Sci-fi
Exceptional world building opens this novel off paired with Philip K Dick’s excellent writing. Our world is as follows: Earth is suffering in increasingly unbearable heat. More and more people are sent to the colonies on Mars and Venus to try and eek out an existence but with a hard and desolate life facing them many turn to…
(more…)Thriller
It feels almost sacrilege to give this book a score of 3 given how it spread like wildfire but here we are. Without any big spoilers, the story starts with the disappearance of Amy, the wife of Nick who soon falls under suspicion of her murder. As the story progresses we find out more of Amy and Nick’s past together and various twists and turns and revelations lead us to…
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It’s a tricky one. For the directors especially. They take material that is perhaps well loved by legions of fans and from it must recreate the magic that endeared people to those stories in the first place. Succeed and they can capture that magic on the big screen, sharing the emotions of the story, perhaps even greatly expanding the fan base. Fail and we are left with disappointment, more so if…
(more…)Non-fiction / Humour
What if for a period of time you said yes to every opportunity that came your way? In this uplifting social experiment Danny Wallace does exactly that. After a chance encounter with a man on a bus he embarks on a “yes” crusade, accepting all that comes his way leading to to all kinds of new experiences from handing out leaflets for veganism to travelling to the north of England for a party to spending a holiday in the Netherlands. We’ve all seen…
(more…)How convenient and satisfying, when you can walk through town or through the woods, and sitting down at a cafe table or on a tree stump, pull a compact, flexible book from your pocket. No bag unpacking required. What a good feeling. You can skim a few pages or just a paragraph or two and then back it goes and you’re on your way. The age of paperbacks that you could truly…
(more…)Mystery / Thriller
In a London art gallery a shocking discovery is made. A famous piece made by a recently deceased artist is found to contain a fragment of something that should absolutely not be there. Questions are raised and the matter has to be investigated by our protagonist, the curator of the late artist’s work. Inevitably this leads him into confrontation with the current owner of the works, and also with…
(more…)Non-fiction / Military History
I like to read everything and anything that falls into my lap. So one day I found myself reading Agincourt by Juliet Barker. It’s a fascinating piece of history and details events leading up to, during, and after the famous battle. The writing style is good, and particular note must be given to the research which clearly had a lot of effort put into it. It is also refreshing to see that…
(more…)Thriller / Sci-fi
Fishermen disappear, tourists on the beaches are attacked, and whales start ramming cargo ships, overtaken by a strange “madness”. But why? We are greeted to two main characters. One, a whale specialist, works for a whale watching company in Alaska, and the other, a Norwegian scientist and marine expert. As the attacks and disappearances increase in number and severity the paths of these two characters…
(more…)Non-fiction / Naval History
The story of Erebus and Terror is surely a topic that’s sparked an interest with many people and it was fascinating to have a book deal with the two ships in such great detail. We see it all, life on board ship, activities and discoveries made, even glimpses into the interpersonal relationships between…
(more…)WW2 / Thriller
I like a good thriller. An exciting backdrop for our characters folds out for us in this one: the V2 program. One character part of the allied team tracking down the launch sites, one character part of the group who are launching the things. It has all the ingredients for an exciting page turner, a game of cat and mouse, high stakes, and behind it all are our two characters with their…
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