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Five Minds – Guy Morpuss

SHARING A BODY CAN BE MURDER

The Earth’s spiralling population has finally been controlled. Lifespans are limited to eighty years, except for those who make an extreme choice: to become a commune. Five minds sharing one body, each living for four hours at a time. But with a combined lifespan of nearly 150 years.

Alex, Kate, Mike, Sierra and Ben have already spent twenty-five years together in what was once Mike’s body, their frequent personality clashes leading to endless bickering, countless arguments, and getting themselves stranded on a Russian Artic freighter. Wanting to buy upgrades for their next host body, they decide to travel to a Death Park where time can be gambled like money. But things go very wrong when Kate accepts a dangerous offer, and one of them disappears.

Someone is trying to kill off members of the commune. But why? Is one of them responsible? Or is an outsider playing a deadly game? It’s hard enough to catch a murderer. It’s almost impossible when you might be sharing a body with them…

I received a review copy from Viper and I thank Anne Cater at Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to host this leg of the Five Minds blog tour.

Where to start with Five Minds? How to explain Five Minds? This is an absolute belter of a crime story. It’s high concept, cleverly constructed and has all the tension and thrills I want from my murder stories.

But it’s a bit “different” with Five Minds sharing a body, all taking an alloted time to live while the other Minds are dormant and waiting for their allocated time to roll around again. So readers have five main characters to get to know and we learn they can only communicate with each other by leaving messages for the other people inhabiting their body. Guy Morpuss explains it so much more effectively in the book and being able to see what Kate, Mike, Sienna, Alex and Ben are telling each other allows the reader to understand the dynamics of each character.

Although big decisions need to be made by unanimous vote (thus taking 24 hours) sometimes snap decisions are needed and the Mind which makes that choice has to hope the others agree. This takes conflicted main character to a whole new level!

In Five Minds our commune of Minds are in danger, a synthetic lifeform has challenged Kate to a game. The prize is more time (time is lifetime and everyone can trade some of their hours to prolong their lifespan). Kate has no time to consult the others so agrees to the android’s challenge and from here our Five are in danger. Someone, for reasons they don’t know, is trying to kill each of the Minds within the body.

Within the world where Five Minds is set are game zones. The desperate souls who are reaching the end of their lives can play in the games to try to win more time. Fail and it’s an early death. Our Five must play these games and Guy Morpuss has devised some absorbing challenges for them. The games are physical challenges, there are moral and reasoning dilemma scenarios to navigate or problem solving challenges to overcome. Failure isn’t an option but what happens if a third party is trying to rig the odds against you?

Five Minds is quite unlike anything else. A murder tale in a fantasy reality and obviously this may not appeal to everybody. But if you pass on this excellent book then it will be your loss – how refreshing to have something so wonderfully different to enjoy. Embrace the unusual and go with it.

Five Minds is published by Viper and is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08QB1L1JW/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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January 27

A User’s Guide to Make-Believe – Jane Alexander

WELCOME TO MAKE-BELIEVE. YOU CREATE THE FANTASY, THEY CONTROL YOUR MIND. Cassie worked at Imagen, the tech giant behind the cutting-edge virtual reality experience Make-BelieveTM, and she got to know the product well. Too well. But Cassie has been barred from her escape from the real world, and legally gagged by the company. Her dream job now seems to be part of a larger nightmare, and Imagen is not done with her yet. With Imagen holding all the cards, and personal and public freedoms at stake, how far will Cassie go to end the deception?

Immerse yourself in a near-future world akin to Black Mirror and Vox with an all-too plausible slant on reality and fantasy for our ‘connected’ times.

My thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for the opportunity to join the blog tour and to publisher Allison and Busby for sending me a review copy of the book.

Welcome to a world where virtual reality is real. Where people can escape the humdrum of their lives for short periods to live out a fantasy. They can fly, act how they wish, own flash cars or see the far flung corners of the world. Escapism at the cutting-edge of technology. The gift of another life is offered by Imagen – they have huge influence and are one of the most upwardly mobile companies in the world. By offering a subscription service to users they ensure repeat customers and a steadily growing client base – people can’t get enough of Make-Believe.

But people CAN get enough of Make-Believe. Too much. As it becomes addictive for some people, the limited time they are allowed isn’t enough for them and they want to use it more and more. The most determined find a way but invariably they are caught – so it is for Cassie. She worked for Imagen but when she got caught abusing her position she lost her job and lost access to the Make-Believe network. As the system captures and records a user’s DNA there is no way Cassie can forge a new identity and re-join Make-Believe. When we first meet her she is at a support group, mixing with drug users and alcohol dependents she chooses to sit in the group sessions but not to share details of her addiction (or of her suspension from the system).

At one meeting Cassie meets a kindred spirit. A young man who has also been abusing the system and spending too much time in Make-Believe. He too was caught and banned and now the couple are, against Cassie’s better judgement, a couple and together they are trying to work out why Imagen is showing a drop-off in income. Could the couple just be the tip of the iceberg and are there hundreds of users being kicked off Make-Believe for becoming addicted? If this was the case then how could it have been hushed up? If Imagen’s downturn is NOT due to addicts being removed from the service then why would their financial performance be dropping off? The company have explanations but Cassie isn’t buying it and she sets out to uncover the truth.

Pitting herself against big business is dangerous and Cassie is not the most stable of people. Her addiction has cost her the trust of family and friends and there are few with the skills or the inclination to help her get behind the scenes of Imagen. Jane Alexander sets up the situation perfectly. Cassie has weaknesses and vulnerabilities which she must overcome. Her reliance upon Make-Believe and what she begins to uncover about the product Imagen are so efficiently promoting to its subscribers is actually quite chilling. When we consider the rapid development of computers and the speed at which they have taken over our lives it is quite easy to believe there are improper and alarming decisions being taken behind the doors of corporate boardrooms.

This is a thought-provoking adventure. Not too far removed from reality but heavily influenced by the potential of virtual reality. Engaging reading and the story holds together well. Enjoyed this – a departure from my usual reads but a very welcome change.

A User’s Guide to Make-Believe is currently available in hardback, digital and audiobook format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0749025107/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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March 27

The Elf King – Lorraine Hellier

Lorraine Hellier’s children’s book The Elf King follows the story of a family of elves. Bay Leaf is the new Elf King. In this fantasy tale his sister, Sweet Pea, demonstrates her love and devotion for her brother.

In the story, the elves go on a perilous journey to the Mountain Shrine where Bay Leaf must take his ‘Oath of Allegiance’ to the ‘Moon Lake Elves’. An enchanted book offers advice and guidance from their ancestors and warns Sweet Pea to take care of her brother several times during the journey. Bay Leaf almost loses his life…Sweet Pea supports Bay Leaf throughout the journey, but will her interference bring resolution to Bay Leaf’s heartache on their return?

This traditional tale of love and loyalty will appeal to children aged between 7-9 that enjoy fantasy tales. Lorraine uses The Elf King to raise issues surrounding family loyalty and the importance of supporting each other in difficult times.

My thanks to Rachel and Rachel’s Random Resources for the chance to join this blog blitz

I have two mini-bookworms and story-time at bedtime has always been a very important part of our nightly routine. My eldest bookworm is devouring anything he can get his paws on (currently Calvin and Hobbes cartoons and some Magnus Chase thrillers). However, my youngest still enjoys being read a story of an evening and he often asks if he can help me write my blog. So when I was offered the chance to read Lorraine Hellier’s The Elf King I jumped at the opportunity to read a book with my son and get his contributions to the review.

First up, the Dad’s submission.

The Elf King was a great story to take my son through. A few adventures to Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree have prepared him for reading fantasy novels so he had no trouble accepting the concept of Elves on a quest. We took on a chapter or two each night (depending on how tired he was) most chapters we comfortably read in 10 to 20 minutes, longer when we were chatting about the story as we went.

Together we joined Bay Leaf on a journey which should see him secure his legacy of head of his kinfolk. It was a journey traveled by his father and his father before him. Bay travels with his family and keeping him company is his sister Sweet Pea. Pea acts as the readers eyes for much of the book – she chats to the reserved Bay and draws out his secrets. And what a secret Bay Leaf has been keeping from his family. The unexpected death of his father thrusts Bay into a position he had not anticipated to find himself in so soon. It creates a very personal problem which he does not want to share. The trust and friendship of his sister will help Bay to find himself on his journey. The magic book they carry will help them both to find their way.

The Bookworm Boy

As we read I would ask about the story, what he thought of characters. Was Bay right to keep his secrets, what would we do with a magic book? It gave us some fun chats and helped my son to engage with the story.

When we finished I asked how he enjoyed it and I received a very positive response. He seemed to like Sweet Pea the best, I think Bay was a little too reserved at times (plus Pea carried the story). He has made his own magic book which seems to mirror some of the traits shown in the book carried by Sweet Pea.

We enjoyed our time reading The Elf King, it was a comforting story which he responded well to and he was disappointed when we reached the end of the tale.

The Elf King is published by Matador and is available in digital and paperback format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elf-King-Lorraine-Hellier/dp/1785898876/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522102649&sr=8-1&keywords=the+elf+king+lorraine+hellier

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March 25

A Glimmer of Hope – Steve McHugh

Layla Cassidy has always wanted a normal life, and the chance to put her father’s brutal legacy behind her. And in her final year of university she’s finally found it. Or so she thinks.

But when Layla accidentally activates an ancient scroll, she is bestowed with an incredible, inhuman power. She plunges into a dangerous new world, full of mythical creatures and menace–all while a group of fanatics will stop at nothing to turn her abilities to their cause.

To protect those she loves most, Layla must take control of her new powers…before they destroy her. All is not yet lost–there is a light shining, but Layla must survive long enough to see it.

My thanks to Anne Cater for the chance to join the blog tour

Time to indulge in a bit of fantasy. Stories where anything goes are a very welcome change from the usual diet of crime and police procedurals I tend to favour. I love the idea that mythical creatures could be real, that they interact with humans or that they hide from them and live in the shadows.

Readers are introduced to Layla Cassidy, she is a kick-ass character who takes no nonsense. An unpleasant scene in the pub with her ex followed by a clash with annoying neighbours shows she is a girl who can hold her own in a scuffle but can also show the self-restraint to know when to walk away from a situation without taking matters too far.

We find out in the fullness of time why Layla wants to show restraint. Her father has a notorious reputation, jailed for horrific crimes which few could ever emulate. Yet a dangerous faction of non-humans want to recruit Layla’s father and they need to know where to find him. Unfortunately for Layla this means they will use her as a pawn intended to hold her captive until Layla will share her father’s location with them. Layla has other ideas and makes attempts to escape from captivity before her captors can try to “influence” her to assist with their plans.

During her attempted escape Layla will accidentally activate an ancient scroll and acquires new powers which make her a formidable opponent and will ope her eyes to a world she had no idea existed. From this point on the action will really hot up and A Glimmer of Hope will twist and enchant.

I really enjoy Steve McHugh’s writing, he builds strong characters that I want to read about. His stories have been well paced (A Glimmer of Hope is no exception) so there is a natural build up into the action and then events keep coming with twists and turns which bring me back for “one more chapter”.

A welcome and refreshing change to my normal reads – bring on the next, I enjoy these.

A Glimmer of Hope is released on 1st April 2018 and can be ordered here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Glimmer-Hope-Avalon-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B01LW3WQ6K/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1522002116&sr=8-1

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April 18

Sleeping Giants – Sylvain Neuvel

Deadwood, USA. A girl sneaks out just before dark to ride her new bike. Suddenly, the ground disappears beneath her. Waking up at the bottom of a deep pit, she sees an emergency rescue team above her. The people looking down see something far stranger…

“We always look forward. We never look back.”

That girl grows up to be Dr. Rose Franklin, a brilliant scientist and the leading world expert on what she discovered. An enormous, ornate hand made of an exceptionally rare metal, which predates all human civilisation on the continent.

“But this thing … it’s different. It challenges us. It rewrites history.”

An object whose origins and purpose are perhaps the greatest mystery humanity has ever faced. Solving the secret of where it came from – and how many more parts may be out there – could change life as we know it.

“It dares us to question what we know about ourselves.”

But what if we were meant to find it? And what happens when this vast, global puzzle is complete…?

“About everything.”

My thanks to Michael Joseph for my review copy which I received through Netgalley.

This book is just WOW. Sleeping Giants was an absolute gem, it made me laugh, it kept me hooked, I had no idea where it was heading and some scenes actually made me stop reading and double back thinking “Wait! What just happened?”

Now that sounds like Sylvain Neuvel may not have explained events very clearly, not so! The story unfolds as a series of interviews conducted between a shadowy political player and the various protagonists in the story. The interviews are a fantastically scripted and (usually) they are recapping events which have occurred in the past. The interview subjects are being quizzed on the ramifications of these past events and how they feel about what has taken place. This is how the whole story unfolds.

The end result of this interview-style story telling is that you can find that a MAJOR incident has occurred between interviews and the Shadowy figure is casually asking how a traumatic incident may have made someone feel (in the same way that they may be asked if they were unhappy that they forgot their umbrella on a rainy day).

If it sounds slightly unusual then I am not doing Sleeping Giants justice. It is a delight to read. The interview-style narrative is so cleverly used by the author that you cannot help but be entertained. The Shadowy figure is wonderfully deadpan and literal so the interviews always feel fresh and edgy.

The central characters are scientists, pilots, mathematicians – they operate on high intelligence levels yet are mere pawns in the game of the Shadowy character. He has out-thought them at each stage of the story, manipulated the team he assembled and has second guessed their actions months ahead of time.

But what of the titular Sleeping Giants? A young girl in Deadwood USA accidentally falls into a newly formed hole in the ground. Her landing is not on hard ground but she finds herself in the palm of a giant hand. The hand is made of a compound never before found on Earth and is confounding scientists. When the girl grows older she finds herself in charge of the team responsible for investigating the hand. However, now there is a will (or a Shadowy force, perhaps?) to find out if there are other parts to be found – what if the hand were a small part of a larger object?

Sleeping Giants tracks the progress of the quest to locate more ‘parts’ which will attach to the hand and then to establish the scope of power that they may harness. Sylvain Neuvel will take the story in directions you will not anticipate but you will enjoy every step of the journey.

Sleeping Giants gets one of the easiest 5/5 review scores I have awarded for some time. If this book does not feature in my Top Ten of 2016 it can only mean that the next 8 months have some stupendous books lurking in wait. I was gutted it ended, can we have the Shadowy figure back again please?

Sleeping Giants is published by Michael Joseph and releases on 21st April 2016. You can order your copy here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sleeping-Giants-Sylvain-Neuvel/dp/0718181689/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1461016047&sr=8-1&keywords=sleeping+giants

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November 20

The Masked City – Genevieve Cogman

Librarian-spy Irene is working undercover in an alternative London when her assistant Kai goes missing. She discovers he’s been kidnapped by the fae faction and the repercussions could be fatal. Not just for Kai, but for whole worlds.

Kai’s dragon heritage means he has powerful allies, but also powerful enemies in the form of the fae. With this act of aggression, the fae are determined to trigger a war between their people – and the forces of order and chaos themselves.

Irene’s mission to save Kai and avert Armageddon will take her to a dark, alternate Venice where it’s always Carnival. Here Irene will be forced to blackmail, fast talk, and fight. Or face death

My thanks to Pan Macmillan for my review copy which I received through Netgalley

The Masked City is the second book from Genevieve Cogman that follows the story of Irene, professional spy and agent of the mysterious Library. Agents of the Library are tasked with recovering books from across a wealth of worlds where order or chaos may prevail and dragons and the fantastical fae are opposing and ruling forces. The worlds that Irene visits are strange corruptions of our own such as highly advanced technological worlds or a steam-punk variant with Victorian undercurrents. Being able to drop her characters into a world that can be manipulated into anything she needs gives Genevieve Cogman so much scope – and I am loving how she uses this freedom.

In The Masked City Irene finds herself on another retrieval mission only this time it is not for a book, her assistant Kai has been kidnapped by the Fae and Irene is trying to bring him home. As Kai is a Dragon it will have taken an extraordinarily strong Fae to overcome Kai and keeping him captive will need strong Fae magic – will Irene have the skills to rescue her friend?

Irene learns that Kai is being held in a world deeply rooted in chaos – too chaotic for Kai’s dragon family to pursue him without their presence being deemed an act of war. The Library officially stands neutral between order and chaos and will not help Irene nor can they sanction a rescue mission – Irene is on her own and needs to come up with a plan quickly!

The Masked City is a fantastically fun read. Irene has to travel from London to Venice (in a chaotic variant of the world we recognise). She needs to work undercover, be heavily disguised and cannot let her alliance to the Library be known. On arriving in Venice (The Masked City) she will need to track down Kai, rescue him and get him to safety before they can be detected. Unfortunately for Irene she is up against some formidable opponents and it is not long before her plans start to unravel. She faces constant danger and has to make full use of her training and intuition to stand any chance of surviving – successfully completing a rescue mission seems increasingly unlikely as the story progresses.

This is a series I want to see run and run. Genevieve Cogman is building a fantastic world with infinite possibilities and Irene is a feisty and engaging lead character who is not above making mistakes and is all too aware of her own limitations. The characters are nicely balanced with mysterious and enigmatic foes, courageous and strong allies all playing a political power game against each other.

Building on the foundations established in The Invisible Library, readers are in for an absolute treat with The Masked City. A five star delight from Genevieve Cogman, and I am already looking forward to my next visit to the Library.

The Masked City is published in paperback and digital formats by Pan Macmillan on 3rd December 2015.

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