The first in a trilogy by Michael Mammay, Planetside melds the best in the military science fiction tradition with a murder-mystery, and a droll and somewhat jaded perspective of the lead protagonist, in the guise of Col. Carl Butler. Who, with a healthy dose of scepticism, in an action-packed plot infused with plenty of action, gets to the bottom of the odd disappearance of a young lieutenant. But what should be a simple premise—find out what happened to Lt.
**In The Dark Spaces ** by Cally Black, is a totally immersive sci-fi adventure shaded with dark overtones. In some respects it’s also a fast paced, heart-pounding, cannot put it down thriller. And let me be the first to say, the pacing is enough to give you lactic acid build up in your muscles just sitting on the couch, reading this one. In The Dark Spaces is so well paced with each chapter smoothly flowing into the next, so that the story just sucks you along for the ride.
I had high hopes for THE MOSCOW DECEPTION by Karen Robards, which is neither a thrilling read, nor set in Moscow. That is, till the last couple of very rushed chapters. This novel suffers from several fundamental flaws that should have been address in the editing stage, but, sadly, were over-looked. Major amongst these is the constant repetitious phrases by the author that, in the end, become annoying and jarring. In point of case, the use of ‘split second’.
The one thing you can be certain of when reading a Steve Cavanagh, Eddie Flynn novel, is great plotting. Always cleverly twisted with plenty of red herrings, mis-directs, and side-bars to make you wonder where the plot’s heading next. And so it is with THE LIAR the third in the Eddie Flynn series of legal thrillers. Throw in a great, well delineated set of characters with their own idiosyncratic tics, and you have the perfect delivery vehicles for said twisted plot.
There are, I am sure, plenty of well written books that I have yet to read, but until I discover them THE SILENCED by Anders de la Motte has to be one of the best plotted novels I’ve ever read. Certainly up there with the best of them. Showing a depth and skill mastered by few, de la Motte has woven together a deeply compelling story as seen from a handful of characters.
I can’t go on. I mean it, I simply cannot go on … reading this book. This is one long monotonous boring read. It’s the equivalent of a long straight driveway covered in grey chippings. This endless ribbon of uniform grey that stretches off into the distance, hard and uneven under foot, unyielding in form or feature. That’s how reading THE SILENT GIRLS feels. There’s a total lack of any emotional depth to the characters, and while the author tells us a great deal about the main protagonists past, we know nothing about him.
Not all fantasy has to be grim. After having a back and forth chat with an online friend about fantasy reads, I admitted I had never read GRRM and was not likely too, ever. The truth is I’ve not read a great deal of fantasy over the last 4-5 years and it took the likes of the masterful SA Chakraborty and her Daevabad trilogy to rekindle my love of the genre before Covid hit us hard.
This debut novel from the imaginative and decidedly twisted mind of S J Bennett is one of the best reads I’ve had this year, and that’s saying something given the quality of reads I’ve had of late. But what Bennett has done is capture the essence of Her Majesty, QEII, and turned her into a veritable royal Miss Marple in this lovely homage to Agatha Christie. Our much beloved sovereign is on top form in THE WIDSOR KNOT, sleuthing her way quietly through her ninetieth birthday celebrations, at Windsor Castle, during the spring of 2016.
Inspector Ashwin Chopra (Retd) a former member of the Mumbai police, is now one of my favourite characters. In this second installment of the Baby Ganesh series, we find Chopra settling into retirement as a private investigator, working out of an office in his new digs, a restaurant named after his wife, Poppy. This wonderful gem of a story fairly zips along at a motorised rickshaw pace, combining a number of threads that both delight and amused.
The central focus of this novel is the character of Flavia de Luce, the 11 year-old phenom who narrates and carries the entire weight of this suspense-mystery novel. And she does it admirably, or, I should say, the author has created a character so well defined, so well fleshed out, with an array of quirks and foibles that, as a character, gives her such great depth. Quite something for a middle-aged male author to achieve.
Jane Harper has done it again. She has captured lightning in a bottle not once, but twice. With FORCE OF NATURE she has crafted a second beguiling novel, with a tapestry of threads that crisscross throughout the story weaving a masterpiece of misdirection till the final reveal. A surprise, I for one, never saw coming. The clever red herrings, the subtle misdirects, she does it all to perfection. You think you know what’s going on?
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto is an absolute blast of fun-filled, darkly twisted humour. And don’t get me started on the complicated family dynamics, which adds not only more humour but also a great deal of depth to this over-the-top family caper that’s worthy of it’s own sitcom. Truly, Sutanto nails the archetypes of Ah Mas and Ah Yis perfectly, so much so I was nodding my head knowingly and grinning like an idiot.
THE BREACH has everything going for it, a great premise, scary action tinged with an overlay of creeping terror, and a promise of a shock or two along the way. That said, however, this one fell short, for me at least, on one major count: characterisation. And anyone who knows me, and reads my reviews regularly will know, it put a great deal of emphasis on characters and their arcs. I want to see them grow, I want to see depth, I want to believe in these people and, therefore, how they’re challenged by the situations they find themselves in.
This is the second book in the Caleb Zelic series and, like Resurrection Bay, is relentless in its pacing as Caleb once again is trust into the centre of a murder mystery. Continuing a few months on from the aftermath of events that took place in book one, Caleb, beset by nightmares, is barely making a go of it and struggling physically and mentally. When, out for a run, he’s approached by a homeless man and given a cryptic note asking for help.
THE RECKONING is not a book for the faint of heart, nor anyone who doesn’t like animal cruelty, violence, or graphic action in a fight scene. That’s because author, James McGee, accurately portrays the gritty underbelly of early 19th century London, when Britain is at war with France, and the Napoleonic Wars raged across Europe. This is McGee’s sixth novel in the Matthew Hawkwood series, but my first outing and not to be my last.
I do love me a thoroughly twisted and suspenseful mystery and The Last Thing He Told Me is exactly that. Laura Dave throws Hannah, step-mum to Bailey, right in at the deep end of the ocean and, I might add, us along with them. We’re left peering over Hannah’s shoulder the whole way, as she desperately tries to figure out what’s going on and, just who the hell her new husband is, before all is lost.
WE RIDE THE STORM by Devin Madson has definitely been a wild ride of murder, mayhem, and enough twists and turns to make a reader dizzy! Madson is not averse to throwing in a good blindside. So that, just when you think you know what’s going on, she sucker punches you in the gut with a twist you never saw coming. Well, for me at least, there were some really delicious twists I never saw coming.
In the spirit of the Mini Book Review trending about the web, I thought to write my own (rather sarcastic, or it that, scathing?) mini movie reviews. You’ve been warned, there are … SPOILERS AHEAD. Murder on the Orient Express — A movie in which twelve suspects of varying social status have three minutes of screen time to convince Kenneth Branagh—er, I mean, Poirot—that they are not the killer of Johnny Depp’s despicable character and the obvious bad guy.
I truly had high hopes for this debut novel from author, June Hur, given its subject material, late 18th to early 19th century Korea, in a period of scandal and turmoil. Catholic priests were risking life and limb to infiltrate Korea and spread the word of the One God. And while Hur uses this as the backdrop to her novel, I felt it missed the mark. The Silence of Bones could have been so much more than just a murder-mystery.
The opening to THE CALCULATING STARS by Mary Robinette Kowal is the star of this novel, and in a page-turning, spectacular, world-ending way. The Eastern seaboard of the continental US has just been taken out by a large meteorite, life as we know it is about to go through the wringer before it gets so hot, life becomes extinct. The world is collapsing into chaos and yet … And yet, the only mention we get about all this impending doom, comes as news segments at the start of each chapter.