Holding: Graham Norton review

Holding

By: Graham Norton
Rating: 4 Star

Holding is Graham Norton's first fiction novel. It is a classic murder mystery set in a sleepy Irish village called Duneen.

The Easy Way Out: Steven Amsterdam review

The Easy Way Out

By: Steven Amsterdam
Rating: 3.5 Star

Evan is a palliative care nurse and a registered, legal, suicide assistant. For patients that want to end their lives, Evan and team provide a service to assist.

Strange History: Bathroom Readers' Institute review

Strange History

By Bathroom Readers' Institute
Rating: 3 Star

The Bathroom Reader's institute aims to educate the world while they... ummm... freshen up.

This is their latest publication.

The Descent of Man: Grayson Perry review

The Descent of Man

By Grayson Perry

Rating: 4 Star

The Descent of Man is quite different from the number of Crime, Thriller, and Fantasy novels I have been mainly reading lately.

In this book, Perry explores the current state of masculinity and how various factors affect it. 

Under a Pole Star: Stef Penney review

Under a Pole Star

By: Stef Penney

Rating: 3 Stars

Under a Pole Star is set in the time of the first Artic adventurers and their quest to explore and chart unexplored territories.

It is also a love story between two of those explorers, Flora Mackie and Jakob de Beyn.

Personal: Lee Child review

Personal

By: Lee Child
Rating: 3 Star

The Jack Reacher series from Lee Child has a huge following. 'Personal' is number 19.

The Last Kingdom: Bernard Cornwell review

The Last Kingdom

By: Bernard Cornwell
Rating: 4 Star

Bernard Cornwell is the author behind the popular series of Sharpe books and in 'The Last Kingdom' he turns his attention to the 9th Century United Kingdom in the midst of the Viking invasion.

The Girl in the Box Series (The Girl in the Box #1-3): Robert J. Crane review

The Girl in the Box Series (The Girl in the Box #1-3)

By Robert J. Crane

Rating: 3 Star

The 3 books included in this trilogy are:

1. Alone

2. Untouched

3. Soulless

The Girl in the Box series is currently Free on Amazon and has gathered a huge number of 4 and 5-star reviews on there (2,394 in September 2016).

The series focuses on Sienna Nealon, a 17-year-old girl who has been brought up by a mother who never lets her out of the house or let her see anyone from the outside world.

If that horrific upbringing weren't enough to deal with, Sienna also discovers she is a 'meta-human' with a number of powers that she has to learn how to control.

Promise You Won't Tell?: John Locke review

Promise You Won't Tell?

By John Locke
Rating: 3 Star

Promise You Won't Tell is a fiction novel by bestselling author John Locke. It is number 2 in the Dani Ripper series after 'Call Me'.

Introducing NetGalley - for all you book lovers out there

Love books?

I have been using a website called NetGalley for a while now and just wanted to write a quick post to introduce it for anyone who hasn't discovered it yet.

Into the Black (Odyssey One, #1): Evan C. Currie review

Into the Black (Odyssey One, #1)

By Evan C. Currie

Rating: 4 Star (space opera)

Into the Black is the first in a series of books set aboard the NAC Starship Odyssey.

As a big Star Trek and Star Wars fan, I was really keen to see what Evan Currie's take on a future universe would be.

The Mangle Street Murders (The Gower Street Detective #1): M.R.C. Kasasian review

The Mangle Street Murders (The Gower Street Detective #1)

by M.R.C. Kasasian

Rating: 3.5 Star

In the Mangle Street Murders, we are thrown into a dirty, horse-filled, smoky, and crime-ridden 1882 London and the unlikely duo of Sidney Grice, (London's most famous detective) and March Middleton (who has the dubious pleasure of having Grice as her legal guardian).

Fractured: Dani Atkins review

Fractured

by Dani Atkins

Rating: 4 Star

During a meal out with a group of friends, everything changes for Rachel Wiltshire. Before the meal, everything was pretty much perfect in her life, she has a long-term boyfriend, a nice group of friends, and is looking forward to starting university. 

However, a tragic accident during the dinner will change her life forever.

Nevernight: Jay Kristoff review

Nevernight

by Jay Kristoff
Rating: 4 Star

Nevernight is set in a world that rarely sees darkness, mainly due to its 3 Suns.

It's a world of political skullduggery (I haven't used that word in ages), assassins, magic, a shadow in the form of a Cat called Mister Kindly, and a young girl called Mia Corvere who is forced to witness her father's execution.

On that day, Mia swore to avenge the 3 people who had plotted against her and her family.

The Hummingbird's Cage: Tamara Dietrich review

The Hummingbird's Cage

by Tamara Dietrich
Rating: 4 Star

Joanna and Jim seem to be the perfect couple.

He is a respected deputy sheriff and she appears to be a happy, contented wife. Living in Wheeler, New Mexico, US together they have a young daughter called Laurel.

However, behind closed doors Jim is a violent monster. Joanna bears the mental and physical scars from years of his abuse and now lives in constant fear of both her and Laurel's life.

Will a stranger's unexpected offer finally provide a means of escape?

A Boy Made of Blocks: Keith Stuart review

A Boy Made of Blocks

By Keith Stuart

Rating: 4 Star

I have read several books recently which have featured very human, very flawed, and very complex heroic characters. 

Set in Bristol, the plot of A Boy Made of Blocks starts just as a family is beginning to fall apart. 

The Undying (The Undying Series): Nathan Reid review

The Undying

By Nathan Reid

Rating: 3 Star

Jeanie and Ben arrive in Paris just in time to celebrate the New Year with their friends. Unfortunately, things soon start to go very wrong with earthquakes, fireballs raining from the sky, and massive devastation spreading across the city. 

Black-Eyed Susans: Julia Heaberlin review

Black-Eyed Susans

By Julia Heaberlin
Rating: 4 Star

A sixteen year old Tessa Cartwright is found in a mass grave in a field in Texas covered by wild flowers called Black-Eyed Susans.

After her miraculous rescue, she is labelled in the media and her local town as 'the lucky one'. Tessa was the only 'susan girl' to have survived the killer.

The Girl Who Broke the Rules: Marnie Richies review

The Girl Who Broke The Rules

by Marnie Richies

Rating: 3 Star

I first picked up this book thinking that it was another in the Stieg Larrson series, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. 

The Girl Who Broke The Rules by Marinie Richies is not connected with Larrson, but I fans of Larrson may well enjoy this novel as it has many similar aspects, a crazed killer, a dedicated detective, and fast-flowing pace.

Whispers in the Mist: Lisa Alber review

Whispers in the Mist

by Lisa Alber

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Whispers in the Mist is a crime thriller based in the small village of 'Lisfenora' in County Clare, Ireland.

The story takes place during the village's world famous matchmaking festival, (which Lisa Alber seems to have based on the actual festival held in Lisdoonnarva).

Brood X: Michael Phillip Cash review

Brood X: A Firsthand Account of the Great Cicada Invasion 

by Michael Phillip Cash

Rating: 4 Star

Michael Phillip Cash

Brood X is the 3rd book I have read by Michael Phillip Cash and each one has been remarkably different which I found really refreshing.

Brook X is a horror-genre novel set in the United States which starts in the midst of a deadly Cicada invasion. Billions of the insects have descended on the US and have cut off electric, water supplies, mobile phone service and the entire food supply.

The End of the World Running Club: Adrian J. Walker review

The End of the World Running Club

by Adrian J. Walker

Rating: 5 Star

I have read a lot of apocalyptic thrillers in my time, and this one by Adrian Walker is easily one of my newest favourites.

Bloodlines: Lynn Lipinski review

Bloodlines

Lynn Lipinski review

Rating: 3.5 Star

After being fired from his job at the zoo of Tulsa, recovering alcoholic Zane Clearwater drowns his sorrow with too much alcohol and cough syrup.

When he awakes, Zane has no memory of the previous evening and then learns that his mother has just been killed in a fire at their home.

Little Black Lies: Sharon Bolton review

Little Black Lies

by Sharon Bolton review

Rating: 4 Star

The tag line of this book really grabbed my attention - what a line!

"We were inseparable... until the day she killed my sons". 

The Ice Twins: S. K. Tremayne

The Ice Twins

by S. K. Tremayne

Rating; 4 Star

One year after the death of one of their twin daughters Lydia, Angus and Sarah Moorcroft decide to move to a remote Scottish island in an attempt to rebuild their shattered lives.

Whilst the family is still struggling to cope with the loss of Lydia and undertaking a huge renovation project on their new home, Lydia's surviving twin sister suddenly claims that she is in fact Lydia, and that it was their other twin daughter Kirstie who died that day.

The Bad Lady: Jon Meany

The Bad Lady

by Jon Meany

Rating: 3 Star

The Bad Lady is a sad and poignant story that focuses on Billy Hall, a young 10 year old boy growing up with his mother Bridgette in Hampton, Ohio.

Time Travelling with a Hamster: Ross Welford

Time Travelling with a Hamster

by Ross Welford

Rating: 5 Star

'Time Travelling with a Hamster' tells the story of Al Chaudhury, who lives with his Mum, step-dad Steve and stepsister, as well as his hamster Alan Shearer.

On his 12th birthday Al receives a letter from his deceased father. His dad needs his help, and Al learns that he has a chance of saving his Dad's life by using a time-travel machine that his father invented before passing away.

Trial Run: Thomas Locke

Trial Run (Fault Lines Book #1) 

by Thomas Locke

Rating: 3 Star

Trial Run by Thomas Locke asks the fascinating question of what would happen if we could leave our bodies and travel the world without being encumbered by our physical forms?

What would you do if you could travel or transcend anywhere?

The One In A Million Boy: Monica Wood review

The One In A Million Boy

by Monica Wood

Rating: 4 Star

This is a story of friendship between an 11 year old scout and a 104 year old lady called Miss Ona Vitkus, set in the United States.

The "boy" as Miss Viktus refers to him during the first few chapters has been assigned to help her with household chores as part of his scout work. During these weekly visits he tops up her bird feeders, tidies the lawn, and afterwards they eat cookies and talk.