Who is Tom Ditto by Danny Wallace This is a delightful novel. Yes, delightful! I feel that I should be eating cucumber sandwiches and delicately sipping Earl Grey tea when I use such words, but Danny Wallace’s book is, put simply, delightful. Tom, our reluctant hero, is a newsreader with a problem; his girlfriend Hayley […]
The Accidental Wife by Orla McAlinden Orla McAlinden is from Portadown in the Irish Occupied Six Counties (OSC), although she refers to it as Northern Ireland. This is apparently her first book. It shows. McAlinden received something called the Eludia Award, given out ‘for a first book-length unpublished novel or collection of stories by a […]
Wild Justice by Kelley Armstrong Wild Justice is book three in the Nadia Stafford series about the eponymous hired assassin with a conscience. Stafford, known professionally as ‘Dee’ (could be a stripper), is a former cop who has entered the market as a killer for hire, but with the caveat that she will only eliminate […]
The Magus of Hay by Phil Rickman Interesting novel here. Not interesting because I want to tell you of the wonderful book it is. Interesting because it’s a good example of a fine plot ruined by a poor delivery. The Magus of Hay is number 12 in the Merrily Watkins series. The bold Miss Watkins is […]
The Country Girls by Edna O’Brien Edna O’Brien is widely regarded as the doyen of Irish female novelists. She is a writer of some standing in literary circles upon the island. I must confess that this is the first of her novels I have read (it is also her first novel). I don’t intend for […]
Bag of Bones by Stephen King I would not want to live in Stephen’s King’s head. It must surely be one of the most warped places in this universe and any other. If, as some claim, that which we imagine comes into existence somewhere out there, then Stephen King is responsible for more fucked-up parts […]
Mortal Prey by John Sandford John Sandford, real name, John Camp, is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist. His media skill-set has transformed impressively into fiction (insert fake media joke here) and he is, to put it bluntly, a fucking literary great. Rebel Voice has, at this time, read quite a number of Sandford’s stories, and not one […]
The Soul Collectors by Chris Mooney This book is one in a series – no.4 I think – and so I must caution readers that, as with most sequential tomes, it is preferable to start at the beginning to better appreciate the story. I didn’t do that, as I’m new to Chris Mooney and I’m […]
To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway This is an oldie but, like other novels by this author, is one that has aged remarkably well, considering that it was first published in 1937. I can’t claim to be an authority on Hemingway. I wish I could. I would like to be able to discuss […]
‘The Wolf Road‘ by Beth Lewis What a feckin’ great book. It could be classed as pseudo-chick lit. as the lead protagonist is a kick-ass female, and other strong women appear throughout a story set in a post-apocalyptic north America that resembles the Wild West. It’s kinda like Calamity Jane meets The Road. We follow […]
‘Redshirts‘ by John Scalzi Set in a future that loosely resembles an episode of Star Trek, this book starts well, with some interesting characters. Sadly, however, the potential is never fully realized and, as a result, the latter parts of this novel could have been written by an aging hippy, with a mind fried by […]
‘I,RIPPER‘ by Stephen Hunter It’s Victorian London and poverty grips the city. But the bleak urban expanse is also in the grip of fear as a number of prostitutes turn up horrifically murdered. The authorities are clueless in their pursuit of the heinous perpetrator, and so it falls to Irish journalist, ‘Jeb’, to investigate as […]
Rebel Voice 