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A Robot In The Garden – Deborah Install

A story of the greatest friendship ever assembled.

Ben Chambers wakes up to find something rusty and lost underneath the willow tree in his garden. Refusing to throw it on the skip as his wife Amy advises, he takes it home.

Ben does not want children, or even a job, and now he has found yet another reason for staying in his study and ignoring everyone.

It is only when Amy walks out that Ben realises he has alienated all the human beings in his life. He now has one friend left.

This is the story of a unique relationship, and how one man opens his heart to a past he did not want, and a future he cannot lose.

A Robot In The Garden will be published by Doubleday on 23rd April.

I approached A Robot In The Garden with a completely blank slate. I did not read the plot synopsis in order to allow me to discover the story for myself – I had initially thought the title sounded fun and I really liked the cover art.

At the end of the book I had enjoyed a story which was nothing like the tale I had expected but it was a story which had made me smile as I read it and kept me entertained throughout. Definite positives.

We follow the story of Ben, he seems to be sleepwalking through life and does not realise that his career and his marriage are slipping away from him. One morning he looks out of his window to see A Robot In The Garden. As the story is set in a world where androids and synthetic life forms are a part of daily life a robot is not an un-natural phenomenon, however, this particular robot is boxy, clunky and quite unique.

After Ben fails in his initial attempts to engage with the Robot (named Tang) Ben’s wife, Amy, decides she has had enough and walks out. With only the quirky robot for company Ben resolves to find where Tang came from and, more importantly find how to repair some of Tang’s ailing components.

This is essentially a story of friendship. Ben has to find a way to manage Tang’s unpredictability and socialise him so that he can be trusted in polite company. Tang, for the most part, behaves with the attention span of a toddler and the ‘sleekit’ cunning of a manipulative child. Parents of young children will be able to relate to some of the awkward situations that Ben finds himself in.

In brief: not my normal type of book but an engaging story. I have seen comparisons to the Paddington Movie – a vulnerable character who is amusingly out of his comfort zone. I also found it similar to last year’s Waiting For Doggo, given how well Doggo fared this should bode well for Tang!

Finally Tang is described throughout the book yet in my mind he always looked (and sounded) like Johnny Five from the 1980’s Short Circuit films. I loved those films!

If you happen to find A Robot In The Garden do the right thing and give it a good home.

Category: From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

January 21

Golden Son – Pierce Brown

‘I’m still playing games. This is just the deadliest yet.‘

Darrow is a rebel forged by tragedy. For years he and his fellow Reds worked the mines, toiling to make the surface of Mars inhabitable. They were, they believed, mankind’s last hope. Until Darrow discovered that it was all a lie, and that the Red were nothing more than unwitting slaves to an elitist ruling class, the Golds, who had been living on Mars in luxury for generations.

In RED RISING, Darrow infiltrated Gold society, to fight in secret for a better future for his people. Now fully embedded amongst the Gold ruling class, Darrow continues his dangerous work to bring them down from within. It’s a journey that will take him further than he’s ever been before – but is Darrow truly willing to pay the price that rebellion demands?

Hic sunt leones.

Thanks to Hodder and Bookbridgr for my review copy

Last year I reviewed Red Rising – the first in Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Trilogy. It was a stand out book for me, one of the best I had read for quite a few years and it made me crave more fantasy novels (a genre I have kept away from in recent years). More specifically, however, Red Rising made me crave a novel called Golden Son –the sequel to Red Rising.

On the plus side, I was quite late to the party for Red Rising so the wait for Golden Son was not too long to bear, the wait for the third novel may seem eternal though. The reason for my impatience is that Golden Son is majestic and finishes with such a climax that there was almost a howl of frustration as I read the last page. Few authors have ever managed to evoke such a sense of anticipation from me.

As Golden Son is the second in a trilogy it is necessary to have read Red Rising. Darrow, Mustang and their allies are back. However, so too are Darrow’s enemies – and there are many of them. The alliances which were established in Red Rising are tested time and again in Golden Son. The stakes have been raised and Darrow cannot be sure who to trust as he battles for his position in the ranks of the Golds and battles for his life as others plot against him.

Having reached an elevated position at the end of Red Rising we rejoin Darrow just as his status is facing its greatest challenge. The privileges he has enjoyed are to be taken away from him when he falls victim to a very public failure. His secret mission (set by the anarchist group Sons of Ares) may become unachievable if he cannot find a way to restore his position, however, Darrow is to find that it is not easy rebuilding a reputation when you fall so far from grace.

If I tried to outline some of the highlights from Golden Son I would be here for days. If I tried to explain some of the plot I would run the risk of revealing spoilers. What I am comfortable revealing is that Golden Son is bigger, louder and more staggering than Red Rising and I absolutely loved it.

Pierce Brown has created a phenomenal story. It is action packed, political, shocking and engaging. A must read masterpiece!

It may only be January but I think I have already read one of my favourite books of the year.

So it was 5/5 for Red Rising and now 5/5 for Golden Son – Pierce Brown is now scoring a perfect 10. Bring on the finale!

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

January 15

No Other Darkness – Sarah Hilary

Two young boys.
Trapped underground in a bunker.
Unable to understand why they are there.
Desperate for someone to find them.
Slowly realising that no-one will…
Five years later, the boys’ bodies are found and the most difficult case of DI Marnie Rome’s career begins.
Her only focus is the boys. She has to find out who they are and what happened to them.

For Marnie, there is no other darkness than this…

Thanks to Sarah Hilary and Elizabeth Masters at Headline for my review copy.

Last year Sarah Hilary introduced us to DI Marnie Rome in her debut novel Someone Else’s Skin. I was a big fan of this dark (and frequently disturbing) thriller. It also contained my standout scene of the year – read my review here:

Now Marnie Rome is back and Sarah Hilary has knocked it out of the park for us yet again. Marnie and her colleague DS Noah Jake make their return in No Other Darkness, another story that will entertain and unsettle in equal measure.

The story opens with Marnie and Noah called in to investigate a chilling discovery: the bodies of two young boys which were hidden in a bunker that was concealed under the garden of a suburban housing scheme. There are no clues within the bunker as to the identity of the boys so where does Marnie start? How could two children just disappear without anyone noticing or reporting them missing?

For this reader there was an added element of discomfort in reading the opening pages of No Other Darkness as my own children (also boys) are the same age as the boys in the bunker. It is not often I am unsettled while reading fiction yet for the second book in a row it seems Sarah Hilary has managed to mess with my head!

Marnie’s investigations progress and as she starts to draw closer to identifying the children the readers get to understand why the boys were in the bunker and, crucially, why they were not let back out again. Sarah Hilary is able to keep the story flowing at a great pace and I found that I did not want to stop reading, there was a necessity to see where the story was going.

I previously alluded to Someone Else’s Skin having a standout moment – this was a scene where my understanding of the story turned out to be completely incorrect and everything changed. In No Other Darkness a similar sucker-punch arises where a murder investigation suddenly becomes <REDACTED>. Sorry, but you will have to read for yourself to discover what lies in store.

Having tackled domestic violence in her first book and now the deaths of young children in her second novel I am almost scared to consider what may be next from Sarah Hilary. I could almost believe she has a Big Book of Horrible Things and is working her way through the nastiest of the concepts just to un-nerve her readers. She is doing a great job!

Back to No Other Darkness and outwith the investigations we get to learn a bit more about Marnie and DS Jake. For Marnie there are insights into her history when a former lover appears on the scene. He is a reporter and is offering to share information (on his own terms).

Yet I felt that within No Other Darkness there was more focus on Noah Jake and I believe that we got a better look into his background and some of the problems that he has overcome. I also noticed a greater focus on some of Marnie’s other colleagues, more so than had been present in Someone Else’s Skin. I am hoping that Sarah Hilary is planning much more from Marnie and her team.

A tricky review in that there are several key elements of the plot that I am keen not to discuss so that I can avoid revealing any spoilers. Worry not, however, as this is a brilliant crime thriller and there are twists and scares a-plenty.

For fans of Someone Else’s Skin you can rest assured that No Other Darkness is of an equally high quality. Sarah Hilary writes dark and engrossing stories – everyone needs to read them.

Review scored at 4.5 out of 5 – compelling yet unsettling.

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January 8

Hellbound – David McCaffrey

His crimes – unforgivable. His death – inevitable. His suffering – just beginning.

Obadiah Stark aka The Tally Man, is executed at ADX Absolom, his death sentence watched by the world’s media, victim relatives and one investigative reporter, Joe O Connell. Penning an account of Stark’s personal history and subsequent crimes in the hope of determining what elements make the sociopathic mind tick, Joe discovers clues and inconsistencies which cause him to investigate Stark’s execution.

While this is happening in the real world, Obadiah Stark awakens to an afterlife where he has a wife and daughter bound to his childhood hometown. Following his natural predatory instinct, Obadiah proceeds to torment the town, committing multiple murders before being gunned down by the police.

He awakens to find that everything has reset, with no one recalling his murderous spree a reality which offers no escape. As the scenes repeat, he is forced to submit to emotions he has never experienced before…and with it, a poisonous dose of morality.

Thank you to the Crime Book Club for giving me the chance to host this leg of the Hellbound Blog Tour and to David McCaffrey for providing a copy of Hellbound for review.

Joe O’Connell is a journalist writing a book about a serial killer – Obadiah Stark. Hellbound opens with Joe attending Stark’s execution. We are left in no doubt that Stark is a cold and unrepentant killer and that nobody will mourn his passing. The execution proceeds (no last minute reprieves) and Stark is gone.

Joe intends for his book to cover Stark’s crimes and he hopes that the families of Stark’s victims will help with his research. He stands a good chance of gaining their support as Joe has made a commitment not to sensationalise the murders committed by Obadiah Stark. It becomes clear that there is a symmetry here with Hellbound; David McCaffrey also chooses not to depict Stark’s crimes (over 20 murders) into a gore-fest tale aimed to shock the reader, instead he adopts a much more clever approach…I shall explain.

The narrative of Hellbound can broadly be broken down into three distinct sections. One section takes the form of clinical notes or reports upon Stark’s movements and interactions (including the killings) which are described in precise and factual detail. I found this unusual approach to be a really effective way of establishing the dispassionate and brutal nature of the killer.

The second narrative stream follows Joe. His quest to get to the heart of the Obadiah Stark story brings him into contact with the family members of Stark’s victims, prison employees and even another writer that wants to assist Joe with his work. Yet the deeper he digs the more he becomes convinced that the execution did not progress quite as it should have.

Now we get to the third of the key narrative streams – that of Obadiah Stark himself. Stark remembers his life, his crimes and even his execution…yet how is this possible if he died?

Stark has awoken in a town he remembers from his childhood yet he is now married, has a child and seems not to have spent the last years of his life in a remote island prison. Confused and angry Stark commits some very public murders and is gunned down by the police. The next day he awakes and finds that everything has been reset as if nothing ever happened. I must confess at this stage of reading that I had no idea what was going on and the words ‘Groundhog Day’ were zooming around my head.

From this point on David McCaffrey takes the readers on a fascinating journey. First the investigation: O’Connell is pursuing a story as he is sure the prison are hiding something following Stark’s execution. Alongside is the unexplained mystery: Stark seems to be living in a dreamlike world where he is self-aware yet nobody knows he is one of the most infamous killers the world has seen.

I was compelled to keep reading as I simply had to find out what was happening! Fortunately this was no chore: the story progresses at a nice pace (crucially there was never any feeling of plot padding) and there plenty of twists to hold my attention.

Throughout the story you find that the morality of the Death Penalty will arise but the reader has to form their own opinion as to whether it is appropriate punishment for Stark. I can see a reading group having a ball with that one! I believe some readers may start to feel sorry for Stark, others most certainly will not – huge plaudits to Mr McCaffrey for tackling such an emotive issue and pitching it perfectly.

By the end of Hellbound I was willing the story to go on. I hope that I am right in my guess that David McCaffrey has not finished will all the characters he introduced in Hellbound – there was a very real feeling that <REDACTED> was being set up for a sequel.

Hellbound is a book that deserves to be read – a clever thriller, well written and extremely enjoyable.

Category: Blog Tours, From The Bookshelf | Comments Off

January 8

Hellbound Blog Tour – David McCaffrey Q&A

As part of the Hellbound Blog Tour I am delighted to be able to welcome David McCaffrey to Grab This Book.

David very kindly agreed to answer a few of my questions surrounding his debut novel, Hellbound, and has also given me an insight into his own reading preferences.

As I had the opportunity, I also tried to squeeze a little extra information from him regarding what may come next for the Hellbound cast – there is good news on that front as you will see…

So with my profound thanks to David I opened with an ‘easy’ one:

Why do you think we (as readers) enjoy serial killer stories given the reality is such a horrific concept?

I think we’re fascinated with the concept of absolute evil and how someone can become so devoid of empathy and remorse. There could be many reasons for this fascination…it is because we feel sorry for the events that lead them to become that way? Is it because we sometimes see aspects of ourselves in their character? It’s acknowledged that you cannot have good without evil, light without darkness. And because of this, as readers, we find ourselves eager to see what horrific acts characters can get up to and what will be done to defeat them.

After all, are they not the more interesting? We seek to find those moments where we can feel affinity with the shadier side of human nature because, as a contradiction, it also makes us feel safe. We know that evil is simply an excuse for unacceptable behaviour and that, if the surface of it is scratched, like a poorly rendered wall it will crumble away.

I think we’ll always find evil personable because at its core, we need to believe that there is more to it than simply basic desire to cause harm and that such characters are more complex than that. That good and evil are but two sides of the same coin. As Obadiah Stark tells Father Hicks prior to his execution “Evil is simply live spelt backwards.”

I am keen to avoid spoilers, however, within Hellbound a group called The Brethren feature on occasion. I loved the premise of The Brethren is there any chance they may feature in a subsequent title?

Absolutely!! I am currently working on a Hellbound novella titled ‘In Extremis’ which deals with the birth of The Brethren and how their journey began utilising a famous character from history (alluded to at the end of Hellbound!!). They initially see themselves as altruistic, but as history has often illustrated, our most famous despots and totalitarian literary creations often start believing they’re righteous in their quest. As to whether they are right or wrong, that’s for the reader to decide!

Joe O’Connell is the primary character within Hellbound (other than Stark). Do you see Joe’s Story as having reached a natural conclusion or would you consider bringing him back?

I have a beat sheet for a follow up to Hellbound, and Joe is integral to the plot but not the main character. You rightly point out that his story does reach a natural end point, but as to whether he still has a part to play, that would be telling!

Within the story O’Connell is writing a book which reflects the story of Stark without sensationalising his crimes. I felt that Hellbound also took this approach, murders are detailed but not in a tone which may convey ‘schlock horror’ was this an intentional symmetry?

It was. When writing it, I had two rules I made integral to his character. One, he couldn’t do anything sexually violent towards women (or men for that matter) and two, he couldn’t harm children in anyway. My justification for this was simple; as odious and evil a character as I made him, if he broke either of those two rules then the reader would never be able to sympathise with him, no matter the extent of his suffering. At the end I don’t expect the audience to like him, as I made him intensely dislikeable on purpose, but I made him dislikeable within the parameters of his own morality. By doing this, readers can hopefully sympathise with his plight and not feel guilty for feeling sorry for such an evil individual. Because ultimately, Obadiah’s journey throughout Hellbound does suck ever so slightly.

Stark’s crimes were split between Ireland and the US? Have you visited the areas depicted (or how did you come to select the regions you used)?

I have been to both countries (my Dad’s family are from Kerry)…I love Ireland and would live there one day if circumstances allow. The reason I chose Ireland for the supermax, ADX Absolom, was because The Blasket Islands are extremely desolate (Ryan’s Daughter was filmed there) and it seemed a haunting and lonely place to build a prison with only Artic Terns for company. I also wanted to play a little with convention and set it somewhere other than the United States. Having Obadiah emigrate there and ultimately return home seemed to lend the narrative a slightly cyclic feel in regards to his rationale for choosing to his victims.

On a more personal level, what do you enjoy reading? Who do you consider to be your favourite authors?

I’m pretty eclectic when it comes to reading! I enjoy thrillers, the occasional horror story, biographies, science fiction. I recently read I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes which is one of the best thrillers I have read in a long time. John Grisham, Steve Alten, George R. R. Martin, Stephen King are probably my all-time favourite authors, but I do enjoy Stephen Leather’s Jack Nightingale books and anything by Lee Child (then again, doesn’t most of the world!!). Two of the most exciting books I recently read were The Willow Tree by Bekki Pate and The Element Order by P.S Ferns, two fellow authors whom I know and who have crafted really stunning debut novels…worth checking out!

When do you find time to write?

Usually on a night when my children have gone to bed. I’ll spend an hour or so most days at the computer, but often I’ll have a random idea or thought about adding to a chapter and say to Kelly ‘I’m just going to write this up before I forget’ and disappear for a few hours!

What comes next for David McCaffrey?

I have the Hellbound prequel drafted and am in the process of editing, I have two beat sheets completed; one for a Hellbound sequel and one for an completely unrelated title about a deadly infection with the working title ‘Pathogenicity’ (working in Infection Control and the currently Ebola concerns, it now seems appropriate!!). I have a few other ideas floating about in drafts that I’m always toying with. At the moment I’m just so pleased people seem to be enjoying Hellbound! I always knew it was a hard sell, but that if people gave it a chance they’ll find it’s something a little different and not quite what they expect…which seems to be the case!!!

My thanks to David and to Crime Book Club (@crimebookclub).

The tour concludes tomorrow (Jan 10th) at tigerlilybooks76@blogspot.com

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January 4

All You Need Is Rock – Mark Beech

THE BEST COLUMNS WRITTEN OVER A DECADE

The interviews include Sting, Steve Miller, Brian Eno, Adam Ant, Steve Van Zandt, Mary Wilson and Kevin Rowland.
Mark Beech recounts how he rubbed shoulders with Amy Winehouse and Kanye West backstage and at secret gigs.

There’s a constant reassessing of reputations as stars’ personal lives and music collide. The passing of Winehouse, Michael Jackson and more lead to candid commentaries on what their legacy will be, spiced up with inside knowledge, humour and Beech’s knowledge of music as evidenced in his previously released name encyclopedias.

Stars getting the most attention include the Beatles, Elvis Presley, U2, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin and the Arctic Monkeys.

Beech was among the first to publish reviews from the Led Zeppelin reunion concert at the O2 in London in 2007 (where more than a million people applied for only 20,000 tickets). He provides front-seat accounts of the very first show at the start of tours by the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Prince, the Police and (for comic contrast) the Spice Girls.

About the Author

Mark Beech has spent a decade as the rock critic for Bloomberg.

The London-based arts and culture editor also includes dispatches from Madison Square Garden, Tennessee, Vancouver and Glastonbury.

He has been a regular commentator on U.K. television channels, a contributing editor to Dante magazine and a journalist for ITN, The Sunday Times and others.

My thanks to Emma at Busy Bee for my review copy

If you have Christmas vouchers left and have been saving them for something which will give you a break from the reading norm then I highly recommend All You Need Is Rock.

This book is an absolute treat for music lovers and I mean proper music – not the manufactured faces that seem to have been dominating the charts these last few years. Mark Beech has travelled the world and seen some of the greatest musicians and bands; in All You Need Is Rock he compiles a collection of his best articles for our entertainment.

I found reviewing this book much more tricky than I had initially anticipated. This was partly because I am not a big fan of short stories so I cannot just sit and read my way through a collection of articles or unconnected stories (I need to break it up over a number of reading sessions). The main problem that I faced, however, was that I mentioned to a family member that I was reading ‘this great book about loads of rock stars written by a guy who has seen all the Greats’ – my review copy then vanished to said family member’s house for a few weeks before I could recover it…I did get frequent updates as to how much it was being enjoyed though!

My personal inability to put together a timely review should not detract from the quality entertainment offered within All You Need Is Rock. These articles represent the highs of a decade of music journalism – there are interviews and reviews to reflect upon and irrespective of your musical preferences there will be fascinating articles that will command your attention.

Beech writes with a humour which flows through his articles. I did not feel at any time that I was being spun a line about what I should and should not enjoy, there was no agenda to promote any particular artist and the author’s love of music and the artists he was covering shone through on many occasions.

When I first picked up my copy and flicked to the index I was delighted to see names such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Police jumping out at me. Also covered are Prince, Springsteen and U2 (I was less excited by those) and also named were Kanye, Lady Gaga and Artic Monkey – all of whom I could pass in the street and have no idea who they were. But what a range of music is covered in just those 9 names and I haven’t yet mentioned the Glasto section, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash or (eek) The Spice Girls.

There are many highlights to be found within All You Need Is Rock, however, I suspect that each reader will have their own personal highlight. For me the section leading into Sting and The Police summed up why I enjoyed this book so much. Mark Beech confesses from the outset that he is a Sting fan and that he (Mark) feels that Sting gets a rough deal in the press – Mark seeks to put that right. I liked that.

This book provides insight, discussion and anecdotes. It is a book you can pick up and put down, share with friends and return to over and over again. Now that I have recovered my copy it will sit happy (and in easy reach) on my bookshelves.

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January 4

Angel of Death – Ben Cheetham

A disillusioned detective with nothing left to lose.

Catching criminals is all DI Jim Monahan has ever been good at. Just ask his ex-wife. Now he’s staring down the barrel of a lonely retirement. Worse still, he’s no longer sure he believes in the law he’s spent his life upholding. Then comes a call that will test what remains of his belief to its limits and beyond…

A shadowy ring of powerful people who’ll do anything to protect a depraved secret.

In Sheffield a soon-to-be bankrupt businessman has gone on a murderous rampage against his own family. The man and his wife lie dead in their burning mansion. Their son and daughter are found outside, riddled with shotgun pellets, barely alive. It seems like an open-and-shut case. But the charred ruins of the house reveal evidence of a second sickening crime – one involving a young girl who went missing fifteen years earlier…

A damaged prostitute hell bent on revenge.

In Middlesbrough a woman stares down at a violent punter she’s just shot dead. Her entire life Angel has been abused by those who claimed to love her. Now she’s finally had enough. It’s time to stop running. It’s time to start fighting back. She’s going to make them pay for what they did to her. With the murdered man’s gun in her handbag, she heads south on her deadly mission. And as the bodies begin to pile up, only one thing is certain – life will never be the same for anyone caught in the path of the ‘Angel of Death’.

This review was prepared for BookAddictShaun and appears on his site www.bookaddictshaun.co.uk

Angel of Death explores what happens when people in different walks of life reach the end of their tether. A policeman, his marriage over, facing retirement and no longer believing the law can fully extend justice where it may be required. A prostitute, sick of her dependency upon drugs, of being used and abused by clients and of her perpetual cycle of misery. A businessman who has a dark secret and is facing bankruptcy who decides to end it all.

The action kicks off right from the start of the story and Ben Cheetham does a great job of keeping the pace flowing. We follow Angel, a prostitute with a drug dependency. She is concerned that a girl, new to the streets, may have taken a potentially dangerous client to a remote part of town. Angel persuades one of her clients to try to find the girl before she comes to harm, however, she arrives too late to save the girl from receiving a beating. In an act of retribution Angel kills the girl’s client before taking the injured girl to hospital. From this point on Angel is on course to taking a degree of control back in her life.

While Angel is struggling to regain some independence the story switches to a struggling businessman who has decided that suicide is the only option he has left. Before he can end his own life he has a few loose ends to tie up first – the resultant fall out comes to Angel’s attention when it is reported on the news. For Angel, seeing the businessman on the news, one of her worst memories resurfaces and she decides to visit old haunts with a view to settling old scores.

Cheetham has created an attention grabbing thriller which kept me reading well into the wee small hours. Angel is a flawed character yet believes she is following the correct path in her attempts to punish those who have taken advantage of her. She is aided, indirectly, by DI Jim Monahan who is prepared to put his career on the line to see ‘justice’ done but he does not believe that the due process of the law will be able to punish the guilty. Can Monahan use a vengeful prostitute to bring down a few corrupt individuals? If he does then what may the consequences be? All becomes clear as the plot unfolds and, in keeping with the tone of the book, there are not always happy endings to be found.

On the strength of Angel of Death I would be more than willing to read more from Ben Cheetham. This was a well written and action-packed read. Great characterisation and more than a few unexpected twists kept me entertained to the end. I would award Angel of Death 4/5 and add Ben Cheetham to my list of authors to watch out for.

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December 31

The Last Days of Disco – David F Ross

Early in the decade that taste forgot, Fat Franny Duncan is on top of the world. He is the undoubted King of the Ayrshire Mobile Disco scene, controlling and ruling the competition with an iron fist. From birthdays to barn dances, Franny is the man to call. He has even played ‘My Boy Lollipop’ at a funeral and got away with it. But the future is uncertain. A new partnership is coming and is threatening to destroy the big man’s Empire … Bobby Cassidy and Joey Miller have been best mates since primary school. Joey is an idealist; Bobby just wants to get laid and avoid following his brother Gary to the Falklands.

A partnership in their new mobile disco venture seems like the best way for Bobby to do both at the same time. With compensation from an accident at work, Bobby’s dad Harry invests in the fledgling business. His marriage to Ethel is coming apart at the seams and the disco has given him something to focus on. Tragic news from the other side of the world brings all three strands together in a way that no one could have predicted.

The Last Days of Disco is a eulogy to the beauty and power of the 45rpm vinyl record and the small but significant part it played in a small town Ayrshire community in 1982. Witty, energetic and entirely authentic, it’s also heartbreakingly honest, weaving tragedy together with comedy with uncanny and unsettling elegance. A simply stunning debut. ‘Full of comedy, pathos and great tunes’ Hardeep Singh Kohli ‘Warm, funny and evocative. If you grew up in the Eighties, you’re going to love this’ Chris Brookmyre.

The Last Days of Disco is the second book published by Orenda Books and it is another triumph – an absolute joy to read. It is worth noting that the two Orenda books that I have read have been very, very different. The Abrupt Physics of Dying was an action packed eco thriller set in far off Yemen (a country I would struggle to find on a map). The Last Days of Disco is a story about people, is totally driven by the characters and is set in Kilmarnock (where I started school).

The Last Days of Disco takes place in the early 1980’s. It is Thatcher’s Britain, unemployment is high, the Falklands War arrives mid-story and life is hard for the Cassidy family. Bobby Cassidy is struggling through his final year at school but with opportunities of future employment looking sparse he is keen to pursue a money-making opportunity and start his own mobile disco. Fortunately all does not go smoothly and there are laughs to be had as the best intentioned plans go disastrously wrong.

Humour is a key element to Last Days and there were dozens of scenes which had me in stiches. Ross uses the reader’s benefit of 30 years of hindsight to set up some fabulous gags. However, there are some very emotive moments to share too, Gary Cassidy is a serving solider and is deployed to the Falklands during the 1982 war with Argentina. These sections of the book and Gary’s letters home to his family, added an extra element of humanity to the characters. I need to avoid spoilers at this stage, however, Gary’s story is one that I suspect I will remember for some time to come.

All good stories have a nemesis for the central character and in Fat Franny Duncan we have a nasty and petty thug who wants to control the Kilmarnock disco scene. Bobby’s new enterprise is encroaching on his patch – for Franny this cannot be allowed to continue. Although Bobby is largely unaware that Franny Duncan is out to sabotage his new venture I loved the varying degrees of success (or lack of it) that Franny experiences in scuppering Bobby’s gigs. A particular highlight here was the Disco at the Conservative club.

One key element of the book is the language: it is realistic and accurate. This is to say that it is regional and it is crude. This may put some readers off, however, to tone down the language would rob the story of authenticity – this is how many people in the West of Scotland speak and you need to accept that to enjoy the book.

Language aside, the other joy to be had from The Last Days of Disco is the music. David Ross is clearly extremely knowledgeable about the soundtrack of his youth. The references to bands and the records of the time are gems. I grew up listening to the songs mentioned in this book yet there are countless tracks referenced which I had never heard of. A fact-finding trip to Spotify is going to happen in the near future for this reader. For any music fan this book is a glorious nostalgia trip.

The Last Days of Disco will be my final review of 2014 and it will ensure that I finish my reading year on a high. As I read I was reminded of Trainspotting…but with disco rather than drugs!

I loved everything about this book and have to award it a 5/5 review.

Category: 5* Reviews, From The Bookshelf | 1 Comment

December 28

The Chase – Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

Internationally renowned thief and con artist Nicolas Fox is famous for running elaborate and daring scams. His greatest

con of all: convincing the FBI to team him up with the only person who has ever caught him, Special Agent Kate O’Hare. Together they’ll go undercover to swindle and catch the world’s most wanted – and untouchable – criminals.

Their newest target is Carter Grove, a former White House chief of staff and the ruthless leader of a private security agency. Grove has stolen a rare Chinese artefact from the Smithsonian, a crime that will torpedo U.S. relations with China if it ever becomes public. Nick and Kate must work under the radar – and against the clock – to devise a plan to steal the piece back. Confronting Grove’s elite assassins, Nick and Kate rely on the skills of their ragtag crew, including a flamboyant actor, a Geek Squad techie, and a band of AARP-card-carrying mercenaries led by none other than Kate’s dad.

A daring heist and a deadly chase lead Nick and Kate from Washington, D.C., to Shanghai, from the highlands of Scotland to the underbelly of Montreal. But it’ll take more than death threats, trained henchmen, sleepless nights, and the fate of a dynasty’s priceless heirloom to outsmart Fox and O’Hare.

Thanks to @bookywookydooda at Headline for my review copy!

The Chase captures everything I enjoy in a book. There are two lead characters with a great dynamic, a rich and powerful adversary with his own henchmen, FBI agents, outrageous robberies and loads of humour to keep me laughing as I read. What’s not to like?

The Chase is the second in a series of books by Evanovich and Goldberg which feature Special Agent Kate O’Hare and thief/con man Nicholas Fox. Confession time: I missed the first novel (The Heist) but on the strength of The Chase I am certainly going back and picking up The Heist. At no time while reading The Chase did I feel disadvantaged that I missed the first book in the series, it is not assumed you know the back story and the authors ensure you have all the information you need to enjoy the latest tale.

Fox and O’Hare are a fun double act. The sexual chemistry is there, though it is somewhat tempered by O’Hare’s distrust of Fox’s criminal background. There is lots of snappy, wise-cracking banter which goes a long way towards keeping the humour level high (if you grew up in the 80’s then think Moonlighting).

The actual story is great fun too. A valuable statue which was on loan from China to the USA has been stolen and replaced with a duplicate. Fox and O’Hare have to find the original (stolen) statue, steal it back and return it to the museum removing the duplicate before the original theft is discovered. Easy!

Fortunately it’s not that easy and soon the best laid plans need updated and adapted.

The Chase is a great fun read, the Evanovich/Goldberg team keep the thrills flowing – there is the comedy I expect from a Janet Evanovich story yet with a more action based focus which I am attributing to Mr Goldberg’s influence. I cannot wait to read more in the Fox/O’Hare series.

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December 23

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.

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