Simon

Like the Alien 3 of my June book selections. I really wanted to like it but was overall disappointed. A mish mash of stuff, some good, some bad but I failed to connect with any of the characters. Maybe it's me, maybe it's just too hot to read. I will probably read this again in the future and think, it's much better than I remember, but for now............. meh.

This hovers somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. I was never overly excited, I was never bored, I just was and in the end everyone, good or bad, got exactly what they deserved.

Maybe it's time a devil did what God will not.

In the author's notes at the end of this book he says “this book is whatever you want it to be”. For me it's a never filmed story of Dr Who, think classic Dr Who Philip Hinchliffe era, Tom Baker at his flamboyant best, think Talons Of Weng-Chiang with a little bit of Robots Of Death and a sprinkling of The Horror Of Fang Rock. Everything marvellously over acted, incredibly camp and probably two episodes too long.

ps
Arent is Hodor from Game of Thrones or maybe Brad William Henke, definitely not Bradley Coopers, Tom Hardy or someone of that ilk.

pps
I thought this was much better than 7 deaths, much much better. Can't wait to see what Mr Turton does next.

This book is nuts, beautiful nuts. Not without faults though, so many unanswered questions and that normally frustrates me but for some reason in this case it didn't matter. Questions like how did it all start? Where did it come from? Who built it? How does it work? Also, why those particular women? and what was the “SHINE” about?. I think that covers everything.

For me Koontz is so hit and miss, this is a miss. It's like one of those TV shows that comes around every few years. Mildly interesting sci-fi, mystery, paranormal type thing which starts fairly well, then gets really boring before ending with a semi exciting cliff hanger, only to get cancelled after one series never to be heard of every again.

Intensely creepy and incredibly clever. Not just a story about a weird man who abducts a girl and imprisons her in the hope she will eventually fall in love with him. It's also a book about class, the rise of the middle class even. The 2nd part of the book, written from the point of view of Miranda, is a bit of a contract to parts 1, 3, 4. I found it a much harder read, probably why I gave it 4 stars. Must read for fans of dark psychological fiction.

Ha!! I actually enjoyed this more that World War Z, and do you know why? Because Bigfoot is real and zombies are not.

Also, you know like when you have one sheep and then you have two sheep and it's still sheep? Is it the same with Bigfoot or is it one bigfoot and 2 bigfeet? Something to think about while you drink your tea.

An earthquake, the colour blue, the colour red, buttons, mud flats, sheep, a goat, another goat, skinned moles on poles, stinky fish, a strange child, some more strange children, tuberculosis, social housing, mass hysteria and cups of Bovril. All this and more in this complicated tale of superstition and tradition versus science and progress, with religion in the middle shouting “hey, why can't we just all get along”.

I quite enjoyed it but if you are (and I wasn't when I started reading this) after a gothic romp about chasing a monster look away, look away.

OH WOW!!!

This has completely blown me away and the afterword, not the ending, but the afterword has left me feeling really teary. Actually that's wrong, I was feeling a tad emotional at the end but the afterword ended me.

Probably not for everyone, some people won't get it but if Richard Madeley did and you don't, you need to ask your self some serious questions. about where you are heading :)

AVOID AVOID AVOID all reviews that give anything away. Not knowing is essential.

A satisfying end to the Bill Hodges trilogy. When it was over, the final act, I didn't sob, does this make me a bad person? Have I no emotions?

Heart warming tale of teenager Christopher Boone who suffers from Asperger's syndrome. A quiet remarkable piece of writing let down by the last chapter which felt incredibly rushed.

DNF 67 pages

I should have known because I though Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow was massively overrated but this was something else. I guess some people will be falling over themselves at it's magical weirdness but for me it's a no. Hate myself for not fishing but I just can't.

Q ; How many shrooms would you need to ingest for this to make sense.

Utterly utterly bizarre.

If you've never read Minette Walters before, start with the first 5 novels which are superb, everything she's written after that falls into the category of “just ok”. This follows the usual pattern of novel intersected with bits of newspaper clippings, reports, emails etc and focuses on a possible miscarriage of justice. Her books are always a pleasure to read but this one is just a tad boring with an open ended conclusion that left me feeling a bit empty.

I really enjoyed the first 300 pages of this 357 page book, I probably would have given it 5 stars if it wasn't for the unnecessary milky tea ending which just felt tagged on, like an attempt to write the perfect ending but not managing it. Not a direct sequel to The Whisper Man but the events of that book are mentioned a couple of time and there are some really good bits, particularly “the Jenny twist”, I really loved that and top marks to the author for translating that on to the page. Decent 2nd novel from Alex North, can't wait to read what come next.

3.5 rounded up. Decent addition to my Dystopian Fiction shelf. There's a hell of a lot going on for just 192 pages and the author paints a brilliant picture of a desolate England, overrun by dogs cats and rats, horses and pigs. Published in the 60's it has some pretty outdated views particularly about women and lets not be coy.. rape. This was going to be a three but I rounded it purely for the ending which I thought was pretty neat.

Stay clear of your neighbours, just smile and wave and move on!!!!.

#Really good dark twisted thriller which is basically a satire on what we have become as human beings. These people ARE your neighbours and this COULD happen to you.

This is an incredible story of courage and survival and I'd really love to know which parts of the story were true and which parts the author added in for dramatic purposes. I did eye roll a couple of times at the stuff that happens because it really is just so incredible, almost too incredible and I think this spoilt it for me a little.

WHAT?? WHAT?? The other day I was looking for a film to watch, I skimmed the channels and ended up at the Syfi channel where a man was being chased through the snow by another man dressed in a rubber shark costume. The man in the rubber shark costume was being controlled by an evil genius (played by a lesser known Kardashian) who was a war with a tribe of tech savvy lobsters (played by former members of NSYNC and The Backstreet Boys). In the end, the world was saved by a flying wood louse and a talking blancmange.

This book is 10 times madder than that.

A heady mix of..

PRIMEVAL, DR WHO, SPOOKS and .............. FRIENDS??

Cakes, Snakes & Automobiles

3.5 rounded up. This is a book that is on the cusp of being something truly magnificent, don't think I've read a book where the characters are so well written. However, there is a problem and that problem is “stuff”. There is so much “stuff” in this book and I mean A LOT of “stuff”, it's swimming in stuff, chapters and chapters of intricately woven bits of “stuff” , it's beautiful “stuff!” no doubt about it but there's lots of it. I can't help but wonder how much “stuff” would need to be removed to make this the magnificent thing it really should be. It's a case of “stuff” versus story and in this case stuff wins and story loses. I

Hated the ending.

Short story and just ok, there are some really touching bits but it really lacks in terms of story. It's basically a series of situations involving Ben who is a Dr, his brother Bobby, his wife Chloe, his lost love Laura and Laura's “mummy” Dr Jellicoe (which sounds like a character from the League Of Gentlemen). It covers subjects of relationships, disability, sexually transmitted diseases, downs syndrome and naturism. I think with Patrick Gale I've got to the stage where a good book from him just feels alike a little bit of a disappointment.

100% pure unadulterated, and quite frankly marvellous, filth. Reading a Sarah Pinborough book is like going for a quiet pizza with your best friend on a Monday night, you end up getting completely sloshed, doing all the bars, meeting a group of Polish rugby players and jumping on a ferry to Belgium only to met by an army of evil cats which you fight off using toothpaste and a rusty spanner., just about making home in time for tea and crumpets and the latest episode of Bargain Hunt.

I don't think you will find a thriller as exquisitely written as this. If you told someone the outline of this book it would sound quite boring, 5 students living in a house one gets stabbed but who did it,3 cops, couple of other minor characters. The scope of it seems so small and yet its 693 of wonderfully written, intricately plotted brilliance. Every raised eyebrow and creaking floorboard, its all important, it all means something. Huge step up from the first book.

I really enjoyed elements of this book, the world building and sense of adventure, really really good. Unfortunately I also disliked large parts of it, mainly the hard sci fi tech stuff, just a bit too much of “look at my big shiny laser with extra throbbing bits” for me.

Book 2 of the Bill Hodges Trilogy set before, around and after the first book. The first part is some of King's best writing, but the strange thing is that the story is better when Bill Hodges isn't in it, and that's a large chunk of it. It kind of changes the tone when he arrives on the scene, a bit like when Scrappy Doo turns up in Scooby Doo. The bits with Hartfield in them remind me of the film Patrick and I'm looking forward to reading that one.

So good, so so good. Read it. That is all.