Being the 14^th in the series, and having not read the first 13, I could have been somewhat on the back foot reading Chasm of Exiles, but I actually felt that I pretty much hit the ground running with it.  Much of it is deeply cerebral, as the very satisfyingly layered, traumatized and guilt-damaged main character, Jacob Stearne, faces his demons and talks to his god (quite literally) frequently; you genuinely feel this black ops/wet work veteran’s struggle with his self-imposed reckoning, f...

Unusual book to review, in that it presented rather more as a magazine, or a website.  Not to say it isn’t worth a read, but rather it has a very unique, niche appeal; generally this book is aimed at a very specific market: those who wish to combine running an online business with a life travelling.  However, there is one very noteworthy point to make here, and I by no means wish to dampen the fireworks or come across as a working-class snob, but Erin points out in this book that many of th...

Really good book, this one, by an author who definitely knows the craft – though, if I’m being honest, it took me a fair while longer to read than I thought it would.  You can generally get away with a lengthy word count in the detective investigation genre, though I would say that Justice: A Hollywood Homicide is very heavily weighted in favour of character dialogue and interaction.  I don’t think it would be giving anything away to say that this case is pretty cut-and-dry from the sta...

It’s fair to say that, of the many books I’ve read, there have been few as engrossing or thought-provoking as this one, certainly in its subject matter.  It is as vast and spiritual as fiction can ever get – and a truly tremendous narrative.  With Christianity very much at its core, we follow the afterlife of three incredibly influential figures from history and one unknown individual, as they are accompanied by Aidenn – the collective name for the angels of death – to reflect on th...

David Leng is an author of multiple talents, for sure, and this action-packed adventure is a good showcase for his versatile writing abilities, combining American history with a contemporary mystery thriller.  The final product is a great story about a small group of modern-day historians attempting to find the legendary, rumoured treasure of Major General Braddock, of the King’s colonial army in the mid-18^th century.  Of course, they face competition and danger from an equally determined a...

I’m in two minds about this book.  First, its author Amy Ayres is a wonderful talent; her writing is so endearing it feels almost friendly and even familiar.  She absolutely draws you into a genuine concern for and engagement with the characters.  On the less positive side, however, is the fact that, so commonly these days for a book in the sci-fi genre, nothing is resolved and it leaves a completely open end – and this reader very irate as a result.  Those who read my reviews will know t...

As far as holistic or comprehensive books on fundamental being go, this is about as broad as it gets.  All credit to G.E. Poole; he has covered the foundations of life and death from every possible angle, including the chemical, scientific and natural.  But, of course, you get the impression that at its heart this is really a profound and powerful interpretation of the religious.  The author is as objective as you can get, but you can clearly see his unwavering faith in God and religion as th...

If you’re worried this is going to be a mind-numbing book about politics, you couldn’t be more wrong.  It is a hugely entertaining and genuinely fun, “mostly true” tale of two young-at-heart grown-ups who just decide, one day, they won’t sit around and do nothing while their country goes to the dogs around them – a sentiment I’m sure many of us share in the current climate.  But I don’t want to downplay the validity of their mission; they’re clearly both exceptionally smart ...

I really enjoy short stories, the chillier and darker the better – and they don’t get much more atmospheric than this superb collection by A.I. Johnson.  Whilst not strictly horror or thriller genres, there is enough in most of these stories to add an air of ominous mystery; some are genuinely pretty creepy, others a little more brooding drama.  I admit, the last story in this baker’s dozen wasn’t to my liking, with rather more an air of abstract, sci-fi political satire, but the rest...

A lot of fun this colourful action romp from Carlos Lozano, which combines good, old-fashioned cartoon entertainment for the family with a more contemporary superhero palette.  This brings to mind caricature slapstick of the 80s and 90s, with a PG certificate, generally suitable and enjoyable for all, such as the Jim Carrey movie The Mask.  Admittedly, some of the more cartoonish visuals perhaps don’t portray so well on the page, and would certainly be more suited to a graphic novel or othe...

An in-depth and intriguing insight into the world of international business and cultural barriers, as a Danish professional and his business partner attempt to sell their services to counterparts in Saudi Arabia, amidst religious factional turmoil at the end of the 1970s.  It is an eye-opening exposé of a country and a region which has been changed dramatically since events at that time, and hints at the long-lasting effects on global politics and terrorism today.  But at the time, as outlin...

Very dark stuff from Neal Cassidy, both brutal and cerebral.  Schroeder is a young man on a murderous mission – and it very quickly becomes clear this is much more clinical than random, his targets carefully picked and despatched with increasing savagery; the fun part is trying to work out who is who at the end.  In all seriousness, though, there is little actual fun to be had with this vivid and graphic revenge tale.  Simple and straightforward, it is no more or less than an almost real-ti...

Owen Garratt can write – I mean he is a very good wordsmith.  His language and syntax are top-drawer for engagement and relatability, his use of words highly articulate.  But (and it is quite a big but) he uses far too many of them; honestly, I felt there was just no need for this book to be quite as long and detailed as it was.  Furthermore, whilst deeply immersed in the incidental, and events in the moment, I didn’t really know the overall context. 

Now I have to be honest here and adm...

This was a great kids’ book, with super illustrations filling the bleed of every page beautifully – though I have to admit that it took me aback a little, around the halfway mark, with the direction it took.  Opening with the lives of a group of mischievous, naughty little creatures, it then turned into an unexpected and actually somewhat horrifying cautionary tale – as such nursery rhymes are wont to do – and in fairness, having not read the blurb, I wasn’t expecting such a tough l...

This is a book obviously written from the heart, by an author clearly passionate about its subject matter.  Although Janna writes with a certain amount of detachment, you can see the heartache she feels at the injustice of mankind’s perceived dominion over animals; our inhumanity toward all nature’s creatures, including each other.  In this book, the protagonist Laura finds herself falling in love with a truly dreadful person, ignoring all warnings – so much so that you find yourself al...

Heartfelt and warm, this is Jan’s variation on the wonderful, well-trodden path of the premise of love across intersecting timelines.  Pure fantasy at its most romantic, but it’s much more than just a trope.  For starters, Jan is a truly gifted author, whose work I have read enough of to know that not only does she glow with creative writing quality, but she knows her specialist genre well, that being wartime Britain.  The war referred to on this occasion, unlike those I’ve read before ...

In his cerebral and deeply personal collection of musings, anecdotes, narratives and motivational vignettes, Michael Albanese acknowledges, more than once, that people have a tendency not to get his work – and hints that reactions to this offering might be no different.  Personally, I have to say that I enjoyed it – whatever it was.  It comes from the heart and it means well.  As for my personal opinion on what Michael was attempting to achieve, I think the project is cathartic for him.  ...

If you’ve young children of pre-school age who just won’t get off to sleep without a story, or just those who enjoy nursery rhymes, then this beautifully illustrated picture book is for you.  The drawings, which make up 100% of the page bleed, are truly lovely, and definitely the highlight of a labour of love R. Sheldon has clearly put a great deal of work and heart into.  Okay, the story itself feels something of a mish-mash to this middle-aged reviewer, and I wasn’t entirely clear wha...

Having already read the two sequels in this series, it is nice to now read about the beginnings for young Sean and his space adventure; it perhaps helps to give a little context to the books overall.

To tell the truth, my favourite of the three is part 2, which I actually read first, but this is still a good, fun book to read.  I now have a great deal more background on Sean and am able to create a more accurate mental image of him, as well as understanding the backstory of his parents and h...

I should immediately disclose that I helped Arthur Williams in producing this book, but that has no bearing whatsoever on my review, which I submit freely and honestly.  In a nutshell, this is an excellent book, and Arthur is a fantastic author, who knows his subject matter very well.  As the book’s protagonist, surgeon Ben Anderson, undergoes his own routine heart procedures, what starts off as a mind-bending trip on the powerful, hallucinogenic sedative ketamine turns into a wondrous expe...

I have to admit, this book was laugh-out-loud funny at times; I found myself cracking up in a way I haven’t done for years when reading.  Well done, Carlos; comedy gold.  Bit crude and crass, at times, in a way where you know instantly it can only have been written by an English author; the language is very strong and its coarseness sometimes invokes an uncomfortable wince.  I don’t have a problem with that, as such – I’m no prude – but it has to be funny.  Though, in truth, Carlos ...

Exceptionally articulate and hard worked, this is an admirable piece of investigative fiction by Madeleine Dale.  It is also, sadly, an incredibly depressing yet vitally important exposé into the despicable world of endangered animal poaching.  The author knows her subject intimately, and reports in detail on the human, corporate, law-enforcement and political aspects of the trade in, most specifically in this book, pangolin parts, this particular creature being one of the most ancient, crue...

If I had to sum this book up in one word it would be “grrr!!” – and a pretty irritated grrr at that.  I don’t like to spoil, and actually I don’t think I’m going to do that when I tell you, off the bat, that this book will leave you hanging on a cliff.  That said, it’s still pretty good and I enjoyed it a great deal, as I knew I would from Akibibi, who is becoming one of my favourite authors of late.  But I feel it only fair, particularly if you have spent money on this book, to...

There’s something a little warm and wholesome about this slice-of-life memoir; it is full of love, faith and a family-friendly read.  Describing a year or so in the life of a young boy whose family moved to Alaska to build a log chapel, where his father would become a pastor, it is your usual fish-out-of-water story, the theme of so many memoirs by U.S. authors – a country so vast that moving home often means a massive culture shock.  And this is the same, as the Taylor family learns to f...

You might consider this a jobseeker’s guide for the market newbie, or recently graduated professional-in-progress; it is a noticeably remedial approach to job hunting.  But that is not to disparage it in any way; it is very comprehensive, covering how to be successful in the job market from every angle, from preparation and mindset to personal presentation and confidence.  Unlike some books of this nature, it is not simply a pep talk – although there is unavoidably a small element of this...

Unusually, I really enjoyed this sci-fi space tale.  It’s not convoluted or profound in any way, and unlike today’s current trend of otherworld or futuristic dystopian science fiction, there is actually something quite simplistic and old school about this one; it reminds me in some ways of the “...For Boys” space stories and movies of the 1960s, with its pleasantly charming narrative about a group of astronauts trapped in space, exploring a strange planet teeming with alien monsters, ...

Some significant time investment is required for this superbly written war fantasy, by an author of real personality and capability.  First, it is long, and feels it sometimes, due to the ensemble cast of characters and parallel storylines; second, I am unusually content to spoil in this respect, by advising that the book is left open, so be warned.  I think it is only fair to advise you that you are expected to engross yourself utterly in the soap of these characters’ lives for the foresee...

Feels like a book of two halves, this one, and really it’s carried by the huge creative talent of the author J. Lee Bagan.  I have to be honest and say I enjoyed it immensely up to a point, probably midway, when I genuinely thought this was simply a book about a bereaved young boy and his immense strength of character, as he grows up surrounded by people who care for him, in spite of his severely dysfunctional home life.  With a father in prison and a drug-addicted mother, I honestly though...

This mystery thriller might leave you with a few more questions than answers by the end, as there is rather a sense that its main objective is more firmly about setting up its sequel, and perhaps a series, rather than establishing itself as a standalone narrative; I don’t intend to spoil the book by any means, but looking at the formula and the way the heroine is portrayed would suggest this is very likely.  I would hope so, otherwise you may find yourself somewhat non-plussed by the loose ...

Another entry from the excellent Glyn Haynie, on the tours of duty of Sergeant Andy Carter, in the Vietnam War.  Gritty and gripping as always, veteran Glyn’s books are as accurate a portrayal of the day-to-day life of soldiers on the ground as you are ever likely to read.  This is perhaps a less eventful tale than previous instalments, though as always there is no shortage of action – nor heartrending casualties.  Given another mission, to locate and destroy an NVA base situated amongst ...

Very sharply scripted, biting satire, and more of the same from the sardonically witty Harlin, this time set against the increasingly fashionable backdrop of the battle of the generations: Millennials vs. GenX (or whatever monicker the superior former have deemed dominion to label the latter with).  It was by pure coincidence that I read this book, about a former creative, days from his 50^th birthday, just a few days before my own 50^th birthday, and I therefore felt I had more of a stake in i...

This was a very tough book to read, in many ways, and I implore you to familiarize yourself before picking it up.  It wasn’t bad, by any means, but indeed very unpleasant to read; I don’t think it’s unfair or inaccurate to say that if you are sensitive to triggers relating to child sexual abuse and snuff themes, then this isn’t one for you.  In fact, and I don’t mean this to offend the author or readers, it’s difficult to ascertain who the book might particularly appeal to.  To su...

A beautifully written and poignant book exploring the long-term effects of war on the human psyche, this is as good a study of post-war trauma and melancholy reflection as you are likely to read, delivered by Stephanie in a thought-provoking and warmly endearing style.

Eye Contact Over Truk is all about its themes and its characters, as two men go on a wreck-diving excursion to the South Pacific island – the site of a devastating air and naval battle in the American-Japanese branch of Worl...

There’s something a little bit different about this entertaining, light-hearted book, in that it is so talky and arty, almost to the point of bohemian, that it is perhaps most accurately described as literary fiction with a subplot – if there can be such a thing.  For the most part, it is about an ageing former band-member who gets in touch with old acquaintances, and starts to think about forming a new band and launching old material, in what might be considered something of a midlife cr...

A particularly gripping drama thriller, this one, it has to be said; the author April Seymour really knows how to craft an intriguing, twisty, crime drama with a very tangible, ominous sense of threat permeating throughout.  The multi-viewpoint narrative of Violin starts to piece its tale together well, and as the reader you are watching it unfold at a very satisfying pace, from one character’s version of events to another.  When put together, it feels just the right length, and its mood hi...

This is a sequel but you wouldn’t particularly know that, nor is it necessary to; this book pretty much stands alone.  If you like action-packed World War Two stories, this will be right up your street, about a U.S. naval commander who finds himself immersed in a dangerous mission helping the Resistance rescue and smuggle Jews out of Europe.  It is that welcome mixture of just the right amount of swashbuckling with a significant amount of accurate historical detail.  There are some great ch...

It is clearly with no small amount of affection that Tim Adams presents this collection of short stories by his late good friend Trey Meade.  I enjoy short stories a great deal, and the more cerebral the better; these are sublime.  Trey was an absolutely superb writer, from a tender age, too.  Even in the heat and horror of the Vietnam War, this veteran was waxing lyrical and philosophizing with a maturity, class and cultural refinement way beyond his years.  His prose is exquisite at times, ...

Here is a collection of famous and not-so-famous quotes and quips by renowned and well-known historical figures, given contemporary punchlines, some clever, others observational and some just a bit wacky.  The illustrations are great, and some of the adages themselves gave rise to thought, but to be honest the jokes weren’t my cup of tea at all; I think the book would be far more suited to a U.S. audience, accustomed to that style of humour.  That said, it was interesting to see the quotes ...

I won’t lie, I was sceptical about reviewing this book, being firstly an atheist and secondly someone who has never had particularly strong feelings either way about the LGBTQ+ community, neither as a critic nor particularly an active ally.  So, I wondered if I was the right choice of reviewer.  Furthermore, I wondered how serious a book this could be with the title Jeza’s Jesus Juice.  Now, I have to say, I’m somewhat humbled by my initial unconscious bias and pessimism; this book is e...

I really enjoyed this intriguing mystery from Sean, in actual fact a lot more than I was expecting to.  Most books like this are pretty average to good, but A Curse in Kyoto was absolutely quite a cut above that, and I read the whole thing in a couple of long sittings.  This was actually no mean feat, because the book is pretty lengthy – yet it doesn’t feel like it; I was gripped and entertained throughout.  With the barely noteworthy exception of a slightly drawn-out third act, this was ...

I’m not necessarily a big fan of high fantasy of the otherworld and dragons variety, so it’s great to see one like this, which doesn’t take itself seriously.  Oh, I don’t doubt that behind this mocking façade Kyle is actually a huge fan of the genre – he is simply too knowledgeable and accomplished not to be – but you can see that he takes great pleasure here in dissecting its usual tropes and clichés in the name of satire.  Despite that, though, and the Hitchhiker’s Guide-esq...

Bizarrely offbeat, this book is part fantasy, part satire and generally overall, I think, mostly literary fiction.  Those familiar with the original Baron Munchausen tales – and I refer now to the book, not the tall stories told about the real man himself – will recognize this as much of the same, with the same strangely vivid, visual setpieces and abstract palette, though I have to say I’m not entirely sure why the author chose to pigeonhole himself with a direct sequel to a literary c...

I won’t lie, it was a slightly tough read, this fantasy thriller from Nick Nielsen.  Not because he isn’t a good writer, by any means; quite the contrary, in fact, he is an exceptionally good writer – in fact, I think this might actually be the issue for me; he is too good.  This is a great story, with some fantastic writing, tremendously well edited, but, if I’m being as obtuse and simple about it as I can, the book simply felt too long.  There is an exceptional number of words – s...

A very entertaining read, I should say, in the young-adult sci-fi genre.  This book is fun, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously, nor delve too deeply into high fantasy, as many in this genre seem to these days.  A few years ago, this might have been considered pure science fiction, with its Terminator-style storyline of artificial intelligence acquiring self-awareness and setting out on a path for world domination, but this one is perhaps for slightly younger readers in the early-teen ...

To be honest, this future-set book didn’t go at all in any of the directions I might have been anticipating.  I didn’t read the blurb, so was genuinely intrigued to find that, far from science fiction or another very trendy dystopian gloomfest, Legacy of the Third Way instead went on to offer a mildly interesting look into American politics, though, it has to be said, it doesn’t really delve too deeply into the subject.  The story is quite a simple one: a dying man writes his autobiogra...

Unapologetically liberal and unashamedly topical, this short fable is both simplistic and complexly layered, as a stinging indictment on the immigration debate – which probably bears striking resemblances the world over.  It is tremendously engaging, and I read it in a single sitting, although it is rather a novella than a novel, at about 20,000 words.  And it is a good read, whichever side of centre your political views fall on; I must admit, without wanting to throw my hat into the debati...

This is a tremendously well-written and well-edited book, by an undoubted professional at the peak of his potential, though its narrative feels a touch obscure at times, perhaps abstract or even metaphorical in places.  Whether it is set in a utopian or dystopian far-future is perhaps a matter of opinion at times, depending on what your ideal society looks like; I would veer more toward the latter, as there are touches of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Island about this one, particularly in th...

Stories about an oppressive dictatorship in the very near future are bang on trend at the moment, but very few are as good as this soul-destroying cautionary tale by T.K. Kanwar.  In fact, the last time I read a book quite this good on the subject was, in fact, the last time I read and reviewed a book by Kanwar.  The World We Deserve is not so much a direct sequel to Identity Crisis as the afterword may lead you to believe, but it is definitely a series of sorts, in the same narrative vein, o...

It seems bizarre to be saying this, but I am genuinely grateful to Lin, and others like her, for sticking her neck out and saying what needs to be said.  Even more bizarre is the suggestion that she is taking great risk in doing so, but here we are. 

Lin has never been one to shy away from controversial issues, and there are few more controversial at the moment than the indoctrination of children by some of the more extreme elements of the trans community, fully supported by those organizati...

It has to be said, the word “epic” is one which is often bandied about far too liberally by publishers and authors, particularly in regard to historical drama, and even more so when they have a military or wartime premise.  But I’m not hurling superlatives when saying that Hardened Steel by Victor Gregor meets the criteria in the purest way.  Furthermore, it is not just epic; it is fantastic.  A real sprawling tale in the same vein as The Revenant, as its narrative almost weaves its way...

I was in the mood for a little over-the-top, horror-gore silliness, a short, fun read, and I have to say this bone-licking, blood-sucking little vignette from D.E. Fox really delivered that – and then some.  In fact, I think it’s fair to say that some of the violence in Second Hand Rose really does push its boundaries, and I need to be honest and say there are some out there who will find its depictions of the gruesome, grisly slayings and devouring, including of babies and children, quit...

If you’re a horror movie fan, like I am, you’ll love Chris and Preston’s intriguing, in-depth and insightful analyses of the most famous villains, from Freddy to Jason, Candyman to Leatherface and even the shark from Jaws (though that vilification feels a little unfair to me, as an animal lover).  It is full of surprises, the biggest being the turn these essays all take: this book, perhaps a little unlike the blurb might suggest, is rather a psychologist’s guide to self-help with vari...

I can confidently claim, without any overstatement, that this is probably as good a collection of short stories as I have read yet.  Annika Galloway is a fantastic storyteller, a student of psychology and the human condition, and it shows in these four profound, melancholic tales of a group of people in a psychiatric waiting room of sorts, which you’ll be thinking about long after you finish reading them.  Each of the tales is affecting and utterly engaging, with some very clever craftiness...

Another magical outing for the kids of White Stone Town in Wales, their third in this series, and in my opinion this may well be the best of the three, if only for its pure educational value.  Don’t get me wrong, all the books in the Magic Islands series, aimed at the 8-12 age group, are fantastic sources of information about the planet and the environment generally, but while the earlier two books were much more explicitly cautionary tales about the environment, and the dangers of man-made...

To read this book you would think that Greg Ryan was a full-time professional coach, but he’s rather more than that – a sports lover passionate about sharing his learnings about being the perfect coach, sportsperson or supportive parent.  This experience is gleaned from his young life as a football player, a coach in sports and from his transferable skills in the workplace, and to be honest I think rather benefits from not being clinical and tactical, like many sports coaches tend to be p...

Right from this book’s outset, Tracy admits that she’s no professional or qualified expert in anxiety, or the human condition in this context, though she shares her thoughts through personal experience, and it is also fair to say that she has learnt a fair amount along the way about cognitive approaches to tackling anxiety, such as ACT and CBT.  She makes clear her disdain for the latter, but is certainly a fan of the former, and herein forms the basis of this book, which is full of exerc...

It isn’t immediately clear just how much of this book is autobiographical, or even semi-biographical, if any at all, but I would suspect there is a fair amount of personal truth and life story of the author, or perhaps one of her immediate ancestors, in this heartfelt and emotionally charged tale.  I wouldn’t really call it a coming-of-age story, as the first-person narrator is a little young, at twelve, to be considered that, but it does bear all the hallmarks of these slice-of-life chil...

Having read and enjoyed the first in the War Torn series by Jan Lloyd – an excellent book, I should add – I was looking forward to this, the second, and had high hopes.  It did feel, and forgive the cliché, a little like revisiting old acquaintances to see how they’re getting on.  This offering wasn’t quite up there with its predecessor, but matching it would have been no mean feat.  To be honest, this one didn’t have the same exciting, dramatic story arc; which is not surprising, ...

This interesting and particularly eloquent book throws you a huge curveball, not once but three times.  By the title alone, I was expecting a young-adult sci-fi fantasy.  By three-quarters of the way through, however, this assumption had changed, as Seeker of the Secret then seemed to have taken a more spiritual turn, toward a troubled soul’s journey toward self-enlightenment, following tragedy in her life.  But then, in the final quarter, the book swerved off into an entirely different dir...

This is a truly beautiful book, epic and grand in scale.  Alan Lessik writes in melodic and lyrical style, telling a sweeping tale of love between the world wars, how ordinary people’s lives were so disrupted by the collapse of relations between nations, and indeed how a peace-loving man finds himself tested at every turn, by global events and tragic ones in his own life.

This is much more than simple LGBT romance, and it would be tremendously unfair to categorize it exclusively as such.  ...

Although long and very wordy, this book was actually a great deal more enjoyable to read than it might have been.  A very simple tale with a basic, linear premise: two ancient souls separated by different paths, but the forbidden love between them is eternal – even if one of them doesn’t yet know it.  Other than this, there isn’t really much more of a story arc – and, in fact, that’s a good thing.  The author rather prefers to concentrate on the emotions, expertly crafting the two p...

More of the same from the immensely capable Gary McAvoy, quite simply one of the most prolific writers it has ever been my good fortune to review.  If you haven’t read Gary’s work before, you’ve missed a treat, and you are strongly advised to go back to the beginning of this long-running saga and get to know the characters from their first case together.  The author is the real star of this series.  His writing is eloquent and intelligent, his narrative craftwork flawless.  He researche...

Something of a mixed bag for me, this chaotic comedy of errors and enlightenment.  On the one hand, I’m a big fan of (the awesomely named) Merlin Franco, and I love his intelligent, insightful and wit-laden writing style; on the other, I wasn’t keen on this particular tale, which I would describe as a fictional travel memoir.  I would say this is one for its audience – and a good one at that, which perhaps may not be clearly reflected in my writing; fans of this book will surely be thos...

It isn’t often I throw superlatives around, but I think it is fair to describe this book as something of an epic – and it is very, very good.  Nor is it common for me to be crying out for a sequel, but having reached the end of this, I would love to see one, to see characters reunited.  I’ll try not to spoil anything; suffice to say that the premise concerns three young, orphaned siblings, although beyond a certain point the readers only get to follow two of them.  The end is left perfe...

I’m in two minds about this book by Christopher Lude.  Whilst on the one hand it is exceptionally well written and presented, and at times offers traces of poignancy, it also felt on the other to be something of a whimsical look at a particularly emotive subject, and one of huge controversy, particular in God-fearing countries like the States.  It took me a while to come to the conclusion that this book is entirely fictional, as its introduction does appear to suggest otherwise; I am theref...

I like to review every type of book, and that includes children’s books sometimes.  I had a few minutes to spare so decided to read How To Fix The Smile Of A Crocodile, having been asked to take a look by author Rebecca Kurien.  It’s a lovely book, as these educational books for toddlers usually are.  A particularly professionally packaged production, it is colourful and jammed to full bleed with beautiful illustrations throughout – your 3- to 4-year-old will love it.  They’ll learn a...

It’s always nice to read a book which has a slightly different character edge to it, and the more realistic the better, I think.  This is particularly satisfying when applied to a common, standard premise.  That pretty much describes Will Chisholm, the hero of B.C. Howard’s Sexy Erotic Lingerie.  It is an otherwise formulaic noir action thriller, perhaps with more focus on plot development than actual action; the character twist in this case being that the primary protagonist is addicted ...

I enjoyed this genre-hopping, seafaring tale.  I couldn’t work out why Unfurling the Sails needed to be set in the future, and it wasn’t until quite late in the book that I started to realize it might have been part of a series.  This wasn’t an issue as such, as it does stand alone quite comfortably, and for a refreshing change also actually rounds itself up quite nicely – far too many books I read leave open endings without warning, and it’s fast becoming one of my pet hates.  But ...

The romance genre covers a range of different styles and sub-genres, such as the sweeping, epic drama style, the steamy suspense thriller style, the pure erotica style and the Hollywood gloss fantasy style.  This is predominantly the latter, although it isn’t located in the superficial setting of Jackie Collins books.  The two primary protagonists are hugely talented and, of course, irresistibly gorgeous artists, at the top of their game, mixing with the very best of the set.  Naturally, ev...

I review plenty of these self-actualization type of self-help books, and am surprisingly something of a fan.  They are usually pretty well written and presented, and generally they work.  Whether that’s a placebo effect or not I don’t think matters; the whole point is that positive mental attitude can have a material and physical effect on you in the real world.  This book is another of the same – maybe not the best I’ve read, but like all of them it means well, and the author truly b...

The second instalment in Irene Edwards’s Magic Islands series of books for 8-12-year-old children, and I have to say that, in my opinion, this is something of an altogether slightly darker offering – not so much in its content, but rather the environmental message.  In the first book, the message was clear: we should care for and respect our oceans; but in Chaos in the Cosmos, the world is literally burned by those mean Purple Wizards, who have accelerated global warming in revenge for th...

This is the first in the Magic Islands series of books from Welsh author Irene Edwards, and it is something of a treat.  These are charming books for younger kids, I’d say from the eight to twelve age range, and the series gets off to a promising start with this exciting tale combining light-hearted magical fantasy with an important environmental message.  There may be some people who say why does this always have to be the case; why can’t we just allow kids to be kids without always tell...

On the surface, this is your usual, run-of-the-mill biography of an undeniably quite amazing career air-force soldier.  But when reading you find it is actually more than that – far more.  In fact, the life story of World War Two bomber pilot Colonel Harold McNeese, known to all as Mac, is a relatively very small part of this book, which rather seems to deliver two narratives simultaneously.  Whilst the opening chapters and the final third delves more intimately into Mac’s life, the large...

Something of a surprise, this wholesome and kind-hearted parable, about a family who are heavy on love, but light on shared goal or direction.  Written by husband-and-wife team of writers and spiritual family therapists, Derek and Amy Weichel, I would guess it was probably composed as a sidenote accompaniment to their day-to-day work.  For those readers of a Christian faith who, like the (semi?) fictional Richardson family in this book, feel their family has lost its way a little, it is somet...

This is a quirky little novella, which amounts to really only an hour or two of reading time, but it is a fun way to fill a couple of lunch breaks, a quiet evening or a day or two’s commute – though, if the latter, then you might want to practice a little discretion, and make sure nobody is sneaking a peek over your shoulder, as some of it is quite explicit, with some pretty graphic descriptions of the more adventurous of sexual tastes.  But don’t think this book is about pure titillati...

I’m a big fan of art in all its forms, and this book is indeed what one would call modern art.  Metaphorical and subliminal throughout, Helen Cova doesn’t so much write, she purges.  There are many hidden messages in these short narratives, none less than the recurrent metaphor itself, and you wonder how much of the content in this book is therapy for its author.  Indeed, Helen says as much in her book’s preface, that the somewhat bizarrely chosen title – Autosarcophagy: To Eat Onesel...

Slow-burning, cerebral drama isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I have to say that author Karen Jewell really lives up to her name with this sublimely atmospheric piece; it’s a gem.  Set in the southern states of depression-era America, it is appropriately melancholy, and so it should be, with its grim subject matter of a rural farming couple watching their marriage fall apart following the death of their son in the first world war.  Bleak and moody, you wouldn’t think there was a great...

This is a superb book, and Lance Wilkins is an exceptional writer.  He has a use of syntax and a writing style which are utterly engaging and wonderfully endearing, and I found myself gripped from start to finish.  Caught in the Crossfire is, in some ways, a very simple tale of a rescue mission, though it is not really the story itself which is the real point of this book; that is simply a three-act mechanism to craft this world Lance brings us into – which he does flawlessly; you feel ever...

The “indelibles” referred to in this book title are ten people who have left an indelible impression on the author.  Each chapter in this book is dedicated to summarizing the story of one of these people, what they are well-known for (or some not so well known), and how their story has affected Philip, to the extent that they will always be remembered as remarkably important in his life and development.  Most of us will probably have a similar list of people we can point to and thank (or ...

I liked this book by Brock Rivers – I liked it quite a lot in fact, but to a point.  The truth is that I thought it might go much more epic than it did.  That said, it is fun, enjoyable, and very pleasingly crosses the genres of sci-fi, action and historical adventure.  With an interwoven dual-timeline narrative, there are two tales being simultaneously told five hundred years apart, though the focus is very much on the “present day” one – “present day” in this case actually being...

I’ve read many from my namesake Gary McAvoy, and generally always know what to expect from his work: excellent action fiction with a theological historical angle, incredible research and in-depth procedural detail.  Of course, this is more of the same, but if I’m to be totally honest, I would have to admit this is probably not my favourite from him to date – in fact, I would go as far as to say that I actually struggled quite a bit keeping engaged with this one, and somewhere around the...

M.K. Nielsen’s book can be described in many ways, and it is likely reviewers will all have their own choice of adjectives, but one thing which is unambiguous and not in doubt, across the board, is that it is a real work of excellent quality.  Even better, it is that rare thing: a gripping fiction book in which the reader genuinely doesn’t know what is going to happen next.  The story itself, to be honest, is a very simple one; the book is perhaps more literary or metaphorical than a form...

I’ll have to be harshly frank here, but in truth I really found this book a little of a struggle.  Not that it isn’t very good and Hayden is not a tremendously experienced, talented and articulate author – he absolutely is; the problem for me was that I just didn’t quite get into it from the outset, and was then playing catch-up for the whole duration of the book.  The story is a tangled one, with an ensemble cast, and in honest I was pretty lost throughout; the disappointing fact is ...

Whilst there is nothing new or unique about this type of trivia book, that is not to say they aren’t very good, and this one is a cracker, filled with humour and genuinely fun, interesting facts – my personal favourite is a town called Hell in Scandinavia, which literally freezes over every year (I won’t spoil any more).  These books are genuine achievements in two respects: first, the sheer amount of work that goes into them, and second, a conscious concern of the author, I’m sure, t...

A book of two halves, really, the first with a very interesting and somewhat novel premise.  When a young chemist questions why a particular additive has incidentally stopped the ageing process in his fruit juice, he decides on a whim to analyse the composition and accidentally discovers the secret to eternal life.  Whilst the formula brings him fame and incredible fortune, cue then the inevitable standard fare we come to expect as a given with any near future sci-fi: the worst case two-fold ...

A novel premise for a book, this one, and delivered with impeccable prose and timing.  A mature and very experienced anthropology student, still trying for his degree after several years of procrastination and failure, watches his life pass him by and crumble around him, as he spends more and more time with the street-workers who are the subject of his dissertation.  The real star of this book is not so much the story, which is not really its point, but the razor-sharp wit and rallying dialog...

Exceptionally well written literary fiction, with a very important, highly topical undertone, that of misogynistic, toxic masculinity.  I don’t know how much of Sara’s book is semi-biographical – the lead character of Bully is called Sarah – so I’ll tread very carefully with this review. 

This is by no means a light-hearted read – indeed, it is absolutely intense – but it is superbly gripping in a way I haven’t read for quite some time; the author has done a tremendous job.  ...

This is an excellent book, which throws one curve ball after another; I had no idea that it was going to go in the direction it did, and I defy you to predict it, too, even beyond halfway.  If I have one gripe it is that perhaps the ending is a little abrupt and something of shorn wick, but in other ways this perhaps suits the story arc, which is actually a little unsatisfying, but in a good way, because it is a true-to-life, realistic narrative.

Jan knows her subject matter very well, and t...

The real project to be admired here is Jonathan’s epic book – vast and hugely impressive, Project Neon is a fantastic achievement.  And, more to the point, it is a tremendously good book; the author should be immensely proud.  That said, I felt it wasn’t quite as polished as it absolutely should be, and warrants, which is a shame, and the reason for my decision to drop a star; it is fair to say that this is a book which should otherwise be worthy of full praise.  Whilst Jonathan is clea...

Before you start this book, there are a few things you need to be very clear about.  Firstly, it is an exercise book, so you will find pages which are created to take notes and keep records, etc.  This is not a coffee-table/bedside read.  If you invest the time and motivation required to carry out this cathartic self-healing process, you will need to approach it as a course.  So don’t expect that you will sit there and read from cover to cover, because it isn’t that type of self-help book...

This is a book which is full of surprises, and doesn’t ultimately really go in the direction I thought it might.  For the most part, it’s actually pretty fun, and overall I enjoyed it quite a bit more than I thought I would.  In other ways, though, it perhaps irritated a touch, though I would say not really enough to put me off reading the now obviously inevitable sequel.  Sorry, I don’t want to spoil, but this point does bring me quite clearly to what was by far my biggest bug-bear wit...

This is an incredible book, on many different levels, and an exceptionally important one – for the reader, for society but, more than anything, for the author.  Rebecca is a survivor in the rawest sense of the word; the sexual abuse she suffered for most of her childhood was depraved and devastating, and she gives her own account candidly and openly.  I’m sure the decision to write this book was many years in the making for her, and that the therapeutic value in doing so is a decisive nex...

A very professional and well-polished book, Anjali has spared no expense with this glossy motivational monologue which lives up to the “fun” in its title – colourful and jolly, with flawless styling and some beautifully vivid cartoon illustrations.  It presents as a self-help guide but, perhaps a touch more personal than that, it feels rather more of a prolonged affirmation by the author, as Anjali shares her advice for dealing with the highs and particularly the debilitating lows of li...

Whilst much of this book is generally quite amusing, I never really felt that there were any laugh-out-loud moments, of which I would have liked to see a few.  Rather, the comedy is more chaotic in nature than witty.  As you might expect, this tale of misadventures told from a cat’s point of view is very adult-orientated, with strong language and bawdy humour, resembling those grown-up cartoons which made the rounds in the 1980s and ‘90s.  Felix is portrayed rather more as a teenage lad o...

When you read Gary McAvoy, you are reading quality.  This incredibly conscientious fiction author clearly has a passion for theology, and every page – almost every line – seems a showcase for the sheer amount of hard work and research he has put into his writing.  I don’t know the cultural or historical accuracy of what he writes, but I am absolutely going to take his every word for it.  Whether it is geo-politics, theology, military organizations or papal administration, McAvoy present...

A very well written book, with strong, not-so-subtle social metaphors for the way humankind lives, not just now, but throughout the history of the species.  This future-fiction offering starts with the hypothetical premise, how would mankind live if we could take all the lessons learned and be reborn as a species and a society.  The answer, in this book, turns out in fact to be not all that different at all, in the grand scheme. 

Perhaps predictability, this commentary at first takes a very ...

Firstly, I should say that I received an ARC of this book from the author for my honest review.  I’m not sure I was the best person to provide this, being an atheist, but then came to realize that, from a literary perspective, an impartial reader may be the very best reviewer, objective and without any preconceived notions of religion and the Bible.

That’s exactly what this book is: an interpretation of the scriptures and how it relates to every aspect of our day-to-day lives.  More spec...

There are two sides to this side-splitting book, one laugh-out-loud comedy and the other a little more serious in tone, enough to make you wonder if you really should be laughing along with Will Goodrich – not for any politically correct reason, but because you feel this is a man with a very sour history of women.  Obviously I don’t know anything about Will’s three marriages, nor will I blindly take his side, but as a fellow man of the world, I can utterly laugh along with this book.  I...

I had mixed feelings about this exciting near-future sci-fi, my biggest of which is the plot itself.  Whilst a somewhat interesting premise for a book, I have to say that much of it either wasn’t clear or didn’t necessarily gel into place – at least for me.  As always with this genre, the threat is an existential one for humankind, but perhaps in a conscious move, Tsui has mixed the fantasy tropes up a little, by putting a dragon in the middle of a Bladerunner-esque noir thriller.  In t...

Even being totally honest, I have to give Kay the credit this book deserves, though in truth the subject is a little wasted on me.  I can clearly see that this is an excellently crafted and presented book which caters to a very niche market; if you are not a believer in the spiritual power of runes or a student of the subject, you will probably struggle to get engaged by it.  That said, the fact is that this is a beautiful book and a good quality, hard-grafted project, as Kay, clearly an expe...

In recent years it seems there has been the creation of an entire new fiction and non-fiction genre: the Trump genre.  The guy’s name must appear in this book a hundred times or more!  I’ve no love loss for that man, you can be sure, but from the point of view of a literary reviewer, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it becomes a touch tiresome.  That little gripe aside, this is a tremendously good book.  Profoundly cerebral, although fiction, it is a heartfelt, highly intelligent study ...

The real star of this literary fiction eye-opener is Anthony Wildman’s writing; smart and well-accomplished, his prose is exquisite at times.  Clearly the author has pushed out all the stops and worked his mental muscle to the limit, learning and composing in the sixteenth-century vernacular of Shakespeare himself.  This is in itself surely a nigh on impossible task, but Anthony undoubtedly gives it his best shot – and to hugely impressive effect.  Long and wordy, this is a true showcase ...

What starts as something of a children’s story evolves as it progresses, into something altogether more suitable for older kids – that said, it does feature a talking cat.  A bit of a book of two halves, I found the first part promising, the second more formulaic in fantasy sci-fi.  I should say, all in all, this is probably a book for the younger teen, though some of the battle scenes (some of which are quite epic), may be slightly less suitable for that particular audience.

Generally p...

This book is better when you think back on it in hindsight, and I have to say that even during writing this review I have improved my rating of it slightly, as I think over the quality of its workmanship and its writer.  I like the premise, of an unassuming, modern-day teenage girl chosen to be the mother of the second coming of God’s son.  It is a book which doesn’t delve too deeply into either the goodness or the darkness of the bible – though there is a fair bit more of the latter th...

One is left with very mixed feelings after reading this epic journey of a book.  The best way I can describe it would be melodrama turned literary fiction by design, rather than default – or is it the other way round?  I’m not sure.  But the simple fact is, to put it into very basic terms, it is very long and very descriptive, in the same way that most classic literary fiction is; indeed, Watson seems the sort of author who won’t use ten words when he can use a hundred.  That in itself ...

I always enjoy poetry, and I hugely enjoy Louise’s very dark and brooding, melancholy style of writing, so I was thrilled to receive an ARC of her latest collection – and it didn’t disappoint.  But be warned, this is no horror or fantasy fiction; this is, sadly and devastatingly, very real.  The theme of the collection is domestic abuse and violence against women, or more specifically women who snap and the consequences they face.  The pieces therein are about true-life cases, and furth...

This is a really good book, but I have to be honest and say it was another which left me feeling a little hard done by.  I hate to spoil books, but occasionally I feel an ounce of civic duty is required to warn readers in advance; this is one of those books.  So, be advised: after nearly 400 pages you will find that this is the open-ended first instalment in an ongoing series, which promises to be a long and sprawling saga.

Owen is a very good author, with wonderful language, vivid descripti...

If you like something different, hard to categorize, genre-crossing and interesting, this is definitely one for you, but be advised, it is one for the more broad-minded reader, and despite its high-fantasy elements (goblins, sluagh, shapeshifters, etc.), it definitely falls into the more gritty, adult mould.  I had a few issues getting along with the book myself, and some of it was a touch crude for my tastes, but from a creative point of view I won’t suggest that it doesn’t hit some real...

If you’re a fan of orthodox action thrillers this is going to be right up your street.  Think Robert Ludlum writing Lethal Weapon and you’ve got a pretty good idea what to expect.  All the standard ingredients are here, in the formula three acts, as two shadowy field agents team up to foil an international terrorist organization carrying out atrocities on American soil.  But, in true formula-action style, the baddies are happy to divert from their masterplan long enough to get personal wi...

Not usually a great fan of fantasy, but this book was a neat little surprise.  Four decent, entertaining and pretty unique tales, each individually penned by a different contributor, set one Halloween in the moody, fictional melting pot of Argent City, a town populated by supernatural beings and mythical shapeshifters living unnoticed alongside us.  Though generally pretty easy reading, brooding but not dark, these are more pure stories than snippets of tales, yet still there is an air of pul...

I wasn’t fortunate enough to read the first of Cathy’s semi-biographical “Destiny” trilogy, but with no idea to support my belief, I can’t help thinking that I really got lucky with Book Two – it is wonderful, just a lovely book, on so many levels.  Telling the story of four generations of Cathy’s (“Cassie’s”) family following their emigration from Armenia to the United States at the dawn of the twentieth century, with a part fictionalized slant, there is a fair amount of ...

I commented, in my previous reviews of books in this series, on my assumption that the Pirate books were a trilogy, because the author sent me three.  In fact, Prine appears to be creating something of a whole universe regarding the series.  There is so much ground left, clearly, and indeed in the back matter of Pirate Penance it is revealed there is much more to come from this bickering, bed-hopping band of 80s rock stars.  In fact, a whole third of this particular instalment is actually a s...

Before I begin, I should disclose that I assisted Lance in the production of this book.  However, rest assured that this has no bearing whatsoever on my review.  I have been fortunate enough now to read a couple from this author, and I can say with all sincerity that he is a cut above the rest.  His quality is from the top drawer, and whilst his books might not be the most eventful or action packed, they are as poignant, as profound and as thought-provoking as you are ever likely to read.  Al...

Perhaps the best thing about being a book reviewer is that you are fortunate to learn so much, and that is particularly so when reading books set in a specific period of history, and certainly true of this poignant and touching emotional fiction.  Set in a perhaps under-represented time and place in recent events, that of the post-war coalition fight against the brutal communist wannabe regime in Malaya, this lovely book, by the wonderfully named author Apple Gidley, definitely falls into the...

It’s fair to say that my review of this book’s predecessor was not overly glowing, and unfortunately when reviewing Pirate Booty I am inclined to be even less so, for which I am genuinely sorry; I like this author, and we have engaged in a fair amount of correspondence of late (I have been sent the three books in the trilogy for my unbiased review).  Not that Prine’s writing is in any way not good – far from it, the books have a wonderful style and voice, which for an ensemble cast wi...

Insightful and good fun, this is first in a trilogy (I assume) that I have been given by the author to carry out my unbiased and impartial review.  It’s a good start, and I look forward to reading the next books in the series, but be warned, without wishing to spoil this book in any way, it is not a self-contained, standalone title; you are required to keep reading.  Telling the story, behind the scenes, of a superstar British rock band as they tour the U.S. in the 80s, whose record company...

If you were to read this book from cover to cover, as I did, it would likely take you less than an hour in one sitting.  But there would be little point in doing so.  This is, in fact, a very handy little coffee table read, for you to pick up and practice as and when the mood takes you.  The whole premise is that you can literally physically manifest events, outcomes and even objects, just by training yourself to change your outlook and attitude.  Whilst the latter of those three seems somewh...

This is about as contemporary Young Adult as it gets.  Smith’s book very nicely encapsulates the standard elements of a group of high school friends who encounter a mystical force which gives them enhanced powers, then have to protect their hometown against a mysterious and malevolent villain.  Whilst there is, in fairness, nothing particularly outstanding about Discovery of the Five Senses, it isn’t a bad book, either.  The author K.N. Smith, however, seems something of a rough gem of a ...

As an unwavering atheist, who believes wholeheartedly in the existence of Jesus, I was very much looking forward to reading this book, and its evaluation of the authenticity of his divinity, from the point of view of an author immeasurably more knowledgeable on the subject than I.  Whilst Jonathan Dean certainly doesn’t disappoint – he is an extremely high quality author, who has undeniably studied, researched and analysed his subject comprehensively – I will admit that it was a slightl...

Gary McAvoy is back, again doing what he does best.  Now half a dozen or so books into the series, all of which I believe I’ve had the good fortune to read and review, a very clear pattern and formula is well established: Gary’s obviously beloved group of characters tick all the boxes to be just in the right place and time to deal with another theology-based threat to the religious order, and maybe much more besides.  The formula is much the same in all of these books, and The Avignon Aff...

I really enjoyed The Reaper’s Quota, so when this one appeared in my bookshelf I was very keen to get stuck into it.  And Sarah McKnight has delivered another great book.  Entertaining, thought provoking and creative, this direct sequel takes a slightly different tone to the first, opting for a more down to earth drama narrative, and perhaps shedding a little of the crackling wit of the first.  I won’t say anything to spoil this or the book it follows, but suffice to say that it does end ...

A very holistic, though perhaps what might be considered entry level overview of child developmental psychology, with a very strong leaning toward the behavioural approach.  Christine clearly knows her stuff, both as a parent and an obvious academic in the subject – added to that, she is a tremendous writer, personable, smart and articulate.  The book itself is nothing groundbreaking, but a great concise reference guide covering in every key area the best way to bring up your child for thei...

Right off the bat, I feel I should make a couple of points clear about this book.  Firstly, I loved it!  I enjoyed every fantastic moment, and was poised very quickly and throughout to award it a well-deserved five stars.  This didn’t change for the duration – until I finished, that is.  Then I very quickly took one of the stars off – and that was a calm reaction; I considered removing more.  In fact, I was actually so annoyed that my tablet nearly went flying through my open second-flo...

A very tough read – for lots of reasons – but a very good one.  I have to give you the forewarning I wasn’t: this is an incredibly harrowing book, with graphic, detailed and repeated accounts of the internal and external injuries of a murdered two-year-old.  Written by an experienced crime scene investigator of many years, and very clearly outlining a case which elicited very intense emotions in him, Immunity for Murder describes the day-by-day, true-life investigation into the particul...

So, this book is technically flawed, ultimately unsatisfying and doesn’t really go in any direction near where you are hoping it will go – and you know what?  I loved every minute of it!  Tom’s book is great.  With its tangible air of menace permeating throughout, simmering below the surface from very early on, it is safe to say that you spend much of it in nailbiting suspense, just wondering where bullied Henry is taking all of this.  And the author knows this.  Furthermore, he fosters...

This is an interesting book, with a good storyline, and Avinash writes it well, articulately and professionally.  It does feel a bit too long, though, and is indeed a very wordy book, which is perhaps hindered a little by this fact.  The reason for this is that at times it is quite easy to lose focus, as many of the same points are revisited time and again, but take long word counts to reach the bullet points.  I do like the multi-person narrative viewpoints, but again, because you spend so l...

A darkly entertaining sci-fi fantasy horror, of which I should say I found the title a little misleading in a way.  Not that it is inaccurate in any way, but rather that the humorous and even tongue in cheek tone of it suggests some sort of dark comic satire, which it isn’t at all; Zoe Hearty and the Space Invaders – or Zoe Hearty and the Alien Scum, depending on which version you read – is pure thriller, from start to finish, containing disturbing themes of domestic abuse, rape and mur...

Nice easy reading, Siobhan’s emotional fantasy doesn’t really break any boundaries, but you can tell the author has put all of her heart and soul into it, which comes through on every page.  The premise is a compact and concise one, about a grieving young woman who discovers a fantastical realm of the afterlife.  Apart from this and the sad backstory, it doesn’t delve too deeply into a storyline, other than Annie planning to set out on a journey of spiritual discovery as a response.  Th...

I was once a big fan of true crime, which of course went with the vocation, but as I get a little older, not so much, as life becomes a little more serious and less fascinating generally.  That said, though, I really looked forward to reading Romeo Vitelli’s True Crime Stories You Won’t Believe for a change, and I have to say that I wasn’t disappointed.  Romeo is a very good non-fiction writer, and he has done a tremendous job of curating true crime stories over the last two centuries o...

To tell the truth, I was expecting something a little different from this book.  No particular reason, but from the title I had a hunch that An Independent Woman In Yugoslavia was going to be perhaps the travel memoir of a midlife divorcee ticking off a bucket list entry.  And if I’m being even more truthful, I’m very glad that it wasn’t.  Instead, what this book actually is is a memoir of a very normal life, if lived by an extraordinary woman.  Iris is an achiever, no doubt, and an inc...

Two major bullet points stood out about his epic book for me.  First, it is a top quality, immensely crafted piece of writing, the work which has gone into producing it undeniably vast and conscientious.  Second, it is an incredibly hard book to read, for several reasons.

To begin, I want to say that Frederick Reynolds is awe inspiring.  His work rate and attention to detail are second to very few authors I have read.  Not just a writer but a man and a professional to be taken very seriously...

I love short stories, especially when they’re well written, and this intriguing anthology is just that.  From what is clearly an interesting and creative mind, Stephen Murphy delivers a dozen and a half or so of what can only be really described as vignettes, and for the most part slice of life, even if some of those fictional lives are a good deal more interesting than others.  The tales are not action packed or exciting, but rather more anecdotal or perhaps suggestive.  They are more abou...

I love the premise of this very topical, contemporary satire.  The vast majority of us, in our right mind, are waiting for the day – praying, indeed – that the woke left implode and figuratively eat each other.  The intelligent and rational amongst us know that they are just not compatible with each other, and their ideological fantasy world is simply not achievable.  Sadly, the rational majority are becoming increasingly silenced by a culture of fear.  Social media has fertilized an utte...

I may not be the most obvious choice of reviewer to appraise a book which can be categorized as both Christian and LGBTQ, for the two very obvious reasons.  Still, R. Mark Vinson chose to send me an ARC of “All Roads” – and I am very glad that he did.  It is a delightful book, and one which I felt a great deal happier and lighter afterward for having read.  Vinson (I will call him Mark for the purposes of this review), as well as being an eloquent and somewhat elegant writer, comes acro...

I enjoy reading children’s stories from time to time; they are a good way to mix up the genres and spend your time on something a little less serious.  But they have to be done well, especially if by an adult author.  And this one is; it is a good, enjoyable read, and a worthy opener to a promising series of books for pre-teen kids.  R.L. Fink does a great job of creating an interesting mystery, with some fun elements.  And, best of all for me, there are some brilliant illustrations by Anto...

If I’m straight up honest I’ll say that I loved this book, up to a point.  Robert’s short stories are fantastic.  His writing is simply brilliant, the intelligence and wit sharp beyond comparison, and his humour is wry and beautifully sardonic; there were occasions which had me in stitches.  Each story peels back another layer of the author, and we very quickly start to realize that there is far, far more meaning to Robert’s writing than I think some give him credit for.  In truth, wh...

Another ARC from my immensely talented namesake, and a particularly exciting instalment to his Vatican mysteries series.  As with all Gary’s books, you know exactly what to expect: a likeable, intelligent and virtuously trustworthy team of amateur sleuths; a powerful and arch-criminal nemesis; and an incredible amount of factual research, mixed with creative licence.  The only thing you don’t know is which ancient artefact or religious doctrine will be the focus.  I have to admit, half a ...

Not a work of literature in any real sense, but it is still difficult to imagine that this beautiful and sometimes stunning collection won’t appeal to most people on some level.  The elegant foreword and introduction aside, this book is in fact almost entirely a showcase of photography curated by a talented and shrewd-eyed life observers.  The 100 or so photographs range from the stylish to the sombre, the exciting to the calm, and the most simple of setpiece to the cleverest of visual effe...

To be honest, I found the title of this book to be a touch misleading, and indeed selling itself a little short; conversion rate optimization is really only one part of what is in fact a generally pretty holistic book summarizing most aspects of ecommerce and digital marketing, and it is fair to say that professional Anthony is offering so much more of his expertise than the term credits him with.  Whilst aimed at most levels of online business presence, the book is in reality best suited to ...

I won’t lie, this wasn’t really the book I was expecting from the blurb.  Perhaps my fault, I acknowledge; I know Karl has been explicit in stating this isn’t a self-help book, but in truth I was expecting something a little more holistically motivational, when a good 90% of You Only Live Thrice is more context-specific medical memoir, or a personal journey through lifesaving treatment.  From my own point of view, after a very morbid and reflective couple of years, littered with devasta...

I won’t lie, this wasn’t really the book I was expecting from the blurb.  Perhaps my fault, I acknowledge; I know Karl has been explicit in stating this isn’t a self-help book, but in truth I was expecting something a little more holistically motivational, when a good 90% of You Only Live Thrice is more context-specific medical memoir, or a personal journey through lifesaving treatment.  From my own point of view, after a very morbid and reflective couple of years, littered with devasta...

While a generally pretty easy read, you are certainly going to want to immerse yourself in this book right from the outset, otherwise you risk playing catchup throughout, so involved is the story.  Yet somehow it is also a relatively simple plot.  In some ways the Russian Roma gypsy identity of the story’s narrator seems a little by the bye; whilst this element is explained in some depth, it seems little more than a cultural explanation of the lifestyle choices of the characters; for the mo...

Expecting or thinking of having a baby?  Coming to terms with the realization that you’re gradually making the decision not to?  Regretting your decision after becoming a parent, or not becoming a parent?  Whichever topic or area of self-analysis is on your mind regarding parenthood, then this book is very much aimed at you.  Or perhaps it should absolutely be avoided at all costs!  It all depends on how you look at it, your attitude toward childbirth, parenthood and even your own experienc...

Let’s get this clear, right off the bat: this book is outstanding.  Tremendous.  Simply the best book I’ve read in a very long time, without a hint of doubt.  Furthermore, while it is very rare for me to stoop to the cliched hyperbole that a book “should be read by everyone”, in this case, given its subject matter and current societal trend, not to mention the book’s sheer quality, it absolutely must be read by everyone, right now, before it’s too late – although, of course, mos...

I always say that people write either for creative expression, to provide information or for purely self-therapy reasons; I believe this book falls very firmly in the latter of those three categories, despite its travel memoir element.  It is surprisingly candid on the part of the author, sharing rather more than her family’s travel experiences the emotional ups and downs, the profound love and ultimately loss, not to mention regrets – and I get the distinct impression, without wishing to...

Valeri’s is a moody and particularly well written book.  His prose is eloquent and artistic, as he shares her intriguing tales of mystery, melancholy and perhaps macabre.  Despite a wide variety of genres, which seem to range from horror to sci-fi to historical fantasy, there is a common style throughout, and at times, as he moves from one narrative to the next, it becomes a little difficult to discern between them.  That said, each of these little anecdotes is a distinct work of art and ch...

Although Richard is a superb writer, with an eloquent tongue and a tremendous turn of phrase, and these gems are each a standalone high-brow work of art, I don’t recommend that you read “50 States” as I did, from cover to cover.  Like the pleasant burn of a liquor, these are to be savoured and enjoyed from time to time, as the mood takes you – and that mood really needs to be a pensive and reflective one, perhaps at times even melancholy.  Although all cerebral in nature, there is pre...

Quite a gripping and entertaining story, the first half of which has almost noir-thriller style about it, with some Sin City-esque darkness about it.  About midway it switches, and the second half is pure monster fantasy, like some Satanic 70s horror film.  This isn’t a bad formula, to tell the truth, but it did feel a little disproportionate, in terms of its elements.  For example, very little actually happens in terms of bullet-point events in the story, and at times it felt like a decent...

It’s a rare thing indeed that I am able to read a book for no other reason than I choose to and, having found myself in this unusual position of late, I chose Pooch Problems – and I am delighted that I did.  It is a marvellous, lovely book, which is also incredibly informative and very useful.  But for the most part, I love dogs, and after a while without one I find myself now ready to bring another canine into my family – in this respect, I don’t doubt this book will be a huge help, ...

Looking for a quick read with an hour or so to kill, I thought I’d sneak in this novella, which I thought looked intriguing.  It was okay, though I wouldn’t really say much more; engaging in places, but not really optimizing these moments – though not in any way bad, either.  That it turns out to be the first in a series is surprising, as I felt it didn’t particularly grab the reader in any of the ways a novella should, in no way gripping or emotive; the action scenes are few and far ...

When you see this book is written by a naturopath, you might think it just another comprehensive guide to how holistic therapy can help prevent cancer.  You wouldn’t be far wrong, but Jenny’s book is far more than just that.  Rather than sink into the terror her own leukaemia diagnosis undoubtedly brought, she has thrown herself, with unbelievable vigour, into compiling a vast guide into everything natural vs. unnatural, in relation to their respective benefits and risks to cancer recurre...

This is the fourth instalment of Glyn Haynie’s Vietnam War novella series, and it might just be the best yet.  No nonsense this time around; The Firebase is just full-on action, as Andy Carter and his squad of brothers find themselves hopelessly outnumbered and under brutal and merciless attack by the Viet Cong.  The format of this episode is a tense siege, which may be the ultimate battle for a group of soldiers we have come to know and love over the series.

No one does reality of war lik...

I’m a big fan of Gary McAvoy as a writer; his style is tremendous: intelligent, articulate, conscientious, hardworking and incredibly knowledgeable – and that is just to start.  He possesses that rare thing which separates a wonderful writer from a wonderful author: a meticulous researcher, whose books are intended for an equally intelligent, discerning reader, who appreciates the better things.

I believe this is the fourth I have read in this series, with its familiar characters, clear...

Totally fun and entertaining, 15-year-old Teddy is a real talent, not just for writing stories, but for spotting a good, creative premise, from something which would probably never occur to most authors.  Clearly written for the dog he adores, Bravery Doesn’t Come From a Copper Coin tells the tale of an anxious labrador who tries to overcome his day-to-day fears with the help of his best friend, a cuddly toy, and inspired by a centuries old penny.  Suddenly one day finding himself caught up...

Even though not at all my cup of tea, this was an utterly engaging book which I read in a few gripped sessions.  There is no denying the quality of Hazel Ward; her writing is articulate, vivid and raw, drawing the reader into the characters’ lives like the script of a soap (a good one, not Eastenders).  All of this, despite the fact that I actually found Netta Wilde to be a particularly irritating personality, like the friend you try to put off meeting, because you pretty much know what the...

The third instalment in Glyn Haynie’s superb Vietnam War novella series is an altogether more action-packed addition.  This time, Carter and the squad are out for full on retribution, hunting their traitorous former brother in the V.C.-infested Quang Ngai Province.  Glyn’s finest creative quality is his authenticity – being a Vietnam veteran, of course, gives him a tremendous insight and credibility, which can’t be fabricated, yet he also has an unusual ability of taking his books dow...

Another short, sharply scripted snippet from Glyn, in the form of a mission-based segment of the Vietnam War.  Whilst a standalone episode on its own right, on this occasion covering themes of bravery and acceptance, in the most testing of conditions, this is additionally a direct sequel to The Tunnel, though set several months later.  Being the middle of the series, this could easily be a filler instalment for its own sake (Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers springs to mind), but it is not; l...

This is not so much a book of three short stories, as some of the reviews might suggest, but rather three parts of the same story of one man’s life, each taking one of the themes of its three major events: birth, marriage and death.  It does get you wondering while reading just how much is fictional and how much biographical or autobiographical.  You hope it is not too much of the latter, to be honest, because in all honesty, generally the unnamed protagonist does not come across a particul...

You always know what you’re going to get with Glyn Haynie: in a nutshell, some of the very best Vietnam War drama, fictionalized with no frills and no gloss, by a veteran and authority in the subject.  And this bite-sized portion – which is ideally read in one dedicated evening – is no different in terms of its quality and impact.  Still the fear, day-to-day uncertainty and routine mundaneness of the war zone – walking, thinking about home, sleeping, eating, fighting and hoping always...

I can totally relate to Kas’s comments in the foreword, that she already felt somewhat cocooned in her life long before coronavirus came along.  Then, lockdown gave her time for reflection, to see the world anew, re-evaluate her future and reprioritize what is important – I can relate to this, too.  What we then see, for the remainder of this book, are Kas’s musings, ponderings and philosophizing as she goes through this process.  Her words are put to poetry, not what I would call verse...

A very smart and funny book, I really enjoyed this one.  Don’t take the metaphor too seriously; in fact, I would say forget about the bizarre story altogether and just enjoy Dickerson’s clever writing and laugh out loud, dry wit.  This is more a book about the author than the characters (if there is any differentiation), and I suspect there is a lot of Marc’s self in all of the ensemble he has presented in Art Farm.  It is fantastical biographical, I am sure, but first and foremost it i...

I wouldn’t necessarily call Nom D. Plume’s mind an odd one, so much as a very high functioning, obscure one, and good luck trying to get on the author’s tangent – though if you do, you’ll be rewarded, for sure.  I like short stories and poetry, and I really like this collection, too.  The tales, I would say, are more like little vignettes or snippets of narrative, as bizarrely offbeat as they are exceptionally intelligent and well written, and as utterly random as they are astutely ...

Another beautifully written book by Ram Daryanani, who is very quickly becoming one of my favourite wordsmiths.  He writes poetically, eloquent and elegant, and so far all I have read from him has been a treat.  In all honesty, the half a star I awarded short of perfect is only really to acknowledge the fact that much of his take on A Christmas Carol is drawn directly from Dickens’s own words.  Obviously, I understand that this rewriting has been done as homage, as have many writers over th...

Amanda Berthault is a good writing professional, and it shows.  Combining a simple, no-frills storyline with a complex and profound narrative, this is high quality fiction, written as a craft, and a masterclass in character development.  Haunted former rock star Shadow is increasingly layered as his story unfolds, and remains a credible and likeable protagonist, despite the incredible chain of events which have brought his life to the point it is now at.  Perhaps I would have liked to see mor...

If I’m honest, the first half of this book was tremendous, and I had really high hopes for where it was going, already starting to prepare an outstanding review in my mind.  In the sometimes disturbing story of a young girl, the daughter of a teenage rape victim, who is abandoned as a child and left to fend for herself, Tina shows immense character and resilience in her determination to overcome all adversity and support herself without the involvement of child social services.   She lives ...

Bouncing Back From Difficult Times is a book which actually improves as it goes on, both in terms of its content and its quality.  This and others in the series are given titles which might suggest to readers a book about religious faith – but thankfully there is no mention of any such thing; the title, you come to learn by the end, invites the reader to relate to the author’s own struggle against her former negativity and damaged motivation, to become a professional in her field.  What i...

This is a strange book to review, mainly I think because I’m not really sure if it can be called a “book”, in a sense.  No offence to Vashti – she’s a real talent, and I’m all for mixing up styles and formats – but the majority the book’s content was songs from her YouTube catalogue, which was a somewhat disproportionate and disappointing ratio.  Vashti is a beautiful soft-folk/classical songwriter, with a soprano voice, but I don’t think I’d buy a book of song lyrics, giv...

If you like James Bond of the 1960s, with a touch of Michael Caine’s thinking spy, you’ll love this well-penned espionage book set at the height of the Cold War’s space race.  With more than a small element of those Adventure Books for Boys, which were so popular in the 60s and 70s, the unnamed secret agent goes from one extreme situation to another, from cliff-scaling to wreck-diving, with nothing more than his own grit and wit as an ally, when sent to investigate a huge explosion in M...

If you like flash fiction with an edge, I think you’ll really like this collection, like I did.  A fun and creative, if at times sardonic play on mainstream and utterly obscure headlines, compiled during the lockdown of the pandemic.  For the most part, as you might expect, there is a lot of left-wing, anti-Trump, anti-Brexit vitriol in some of these 150-word or so vignettes – thankfully, that’s not all the book is about, though.  All in all, the authors are good quality, and the cause ...

This book, perhaps more so than previous titles I have read from these married authors, is a real mixed bag: part dating guide, part travel and large part self-improvement.  It is incredibly comprehensive, and the immense amount of work which has gone into creating it is plainly evident.  Full of fascinating insight into the lives and cultures of the people of Ukraine, this one really opens your eyes to the dynamic between the sexes.  Likewise, the self-improvement, reflection and actualizati...

Even though only a short and somewhat simplified book, it is actually pretty much as important as they come, its premise no less than literally finding one’s very purpose, and turning their life to doing what they feel passionately about, preferably for a living.  It is a sentiment I strongly subscribe to, and have always tried to drive into the mentality of the younger members of my family and other people I care about, who may have struggled in respect of finding their purpose.

The book ...

An intelligent book about intelligence, and David Grantham certainly has the credentials to write it.  When you see this is a book about an agency posting in the war zones of Iraq, against the backdrop of the birth of ISIS, you do start to worry that it is going down a disturbing and brutal path – and, truthfully, this book is at times genuinely quite frightening.  Fortunately, though, the author veers away from the horrors of the Islamic fundamentalists he fights against, in favour of an a...

William Hart is an excellent writer, accomplished and professional; in a way, that makes this otherwise standard coming-of-age memoir a slight cut above.  In point of fact, I call it “coming of age”, but truthfully the characters are much younger than this – for this reason the content of this book didn’t really sit right with me at times, and readers are warned in this respect.  It is pretty vivid in its the sexual content, and I found this a little uncomfortable, because in the main...

I’m sorry to say that I found this book quite a tough read, and that is definitely not because of Megan’s writing ability – far from it; she is intelligent, talented and highly eloquent.  I think perhaps what I struggled with a little was her writing style.  Or, perhaps more accurate it might be to say styles, because, to tell the truth, it did feel at times as if I was reading two different books.  The deep fantasy – surprisingly, for me – was actually fine; Megan crafts a tremendo...

I have to be honest and admit that I find it something of a challenge reviewing faith books like this one, for the simple reason that I’m an atheist, and Peggy’s motivational memoir is for its largest part sermonizing the scriptures and the benefits of dedicating one’s life to God – she is in fact an ordained minister.  Of course I utterly respect her as an author, a person and a believer, though all I can do is present my review of the book objectively as a creative written compositi...

I like a glass or two of wine, but I’m certainly no fanatic and definitely not knowledgeable; I know the reds I like and the whites I don’t.  Yet, surprisingly, this tremendous coffee-table book from Michael Amon seems written for me – as well as for novices, those with significant knowledge, and even genuine authorities on the subject alike.  Simply put, Drinking and Knowing Things is a book which is ideal for everyone, save your average teetotal.  And it is wonderful; I really enjoyed...

I really like short stories – and I really liked the collection of anecdotes in Not Literary.  Combining autobiography with at times some riotous comedy – about such events as young women being coerced into stripping in a bar and liking it a bit too much, and her almost crippling herself to buy her colleagues donuts – Auriane’s are real crackers.  She takes mundane day-to-day events and squeezes out the laughs; I for one found myself in stitches at times, right from pretty early on.  ...

There are crime books, and then there are serious books about crime – major crime; global, world-changing crime, the kind that we know goes on behind the scenes and is responsible for the ills in the world.  This book is about that, and offers an insight that very few books have the confidence, work ethic and subject expertise required to assume.  From a destitute African boy, Kalenga becomes an international arch-criminal – a genius supervillain who would catch even James Bond’s eye.  ...

This is a good book, and one which I must say I enjoyed in the main.  If I am being honest, though, there is a large section of this entertaining epic which threw me off somewhat.  Until midway it is a pretty straightforward, rousing fantasy actioner, with more than a passing nod to Game of Thrones and the like, but then in the second half of FaeRhysian, the magical high-fantasy element becomes more prominent, the characters begin to embark on time-crossing “treads”, and the story starts ...

Bizarre, fun, cynical, emotional, educational, superficial, entertaining – there are many different adjectives which could be used to describe The Friends of Allan Renner, but its genre might not be quite so easy to pinpoint.  I guess you could categorize it primarily as literary fiction, although some of which occurs is too narrative in style to pigeonhole it as such – furthermore, often the description doesn’t even apply.  The friends of the piece are the very small handful of individ...

Although this is the first time I’ve read an ARC on global dating, there is something strangely familiar about it, particularly in terms of its structure and content.  When I managed to put my finger on what it was, I then just couldn’t shake the opinion; Find Love Overseas reminded me not just a small amount of the many, many marketing and business strategy books I have reviewed.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to trivialize the obviously tremendous amount of work John and Anz...

One of this author’s greatest strengths is the simplicity of her premises, and this is another of those – if at times a little bizarre.  But again, as always with Louise, scratch deep enough beneath the tenderly itching surface and you will reveal a multitude of complex layers.  It might be superficially about a psychotherapist kidnapped by her deranged patient, but the nature of her profession should tell you that there is much, much more to both of these key players and their backstorie...

This is true horror from Louise Worthington, and genuinely creepy it is at times, too, with a vividness to its setpieces which would make Richard Laymon proud.  With her usual moody, atmospheric and psychological writing style, and characters with more layers than a Viennetta, Louise gets under your skin with Rosie Shadow, and stays there, increasingly itching you as the book goes on.  Part supernatural, part gore-thriller and part emotional drama, this is a well-crafted fairytale for adults,...

Right from the off, when you start reading Willow Weeps, you are advised to find yourself somewhere cosy, dark and atmospheric, without interruptions, and immerse yourself in earnest into the author’s world.  If you do, you’ll be rewarded with a psychological treat – a work of quality and intense poignancy.  If you don’t, to be honest, you may find yourself on something of the back foot and playing catch-up.  This is a book best read entirely on the author’s wavelength.

In truth, t...

Incredibly for a book of less than 10,000 words, I can’t really work out if User Story Confus...

Unlike some other dystopian future sci-fi books, this has a very simple premise – and that is by far its biggest strength.  With the premise that, for the benefits to a privileged few thousand, correctly conditioned, the entire planet’s human population is instantaneously wiped out – the objective for this obviously explained by the title “The Utopia Project” – it is the ultimate worst-case dream/nightmare scenario.  Of course, as always with the genre, the forecast “Utopia” i...

There’s something of a feel of pulp about this well-crafted and well-written crime/wartime thriller.  With its cast of an abused teenage runaway rock star, a vicious Vietnamese gangster, corrupt cops, a sleazy senator and a warzone murder cover-up and conspiracy, the ingredients are definitely there for the tangled narrative you would expect from noir fiction – of course, they must be connected, but there are generally two separate storylines going on across the anthology.  And connected ...

I really like the premise of this hybrid supernatural paranormal/crime thriller, in which the spirit of a man who is the victim of an apparently random street attack remains earthbound to investigate the murky criminal activities surrounding either his murder or his attempted murder – if it sounds a little like Ghost with Patrick Swayze, here is where the similarities end; it has larger scale ambitions than this.  I particularly like the element of dark, malignant spirits lingering in the b...

A good instalment to Gary’s Magdalene Chronicles, which takes a little while to gain traction, but when it does, The Magdalene Veil establishes itself well within the series.  If he were to choose to leave it as a trilogy, this episode would present a very worthy and satisfying conclusion, but I suspect there is much more to come from this intriguing group of characters, as well as the genuinely alluring arch villains.  I’ve been fortunate enough to review the whole series so far, and I w...

Hugely accomplished work, by an author I’m coming to know as eloquent, intellectual and highly knowledgeable.  Caught Between Worlds is an insightful and informative coming-of-age drama, which is bittersweet, understated and melancholy, to the point of feeling a touch bleak at times.  Yet even though there is a feeling of mental (and perhaps even tangibly physical) coldness when reading it, ultimately there is also warmth – the kind which only comes from thoughts of “home”.

A real cu...

A qualified clinical counsellor and practicing hypnotherapist, Deborah McKenna is more than qualified to present the resources in this book, which she does with cheer and personality.  However, I do feel that perhaps readers should be advised before going in that it is very faith-heavy – both faith in yourself and positive thinking overall, and of course faith in God.  The “clutter” she refers to primarily bases this book on two premises: first, identifying and discarding repressed nega...

This book is a lot of fun, as it certainly should be, but perhaps surprisingly the focus isn’t actually as much on the fun as one might think.  Don’t get me wrong, Christine DeLozier brings a lot of humour into her writing but, for the most part, this profoundly academic reference book is all business.  In fact, for the first half at least, Diet for Great Sex comes across as more of biological reference book, and the diet it refers to focuses very heavily on the scientific nutritional val...

In some ways, this is your pretty standard, run-of-the-mill travel memoir.  I get sent many books of this nature, particularly regarding far eastern countries, travellers to this region apparently keen to share their experience with the world.  However, there is a welcome difference about this one, and that, in a nutshell, is its author Kyle McCormick.  Unlike the usual vanity memoir, Kyle’s approach is a little more down to earth, and even, dare I say it, refreshingly cynical at times.  He...

I’ll be totally honest and say that this was a much better book than I was expecting.  In fact, if you’re thinking of becoming an online entrepreneur, or starting an ecommerce business, it is actually as good a book as you are likely to read on the subject – it is certainly the best, clearest and most holistically comprehensive resource I have come across, and I say that not only as someone who reads a lot of books, but also as one with a great deal of experience in creating, selling an...

A slightly difficult book to review, mainly because it is a particularly difficult one to describe.  Not that Stephen isn’t a good author – he is intelligent, laugh out loud funny and incredibly eloquent – but if I’m being perfectly frank, I think he left me behind quite notably; truthfully, I was a little lost for most of the book.

The story, as far as I could tell, revolved around an investigation into a catastrophic incident involving a fleet battleship far in the future, and the ...

Don’t expect a book by experts in the subject of living with the condition of dyslexia – at least, that is, professional or academic experts; this authority comes from a place of experience.  Karl is himself a sufferer, although I am sure he would not approve of being called a “sufferer”, as it is more accurate to say that this book is in fact a celebration of the “gift” of dyslexia.  It does, after all, outline all the ways in which the condition is of real benefit to the life of...

The moment I picked up this book and started reading, one thing struck me immediately: this is a work of serious quality, by an author of real professional pedigree.  As well as being a lawyer, George Critchlow is an outstanding writer, with a tremendous poetry to his work. 

Be aware, his work might be considered subjective, in favour of a man who is clearly his dear friend, as well as skewed by George’s uncommon profession, as a liberally oriented defence and human rights lawyer.  This i...

An imaginative and highly creative take on motivation and life coaching by a non-fiction author who is entertaining and engaging.  Lew infuses large swathes of personality and humour into his writing, and is very easy to relate to.  He clearly has huge interest and knowledge of his field of expertise: the military history of ancient China.  Using popular fables and anecdotes from this long, eventful period, he goes on to apply the lessons of the time to how we approach life generally in the m...

This was a fun book.  I would say it is clearly Young Adult, but I did find the language at times a little bit coarse for a younger audience – or perhaps not.  It does have all the standard ingredients: the high school girl with a crush on the quiet loner; inter-species attraction; sinister agency men in dark suits – this strikes me as Y.A. sci-fi fantasy through and through.  As such, perhaps not necessarily my cup of tea – I always struggle to keep engaged, and always find the inevita...

A detailed fictionalized memoir, which presents the second person viewpoint (i.e. you, the reader) as the main protagonist.  It is not clear why Stanton chose this tyle of narrative, though I would like to think (probably incorrectly) that the “you” to which he refers is a real person, to whom this book is tribute.  Telling the account of a divorced American man of Spanish heritage, who travels south to Mexico, then across the Atlantic to the old country, to explore his roots, in fact the...

A collection of ominous and entertaining short stories – real crackers, too – with large part metaphor and a tangible portion of underlying menace.  Mac is a fine writer, with a tremendously twisted sense of justice, injustice and just desserts.  A variety of different writing styles are employed, from a curation of fictional letters to a play manuscript, then standard format narrative, told in both the first and third person.  Mac seems to write what he pleases, and does so with a marvel...

An important and extremely useful guide, I feel – if, of course, much more to some readers than others. 

Jeannie Gainsburg herself doesn’t feel the need to provide any specific reason for her own choice to become an LGBTQ+ ally, though you can tell it has since become a much more important part of her life than simple vocation.  You don’t need to have the same passion as Jeannie, for the cause of identity-equity, to find this book useful and informative; “The Savvy Ally” might be ...

There are numerous reasons why people write books, though generally this infinite number falls within three general categories: pure creative expression; to inform the reader; or, for the author’s own therapy.  This appears to have been written predominantly for the latter reason – with perhaps a hint of the second.  Just how much of this memoir is true is not clear to me; at the risk of causing offence, I got the impression there was a lot of fantasy on the part of Felix, and I suspect a...

It seems daily now that we see images of asylum seekers turning up on boats in Europe and Britain, but for many of us they are little more than faceless migrants; little mind is paid to their background, or their tortuous journey to reach here.  This outstanding fictionalized chronicle by Bunye Ngene tells this particular part of their story in its full, shocking detail, from a writer who undoubtedly knows the reality, rather than simply rehashing the emotive triggers of competing news media ...

I really enjoy short stories – the darker the better – and whilst they don’t particularly fall into the horror category, these atmospheric tales are pretty dark, and also pretty good.  Harrison is a very clever writer, and the imaginative compendium ranges from outright sci-fi, through simple slice-of-life drama, to the supernatural.  It is hard to pick a favourite; I like them all, to be honest, though I will admit that slick mystery “Joanne” is right up my street.  With “Karma E...

An awful lot of work, time and research have gone into this passionate and detailed case for the benefits of the development and mass production of autonomous vehicles.  In the context of the technological race between the two tech superpowers of the U.S. and China, it is in fact a far more comprehensive look at the sector in those two countries generally, profoundly comparing the economic, social, political and ethical aspects of the technology around the project.  Wilcox has covered every p...

Perhaps not the informal educational self-help guide you might be expecting, this is a rather more academic affair, with two approaches.  The first focuses on the biology of fat dynamics and calorie storage in the body.  Loaded with technical language, footnotes and appendices, this aspect of the book is pure reference, rather than easy reading, by an author who undoubtedly knows the most intricate details of his subject matter.  In truth, on this point, I would have liked to see a note on Ia...

I was really looking forward to this fun horror adventure, particularly just as things are starting to get seasonal in our household, and I wasn’t disappointed at all.  The whole Krampus myth has enjoyed something of a popularity spurt in recent years, in books and films, and this version is no bandwagon passenger; it is as good an atmospheric, contemporary telling of the tale as you are likely to see, bringing to mind a couple of recent movies on the monster, which were actually a great de...

This vivid and graphic crime thriller is perhaps in fact more an exposé of the shocking sex trade in Thailand, and other illicit activities of the Bangkok criminals; all on all, though, it seems to particularly emphasize the cultural exploitation of these desperate, destitute people by sex tourists from al over the world, and the lengths they will go to just to survive.  The Second Poison is detailed and holds nothing back in its candid portrayal of child prostitutes, ladyboys and their repu...

It is very unusual for me to read a book more than once, yet that is precisely what I intend to do with The Art of Accepting Yourself.  Marlow will probably seethe when I say that I read the entire book from cover to cover, in a single sitting – and thoroughly enjoyed every page of it, because that isn’t the point of this book at all.  It is not a passive read, but rather more a self-help course; it is much more than simple affirmation and positive reinforcement – though there is plenty...

I know very well just how much hard work Luis and Aurora have put into this heartfelt motivational book (indeed, I have been fortunate enough to assist in some aspects) and I think the final outcome has really paid off.  The premise is a considered and profound one: theorizing how we can literally live a better life by – to simplify and summarize – taking personal responsibility for our own decisions, by tackling our own fundamental psychological obstacles to doing so.  Of course, there i...

I’ve already read (and reviewed here) Reborn, the first in this superb spy series, and I do recommend that you do the same before reading this fine sequel.  Whilst it is not particularly necessary to make sense of the standalone Moscow Honey, reading the predecessor does give the characters and their respective backstories greater context, particularly that of Fairchild, whose childhood features quite prominently in the underlying narrative throughout the series, and is as pivotal to events...

This contemporary parable might in fact better be described as a fictionalized self-help book, which is even complete with exercises woven cleverly into the story itself.  Its objective is clear: not just to inform, but to subtly coach the reader, drawing you into the role and thought process of David, the pupil of the tale.  You can certainly imagine that Ari Gunzburg has compiled into a creative narrative the resources and materials of the motivational presentations and workshops he gives i...

A direct sequel to The Magdalene Deception, and it’s a good one, from my namesake (no relation, I promise).  One thing I will say from the off is that before you read …Reliquary it would definitely help to have read its predecessor first, because there is great backstory for most of the endearing cast of characters in this book, and there are multiple strands of narrative which stem from the first.  While the quest of this book is a new one (these books tend to revolve around archaeologic...

This is an enjoyable, nicely written kids’ book for, I guess, the middle school, pre-teen age group – it also has some wonderful illustrations.  Lis writes well in the first-person viewpoint of a young boy who finds and befriends a cute little alien.  It is easy to see why this lovely author has received the plaudits she has for her children’s writing – she certainly deserves them.

With more than a touch of E.T. about the story, it is good, naïve and harmless fun, with a little susp...

I do like a bit of British curmudgeonry, and this well written, well-crafted example of suaveness is your classic wartime comic adventure, very much with a feel of The Thirty-Nine Steps about it, infused with the tongue in cheek innuendo of John Steed and Emma Peel.

It’s a good, fun read, as our roguish upper-class spook is charged with recovering and transporting a top-secret suitcase, which can change the outcome of the imminent breakout of World War Two.  Hitler and Churchill alike are ...

This was a very good, very professional book, and my rating may seem a little contrary in this respect, but if I’m being quite honest, I did struggle with the writing a touch.  Not that Chasser is not high quality – she most certainly is – but more so that with this particular standard tale of magic and medieval fighting fantasy, the problem for me was perhaps not so much its content, but its pace.  To tell the truth, I always find fantasy extremely tough to bond with, and even harder t...

Another high action, gung-ho suspense thriller from Robert, featuring his favourite characters, veteran soldiers Rob and Tex.  In this, the second instalment in their superb series, set ten years after the two friends met in the jungles of Vietnam, they now find themselves embroiled in a nightmare closer to home.  Rob, now working as a cop in a small town, is involved in a drug-related shooting, which sees his wife taken hostage in retaliation, by a vicious cartel.  With time running out, it ...

Something horrifying is happening at the Particle Physics Research and Development Complex in North Carolina. Three physicists working on a sub-atomic particle accelerator known as the Destabilizer, have become psychotic and two of them have died. Alex, the daughter of physicist Jonas Kraig, cannot forget her father’s words, “Events will unfold that will rock the heart of man.”

Part psychological thriller, part sci-fi, part action novel, Sinai Unhinged by Joanna P. Evans has been ver...

A great fictional story, in some ways stunning and beautiful in others, for those of a religious persuasion – or maybe just lovers of good writing.  And Bruce Hampson is certainly a very good writer – as well as, quite clearly, an authority on the Old Testament.  This book expands in greater detail, with full creative licence, an event only very briefly touched on in the Bible: that of the twelve spies Moses sent ahead of the refugee Israelites into the Promised Land, in defiance of God. ...

An extremely well written, well presented and professional study textbook, in which Lance – clearly a very knowledgeable author and academic mind – presents what amounts to a vast and comprehensive thesis on the subject of control.  He uses all the basic schools of psychology, sociology and even philosophy and biology, to give as detailed an explanation as he can – and suffice to say it is an admirable feat, which he achieves well.  It is fair to say that he leaves no stone unturned in ...

I have to be honest, when I first saw the blurb for this book, my heart sank at the thought of yet another otherworld, magical fantasy.  But, while this book is kind of that, and certainly seems to plummet in that direction in the second half, for the first half of the book I was actually very surprised to see that it was nothing of the sort.  What it is, in fact, is a cynical, sardonic and at times very funny satire on day to day life in the office workplace, and an excuse for Sanin to pick ...

The Iron Lady is an entertaining young adult thriller that does not stop moving.

Agatha Freeman is not your average grandma. She loves her grandchildren but has a secret history of espionage that she keeps well away from them up in the cupboard with the cake mix. But criminal minds have long memories and sooner or later, if you have a history of fighting evil, your past will catch up with you. Age, as it is often said, is no barrier. As Agatha’s comfortable retirement is brutally interrupt...

Fans of medical dramas will line up to buy this book and, if they don’t, they should.  The author writes with authority and I suggest must be a doctor, but the information is not difficult for the layman to understand.  Alongside the medicine is the excellent characterization and the novelist’s savoury intimation that something sinister has indeed infiltrated the life of the young woman lying motionless in a hospital bed.

Patricia Harding is 28 and works for a legal firm. Benjie is her g...

I’m becoming a big fan of John Bauer’s writing, and this acerbic coming-of-age drama is another good one from him.  He is a sharp author, with a great professional style and a wry sense of humour.  The interaction between the characters is entertaining and nostalgia-inducing; you remember talking that way with your buddies at their age (boys, that is; girls I can’t really speak for).  More than that, though, Bauer has a knack of creating lead characters with multiple layers of humanity,...

An interesting book and a novel premise.  This entire novella takes place in a police interview, its whole story unfolding through the main character’s narrative.  I’m not sure how much of Brown’s bio is intended to be serious, and how much tongue-in-cheek, as he would seem to suggest that much of the unnamed first-person character is based on his own personality and indeed his own experiences – not too much, I hope, because while the protagonist is indeed interesting, I wouldn’t ca...

I initially thought that Burn Me Out was just another mafia-type novel but, as Barrows drew me skilfully into his story, I realized it promised something much more.

Al Vacarro is a hit man for Eddie Castella, the Italian crime boss who runs the local neighbourhood. Gang warfare, extortion and murder are all in a day’s work and his young family know only his pseudo-job as Vice President of Operations Castella Shipping & Transport. Al’s back story is rich with emotion, from the adolescent ...

Hmm…  I was really enjoying this atmospheric and gripping short story, increasingly eager to discover its poor protagonist’s backstory and fate – perhaps this was the reason I was left feeling so short-changed at the end.  Whilst it may not be to everyone’s tastes, I have to say that I rather liked Rodin’s present tense, reciprocal internal dialogue-style; the melancholy and morose oppressiveness are chilling yet warming at the same time.  And, although the overall premise is no rea...

To tell the truth, my review of Strange Karma is somewhat of a contrary one.  This is actually a pretty good book, yet strangely I struggled with large parts of it, finding it a little difficult at times to get into and stay with the story.  Not that it was particularly complicated, rather convoluted perhaps, as a woman traces the steps of her great-grandfather, decades earlier, into the mountains of Tibet, whilst in possession of a valuable gemstone; unbeknown to her, she is being tracked by...

Interesting and original, clever and at times almost comedic, SUDAN, Escape from Voi by Ted Walde is the story of Tawa Haridi, an independent researcher in the field of biomedical engineering who hopes to strengthen the Northern White Rhinoceros in order to protect it from poaching. Unfortunately, his cutting-edge technology has attracted the attention of the Pwani Republican Movement, a paramilitary organization that is planning to secede from Kenya. The very research that is designed to cre...

A well-written crime comic-thriller, about an unassuming estate agent who begins an affair with the wife of a wealthy criminal and finds himself up to his neck in money laundering and drug smuggling.  This is a conventional and pretty simple tale which is not excessive in any capacity, but rather a cosy read; it is probably far more suited to readers who like low-action crime caper fiction based on witty dialogue and humorous personalities.  There is a touch of cynicism in Browne’s portraya...

Sharp and clever, the more you read this witty social commentary, the deeper and more numerous its insightful layers develop; by the end, you find yourself nodding in approval at the way it went.

As a man seeks psychiatric help to unravel the profoundly interesting psychotic episodes he is experiencing, he begins to become increasingly aware of the myriad mental health issues affecting each and every person around him – some mildly reactive; some severely symptomatic.  Gradually, his own e...

Offbeat and clever, there is something soap-like about this fly-on-the-wall tragi-comic drama as, in what appears to be an effort to teach him loyalty and devotion, a womanizing English Lit professor is reincarnated as the world’s most articulate dog.  Through the dog’s perceptive eyes and sharp narration, we watch unfold the tale of the American anti-dream; an otherwise good-hearted and decent family blighted by hard drug addiction and mental illness.  A generally well-written book, with...

Questions of love and morality feature prominently in this dystopian thriller, in a city where the National Eugenics Centre receives praise for engineering a human with perfect emotional restraint, couples face Reconditioning Therapy for falling in love, and a mysterious terrorist named Zac Zevalon seems hell bent on the destruction of state property. The Liberalists have won power over the Purists, and their agent Mercy is an Enforcer, a genetically modified female working with the State Sec...

Slow burning and hugely atmospheric, Lorna’s work always simmers below the surface, with an intensity which grows and engulfs the reader; this thought-provoking composition is no different.  With a palpable feeling of menace growing gradually throughout, there is also an element of mysterious ambiguity, in this tale of a man with a history of violence struggling to raise his wayward daughter, whilst protecting her from the dark truth about her mentally ill mother.  Be warned, it is as bleak...

Jedidiah Appiah confesses to being restless by nature and he has written a very effective book about restlessness from God’s perspective, using examples of the men and women from scripture.

The Book of Genesis, where he begins, is a wonderful collection of real human dramas and, if you haven’t read it, then I can guarantee that within its pages you will find in abundance the agonies we have all suffered, the mistakes we’ve all made, and the regrets we’ve all had. In chapter 25 we mee...

Dyer is a good, professional author and this World War Two espionage thriller is a work of quality, research and attention to detail.  Based largely on factual events, The Ultra Betrayal tells the story of a Bletchley cryptologist who appears to have gone rogue, and is pursued by American and British MI6 agents before he can sell crucial intelligence to the Germans – information of such value it could change the whole outcome of the war.  It is a slow burner, with huge swathes of simmering ...

Sharp, acerbic and incredibly clever, what initially starts off as a cynical and sarcastically funny satire starts to very gradually – and with perfect timing – develop into something much more profoundly layered.  In a story which is possibly true (?) – or, perhaps in part – Grant is a well-known T.V. journalist, who is also approached to gain information about public figures by the national intelligence services.  Set at the end of the ’90s, then in the intervening years, there wa...

I’ve been fortunate enough to read some great books over the years, as well as some superb series, but it is not often one witnesses an anomaly such as this: a trilogy which produces three works of genuine quality;  Glyn Haynie concludes his Promises… Vietnam War trilogy with this more outright thriller – and it is another cracker.

Ten years on from Return to the Madness, Eddie is still haunted by nightmares of his traumatic tours of duty, and still vowing revenge against his cruel cap...

N.L. Holmes is an outstanding writer of pedigree and quality.  Her historical fiction is authentic and well-researched, as she paints landscapes and locations onto the page like an artist, putting the reader right there in the story, and able to experience her portrayal of history with all five senses.  She is also a master at crafting layered, well-developed characters, who are simultaneously endearing and human, as well as being awe-inspiring and powerful.  Her action scenes – whilst very...

A beautifully designed book with a huge chunk of style, you can see that Lauren has put enormous work and passion into this ambitious and heartfelt project.  It is fun, bright and colourful, and arguably the real star is the stunning computer-generated animation, of which it is packed full in abundance.  The storyline is creative and highly informative; I always enjoy seeing illustrated children’s books delivering important, educational information in a vivid and entertaining way, particula...

I think this novel was too subtle for me.  As I read it, I developed an idea that I should have come to it with some prior knowledge, and that this might have helped me.  Perhaps my problem is that I’m not American.

Edward Jones/Troy/Joey/Emmitt is never formerly introduced under any of these names but has a successful background in life insurance sales and is a proficient con artist.  He is hired to research the possible shortcomings (hopefully pornographic) of a respectable Mormon school...

This beautifully written memoir is part autobiography, part spiritual journey by the author.  With something of a fragmented timeline throughout, much of the book reflects Robyn’s viewpoint of her own life in general, particularly the darkest moments, and ultimately turns them into fuel for her personal motivational parable.  There is a bitterness eating away at this author, as there are in many who choose the spiritual path, and I do hope that her spiritual journey has helped her to come t...

I read Nobody Would Listen all afternoon and finished it the same evening. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything like it. A remarkable story.

‘Reflecting on my childhood is a heart-wrenching experience,’ writes Merrill.

My first thoughts were that R A Merrill might be Shakespeare in disguise, sitting in an old English pub watching fights, listening to family stories, reflecting on tragedies, dozing in its smoke and intoxication, because it is very hard to read this autobiography wit...

If you like good mild suspense, in any genre, I suggest taking a look at this gripping tale of international espionage, as an ambitious young MI6 spook tracks a former British agent across Hong Kong, China and Tibet for reasons she is not privy to.  As well as being an engaging political thriller which draws heavily from the reality of Chinese atrocities against the monks of Tibet, there is ample mystery in the tale and enough moral ambiguity in the behaviour and respective backstories of the...

Another tremendous book from Simon Gary, and in this prequel to the wonderful Gone to the Dogs he has really honed his craft in character development; Thryke is a masterclass.  Not reaching out for some of the hilarity or bawdy laughs of its predecessor, this instalment is a much more subtle, poignant comedy, with greater focus on the genuinely moving emotive elements of …Dogs: sadness, happiness, romance and a life of rural innocence.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t a great fan of Cornelius ...

A Prince Who Destroyed My Life is an academic study of the effects of child marriage on women in Pakistan, but it is also the story of a young girl trapped by the rigid cultural practices of her society. Discussion questions are posed at the end of relevant chapters and the work concludes by investigating female abortion and infanticide and, following that, sexuality and sexual orientation within contemporary Pakistani society. The reader is introduced to Paghonda, a beautiful village girl, a...

This interesting and exciting thriller is pure sci-fi, and certainly seems to be Phipps’s forte.  It is gripping, has a good storyline, infused with just the right amount of darkness and a large stroke of light-hearted character interaction.  A simple tale, about a noble-blood galactic pilot turned freedom fighter when his world surrenders to the galaxy’s ultimate power, who finds himself fighting alongside his enemies years later.  Whilst not an unfamiliar story, of course, this book is ...

For the most part, this is a fun and entertaining vampire action-comedy, which crosses Blade with What We Do in the Shadows, and I enjoyed reading it, gliding through the book with enormous ease.  Phipps has created some great characters, including villains, to get your teeth into (excuse the pun), and a pretty novel storyline, in which the elder vampires are some sort of all-powerful Illuminati – the one-percenters – who, like the rest are happy to commit genocide to further their corpor...

Killer Instincts by Anna Lee Rose is the story of Hanna the virgin sex slave and Jake the caring hitman. For the most part, it was a lot of fun. Sex and crime sell books – and I won’t deny that this is what the author is doing here - but she has not lost her essential humanity (at least, I don’t think so). Booze, drugs and a Bacchanalian lifestyle haven’t dampened Hanna’s enthusiasm for sex either, and Jake shows his compassionate side by flashbacks to a lost love and a sister he fi...

I do enjoy poetry, and for me there are three things which make it: intelligent, witty and creative prose; elegant presentation; and engaging narrative.  Whilst this book is not quite the finished article, it does tick these boxes for the most part, and it is a very enjoyable, pleasant and cosy way to spend a (very brief) bit of time.  The six rhyming, interconnected narratives are intriguing and edgy.

As a reader, making the most of poetry can only be done in the right conditions – like c...

I must confess to struggling with this book somewhat.  With an ensemble cast of characters, and different strands of a connected storyline, I admit that I spent much of the read lost and trying to play catch-up.  I saw it through, of course, because I was keen to see where this otherwise intriguing, dark, absurd and occasionally disturbing tale was leading.  It is, in fact, a very clever, if simple overall story, in which two misogynistic zealots set out to genetically create a subservient gl...

This wryly comic and academically enlightening look at the professional day-to-day in the working life of a hospital surgery intern, based on real-life stories and experiences, is a real treat, if a little hard to stomach at times – as is the nature of this type of book: i.e. medical profession fly-on-the-wall.  There are a lot of this extremely popular and growing genre coming into print these days, and although I have to say they really don’t appeal to me personally (as someone married ...

In 13^th century Egypt, a king’s envoy and loving family man is sent to investigate the assassination of a hapiru leader, discovering a deadly and treacherous plot.  So begins a fine book which combines the splendour and vivid opulence of ancient Egypt with the more conventional cosy mystery genre.  Indeed, in the afterword Holmes (an appropriate name, perhaps) reveals plans for additions to the series, and this is reinforced by the book’s tagline “A Lord Hani Mystery”.  Perhaps in som...

This book had it all for me: love, romance, exotic culture, tragedy, mystery, and relationships. I finished it in a day and highly recommend it.

Salem is a member of a Yemeni family cursed by generational honour killings. That this blood revenge between clans commenced before he was born and has taken the life of an innocent sister does not make things any safer for him, and he is forced in 1966 to find refuge and make a new home for himself in Birmingham in the UK. Here he falls in love wit...

What starts off as a Jane Doe body mystery gradually increases in tension and menace, in this gripping, lighthearted semi-action detective thriller.  With a seedy underbelly emerging to the victim’s life, and the progressive sense of a bigger and more organized threat on the horizon, Suicide Squeeze is formula three-act action, in the mould of Hollywood blockbusters – the type starring Mel Gibson, Will Smith and Bruce Willis – if perhaps a little lighter on the action than may be expect...

Exquisitely written and highly entertaining, The Magdalene Deception is an investigative mystery in a very similar vein to The DaVinci Code, as a young, ambitious priest from New York starts a dream job as a Vatican digital archivist.  In the course of his work he finds an ancient artefact which threatens the entire Catholic Church and sends him on an ominous quest, along with a feisty journalist investigating the Vatican’s corrupt complicity in the possession of Nazi gold, cruelly looted a...

Sometimes soul-searching and often gruesome, Dr. Insomniac is one of those medical memoirs of which you swear you’ll just devour one more chapter late at night until, before you know it, dawn is peeping through the curtains.  It’s short but memorable.  Samatha Polisetti manages to pack a lifetime of adventures into a few chapters, from the perspective of a young doctor in India working in many branches of medicine.  The gender bias in the medical hierarchy and in the country in general is...

A Sparrow Alone

I found the novel an interesting historical read, the product o...

An outstanding book by Kevin McDonald, and a work of numerous tremendous qualities, from an author who is highly educated in his subject matter, as well as superbly eloquent.  McDonald undoubtedly knows his local, geo-political and military history, and whilst the factual elements of the story are presented well and worth reading about on their own, he conspicuously manages to achieve what others frequently attempt and fall short at: presenting a highly plausible alternative history timeline,...

An incredibly melancholy, yet ultimately heartwarming tale about death… and about truly living.  The “reveal”, shortly before midway, is of course entirely obvious right from the off, but a twisty tale is not the point of this lovely book; Dallas has created a moody, heartfelt and emotional journey, with something of an air of mystery in the first half.  After this, the book becomes more of a full-blown fantasy for romanticists – by fantasy, think Mills and Book, not Frank Herbert.

T...

Review by Margaret –

I remember from my childhood the National Service Advertisements calling up our young men to fight in Vietnam.  I remember the anti-war demonstrations, and I know the psychological scars Australians still carry from fighting.  So, when I read Steven Max Russo’s The Dead Don’t Sleep, it came as no surprise to learn that his Vietnam veterans have a few hang-ups as well.  Hard drinking, tough talk and drug use abound, and the three perpetrators as well as the protagon...

This sci-fi mystery thriller from Kevin Moran has all the feel of a Young Adult book about it, though I suspect the main characters are slightly older than that, primarily because of the nature of their relationship, and the fact that one of them has a military background.  It is pretty interesting and entertaining book, and though not particularly outstanding in any way, I do like this author’s articulate and engaging writing style; he had me hooked, and I read the whole thing over the spa...

This superb, simple parable is a real gem.  Tremendously dark, gripping and vivid, it tells an age old tale of good versus evil, seduction by sin and God’s wrath; the story is unabashedly biblical in context and a cautionary tale in its purest form – and, with strength in its simplicity, it is outstanding. 

Set in the always ominous early days of the New World – specifically early-1800s Massachusetts, in which witchcraft and the worship of dark arts were reviled and summarily dealt wit...

The history of black America contains a lot of twists and turns. In case you think this is obvious, On the Wrong Side of God by Harry Boyd highlights many subtle political deviants of which I was unaware. 

Boyd is reaching out to the black Christian Church: ‘This book is to draw believers back to the word of God and into an intimate relationship with Christ.’ It is engaging and readable, a lively testament to the work of the Holy Spirit. He is a committed black Christian with a deep love...

This is, quite simply, a hugely professional business strategy publication, by a highly proficient author.  Servant leadership, in a nutshell, is the art of good people management skills, which are essential in modern business and, as anyone with any degree of business sense or even just common sense will tell you, creates an infinitely more productive and engaged workforce.  Valuing employees and giving them input, and a psychological or even actual stake in the company’s future, is undoub...

William says in the preface to this little gem that he adheres to no particular format or type when he writes, and that is absolutely true of what follows.  Quirky, punchy and interesting, the three very short tales in this book are simply the author’s imagination poured onto the page.  That’s not to say that he isn’t a particularly professional author – he is, and a very good one, to boot – he just chooses not to form his work into the moulds of the usual expectations and conventio...

Although obviously a book which promotes the benefits of photography to help achieve wellbeing, I would definitely say that there is much more focus on the former part than the latter.  It was perhaps a touch surprising to find this book far heavier on the practical than the spiritual or therapeutic; I would go as far as to say that this is probably 80% practical guide to amateur photography, if written by an author clearly in touch with the practice of mindfulness.  In this respect, Lee does...

Whenever I am sent a historical fantasy with “Volume 1” in its title, my heart sinks a little.  This genre is particularly characterized by long word counts and abrupt, unfulfilling endings.  But, in this book’s case, while it certainly does have the former, the latter is thankfully avoided by this tremendously good author.  Yes, it is part of a saga, and yes, it is long and wordy, but it is also self-contained in its own right, feeling like more of a chronicle from the series, with thr...

I enjoyed this book. The author, Mark Bulahao, is an artist and has the ability to see the small details in every scene that I would miss. In the story of Paco he impresses me with the importance of these little things. He weaves a tale for me in order that I might pay attention to a less dominant voice in a culture that itself is less dominant in our western world.

Paco is nineteen and yearns to be free. He is ‘an awkward fellow’ physically, the product of his father’s waywardness, �...

I wouldn’t call this a therapeutic self-help guide, as perhaps the book’s title and associated blurb might suggest, but rather in fact a therapeutic memoir, written for the benefit of the author.  Clearly with a truly shocking, devastating trauma in her childhood, CJ has, throughout her life, found her own ways to cope, starting with forgiveness (for what, exactly, I’ll leave to the author to share), and this book, I suspect, is more of the same – written at the stage she is now at, i...

Not at all what I was expecting, Call Numbers is a surprisingly gritty, and I have to say a particularly angry book, with all of its somewhat disagreeable characters displaying a level of aggression and antagonism which occasionally took me aback, and seemed strangely out of context with the book’s supposedly tranquil, library workplace setting.  That is not to say it is not a good book – it is, and very well written by an undoubtedly good author – I’m just not sure what the intended ...

Easy reading and inoffensive in any respect, this YA tale is no more or less than a modern-day, tech-arena Famous Five-style mystery, about an elite, teenage group of cyber-security gurus who investigate when their employer’s biggest client is targeted by an ominous, highly sophisticated hacker.  Whilst this may not sound like the most dramatic or action-packed storyline, it actually gets pretty exciting, and gripping, too.  Sue Loh clearly knows her subject, and is obviously something of a...

If I hadn’t started this book only very late one evening, I would have finished it in a single reading. Not Pregnant by Karina Savaryna is an expression of the grief of every woman in every century who has longed for a child. Like the mother of the Jewish prophet Samuel, she is ‘a woman sorely troubled’, speaking out of her great anxiety and distress. The book is intense and unrelenting but it is also as gripping and expressive as Shakespeare. Having begun to read, one is drawn in. The ...

Henry Harris is about to be awakened.  He has passed his entire twenty-nine years in his parents’ comfortable apartment in Manhattan, devoid of relationships, other than with books.  But his passion for creating poetry proves his salvation, when he bravely decides to leave his front door for the first time in his life, to attend a summer writers’ retreat at the Hôtel Inspiré, a guesthouse in the south of France, in a mountain village devoid of infrastructure.

As a special education tea...

This author knows his stuff, and this is a high-quality work – hugely entertaining and instantly engaging.  I was hooked right from the off, and this didn’t fade; in fact, the more I read, the more eager I was to find out where this unusual tale was heading.

Alternating two parallel timelines, it accompanies a grieving, middle-aged U.S. State worker, back for Xmas from working in Afghanistan, who finds himself immediately hospitalized for a DVT the moment he lands in the U.S.  As he recu...

Yvgeny Yedynak is an undertaker with panache.  He employs a gravedigger the police mistake for a zombie, carries the finger of his dead father in his pocket and drives a hearse called Cerberus, in Greek mythology the dog who guards the gates of Hades.  He is selectively honest and sees no harm in pawning anything of value remaining on a corpse once the relatives have surrendered it for burial. However, when he discovers the headless and handless body of an elderly man in one of his freshly-du...

This is one of those books which isn’t really about anything (though, the ending is genuinely staggering).  Set over the course of a weekend, it tells, from a multi-person viewpoint, of the everyday lives of a group of young twenty-somethings – and a few peripheral others – who appear to live for nothing but smoking weed, drinking shots and getting laid.  Despite its excellent writing, it didn’t really appeal to me; in fact, in the main, I think this book is probably more suited to an...

Another day, another excellent Vietnam war book from Glyn.  A direct sequel to Promises to the Fallen, this instalment kicks off immediately following the tense ending to its predecessor as, much to his new wife’s horror, Eddie is to return to the jungles of Quang Ngai for his second tour of duty.  This time, however, his experience values him much more highly, and he is selected for a small, novel search and rescue unit.  His new adventures will reunite him with old friends, and introduce ...

For a book clearly rushed out extraordinary quickly, the author has actually done a tremendous job.  Sure, it needs tidying up for layout and Arnett has missed more than a handful of errors in his haste, but a sincere hats off to him for the remarkable achievement of this inspirational and comprehensive (surprisingly the latter, given the low word count) advice guide.

Arnett is the kind of person you want with you in a nuclear bunker; he has a positive spin and well-being solution for every ...

If you’ve ever wondered how academics justify their existence, then Ivy is a Weed by Robert M. Roseth is the murder mystery for you.  Set within a university in the Pacific Northwest of the USA, the novel is sophisticated yet still on planet Earth, and the plotting is as finely crafted as any novel I have read by well-known crime writers.  One cares about the protagonist Mike Woodsen, university reporter turned amateur sleuth, so it is a rewarding journey taken with him to investigate his s...

This interesting, entertaining book is a very enjoyable way to kill an hour or two.  Written by an ADHD sufferer, its very simple format tells us first about the condition, then about the healing power of music generally, before finally combining the two topics in its third part, to suggest how music can help those affected by ADHD to manage their mental health.  I, for one, was in no doubt about this suggestion before I even picked the book up, so Luz had no need to convince me.  Music is un...

However you feel about yoga, or your opinion of the whole spiritual energy concept generally, sometimes a good story is just a good story.  In this motivational life-help book, yoga teacher Christa presents both.  She is an experienced, inspirational professional, and also a creative writer with a flair for language which could appeal to adults, teens and even very young readers alike.  As well as encouraging the reader to learn more about the arts of breathing she refers to – and helpfully...

I won’t lie, this slow, moody and incredibly melancholy book was a little bit of a struggle for me.  Don’t get me wrong, it is very well written and Marcello is undoubtedly extremely good quality; I am in no doubt that if you are a fan of this type of book, genre and writing style, you will love it.  The good reviews are well-merited, but I think this is more for me a matter of personal taste.  It is incredibly slow and poignant, which I don’t have a problem with, of course, but in such...

How to describe this book?  Absurd, depraved, dark, gritty, bonkers and at times utterly delicious.  For the most part, though, it is crude, grotesque and unpleasant.  Not that those qualities are enough to put me off or mar my enjoyment of a book in any way (and I do enjoy my horror); though, I do think it is fair to say that sci-fi-horror hybrid Monsters Inside was not really my cup of tea.

This graphic and bizarre novella, told from a multi-person viewpoint, is definitely a book which wil...

I have been fortunate enough to read all of Robert’s books in the “Rob and Tex” series, helping him work on one or two of them, and this is certainly one of the better ones.  Without the gung-ho action of Freedom’s Light, or the profound wartime trauma of Bullets and Bandages, Butterfly Lake is perhaps a more understated and subtle piece of work, and this certainly suits it.  Set in the beauty and tranquillity of the Pennsylvania mountains, which Rob clearly loves, there is more an ai...

At first glance, this book comes across as your average, happy-memories, reminiscent memoir, with friends, drink, girls, cars and all the usual fare – and, that it most definitely is.  However, as you read on, and indeed between the lines, you realize there is more to it, and more to its author – perhaps even he is unaware of it.  Your admiration only grows for T.J., his general attitude and his strength of character.  Sure, his life was ordinary, but his childhood was far from what one w...

Jesus said: ‘Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.’

My first thought when I read this story about the woman caught in adultery was: Where is the man?  It is true, as the Reverend Susan Bowman discovered, that if you are one: a man, and two: not ordained, then you can get away with a great deal.  If you are a woman priest, then you are toast.

I come from Sydney, Australia, the home of the ‘S’ word: women’s ‘submission’ to men in the Anglican (aka Episcopal) Church.  ...

Donald Gates is a fine espionage author with an enviable knowledge and an admirable work ethic, and The Soloist is no less than a gripping, interesting, exciting thriller, which lingers more on the cerebral than the action, and relies on the intelligence of its reader - which is always a good thing, and something I take as a compliment, as the reader.  In the vein of Frederick Forsyth, the antagonist is the lead character, and a very cool, callous one he is at that, going about his business w...

This extremely long tale starts off with a real air of epic fantasy about it, as we parry back and forth between the Heavenly Kingdom of the angels and northern Spain, at the turn of the 13th century. As the celestial beings come into conflict, and some fall, there is the promise of mighty things to come in this 750-page odyssey. After the opening quarter, however, we find ourselves in modern-day London for the duration of the book, which is perhaps a touch disappointing (no less for me than ...

This short, enjoyable memoir is a real gem.  Written with clear quality by an author with undoubted credentials to do so, we get to join Doug and his experienced sailor friends, crossing the Atlantic from the Canaries to Antigua, on their custom-built catamaran in the 1980s.  They are blessed for the first part of the journey to be joined by renowned boat designer John Shuttleworth, an expert in the field, who also writes a very welcome foreword to this book.  At times utterly tense, sometime...

Nobody Gets Out of Catering Alive really is a funny memoir.  My congratulations to the author.

Set in the 1990s and related in a rolling comedian chant – ‘I wish I could stop this compulsive entertaining’ – Joe Montaperto is a comedian down on his luck.  His hair is falling out, he’s only earning enough to pay for the bus to work and he’s living with his parents, creating his own maudlin entertainment by watching 1960s reruns.

As he lurches through his thirties with chronic inso...

A beautifully written book, if not about anything specific, but then, simultaneously, about everything.  Ritch Gaiti takes us on one man’s hugely personal journey of enlightenment, across the unnamed wilderness and through his own spiritual realm.  For the most part, it is difficult to tell if the narrative of The Strawberry Road is a metaphor for his whole life journey, a particular life challenge the narrator is facing, or if he actually is simply walking, with no purpose but to see where...

Galina, Arizona 1960. A town of economic hardship and racial tension experiences a mysterious storm of red hail, and out upon the mesa three children are spoken to by beings they can’t describe. Then follow four stages of an illness so inexplicable that even the local wildlife is affected.  But is the problem physical, spiritual, or something else entirely? Researchers in both 1960 and 2020 try to explain it as magic, curses, fungus, infections, illness, psychology, and finally aliens.But b...

This atmospheric collection of short supernatural chillers is right up my street, and I loved every moment of reading it.  The five mysterious tales – which I personally think are suitable for adults and (probably more mature) kids alike – are thoroughly entertaining, and I read the whole book in one enjoyable sitting.

Rio writes beautifully, in a simple, eloquent and professionally elegant style.  His language is easily savoured and although English doesn’t appear to be his first lang...

Robert has clearly put a huge amount of work into this Vietnam war drama.  For somebody who never fought himself, but has written this book as a clear tribute to the brave men who fought and died, with help from his veteran brother, the research and passion he has applied to it is admirably on show for all to see.  I have read many Vietnam war memoirs, and I can truly say that this is as authentic an account as you will read from an author who was not present; the terminology, feelings of fea...

In the beautiful forest hills of Boulder County, Colorado, Buddy cultivates weed on his conservation land.  Whilst the growing of weed is not illegal in the state, he is unlicensed and pays no tax… suffice also to say that he grows slightly more than the few plants permitted for personal use.  Now, whilst Buddy has never bothered anybody before with his lifelong hobby and livelihood, he is suddenly attracting all sorts of unwanted attention – the wrong kind - from Colorado’s neighbourin...

I Learned It From You is the book of the documentary of the same name designed to examine racism and racial segregation in the USA by interviewing six randomly selected men and women born between 1946 and 1953.  The participants were asked the same six questions, their answers revealing to Wright that racism exists only because it has been taught.

I am Australian and I found the stories of Maggie, Steven, Gloria, Margie, Miriam and Mike very enlightening.  Maggie’s situation, for example, ...

Golgotha is the third book in Guy Portman's Necropolis trilogy. It is as dark and sociopathic, as only the British know how to be, and will be welcomed by fans of Necropolis and Sepultura.

Dyson Devereux works in London in the funeral industry.  However, whilst awaiting trial in the San Vittore Prison, Milan, he has been a prey of the possessive Alegra, femme fatale on steroids, with whom he had spent only a couple of nights prior to his incarceration.

Upon Dyson’s release, Alegra is dete...

Thank you for sending me this lovely book. Quite honestly, I don’t know why it hasn’t been snapped up by a mainstream publisher. I have just finished ‘Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine’ (2 million copies sold), but I enjoyed ‘Beautiful Things’ more. It’s warmer, more human and believable. It contains valuable insights into mental health issues. In my opinion it would reach more people. The differences between the two are probably that Eleanor Oliphant gets you in immediately, ...

This book is a lot of fun… to an extent.  Insofar as it only means to be, up to a certain point, before it has a very, very serious umbrella message.  Beautifully presented, it addresses literally everything about the story of mankind, our role in the world, and our future role in it.  Up until the last quarter’s sermon, I don’t think Tom takes it particularly seriously.

Tom has a theory on everything, and that’s all this book really is, in the main.  He does his research, of course,...

It took me longer to review the novella than to read it! 

It is nicely edited. I found two small typos in the entire MS.

The ideas of power, desire and human aspirations are quite exciting and, although the vignettes that comprise this novella are evocative, the author could, if she liked, flesh out the characters. That would help the reader because, for such a short novel, there are a lot of characters.

The briefness of the vignettes creates tension and drama. It is dramatic and elegantly...

Sharp, dry humour penetrates every word and line of this subtle, cosy comedy.  Not big on storyline or drama, this is rather witty monologue and dialogue, telling the life story of a group of elderly men and women who have been friends since childhood and – for two of them in particular – share their experiences and musings of life over countless cups of coffee, in some of the Big Apple’s finest coffee shops and delis.  The comic banter bounces back and forth without respite, while Ray ...

Stronger than Blood by Allan Mason is a complex thriller, devised with considerable imagination, and cleverly written. The author has a firm grasp of the world of electronic manipulation that we live in and a wonderfully warped sense of humour. He has used these skills to morph the present American political system into a new order all too believably.

USA, 2055. Albert Woods lives in Washington in a world of absolute government control. His personal life is overseen by Victor, the interactiv...

Absolutely riveting. Written by his wife in a vibrant Greek style, From Doctor to Guinea-pig is the story of Alex, a Greek doctor in Zaire in Central Africa, gifted and generous, who contracts HIV. There are a lot of twists and turns to this story. Alex is not a typical AIDS patient.   

The author has the gift of making the little things in life absorbing to her readers. With honesty, compassion and humour, she has written a beautiful tribute to a remarkable man. 

Trained in the university ...

I found this book a somewhat strange one to review – not because of its subject or writing, but because the author opted to send me selected extracts rather than the full book; overall, I estimate I was missing at least half, and have been left to write my review based in the 100 or so pages I received.  Still, nevertheless, I believe I have got the gist, and have surprisingly only found myself choosing to omit one star from my maximum rating for it, which is some testament to its quality. ...

I recently reviewed another book set in the Volta region, and the contrast between the two couldn’t be any more different.  If I’m being honest, Christine’s description of Ghana doesn’t sell the place to me at all – but, of course, I am being obtuse, because a travel guide was never her intention with Bucket Showers and Baby Goats; the book sets out to highlight the plight of a poverty-stricken and under-educated nation.  And, this she does extremely well.  One thing which is consis...

This is the third I have read from the consistently brilliant Glyn Haynie, and it is a remarkable change in direction from him, as he moves away from his trademark Vietnam memoir format, into fiction.  Glyn has proven to be every bit as superb a fiction author as he is when sharing his non-fiction autobiography series.  Still on the familiar ground of the Vietnam war, this time Glyn has crafted a riveting, poignant, detailed and hugely authentic story of a young man’s tour of duty in 1969: ...

This philosophical and dialogue-driven medieval fantasy immediately opens on a puzzling situation, which is always a great way to start a book, as our initially unnamed hero awakens in a strange place, with no memory of who he is or how he got there.  One thing which is very soon clear is that he is from a time and culture vastly different to the dark ages he now finds himself in, though he has no recollection of how he acquired the hugely impressive combat skills which he is very soon requir...

This untaxing, easy read is a pretty entertaining way to fill a few hours.  The story is a simple one, yet intriguing and engaging right from the outset, the cosy mystery of the scarlet chair keeping me attentive enough to read the book in one sitting.  This is a warm and affectionate paranormal romance for young adults, and whilst the supernatural qualities of the chair are indeed somewhat malevolent, they are generally more mystical and superstitious than particularly dark.  Almost metaphor...

Great fun and hugely entertaining, this light-hearted, humorous LGBTQ family drama is a very easy read.  As four siblings gather following the death of their mother, each gradually reveals a little more about the trials and tribulations of their own personal lives.  Not otherwise given much of an opportunity previously to bond, they are brought together more profoundly when two of them are kidnapped whilst on holiday in Mexico, whilst the other two work together to raise the ransom money.

Wh...

This book is not just entertaining, interesting, well-written and professionally crafted, it is also educational and enlightening, with regards to a period of European history which is perhaps often overlooked.  Set in 1928, in the aftermath of the first world war, Istria has fallen under the ownership of a now Fascist-run Italy, the land wielded and occupied with ruthless complicity by Mussolini.  The formerly Croatian citizens now find themselves being naturalized by Italy’s ethnic cleans...

Engrossing, entertaining and utterly easy to read, I had no problem at all getting lost in these exciting, fun tales.  Chronicling the adventures of a young American soldier, discharged following the end of the Vietnam war, who decides to return to South East Asia, to live and travel, these short stories are based loosely on the real life exploits of the author, as well as stories he has heard and people he met.  This collection of anecdotes forms the whole, overall story of his months in, pr...

Ancient and modern cultures collide in this brilliant, engrossing book, as a millennia-old nomadic island tribe protect the sacred Garden of Eden and the apple of eternal life, from ruthless big pharma, who want to harvest its life-preserving qualities for profit.

This ultimately quite sad indictment of modern society is a book of two halves, the first an intrepid, fantastically mythical quest for the ancient artefact, with shades of Indiana Jones meeting the creatures of Sinbad.  The second...

It is refreshing to read a Dystopian tale in which the freedom fighters are as evil as the regime they are trying to overthrow, and Logsdon’s book certainly leaves no blurred lines about the decency of either its “antagonists” or its “protagonists”.  This liberally action-packed thriller, set just a few years from now, portrays the origins and ideologies of both a draconian dictatorship and a shockingly violent and destructive terrorist group, whilst one decent federal agent tries t...

This superbly written fiction tells the interwoven tales of two people who travel to Ghana from different parts of North and South America, for very different reasons – one a Ghanaian emigrant, the other with a very intriguing reason to return to a country he once lived in.  As the tale develops, both start to reveal gripping and promising backstories, and as the possibilities begin to take shape, a degree of tension grows beneath the surface; I found myself utterly gripped.  That said, the...

I love reading about turn of the 20^th century British military camaraderie – the stiff upper lip and “golden age of cricket”, and Pyram King’s language in this respect is a delight.  It feels authentic and quintessentially English.  This short book – the first in a series – is adapted fiction from the real diaries of Francis Marion Jäger, an American journalist sent to Syria in World War One, to join the British forces fighting against the Turks and Arab mercenaries of the Ottoma...

A wonderful collection of understated, yet profoundly compelling slice-of-life stories, by an author I am very fond of.  Lorna’s writing is lovely to read, creatively crafted in alluring prose.  Be warned though, it can be a little bleak – reminiscent of a grey, rainy day, and there is little respite from a permeating feeling of sadness and melancholy.  But, this is not necessarily a bad thing; it is ultimately warm comfort – reading her work brings to mind a feeling of home; hot tomato...

Unlike its more journalistic predecessor in the series Father Divine’s Bikes, there is a more discernible air of ‘forties noir pulp fiction about this book.  Whilst its prequel focused heavily on cultural differences and animosities, this is more story led, with a greater role on crime fiction, and more prominence given to two of its resuming lead characters, detectives Nick Cisco and Kevin McClosky.  Other than this, the intertwined stories, subplots and backstories have only the most su...

Right from the very first moment I started reading The Seven Gifts Within Us, I felt a huge smile growing on my face, and it didn’t go away for the duration; this book is an utter delight.  I was expecting a sermon about faith, but this isn’t that; it is so much more.  It is a sermon of sorts, but far more universally applicable than to be simply applied to people of faith; all readers, if they are human, can take guidance from the overall message in this book.  The seven gifts are reveal...

In this incredibly hard-worked account by a passionate political commentator, the “center” to which Walter refers is the moderate, rational ground between the left and right political wings.  The question of its continued existence is one which has become more prominent in recent years, in many countries, but perhaps none more so than the United States, following the election campaign and subsequent election of one of the most divisive presidents in living memory: Donald Trump. 

I admit,...

I found this to be a somewhat surprising book, in that it taught me a lot about New Zealand and, in particular, its devastating drug-culture.  This eye-opening indictment was perhaps a little saddening, in the respect that it hits home reading that nowhere is safe from the scourge of class-A drugs – specifically in the case of this book, meth-addiction.  Incredibly well-sourced and researched, the fiction is perhaps by the bye, as Almost Persuaded focuses primarily on the country’s cultur...

This short, profound memoir is an honest and candid account of a young woman’s recollection of coming of age, against a culture backdrop of lacking direction and recreational drug use.  To the despair of her parents, as a troublesome teen, Kathy Varner has no plans other than to hang out, get high and see her favourite live bands.  The book is very matter-of-fact, with a punchy narrative, as Kathy describes how she simply allowed life to happen to her, whilst not knowing how and when to say...

This bleakly unsettling, yet triumphantly entertaining L.A.-dream-turned-sour tale, laced with sharp, very black – and sometimes side-splitting – comedy, is a real welcome interjection to the noir genre.  Addressing a subject which is vastly overlooked in our society: the scrapheap of middle-age – an age which takes everything from you, one piece at a time, it is very coarse and sour, and very, very good.

Set in the early-current decade – the post-recession Obama years – East of Li...

This short study explores and examines the multi-layered facets of human behaviour and cognitive decision-making, as if they are a very element of the physical make-up of our universe, which is a somewhat confusing, if interesting subject to get our heads around.

Using explanations of ancient philosophy, right through quantum physics and the construction of the cosmos itself, Emmanuel attempts to explain how our own differing perceptions of reality are really what directly contribute to the ...

Anthony Ranieri is a lovely author, incredibly eloquent, eager and inoffensive.  Furthermore, it is so refreshing to read a book set in the future, which focuses more on the sci-fi than on burdening its reader with doom and dystopia, its characters happy and ambitious.  The final product is a short novella about the use of technology in the business of football, set in the year 2050.

Ranieri is undoubtedly a passionate and well-experienced football fan and professional, and this shows in the...

If I am being truthful, it took me a very long time to find my feet when reading this book.  Once I did, however, I sailed through it, reading it in two easy sittings.  It is superbly written, and Lotfy is an extremely professional author – evidently well-educated and academic, yet philosophical. 

I already knew what the book was about, and it did indeed go on to confirm the blurb.  But, the confusion for me, I felt, was in the structure.  For the sum of its parts, Beyond the Prison of Bel...

Absolutely superb.

I loved this collection of poems entirely, without exception.  Ross is a fantastic, melodic linguist, who writes what I consider to be the perfect poems for kids – some with subtle moral messages, some educational, but mostly just plain fun.  They are all quite lovely, rhyming simply yet eloquently, with a vocabulary enviable to most “grown up” writing.  Ross creates poems about marriage; about animals; about fruit; about bank robbers; about bubble gum… in fact, an...

There are so many words to describe “The Wooden Man”: dark, disturbing and wonderfully engrossing are but a few.  James Truax is a fine author, and he doesn’t just present one interesting story in this self-contained tale, but several.  This extremely creative and completely absorbing novella presents as a fable for kids – yet, at the same time it grows darker, and at times genuinely more frightening, with each turn of the page.

When eight-year-old Gabe finds himself lost in the wood...

Such a wonderful book – thought-provoking, poignant and utterly compelling, Mitchell’s opus re-enters the life of asocial, intelligent Luke, in five-year instalments.  Whilst initially showing signs of a presence on the disorder spectrum, as the book proceeds through his life, you find yourself starting to wonder if Luke is really all that unusual, or is it modern life, in all its mundane absurdity, which is the problem?  Without a specific storyline, we join Luke at the age of six, and w...

Not sure quite what to make of this book by John Paul Catton.  Whilst on the one hand it is an extremely knowledgeable and well-researched work into ancient Japanese history and mythology, on the other, the huge YA aspect of this book overpowers it in many ways.  Targeted very firmly at a teenage audience, I feel that the characters are too adolescent to appeal to anybody much older.  Yet, at the same time, Catton is clearly a mature author with an in-depth understanding of Japan, presumably ...

“Myth Agent” is a lot of fun, and MacFadden’s quality is apparent right from very early on; an incredibly engaging and intriguing book, which is perfectly written by an author with a wonderful narrative voice.  This inoffensive and universal tale of time-travel is gripping, with a small streak of unidentifiable menace running beneath it, which grows very subtly in tension, eloquently setting up the reader’s anticipation by its midway point.  With its increasingly dark undertone, MacFa...

Martin’s collection of tales is both gripping and entertaining, and he does his readers a huge justice by encouraging them to use their imagination.  These thirteen stories are not really horror, as such, but they are certainly dark, with more of an air of mystery and suspense about them than anything else.  Happily, there is more than a small slice of the olde English gothic or occult influence in some of the tales, which I personally am a big fan of.  Overall, I found the collection enter...

Beautifully written and utterly engaging, right from the off, Cody’s intense attention to detail is visible throughout this book.  Whilst I have read a lot of memoirs, many of which project an increasingly bitter adulthood onto childhood trauma and don’t particularly have the desired effect of instilling empathy on the reader, Cody’s is the exact opposite of this – a tale of someone who suffered as a child, and overcame it to take control of his life.  In this boy’s case, I feel utt...

A fantastic book, by an author who is both understated yet imposing in literary stature, “Flow Like A River” is a work of unexpected quality.  Absolutely a book of two halves, the first is a bit of a slow burner, which serves well to develop its endearing and interestingly layered characters; neither overly dramatic or offensive in any way, this easy-going read was engaging from the off.  There is little need for histrionics in this book, nor for gripping violence – the menace of the an...

Although set in the 31^st century, I think it is fair to say that the science fiction element of “We Have Met The Enemy” seems somewhat incidental, as this book relies so heavily on its soapy backstory, there could really have been anything going on in real time, and the outcome would have probably been the same. 

Indeed, whilst Felicia actually has a really good sci-fi imagination, the genre does not appear to be the primary objective of her writing.  Rather, family melodrama is the most...

A very dialogue driven and bizarre comedy, with that instantly recognizable quirky, dry Canadian humour, a lot of which is so deadpan it may go over the heads of some Stateside.  “Rocky Mountain Noir” pays heart on sleeve homage to the detective pulp of Mickey Spillane, but does so with its tongue so deep in its cheek it borders on spoof.

Fast-paced and talky, this book is a fusion of pulp, action and outright slapstick, laced with a few moments so laugh out loud funny they had me cracki...

At first sight this sci-fi action fantasy hybrid seems to be similar to many others, but in reality it is quite a distance better than the average.  Set on a  terraformed planet, 600 years from now, “Dart” has not only the very current cautionary messages about the environment and the fears of mass migration, it also handles, rather intelligently, the growing concerns about potential dangers of A.I. in future, taking a more “HAL” approach to it, than “Terminator”.  That doesn’t ...

I was sent this book as a free review copy, and as I read – because I tend not to read blurb before my review reads – it became immediately clear that this was the second in a series.  Because I had also not read the first instalment, this fact did give me a few problems, in terms of context, setting and character backstory; I had to piece much of this together myself.  There were even aspects – such as the era in which it is set – which I didn’t realize until right near the end; fo...

“Dark Cure” is not really what I was expecting, but the surprise was a rather welcome one.  Whilst I was anticipating some sort of medical-corporate legal thriller, this is actually a fully-fledged actioner, somewhere between “Die Hard” and “Universal Soldier”, though with a great deal more maturity; the more fun part of me couldn’t have been more pleased!  Not to say that this book isn’t to be taken seriously: Cameron K. Moore is the real deal – a highly professional author...

“Looper” is not quite what I was expecting, but rather a pretty laid-back, inoffensive affair, telling the tale of a teenager who spend his 1980 summer break caddying on a pro golf course.  Although the tagline suggests this is a “coming of age” tale, I think perhaps the main character Ford is a couple of years too young to be described as that.  There are none of the usual puerile high-jinks which often accompany such a genre, and to be honest that is refreshing; Ford and his friends...

I have been fortunate enough to get first peek at all three books in Minin’s excellent “Monoland” trilogy, and as a collective piece of work, the premise and story are interesting and well crafted.  Bringing a sense of full circle and completeness, “Beyond the Monochrome” is a creative and satisfying end to this mind-bending fantasy saga; in my opinion, it is also the best book of the three.

With the world in the grip of nuclear war, the grey afterlife stepping stone of Monoland is...

Will Link is a brilliant author, who a fantastic use of language (both description and dialogue), which will easily relate to younger and older adults alike.  While some of his subject matter may be a little coarse for the former, just remember that it is their age group this refers to, and they know it better than our nostalgic view of it.  Older readers can reminisce about the days of their youth, while the youngers can laugh at the commonalities between us, which still characterize their g...

Greg Hickey is a wonderfully gifted author, and “The Friar’s Lantern” is extremely articulate and well-written.  Add to this that the author is also, evidently, a talented mathematician and sociologist, and you might have some idea of what to expect from this entertaining, engrossing first person role-play challenge.  Be warned, though, if you are expecting action, or the excitement of the Fighting Fantasy series, this is not what you will find; in this respect, perhaps the book’s tit...

“Ghost Dog” is a pretty entertaining, gripping crime adventure story, with a short enough word count to fit in over an evening or two.  Tim White is a pleasant and engaging author to read, though, although - for the most part - well-written in good, articulate English, his language may be a touch simplistic in nature for some; if you are expecting a dark and downbeat crime drama, you will not get that with “Ghost Dog”.  Instead, it is a quickly paced and very dialogue-driven small-tow...

Interlaced with a significant proportion of fact, “Faithful Servants” is a superbly written, enlightening and objective fictional account of one teenage boy’s resolution to integrate the ethnically divided population of New Jersey in the 1960s, against the backdrop of an explosive racial equality movement, which was described by some as “rioting” and others as “rebellion”.  In spite of many who want nothing more than to prolong the historical segregation of black and white commu...

“Gnosis” is generally entertaining and well-written by Rick Hall, even if, for my tastes, there aren’t things about it which particularly stand out.  It falls very firmly in the young-adult / sci-fi / fantasy camp and features all the usual formulaic elements of this contemporary cross-genre: the resourceful but unwitting teen heroine, with psychic abilities bordering on superpowers and shady government figures in pursuit, to either kill her or harness her ability.  The author himself, ...

In this obscure, yet wonderfully poetic metaphor, Theodor’s writing is artistic, warm and endearing, despite “Buy or Die”s darkly comic, somewhat disturbing subject.  Although the author’s English is perfectly crafted, I suspect much of the true prose has been lost a little in translation.  Yet, even in the resulting form it has an attractive, creative voice all of its own, and once I was able to level with his dry wit and surreal depiction, I started to enjoy reading it.

Set in a fr...

There is a wonderful, melodious tone of voice to Brian Kindall’s writing – his language is always classical and sometimes sublime – the nineteenth-century San Francisco prospectors’ era effortlessly permeates every carefully chose word and sentence and his knowledge of American historical setting appears almost innate, as he places you, vividly at every scene.  In a nutshell, he is a tremendously talented author.

But, as with most creative talents, there is a flaw on the flip-side.  ...

Glyn Haynie is a superb author, with whom I am already acquainted, having read and reviewed the follow-up: “Finding My Platoon Brothers”.  One thing which struck me when reading this book, compared to his reminiscences in the sequel, is that his humanity appears much deeper nowadays, than then at 19 – though perhaps this comes with age; perhaps reflection.  I couldn’t help thinking that very quickly into his tour of duty (weeks, maybe) he appeared already to be desensitizing to the ho...