Book Review The Blade Artist by Irvine Welsh Begbie’s back! Fans of Trainspotting will be all too familiar with the psychopathic Scotsman who starred in both book and movie of the same name. The Blade Artist is Franco Begbie’s story. James Francis Begbie has moved from Edinburgh to California, where he has reinvented himself […]
Book Review The Fever – by Megan Abbott This story is almost a reworking of The Crucible, about the Salem witch trials, which were predicated upon female teenage hysteria. Deenie Nash is a normal 16 year old girl with the sort of friends that are so typical during secondary (high school) education. Her older brother, […]
Book Review The Silent Corner – by Dean Koontz This thriller by Koontz appears to be the first in a series. FBI Agent, Jane Hawk (oh dear, anyone remember who Agent Starling is? Shame on you Deano, you lazy sod), has taken a leave of absence to privately investigate the suicide of her loving husband, […]
Book review The Road by Cormac McCarthy Readers may be familiar with this particular story-line, having watched the movie adaptation starring Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee. I will confess to not being among that number who have viewed the silver-screen’s take on the tale. I’m not sure that I ever want to either, since […]
Nemesis by Misha Glenny This factual story caught me by surprize as I didn’t expect it to be quite as good as it was. Antonio Francisco Bonfirm Lopes was born into poverty and hardship in Rio de Janeiro. Events conspired to drive him into the world of organised crime where he quickly rose to […]
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry The tag-line on the cover of this book reads, An epic journey that will change their lives forever… The story does indeed chart an epic journey. This is an epic book. Larry McMurtry’s novel won him a Pulitzer, and I can understand why. Lonesome Dove is a classic in the […]
The Massacre of Mankind by Stephen Baxter This is the sequel to H.G. Wells’ The War Of The Worlds, and is officially authorized by his estate. Anyone who has read the Wells’ classic (I haven’t) will better appreciate this story. Yet, although The Massacre of Mankind is a continuation, and I missed the beginning […]
Apprentice in Death by J.D. Robb This is yet another solid performance from J.D. Robb, the pseudonym of Nora Roberts. Robb never fails to impress me in the quality of her plot-lines, each being fairly original and engaging. Apprentice in Death is, I think, number 43 in the Lieutenant Eve Dallas series. In this […]
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead Cora is a slave. Her mother Mable is a slave. Her grandmother Ajarry is a slave who was, in the words of Bob Marley, stolen from Africa, brought to America. Yet Cora is strong like Ajarry. She has dreams like Mable. Cora intends to be free. Set in […]
The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells Here we have a true classic by a master observer of the human creature. I first became aware of this tale when I saw the movie in the late 1970’s, as a child. I enjoyed it, although so much time has passed since then that I […]
A Separate Peace by John Knowles This novel is described on its cover as ‘An American Classic’, and was ‘… part of the syllabus of high-school English classes throughout the United States…’ Perhaps US readers of this will be all too familiar with this book and may therefore need no reminders. But it may […]
The Walking Dead, Search and Destroy by Jay Bonansinga Many of you will be familiar with the T.V. series of the same name, and Search and Destroy is pretty similar fare in written form. There is a series of books based upon the Robert Kirkman premise and this one falls somewhere in that line, […]
Rebel Voice 