowles

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

NB All proceeds from the sale of this book go to charity.

You can buy Crimson Snow....Here

The blurb....

London is hit by the biggest snow storm in decades.

Trains are at a standstill. Traffic is gridlocked. And in the chaos, the lobotomised corpse of a City banker is discovered in Hyde Park, their face slashed beyond recognition.

No physical evidence, no clear witnesses, no potential leads

A dangerously unorthodox DCI assigns the case to the murder investigation team's new recruit, DC Daniel Hudson. As bodies pile up, and with no discernible links between victims, Hudson begins to struggle emotionally with the case, nightmares plaguing his darkest hours.

How long can the new recruit hold it together?

With the media at a frenzy and the boss watching his every move, will Hudson and the team learn the secret behind these terrifying murders, before their killer decides to make things more personal?

My Reveiw....

This is the debut novel from Jason R Vowles, and a fine debut it is too. This is the first in the Daniel Hudson series. Daniel , the young,  provincial copper is aptly named as he enters the lions den of major league crime that is London. 

The plot centres around Daniel's first case in the big city, and it is a big one! A serial killer who lobotomises his victims post mortem. The team struggle to find leads, Daniel's mental health suffers. The author does a good job of ratcheting up the tension and pressure chapter after chapter. You can almost feel the stress level reaching breakdown point.

We also follow the killers story in first person perspective which adds to the creepy factor. I guarantee, you will find yourself searching for clues whenever the killers narrative appears.

The plot is clever and offers numerous potential suspects throughout the various profiles of the killer that the police come up with.

The strength of this book, I feel, is the layering of the character of Daniel. He is definitely not your average hard bitten city cop àla Inspector Rebus he is more the impressionable country hick, eager to please and scared of failure much like a Clarice Starling. (or for those with an even longer memory "McCloud.") You really feel for the character and are willing him on, while also feeling his never ending anxiety at the same time.

In addition there is a strong partnership theme that develops with his slightly dodgy, Japanese, DCI. So we get to explore this continually evolving relationship from the angle of the younger, naive DC Hudson. Again referencing old TV cop shows it is like experiencing Regan from the Sweeney  via a young and innocent Carter's viewpoint. I don't know why but my mind surreptitiously cast Ciaran Hinds in the role of Hiraoka. 

Layered on top of this is the whole ensemble team of multi ethnic fellow officers and pathologists. Some he gets on well with, others not so much. 

The other characters including his sister, love interest and landlady add to the depth of the story too. 

As I was reading towards the end I found myself galloping through the pages in an eager quest to find the killer. Always a good sign in a who dunnit!

There is a good twist, which the author does well to keep hidden. 

I am looking forward to the further adventures of Daniel Hudson and messers Hiraoka, Leigh, Hunt, Nguyen, Moreau, Anderson, Nita and Charlie. 

It's tension inducing thrill ride with a gobsmack twist.

I can give no higher praise than to say this book put me in mind of "the Mermaid's Singing" by Val McDermid, which was the first Tony Hill (Wire in the Blood) book.

It is a very good first step on what I hope will be a long literary career.

Selected Quotes...

"You're a London copper now Hudson. More place for scum to hide in bigger cities. They tend to do nastier shit, too"

"Don't ever get promoted too high, Hudson , it turns into bureaucratic bullshit."

"Let's light up this room. I want noise until repeats of Top Gear have finished airing on Dave."

"It dawned on him then, how much he'd gambled on. How big of a thing this all was. Bigger than him. This wasn't just a change in career. A change in lifestyle. This was a change of world."

"Hot chocolate before tea? Are you sure you dont swing the other way?"

"I was greeted by the smell of polish, stale popcorn and some lingering deodorant from some fat, zero hours idiot at the front desk"

"When the blade hit his upper abdomen, a jet of blood fired out from his mouth like punching hand soap quickly"

About the Author

Jason is a young breakthrough author, kicking off his writing career with the DC Daniel Hudson crime series. Based in Cardiff, Wales, he has lived all over England growing up for much of his life in Norfolk. He is influenced heavily by crime and mystery in various forms from around the world, from America to Japan, England to Sweden, Germany to South Korea.

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The blurb...

The Uncommon Reader" is none other than HM the Queen who drifts accidentally into reading when her corgis stray into a mobile library parked at Buckingham Palace. She reads widely ( JR Ackerley, Jean Genet, Ivy Compton Burnett and the classics) and intelligently. 

Her reading naturally changes her world view and her relationship with people like the oleaginous prime minister and his repellent advisers. She comes to question the prescribed order of the world and loses patience with much that she has to do. In short, her reading is subversive. The consequence is, of course, surprising, mildly shocking and very funny.

My Review...

I only had time for a short book this week, So after checking through Goodreads I settled on this little 124 page dwtty piece of loveliness. It was first published in 2007 so I haven't exactly got my finger bang on the pulse of today with this one. 

I also chose it in part to challenge my own issues around the institution of the Monarchy. (Basically, I think it is ridiculous and would much rather my taxes go the NHS.)

Bennett portrays them as well meaning idiots stuck in their rut of opening supermarkets and launching ships.  They are like the "flying lady" ornament on the hood of a Rolls Royce. They are nice to look at, a distraction for the eye but in reality totally superfluous to the actual running of the machine, quite literally a figure head.

That is until her Madge stumbles into the mobile library parked around the back in the servants quarters and meets young, ginger and possibly gay Norman the kitchen boy. Madge takes out a book out of politeness and the floodgates open. 

This is where Bennett excels. He describes the addiction to books that every bibliophile knows only too well. He also describes its consequences, both to the reader and those around them. He may have been describing the Queen but he is also describing me and all those who frequent this site and Twitter page! Yes that means you. 

Gradually the royal robot develops consciousness. Yes it is very ex Machina.  So the plot isn't twisty (although there is quite a mic' drop moment at the end) and the book is very short. In fact it is more of a thought experiment than a novel.

 However it is very clever and well written. Mr Bennett does have a lovely turn of phrase as can be seen by the amount of selected quotes that I have used below. I also had to cut another half dozen off the list. 

In short this is a small, well crafted thing of beauty

Selected quotes...

"Read? Of course he read. Everybody read. He opened the glove compartment and took out his copy of the Sun."

"Surely most people can read?’ ‘They can read, ma’am, but I’m not sure that they do.’

"it would help if we were able to put out a press release saying that, apart from English literature, Your Majesty was also reading ethnic classics.’ ‘Which ethnic classics did you have in mind, Sir Kevin? The Kama Sutra?’

"To read is to withdraw. To make oneself unavailable."

"Nor initially did she discuss her reading with anyone, least of all in public, knowing that such a late-flowering enthusiasm, however worthwhile, might expose her to ridicule. It would be the same, she thought, if she had developed a passion for God, or dahlias."

"Authors, she soon decided, were probably best met with in the pages of their novels, and were as much creatures of the reader’s imagination as the characters in their books. Nor did they seem to think one had done them a kindness by reading their writings. Rather they had done one the kindness by writing them."

"The public must not be allowed to think the world could not be managed. That way lay chaos. Or defeat at the polls, which was the same thing.

"Books are wonderful, aren’t they?’ she said to the vice-chancellor, who concurred. ‘At the risk of sounding like a piece of steak,’ she said, ‘they tenderise one.’ 

"One has given one’s white-gloved hand to hands that were steeped in blood and conversed politely with men who have personally slaughtered children. One has waded through excrement and gore; to be Queen, I have often thought the one essential item of equipment a pair of thigh-length boots."

About the Author...

Alan Bennett is one of the most celebrated writers in Britain today. His play (and film) The History Boys won seven Emmys in New York and was the most successful play in the history of the National Theatre. Untold Stories has sold over 700,000 copies in hardback and paperback. Alan Bennett was Author of the Year at the 2006 British Book Awards.

The Reckoning by John Grisham

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Although this is John Grisham  book it isn't a courtroom drama, it's more of a family secret played out against the backdrop of 1930s and 1940s Missippi and the war in the Philippines. A local landowner and war hero drives into town, rocks up at the church and shoots and kills the local minister. He refuses to give a reason why he has murdered the preacher. 

               So you have the end of the book in the first chapter. We then work backwards to delve into the murderer's  ( hero's?) past and work out how he came to this sorry end. Be warned there isn't a lot of joy in this book. It's a tale of grief, loss, mental illness, infidelity, the horror of war, loneliness and lost love.

              I find it an unusual book in its structure and pacing. The pace varies from stagnant when dealing with Pete's long delays in jail to breakneck when describing his brutal army service in the Philippines. His war history is practically irrelevant to the main plot but I found this the most absorbing part of the book. If Mr Grisham were to write a well researched history of a war hero I would definitely read it. I took a while to get into the book but I am glad I persisted. 

          Overall I enjoyed the book despite some slack areas where nothing appeared to be happening. Mr Grisham writes very evocatively of his native southern states of the USA. So much so, that you can see both the physical beauty and the social cruelty in your imagination. 

        There is a twist in the tail, which I did not honestly see coming. In summation an enjoyable, unusually plotted and paced sad story.

Selected quotes..

"People were classified, and often judged, by their denomination. And they were certainly condemned if they didn’t claim."

"Meaness does not inspire loyalty."

"Hearing the truth is like grabbing smoke in this family"

""

Things to do when you would rather be dead by Michael Guillebeau

⭐⭐⭐

I would like to thank NetGalley and Books Go Social for an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in return for an honest and fair review. 

A cop out to catch the murderer of his wife and child. A cop bent on redemption, on a mission to capture a serial killer. Bog standard so far but its the characters in this book are its U.S.P. Our hero is a fat, cynical, self depreciating semi alcoholic. He has been busted down from detective to police department mascot/clown/school talk type guy. His help comes in the form of an equally chunky, feisty schoolteacher/love interest and loose gang of ex govt officials who drink at his local. Billed as a comedy, it is not laugh out loud but gently entertaining in parts. The plot is enjoyable but as I say the author has developed some lovely, likeable, witty and real life characters. Think it could do with a more memorable title. Enjoyable, feel good adventure perfect easy reading.

Beyond Limits by Lowri Morgan

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

First of all I should qualify this review with a disclaimer, both my wife and I are avid followers of Lowri Morgan's on S4C and have enjoyed all her endurance adventure specials.

 

This is truly an inspirational book, it will make want to grab your daps and head for the trails! My wife, who is a physcotherapist read this book before me and was fascinated by her thought process and emotions around the "positive" addiction of running. 

There are several tales of endurance and extreme running in this book, most notably the Amazon jungle ultra, the 6633 Ultra in the Arctic and the local Dragon's back ultra from north to south Wales along the mountainous spine of the country. 

There is the story of how she came to play rugby for Wales. 

There is extreme fatigue, busted knees, missing toe nails, hallucination, heart problems,  deprivation, separation, 30miles runs before breakfast, pain, agony, misery. There is the constant battle of mind and body. 

The body like a team of horses leading a carriage, with the mind as the carriage driver controlling, encouraging, pleading, whipping the horses ever forward, constantly and relentlessly forward. 

Sounds a bit grim? Far from it the further the struggle uphill the more magnificent the view from the top! This book is about soul soaring freedom running along sunlit mountain ranges. It's about being in the midst of outstanding nature wether it is the northern lights in the middle of nowhere in the Arctic totally on your own or  the stunning scenery of Lyn y Fan Fach. It is about that euphoric state of being connected to everything and everything connected to you. Some call it runners high some call it flow. 

After reading this book I think that this is Lowri's drug of choice and running is her means of ingestion.

She is also a TV presenter and writer and has a paired down writing style that delivers it meaning precisely  and efficiently but is always bang on. Here are few examples 

"I just don't want to be rubbish at life. I don't want to waste the opportunity I have been given to live a life full of adventure and possibility" says it all in 2 sentences. 

On having missed a checkpoint and deciding to turn around and return adding extra miles to the ultra she was running.

"Respect the integrity of my participation. It is my homage to honesty." This is beautifully written. I wish I spoke like Lowri writes.

My particular favourite line is when she talks about her running the highly self deprecating Lowri's says

" I'm an ordinary runner, running exceptional races" 

This is a hell of an inspiring book but then again Lowri Morgan is a hell of an inspiring person.

Snow by John Banville

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to faber and faber and netgalley for this advanced reader copy in exchange for an open and honest review.

Old school murder mystery in the classic style of Cluedo and Agatha Christie. A catholic priest is found dead at the bottom of the stairs in a grand house. Was it an accident? Well no, because someone bludgeoned him and cut of his beef bayonet and matching twin set! 🤢

The characters are straight of whodunnit for beginners. The author is clever in that he acknowledges this several times, so if a clichè recognises itself is it still as a clichè? For my part I thought the country manor setting, and usual cast of suspects added greatly to the ambience of the book but then I enjoy a good Agatha Christie. I think as with   regards to  the setting and cast, readers will either settle into the comfortable sofa of familiarity or think of it as being the worn out sofa of overuse. I am definately the former.

 The background was interesting in that it wasnt the home counties but the Irish countryside of the 50s with the maelstrom of religeous and political divison whirling away in the background. The plot was twisty with a few red herrings. As the tale develops a thread of sexual deviancy among the upper classes and the catholic church (who would of thought eh! 🤔) and corruption emerges. 

Our detective is a cold and lonely man from the same strata of society as the suspects and is under pressure from his boss to solve the case but not embarras the Catholic church under any circumstances. 

None of the main characters were happy, or ended up totally happy which for me is another plus. I think it adds 3d reality to a character. I really enjoyed this book. It is a cracking example of the genre. 

The Inspector of Strange & Unexplained Deaths by Olivier Barde-Cabuçon

 

⭐⭐⭐

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A murder mystery set in Paris during the reign of Louis XV. Two prostitutes are found murdered with their faces removed. Time for his majesty's inspector of strange and unexplained deaths (and his trusty sidekick monk/C.S.I) to step in. However the underage sex workers were known to the royal family (art imitating life?) 

Inspector Volnay must tread a tightrope to conclude his investigation. Power lies with the king, Madame Pompadour , the kings ex lover and now pimp in chief seeks to consolidate her role as the Kings confidant. Sartine the corrupt chief of police seeks to advance his position through any means possible. Add to this two secret societies, religious groups (who turn a blind eye abuse because the perpetrator is a powerful catholic, again the more things change the more they stay the same!) Various henchmen, whom you don't know belong to which group because everyone is a spy. Oh and the all round chancer Casanova and a love interest are thrown into the mix as well.

It has the makings of a good period murder mystery, e.g. C.J Sansome's Shardlake series, but with too many threads, groups and red herrings the plot sort of disappears up its own arse. A pity because there is a decent book hiding within this one. 

I enjoyed reading about Volnay and the detective work. The writer brings to life the poverty and depravity of Paris and the wealth and depravity of Versailles. Its an OK 3 out 5 for me, could have been a 4 but the ending did little to resolve the status quo so you are left thinking that after all that effort nothing has really changed.

The Second Sleep by Robert Harris

 

⭐⭐⭐

THIS REVIEW HAS SPOILERS! 

Robert Harris is my favourite author and I have read all of his books. I find his grasp of geopolotics and its place in any given point in history to be one of his best traits as an author. I also find his characters engaging and his writing style descriptive and well paced.

I also enjoy the fact that he cannot be pigeon holed. He has written books of historical fiction (eg the Cicero trilogy, Enigma etc,) alternative history ( Fatherland) and "what if" thrillers (Archangel, the Ghost, Conclave) and  now we leap into historal fiction set in the future about current events. Head warping, isnt it?

This book begins by letting us  believe we are in circa 1500. AD. A young inexperienced priest is sent from Exeter to a small rural backwater to bury a old and possibly heretical, possibly murdered parish vicar. However among old man's detritus are plastic straws, plastic dolls and a dilapadated iphone! Hence we realise we are in the years circa 2800. The apocalypse had occured in 2020 and the world was thrown back into the dark ages and a new calender introduced.

     This is the main driver of the story although there are others inc a forbidden romance, a treasure hunt, and a touch of rebellion against the all powerful church. Indeed, the only instituion to survive the end of life as we know was the church mainly due to the safety offered by churches and cathederals that had already stood for a 1000yrs before the apocalypse.

   The title comes from the practice of biphasic sleep or sleep in two parts that was the norm way back in the mists of time. Harris imagines that this practice would make a comeback in the future with no electric light to torment our circadian rythyms. Of course the title could also alude to the secondary period of dark ages (the first being the roughly 1000yrs from the fall of Rome to the Renaisance) that forms the back drop our story.  

     The plot bounds along with some clever asides into what post apocalypse UK may be like, eg ongoing war with the Caliphate in the north of England. Our fallen hero Fairfax is on the the trail of a killer who may have murdered to silence the old priest who, in turn, may have found a treasure trove of ancient  technology and knowledge in a secret refuge used during the end of days.  

  The story kept my interest through out however, I thought the ending was anticlimatic and quite frankly a touch depressing.

I get the feeling this book may have been written during the Trump election/Brexit era when I know mr Harris was despondant at what has become of western politics. It seems that he feels there may be a collapse of civiliasation brought about out by narcisist, pompous hubris and loss of humanity due to the weight of technological input.  It seems he is channeling his inner corporal Fraser from tv show Dads Army, "We're dooomed! We're dooomed" I hope he is wrong. 6.5 out of 10. Enjoyable book let down by poor end and sense of perpetual loss.

Selected quotes...

All civilisations consider themselves invulnerable; history warns us that none is.

 

Nerves of Steele Phil Steele

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Phil Steele is a well known tv rugby personality, commentator, interviewer, and after dinner speaker through out Wales. During his younger days he juggled a new career as a Special Needs teacher with playing rugby union for Newport RFC  getting as far as the Wales B squad. However he suffered crippling nerves and suffered family tragedy. This book is all about his life. However this book isn't really about rugby, it's about depression/anxiety and mental health. It's about how he has managed to adapt to the beast and to whisper in it's ear. Phil has never beaten the beast but has managed to bridle it. It's about tragedy and overcoming tragedy. You feel his cheery character and also his darkest times. It is heartbreaking and life affirming. Hell of a book, hell of a man.

The Secret History by Donna Tart

⭐⭐⭐

My first Donna Tart novel. After seeing several reviews I thought I would read this, probably her most famous novel to date. The plot concerns a small group of classics undergraduates and their idiosyncratic but inspirational tutor. Following his promptings to experience total spiritual freedom, they recreate an ancient ritual. This leads to a drunken/drug induced manslaughter and this is where the story really begins. The group turns in on itself under the pressure of hiding the truth. Blackmail ensues, incest is revealed and they begin to unravel. They turn on one of their number and murder him. The pressure grows and grows. 

I found this novel to be sweaty, claustrophobic and paranoid. It seemed like a mixture of Crime and Punishment, The Dead Poets Society and Reservoir dogs. In fact Crime and Punishment is referenced through out the book. The difference being that Raskalnikov (sp) dealt with the demons of guilt internally, but the group fails to deal with guilt collectively. Its not an uplifting book and the group angst can seem to be a little repetitive. There are no real likeable characters in the book, all have major flaws. Perhaps this may be reflective of life in general. I personally thought It was a decent book but not up to all the hype.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cracking dark twisted whodunnit masquerading as a physcological thriller. A new therapist arrives at an institute determined to open up its most famous patient. A woman who has not  spoken since brutally murdering her husband, or did she? Why is the therapist obsessed with this case in particular? Are the staff covering something up?As the therapist delves deeper, he interviews people from her past. Many of them have motives to be the actual killer? It was one of the books where you are racing at the end to see what happened, desperately turning pages faster and faster. It had a excellent twist in the end too. Fantastic example of the genre.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

⭐⭐⭐

Not having read any Bradbury before, I decided to take the plunge with his most famous work.

  I enjoyed the plot and certain clever points within the short story, eg firemen that start fires. 

Bradbury seems to have had a keen eye for the future too. Published in 1952 this prophetic short story forsees things like critical thinking being despised, the  govt encouraged blandness of life supported by fake news and giant home tv screens. It shows how the people are manipulated. One of my favourite quotes in the book is "the most dangerous enemy of truth and freedom, the solid unmoving cattle of the majority. Oh, God, the terrible tyranny of the majority." I thought that was very poignant with the vast swathes of the population being brainwashed by the Brexit campaign. 

 In many ways it is a sister piece to 1984. Although in 1984 if there is hope it lies with the proles ( proletariat) in Farenheit 451 it lies with the intellectuals 🤔. To be honest I think that we are being swamped with knobheads in all levels of society ATM. 

 The only thing that I found uncomfortable was Bradbury's writing style which I, personally, found a little disjointed and etheral.

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Kurt Vonnegut was an American  P.O.W being held in Dresden  Germany during WW2 when U.S air force  and RAF totally destroyed the city. I Decided to read this because my wife's grandad was also a pow (uk) in Dresden at the time of the firebombing (which KV estimates as killing 130,000 and thereby being the biggest massacre in European history) He was a changed man after the war apparently in body and mind😮

When you read a lot of books you become used to the genre/literal patterns. This book takes those guidelines and blows them apart. For a start its the only war/time travelling/space travelling/family saga/ semi autobiography I have read. In addition the tone is passive, fatalistic and almost apathetic. Nonetheless it seems to flow. A thought provoking read, I was still thinking about this book days after finishing it. Its surrealism may put some off. Its what people in the UK would call a marmite book. You'll either love it or hate it with no middle ground. I am in the former group. If 4* is good and 5* is amazing I would give it a 4 and a half. After reading this book I googled Dresden and found a youtube clip of a ex paratrooper who was there being in interviewed on uk breakfast tv was absolutely gob smacking! KV employs a clever trick  every time a death is mentioned  he uses the phrase "so it goes" and now it is stuck with me. If a hear of a death my lil brain says "so it goes" or if I hear "so it goes" I think of death. Happy days eh! 😉. At lthe end of the book I still didnt know if our hero had PTSD, a brain injury from a plane crash or weather he was actually abducted by aliens and transported through time! Thats a hell of a last comment of a review. So will say no more than 😉👊🏼

 

Skinner's Rules by Quentin Jardine

⭐⭐⭐

Drawn to this due to appreciation of Edinburgh and Rebus. Good old  fashioned cop investigates crime which leads to international spy type shenanigans. Gritty and believable. Is now a bit dated due to references to now obsolete computor hardware and 1990s politics but still an enjoyable romp for lovers of scottish noir crime fiction.

The Nix by Nathan Hill

⭐⭐

I would grade this book a 2.5 out of 5 stars. This is between a "meh!" and an OK. Several of the blurbs mention the phrase "the great American novel," sadly I do not thing this book will achieve that status.

However, despite my relatively poor rating, there is much to commend it. Mr Hill is a very good writer and comes up with many quotes eg. "We can tell ourselves we’re not special because we weren’t born with it, which is a great excuse,” and "Sometimes we’re so wrapped up in our own story that we don’t see how we’re supporting characters in someone else’s." and "you shouldn’t think of it as your mother abandoned you. Instead, perhaps think of it as she gave you up for adoption slightly later than usual.” All thought provoking, incisive literary gems. 

Yes Mr Hill is a good writer, what he needs is a good editor. I often enjoy a sojourn down a side adventure, however Mr Hill takes too many and describes them using as many words as possible. It's as if he has a word count to hit and is padding out the book as much as possible, similar to a student struggling to reach minimum length on an essay. The reader has to invest heavily for little return. Pages and pages are spent on a peripheral character's avatar's fall from grace and death in an online game and Alan Ginsberg's various interpretations of the mantra word "ohm." 

There are several other areas where the book is engaging. It is a good snapshot of American society 1960s-2010s. It is a biting satire of several areas of modern culture including modern journalism, consumerism, political spin doctoring, collegiate politics and modern day entitlement. The plot, while not a seat of your pants thriller has enough intrigue to keep you steadily turning the pages.

The characters are multi dimensional and develop and change over time. in the book, as in life good guys/ bad guys and happy endings/sad endings are not distinctive black and white but more a sort of drab grey, and always subjective. I am OK with this.

In short an engaging OK book that could have been elevated to a good book with some prunage.