From The Bookshelf – Page 30

2014 – My Magnificent Seven

Although I have only been actively blogging for six months it is time for my end of year round up. A quick check of my blog finds that I have reviewed around 50 books in the last 6 months of the year. To select a top 10 from 50 seemed too many so I was going to do a top five. Until I started my list and I discovered that I wanted to include one or two more: Grab This Book’s Magnificent Seven was born.

So in no particular order I present the seven books that I enjoyed reading most (and the reasons why) during 2014.

Stalkers – Paul Finch

I was late to the party on Paul Finch’s brilliant Mark Heckenburg novels. The good thing about this was: by the time I read Stalkers there were two sequels and two more on the way.

Stalkers is a compelling thriller which pulls no punches and delivers shocks and twists in equal measure. I have probably recommended Paul Finch’s books to more of my friends than any other author this year – thus far I have had nothing but positive feedback from those that took my advice.

Stalkers Review

Doctor Who: Engines of War – George Mann

Cast your eye over my blog and you will find that Doctor Who books crop up fairly frequently. I make no apology for this, I have been a fan of the show for 35 years and I have been reading Doctor Who novels since the 1980’s. Not counting the books I read more than once, or the many audio plays, I think I have read around 350 different Who novels (although it is probably more).

For me, George Mann’s Engines of War stands out as one of the best that I have read. Ever. It features the Daleks, a new companion (Scarlet) and even better – The War Doctor. The Doctor has been fighting in the Time War, the Daleks fear him and the Timelords still cannot control him. His weariness of the War is telling and this is not a Doctor that can solve all the problems and just disappear in his TARDIS waiting for the next adventure. Mann catches the fatigue and frustration of the Doctor brilliantly.

If you enjoy Doctor Who and have seen John Hurt’s War Doctor in action then this is a must read. If you like an exciting good guy/bad guy story this is also for you, there is a great adventure to share. If you hate all things Doctor Who, this may not be the book for you. But I loved it!

Engines of War Review

Vendetta – Dreda Say Mitchell

Some books are in my list for personal reasons and some are here as they are stand out reads. Vendetta falls into the latter category. It was (without any doubt) one of the most entertaining books that I have read in recent years.

I cannot say enough good things about Vendetta and was thrilled to be able to participate in the Blog Tour when it was published. Dreda Say Mitchell penned a fantastic article Heroes to Die For which featured on my site. The combination of hosting the tour, having an exclusive article to feature and the book being one of my favourite reads of the year made this a memorable title for me.

Vendetta Review

Digital Circumstances – Brian Stewart

Summer 2014 was an amazing time to be in Scotland. We had the Edinburgh Festival (as we always do), the Book Festival (as we always do) but we also had Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games and the small matter of the Indy Ref – the world was watching.

Three out of the four events were spectacular successes – the fourth is subject to ongoing debate but 55% of the people were happy at the time!

During the height of all things Scottish I started reading Digital Circumstances, written and self-published by Brian Stewart. The story is (mainly) set in Glasgow and had a great mix of cybercrime and gangsters. As Glasgow is a city I know well and was very much in the public eye as I was reading Digital Circumstances – it just seemed a perfect read at the time.

A fun read and worth seeking out.

Digital Circumstances Review

Someone Else’s Skin – Sarah Hilary

A debut novel and the introduction of a principle character (Marnie Rome) which the author is planning on developing into an ongoing series. I have included this book in my top picks of the year mainly because it was a brilliant story which I got totally drawn into as I read.

However, Someone Else’s Skin holds the honour of being the book in 2014 with the best plot twist. It totally floored me and had me re-evaluating everything I had read up to that point in the story.

I read well over 100 novels this year, it would be very remiss of me to exclude the year’s ‘Jaw Drop’ moment from the list of my top books.

Someone Else’s Skin Review

An Evil Mind – Chris Carter

A fellow blogger contacted me asking if I could help him by reading a Chris Carter book (a task I felt reasonably comfortable accepting). He had been set a mission by the publishers: to find readers who had not read Chris Carter’s work and see if he could turn them into fans. I agreed to help and duly received a copy of An Evil Mind.

Click through to check my review for a more comprehensive summary, however, the addition of four new Chris Carter novels to my bookcase in the last few weeks should give a fairly big clue as to how much I enjoyed An Evil Mind. When drawing up a shortlist of possible titles to include in my Magnificent Seven, nothing came close to dislodging An Evil Mind from the list.

My thanks to Shaun on this one – take some time to visit his blog at: www.bookaddictshaun.co.uk

An Evil Mind Review

Red Rising – Pierce Brown

The book that broke my rules. Don’t get drawn back into Fantasy novels. Don’t start a series of books if the last books are not published yet. Don’t lend out your copies of your favourite books to friends as you know they will love it. Three copies of Red Rising later I currently only have my digital copy left – I MAY get some of my paperbacks back (eventually)!

This book made me want to read Fantasy novels again – this is after an 8 year hiatus where I have only really read crime and thrillers. A must read novel and worthy for inclusion in ANY list of recommended reads.

Red Rising Review

So there we have it – my best reading memories from 2014 and a brief explanation as to why these books stood out for me.

Category: 5* Reviews, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

November 11

Crooked Heart – Lissa Evans

When Noel Bostock – aged ten, no family – is evacuated from London to escape the Blitz, he ends up living in St Albans with Vera Sedge – thirty-six and drowning in debts and dependents. Always desperate for money, she’s unscrupulous about how she gets it.

Noel’s mourning his godmother, Mattie, a former suffragette. Brought up to share her disdain for authority and eclectic approach to education, he has little in common with other children and even less with Vee, who hurtles impulsively from one self-made crisis to the next. The war’s thrown up new opportunities for making money but what Vee needs (and what she’s never had) is a cool head and the ability to make a plan.

On her own, she’s a disaster. With Noel, she’s a team.

Together they cook up an idea. Criss-crossing the bombed suburbs of London, Vee starts to make a profit and Noel begins to regain his interest in life.

But there are plenty of other people making money out of the war and some of them are dangerous. Noel may have been moved to safety, but he isn’t actually safe at all…

Thanks to Alison Barrow for bringing Crooked Heart to my attention and providing a copy for review.

Sometimes I get the chance to read books I would not normally have considered or that would not have appeared on my radar. After I began blogging I started seeking out new reading experiences, new genre, new authors and plots that don’t always involve solving a murder.

Take Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans: I finished it this morning on my train journey to work. I really enjoyed it and was disappointed when I found that I had reached the end of the last page. It was an enchanting story about people living during the Second World War. The central characters are likeable and quirkily mis-matched. They live under the constant threat of an attack by Hitler’s soldiers yet their daily struggles are much more relevant and worrying.

We follow Noel through the story, we see him lose his Godmother and then be evacuated from London to the country. He is housed with Vee, a struggling mother with a ‘useless’ son and an eccentric mother – Vee is trying to keep her sanity in a household where she has to do everything and is receiving no help from family or neighbours.

Although Noel and Vee are the stars in Crooked Heart there is a brilliantly established supporting cast. We hiss at Vee’s son who is a workshy layabout, gnash our teeth at Noel’s aunt and uncle who are ‘doing their bit’ but don’t want saddled with a difficult 10 year old. Noel’s teacher and classmates are used to highlight Noel’s non-conformity and we have the one ‘true’ villain – an Air Raid warden that considers looting to be a job perk. Real people living out life during the time of the blitz – totally absorbing reading.

Crooked Heart is a story about friendship, families and love – against the backdrop of the Second World War. It has replaced Carrie’s War as the book I will think of when I imagine life for a child during WW2. I loved the story of Noel and Vee, they came across as two misfits, not quite fitting the expectations of those around them and not really caring they are different. The last page was heart breaking and poignant and the journey to that point made it so. Crooked Heart is highly recommended.

Crooked Heart is published in Hardback by Doubleday and is available now. Follow Lissa Evans on Twitter @LissaKEvans

Category: From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

October 9

Doctor Who: Silhouette – Justin Richards

“Vastra and Strax and Jenny? Oh no, we don’t need to bother them. Trust me.”

Marlowe Hapworth is found dead in his locked study, killed by an unknown assailant. This is a case for the Great Detective, Madame Vastra.

Rick Bellamy, bare-knuckle boxer, has the life drawn out of him by a figure dressed as an undertaker. This angers Strax the Sontaran.

The Carnival of Curiosities, a collection of bizarre and fascinating sideshows and performers. This is where Jenny Flint looks for answers.

How are these things connected? And what does Orestes Milton, rich industrialist, have to do with it all? As the Doctor and Clara joint the hunt for the truth they find themselves thrust into a world where nothing and no one are what they seem.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House/Ebury Publishing for the review copy.

Justin Richards is a name that should be very familiar to readers of Doctor Who novels. He has penned some of the best stories I read while the Doctor was on his extended break between 1989 and 2005. I highly recommend The Burning which also has one of the best covers ever), Grave Matter (6^th Doctor and Peri story that I remember enjoying very much) and he also contributes to the Big Finish audio range – Time of the Daleks being another personal favourite. Quite simply, Justin Richards is an accomplished Doctor Who writer.

Silhouette maintains his high standard. The Doctor and Clara are in Victorian London, as we see from the introduction they are once again joined by Strax, Vastra and Jenny. So with the gang all in place attention turns to matters at hand. Mr Marlowe Hapworth dead in his study – a locked room murder as there is no possible way that he could have stabbed himself between the shoulder blades while sitting at his desk.

Investigations soon lead The Doctor to the local sideshow and the Carnival of Curiosities. I found Richards painted a vivid description of a damp and foggy London and the Carnival was brilliantly described giving the feeling of colourful splashes in the gloomy city.

The titular Silhouette is a master at the art of shadow plays and her origami birds (an art not known in London at the time the story is set) enchant the carnival audiences – her skills seem almost unworldly. Certainly The Doctor is keen to learn how she weaves her magic.

As always I will not spoil the plot lines but there were some lovely touches sprinkled throughout the story – Silhouettes origami birds are as dangerous as they are pretty. Strax makes friends with the carnival strongman and Vastra encounters a very familiar face.

When the reveal of the villain arrived I was delighted to find that I had been well off the mark with my guesses as to where the story was heading. The motivation for the murders was explained and I enjoyed the twist which defined how victims had been selected and what was taken from them that would benefit the bad guys…no clues.

In the end I can honestly say that the 12^th Doctor range is still looking good. I have now read two books of the initial three that are available with just The Crawling Terror to go. The Blood Cell still stands tall as my favourite as James Goss really captured Peter Capaldi’s Doctor. But with The Crawling Terror to come next there is still fun to be had.

Category: Doctor Who, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

August 26

Adventures With The Wife In Space: Living With Doctor Who – Neil Perryman

As previously disclosed I have been a Doctor Who fan for around 35 of my 40 years. During this time I have soaked up all the facts, stories and trivia I could get my hands on and I fully understand that this is not a pastime that everyone embraces. My wife has *mainly* tolerated my Gallifreyan distractions but does tend to voice disapproval when collections (VHS tapes, DVDs , books etc) start to take up too much room.

Since the TV show has come back she will sometimes sit and watch new episodes with me and has even expressed an opinion or asked questions on some occasions. After 20 years I seem to be wearing down her resistance.

Converting a non-Who fan to enjoying the show is tricky, especially when we recognise that the first 26 years of source material is not as slick as the post reboot shows. Hats off to Neil Perryman who managed to persuade his wife Sue to sit through every episode broadcast between 1963 and 1989.

As they watched the shows together Neil, as a lifelong fan, watched Sue’s reactions and recorded them on his blog. He now presents the whole experience in his highly entertaining book Adventures With The Wife In Space. Adventures is possibly the most fun reading experience I have had for many a month and being a fan of the show is not a pre-requisite to enjoying the book.

For a fan of the show it is a fascinating insight into what a non-fan picks out from an episode when they are not hung up on continuity or plot threads. One such example is Sue’s outrage when The Doctor steals Jo’s cup of tea…how very dare he?

Neil’s narrative around persuading Sue to watch all the shows is hilarious. Highlights were exaggerating the length of time it may take to watch Jon Pertwee’s run, horror at Sue’s lack of respect for a fan-favourite ‘Classic’ episode and the internet response to Neil and Sue’s family members joining in the experience.

It is a book about two people watching television and it is wonderful. Not convinced? Think Gogglebox in a paperback*

While the focus is around watching the classic Doctor Who shows we also get to spend time with Neil and Sue as they contend with day to day life and how they juggle this around watching Doctor Who. This book is as much about the writers as it is about the TV show.

A family tale about a family, heart-warming and fun to read.

*Disclaimer – I have never (nor will I ever) watch Gogglebox. I am told that it is a show that records people watching television. The comparison seemed apt.

Category: Doctor Who, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

July 17

In Progress…

I am trying to divide my reading time between too many books this week!

After a weekend trip to Englandshire I forgot to bring my Kindle home. Fortunately my family were continuing the holiday without me (work commitments) so the Kindle and I will soon be reunited – but it left me on paperbacks for the week.

As it turns out this has been a bit of a blessing as I got to catch up on a Stephanie Plum novel (from Janet Evanovich). Although the series has now reached the 21st book, I am dragging my heels and have only just finished Smokin’ Seventeen.

The lovely people at my local library kept me going in Evanovich novels for a few weeks last year and I romped through the first 14 books in record time. Cracking, entertainment with humour and excitement in equal doses. However, I didn’t want to catch up with all the books in one run as I liked the idea of still having a few books left to read so I took an enforced break for several months. That period of self denial is over and am loving reading about Stephanie Plum again.

When the Evanovich book was not within reach I have also been using the Kindle App on my ‘phone to read Digital Circumstances by BRM Stewart. What a joy that has been! I will post a review once I get through the final 10% but it is fair to say I will be recommending it to everyone – especially those who know Glasgow.

Category: From The Bookshelf, Uncategorized | Comments Off

July 12

Friday was a catching up day

A good day as I managed to finish two books from the reading pile. Will post up full reviews of each in the very near future, however, tonight I have the fun problem of what to read next.

Busy day ahead so I may sneak in a quick read of a Batman graphic novel – one of the books I finished today made me want to read one Batman’s The Long Halloween (one of my favourites).

Category: From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

July 4

Doctor Who: Tales of Trenzalore

As it had been foretold, the armies of the Universe gathered at Trenzalore. Only one thing stood between the planet and destruction – the Doctor. For nine hundred years, he defended the planet, and the tiny town of Christmas, against the forces that would destroy it.
He never knew how long he could keep the peace. He never knew what creatures would emerge from the snowy night to threaten him next. He knew only that at the end he would die on Trenzalore.

Some of what happened during those terrible years is well documented. But most of it remains shrouded in mystery and darkness.

Until now.

This is a glimpse of just some of the terrors the people faced, the monstrous threats the Doctor defeated. These are the tales of the monsters who found themselves afraid – and of the one man who was not.
(Tales of Trenzalore documents four of the Doctor’s adventures from different periods during the Siege of Trenzalore and the ensuing battle:

Let it Snow – by Justin Richards
An Apple a Day – by George Mann
Strangers in the Outland – by Paul Finch
The Dreaming – by Mark Morris)

A review copy was kindly provided by Netgalley.

It needs to be made clear from outset that I am a long-standing Doctor Who fan and have been for around 35 of my 40 years. Love it, followed it, collected it and kept the faith from 1989 to the full resurrection when Rose aired. I collected the Virgin New Adventures, The Missing Adventures, the BBC collections of 8^th and Past Doctors. I listen to Big Finish audio adventures and read the fantastic Doctor Who Monthly. I am a fan!

One thing that should also be known is that I found the concept of The Doctor being stuck for years on Trenzalore at the end of Matt Smith’s regeneration a bit….sad. All the buzz and energy he showed only to have his wings clipped and be made to ride out his time in the odd town of Christmas – this was an unexpected twist.

Fortunately, it appears his time was not too dull as evidenced within the 4 stories captured in Tales of Trenzalore. For fans of the classic stories there are some returning foes that will bring a nostalgic smile to your face. Newer fans can enjoy familiarity too as the Ice Warriors feature in the first story (no more reveals though, read to see who else appears!)

Each of the 4 stories are well paced and capture the essence of Smith’s Doctor. I have read several of Justin Richards previous Who novels and know he is very adept at crafting a strong adventure. No change here I was pleased to find. The introductory story in the collection whetted the appetite and made me crave the next tale.

I found An Apple a Day to be the most emotive story – classic enemy and Mann also showed the impact that the Doctor’s ongoing peril has upon the other citizens of Christmas.

Scroll down my Blog and you will see my newfound love of Paul Finch stories. Imagine my delight when I find Mr Finch’s name on the author’s list of a Doctor Who story! Strangers in the Outland un-nerved me most as this was the enemy I found the most threatening and the author really captured my attention with an isolated Doctor being relentlessly chased down. Strangers in the Outland ended all too soon for this reader!

Finally the Doctor reaching the end of his life faces another ‘classic’ enemy in The Dreaming. A strong story with a more frail Doctor than I like to contemplate but a Doctor who remains resolute and as ingenious as we would expect.

As a collection of stories I found Tales of Trenzalore to be a delight. I am shunning unread books to re-visit some Doctor Who stories and have dug out a couple of Doctor Who DVD’s to feed my inner fan.

5/5 for this collection – Grab this Book!

Category: Doctor Who, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

June 19

Stalkers – a great book crept up on me

STALKERS – PAUL FINCH

Time’s up. You’re Next.

“All he had to do was name the woman he wanted. It was that easy. They would do all the hard work.”

Detective Sergeant Mark ‘Heck’ Heckenburg is investigating the disappearance of 38 different women. Each one was happy and successful until they vanished without a trace.

Desperate to find her missing sister, Lauren Wraxford seeks out Heck’s help. Together they enter a seedy underworld of gangsters and organised crime.

But when they hear rumours about the so-called ‘Nice Guys Club’ they hit a brick wall. They’re the gang that no one will talk about. Because the Nice Guys can arrange anything you want. Provided you pay the price…

Having spent some time hanging round Twitter and getting a feel for what fellow readers were spending time with there was one name which cropped up more than once…Paul Finch.

Stalkers seemed the ideal jumping on point as it introduced Mark Heckenburg, a recurring central figure for Finch’s books. Promising start from my point of view – I love when an author establishes a character and builds on their story over a few books.

From the outset I was drawn into the story the Stalker element was unsettling when described from the victim’s (limited) viewpoint. The scale of the true horror that was to follow was skillfully revealed and kept me hooked. There were some very disturbing concepts brought out and the author really put his characters through the wringer.

I read a lot of Michael Slade books when I was younger. Murder stories featuring the Royal Canadian Mounted Police but with nasty ‘shlock horror’ undertones. This is the closest UK equivalent that I have read for many years but Stalkers was better – much, much better than anything Slade ever wrote.

I have no hesitation in calling Stalkers the best book that I have read this year – GRAB THIS BOOK I give it an A+.

Category: 5* Reviews, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

June 16

New Find – Paul Finch

The best thing about this blogging lark is when fellow bloggers give you a heads-up on authors that you may not have read yet. Over the last two weeks I have read the name Paul Finch many times on my Twitter feed.

Time for a bit of an investigation and I discover he writes thrillers, set in the UK and that (best of all) there is a recurring hero as the lead character in his ‘Heck’ books.

On the train to work this morning I began Chapter One of Stalkers. I was immediately drawn into the story and 40 mins later left the train in very grumpy mood as work was about to interrupt a great story.

Lunch was too short but I squeezed in a few more chapters and the journey home meant another 40 minutes of uninterrupted reading. The true test of how good this story is – I turned off the World Cup commentary on my radio to read Mr Finch’s book. Probably the most telling sign as to just how good it is!

Full review soon but writing it now would only slow me down from finishing the story.

Category: From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

June 3

Ash – I finished it (and it nearly finished me)

Scroll down my pages and you will see that I was reading James Herbert’s Ash. Having been a James Herbert fan since my teenage years I had held back reading Ash for many, many months – mainly because Mr Herbert sadly passed away not long after publication and I knew that this was the last of his books I would ever get to read.

The book started with great potential and I really liked the plot threads that seemed to be developing. The central character had featured in two previous novels and I always enjoy when a familiar face is re-introduced. I made a point to re-read Haunted (where the titular David Ash was first introduced) before turning to Ash so I would be fresh on the character’s back story.

Sadly about half way through this book it all started to go wrong. I appreciate that horror stories can be prone to dramatic excesses for the sake of a plot device, however, this was off the wall. Translucent children, spawn of Hitler, a secret royal baby, incestuous millionaire siblings – any one of these would defy credibility in most books – to chuck them all in to a single novel makes a farce. Oh, forgot to mention Lord Lucan alive and well and hiding in a remote Scottish castle.

I wondered if Mr Herbert’s editor was just so relieved to finally get a manuscript (there had been a significant gap between Ash and the previous novel) that the thought of further delays while edits were made was just too horrific to contemplate?

I started Ash in April, this review will go live in June. It did not take me 3 months to get to the end of a 400 page book, it has taken me 3 months to research lots of new words that I could use to explain to friends just how terrible Ash is. It really is awful. Abysmal. Dire. This could well be the worst book I have read since High School (20+ years ago).

I started blogging so that I could share news of books I enjoyed – I had not expected that I would also use these pages as a vehicle to tell people to avoid a story by one of my favourite authors.

Grab this book – put it somewhere safe, ideally out of the reach of others. If you want to read a James Herbert novel then I recommend The Magic Cottage or The Rats.

Any of these are better than Ash. — Any of these are recommended before reading *Ash*.

Category: From The Bookshelf | Comments Off