When The Eagle Hunts - Simon Scarrow

"The heaving tumult around
the ship was frozen for an instant
by sheet lightning."

Rated 10/10

It is the winter of AD 44 and after a series of bloody battles, Camulodunum (modern day Colchester) has fallen to the invading Roman army...

My Thoughts: Wow! Definitely the best addition to the Macro/Cato series so far.

Throughout these epic novels, Scarrow seamlessly switches from the personal POV of Macro and Cato to the view point of the army as a whole, to the ongoing invasion of Britain, and back again without a glitch. It's very cleverly done and keeps you hanging on to every word. He doesn't bombard the reader with technicality or historical terms that might leave people like myself scratching their heads over it - but he includes enough for the more studied in Roman history to really get their teeth into. I really admire his style for this - it is quite some skill.

As for 'When The Eagle Hunts', it's a fast and furious read with non-stop action and dilemma. Scarrow doesn't really need to set his main protagonists up, however he does describe their roots enough for new readers to be able to enjoy it without going too far and re-explaining everything.

Although Scarrow's plotline hides fresh suspense round every corner, his characters are immense and really enjoyable to follow. New faces Boudica and Prasutagus are very well-rounded and likeable, alongside some of the more familiar comrades (Vespasian for example, with his softer qualities but stern exterior is a particular favourite of mine). Scarrow gives even the most minor of characters a full bodied personality, and it's for this reason that the reader can easily grow attached to the likes of Maxentius and Diomedes despite them only appearing for a handful of pages.

Macro's touch of brutal humour is always welcome to break up the more serious and bloodied battles that are consistently encountered, and the way that the great Prasutagus is revealed as the novel continues only adds to this relief. And Cato - Cato got awesome!!!

It's not often that a series gets even better as it goes along, but Scarrow is a master of his genre and I'm looking forward to The Eagle And The Wolves.

Love Minus Eighty - Will McIntosh

"The words were gentle strokes,
drawing her awake."

To be published 11th June 2013
Rated 4/10

In this daring and big-hearted novel based on the Hugo-winning short story, the lovelorn navigate a world in which technology has reached the outer limits of morality and romance.

My Thoughts: Another mobile phone review...

I received Love Minus Eighty as a proof and the blurb had me hooked in an instant. "...Frozen brides wait in dating farms for billionaire suitors to pay for their reanimation..." What a chilling concept; dark and gritty dystopia - cue thoughts that this might just perhaps be on par with The Handmaid's Tale - this book sounded right up my street!

What followed led me into a fascinating future world, which unfolded with new discoveries as the story went on. I enjoyed this, it was a clever way of keeping me turning pages. A new piece of technology was revealed every few pages or so, even towards the finale. Some real imagination has gone in to setting the scene here, it was the novel's real strength.

However, I personally feel that Love Minus Eighty lacks believable characters with realistic depth to them. I couldn't connect to any of the protagonists myself as I found them to be one dimensional and a bit forced. The dialogue is off, and doesn't feel real to me. Their emotions come across as flat and we are 'told' about themselves rather than 'shown'.

The characters that I felt were well imagined were Lorelei and Nathan, and I'm wondering if this is because we don't see things from their view point at any time; we see them through the eyes of a separate narrator(s). I think McIntosh's style is best suited to 3rd person in this respect as his writing was at its best when his characters were explaining the world and the people around them.

I feel that this book would be epic if there was more depth to the narrating protagonists, if the writing style was a little sharper, and if the Bridesicle idea had been explored even further.

As it stands, this is a decent read set in a vivid future world; not to the same standard as Atwood's books, but fans of light dystopian fiction will probably really enjoy it; particularly late teens and young adults. Once I picked the book up I could not put it down!

It ends as if there is a lot more left to tell, and I think that a sequel to Love Minus Eighty would go down really well.

If you prefer your tales plot-driven rather than character-driven then even better!

Recommended to fans of Lauren DeStefano.

The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides

"On the morning the last Lisbon
daughter took her turn at suicide-
it was Mary this time, and sleeping
pills, like Therese- the two paramedics
arrived at the house knowing exactly
where the knife drawer was, and the
gas oven, and the beam in the
basement from which it was possible
to tie a rope."

Rated 10/10

The shocking thing about the five Lisbon sisters was how nearly normal they seemed when their mother let them out for the one and only date of their lives. Twenty years on, their enigmatic personalities are embalmed in the memories of the boys who worshipped them and who now recall their shared adolescence: the brassiere draped over a crucifix belonging to the promiscuous Lux; the sisters' breathtaking appearance on the night of the dance; and the sultry, sleepy street across which they watched a family disintegrate and fragile lives disappear.

My Thoughts: A stunning, dark novel that captured me from the first word. Although you are given the conclusion of the story from the outset, the book never fails to impress. 

Eugenides drew me in with his description of the girls, who were not perfect - but were perfectly elusive, mysterious and very real. Their lives seemed so vivid and so easy to picture as his language was exquisite. I actually found it touching that the boys were so obsessed with these girls, and it all seemed so innocent as they kept their distance, observing and wondering, wanting to connect with these girls and never managing it, reminiscing even into their later lives. Writing about teenage girls in such a convincing manner takes a lot of skill, but the pains of adolescence are clear both from the girls perspective and the boy's too.

I think that people taking the title 'Virgin' Suicides too literally need to think a little more into the deeper connotations connected to the word. The girls were young, had no life experience, and yet cut their own lives short for reasons that nobody could fathom.

A chilling and yet beautiful tale of tragedy that it is easy to lose yourself in, Eugenides style is perfect - and I want to read more from him.

Casino Royale - Ian Fleming

"The scent and smoke and
sweat of a casino are nauseating
at three in the morning."

Rated 4/10

This, the first of Fleming's tales of agent 007, finds Bond on a mission to neutralize a lethal, high-rolling Russian operative called simply 'Le Chiffre' - by ruining him at the baccarat table and forcing his Soviet spy masters to 'retire' him. It seems that lady luck is taken with James - Le Chiffre has hit a losing streak. But some people just refuse to play by the rules, and Bond's attraction to a beautiful female agent leads him to disaster and an unexpected savior.

My Thoughts: I had high expectations of my first ever Bond novel, being a huge fan of action thrillers, sleek cars and powerful characters. I was bitterly disappointed. 

The book is nothing at all like the films; James Bond comes across as a bit weak, highly chauvinistic (I was surprised at Fleming's very obvious sexism) and with no ounce of the smooth and suave character that you see in the films. He was not desirable in the slightest.

Aside from this, there was virtually no action in Casino Royale at all - ***SPOILER: he spent the first 120 pages gambling and the last few pages being tortured and then saved by someone almost entirely unrelated to his plot, falling stupidly for a woman he earlier described as a bitch and preparing to propose to her after a matter of weeks because she sleeps with him and it feels a bit like rape.(?!?)*** 

I do, however, like the fact that he gets naked randomly at any given opportunity - it's amusing, typical and highlights Bond's confidence and arrogance perfectly. 

And where was the beautiful Bentley that Bond adores? I think he drives it up the road once or twice and that is it. 

James Bond, however, has been turned into an absolute legend by the big screen, and I can see that the book does show a lot of potential for this kind of adaptation. It needed a fair amount of work: It was very clever to transform M into a female for the movies, for example, and you can forgive Bond for being a player in the films because he is just so cool.

I will not be picking up another Bond novel if I can help it, but I will continue to watch the films. And this is why Casino Royale gets 4 stars instead of none!!!

Books V. Cigarettes - George Orwell

"A couple of years ago a friend
of mine, a newspaper editor,
was fire-watching with some
factory workers."

Rated 9/10

Beginning with a dilemma about whether he spends more money on reading or smoking, George Orwell's entertaining and uncompromising essays go on to explore everything from the perils of second-hand bookshops to the dubious profession of being a critic, from freedom of the press to what patriotism really means.

My Thoughts: I enjoy reading through other people's thoughts and feelings on subjects close to my heart, and with this book being beautiful and pocket sized, I had to pick it up.

Orwell and I have had similar experiences, it seems, in bookselling, however his experiences left him with a growing distaste for books and I still can't get enough of them. Despite all the lifting and shelving and dusting and scanning and so on, I find myself spending half of my wages on stacks and stacks that pile up quicker than I can read them.

I also enjoyed Orwell's last essay in this book - it made me reflect upon my own school days and whether I felt the same way he did. 

In all, Books v Cigarettes is a great read, a quick read; and highly quotable. I loved it.

The Bunker Diary - Kevin Brooks

Rated 10/10

Room meets Lord of the Flies, The Bunker Diary is award-winning, young adult writer Kevin Brooks's pulse-pounding exploration of what happens when your worst nightmare comes true - and how will you survive?

My Thoughts: This book hit me right in the face. It's a dark and disturbed piece of Big Brother fiction that I actually couldn't prise from my own hands. The writing style is addictive - short, sharp and hard hitting. 

The setting is bleak and well described; the characters are bold and vivid and flawed at once. I couldn't stop reading and I know that others that haven't been able to put it down either. It's tragic and captivating and the ending is ... well... 

Very simple. Very effective.

Don't read this if you're after something light and cheery, you have been warned!

Ghostman - Roger Hobbs

"Hector Moreno and Jerome Ribbons
sat in the car on the ground level of
the Atlantic Regency Hotel Casino
parking garage, sucking up crystal
meth with a rolled-up five spot, a
lighter and a crinkled length of tin foil."

Rated 8/10

I make things disappear. It’s what I do. This time I’m tidying up the loose ends after a casino heist gone bad. The loose ends being a million cash.But I only have 48 hours, and there’s a guy out there who wants my head in a bag.
He’ll have to find me first.
They don’t call me the Ghostman for nothing...

My Thoughts: I couldn't put this book down! I liked the detailed explanations of the choices he made, the procedures he took, the weapons he used. For those not quite so clued up on these things it was very helpful, and above all, interesting. I liked the attention to sensory descriptions. I liked the fact that I almost forgot the Ghostman is a criminal.

It's a proper action packed read with an anti-hero at the centre of the whole thing. Two tales twisted into one. Enough cliff hangers to keep me glued. Cue guns, cars and dirty money. 

The short sentences and chapters and repetition of 'I' were a little distracting, but Ghostman is a fantastic debut - well written, well researched and one that makes you feel as if you were reading through the latest action movie. Fans of Lee Child, Robert Crais and other similar authors, should add this book to their 'to read' list.

Intrusion - Ken Macleod

Rated 1/10

Imagine a near-future city, say London, where medical science has advanced beyond our own and a single-dose pill has been developed that, taken when pregnant, eradicates many common genetic defects from an unborn child. Hope Morrison, mother of a hyperactive four-year-old, is expecting her second child. She refuses to take The Fix, as the pill is known. This divides her family and friends and puts her and her husband in danger of imprisonment or worse. Is her decision a private matter of individual choice, or is it tantamount to willful neglect of her unborn child? A plausible and original novel with sinister echoes of 1984 and Brave New World.

My Thoughts: Where to begin! I actually got my biro pen and started editing this book at one point, it was that awful. The female characters are flat, forced and uninspiring, and they seem mostly irrational. I didn't really understand how Hope couldn't think of a reason not to take the fix, and yet was so adamant about it. People make their decisions based on a number of their own experiences in life, influences from upbringing, social standings, religion, education, the works. And so the whole foundation of the book wasn't credible as far as I could see it. She would have had some reason not to do it, no matter how small the reason might have been.

Apart from this, half of the text could have been missed out as it was just filler, the dialogue was terrible ("Man!" Said Bernard.) - there was so much rambling going on. I read 115 pages and still nothing had happened. When something exciting finally did happen it felt really out of place and unjustified.

I really like dystopian thrillers and I was looking forward to reading this one. It was money wasted unfortunately as I couldn't finish it.

Without Fail - Lee Child

"They found out about him in
July and stayed angry all
through August."

Rated 4/10

Featuring Jack Reacher, hero of the new blockbuster movie starring Tom Cruise. This time, he's in the line of fire, protecting the Vice President of the United States.

My Thoughts: I was pretty disappointed with the 6th book in the Jack Reacher series. The first few were brilliant - fast, furious and somewhat believable despite the larger than life protagonist and plot lines.

Without Fail lacked most of the drama that we have come to expect from Lee Child's thrillers. The plot didn't tie up (I won't spoil it, but the antagonists had a very poor motive for killing the VP). 

There is also one massive plot hole that doesn't add up. It was to do with the 'messages' and one particular message that the bad guys sent the VP that would have given the game away right off the 'bat'. Completely out of character for them as they do such a good job of attempting not to be identified the whole way through. 

Froleich was an awful character! Supposedly a strong and professional woman and yet going round and round in circles about an ex from years ago; At one point pretty much a full chapter was made from her blaming Reacher over her ex's death - it drove me insane and could have been completely skipped - not great at all!!!

In fact, a fair amount of this book could have been skipped over.

I did love Neagley as a character however, and I loved the relationship she has with Reacher - a full set of Reacher-style thrillers could probably be made from her and I would definitely pick them up.

I have given this book 2 stars simply because it is a Jack Reacher book - and that in itself makes it worth them. Reacher is still a fantastic character and I still wish he was real, and I still wish he wasn't Tom Cruise on the big screen, and I will still be reading through the rest of the series!!!

Haunted - Chuck Palahniuk

"This was supposed to be
a writers' retreat, it was
supposed to be safe."

Rated 9/10

Haunted is a novel made up of stories: twenty-three of the most horrifying, hilarious, mind-blowing, stomach-churning tales you'll ever encounter. 

My Thoughts: Wow! I'm fairly insensitive to any kind of blood, guts and bodily fluids, but I still found myself wanting to read this from between my fingers at times...

I asked my fellow bookseller to recommend me something that would make me think "What kind of sick person could think up something like this!?!" (think Halfhead/Stuart MacBride, Genesis/Karin Slaughter, Perfume/Patrick Suskind) - and she told me that this one fitted my brief exactly. She was spot on.

Some of the stories within the book were fantastic and left me wanting more of it - they're stuck in my head now and I can't get them out - some were so bizarre that I couldn't follow them (hence no 10th star). The characters were a mixed bag, mostly disconnected and unrelateable, but I did find myself rooting for one or two of them, which was a little disturbing in itself. I really did like the penultimate tale 'Obsolete' - it was one of the chapters that is now ingrained into my head.

I already read 'Snuff' by Palahnuik a while back, but now I think Choke and Fight Club are going onto my ever expanding Book(et) list.

Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

"Lolita,light of my life,
fire of my loins."

Rated 10/10

The book chronicles the life of its narrator and protagonist, Humbert Humbert, a middle-aged, fastidious college professor, focusing on his disastrous love affair with a young girl (he happens to like little girls), named Lolita, whom he'll do anything to possess. 

My Thoughts: Such a brilliantly written novel about a subject so terrible, and told through the eyes of a manipulative, destructive man. He tries to coerce the reader into sympathising with him, whilst all the time ruining the life of a young girl. He plays games with Lolita as he plays games with the reader. Isolates her, abuses her, blackmails her. Attempts to make us understand him. And it seems that some readers have actually been swayed by his immature obsessive ways.

An absolutely stunning read that I could not put down despite being horrified by it. Very well written, gripping and captivating and I can't help but hope that the writer had no life experience in the matter; he writes with such vivid style. Definitely one to read.

I have no idea why anyone could describe this novel as 'comic'. I don't quite know where the comedy lies. It is NEVER a child's fault, and (dear reader) it should NEVER be interpreted that way. The relationship in this book shouldn't be glamorised or romanticised. Adults hold a responsibility for protecting the health and well being of children, for teaching them morals and values and attempting to lead by example so that children can grow up forming their own happy and healthy relationships. This is one subject matter that I will always get on my soapbox for.

The Rachel Papers - Martin Amis

"My name is Charles
Highway, though you
wouldn't think it to look
at me."

Rated 6/10

Charles Highway, a precociously intelligent and highly sexed teenager, is determined to sleep with an older woman before he turns twenty. Rachel fits the bill perfectly. Charles plans his seduction meticulously, and sets the scene with infinite care - but it doesn't come off quite as he expects...

My Thoughts: All in all this book was pretty good. I enjoyed the language and writing style used, and I was also mesmerised by the way that the relationship the narrator had with Rachel changed from meeting her to the very end page. A coming of age novel that I found brutal and cringeworthy in parts, and quite a bit sexist in others. Amis portrays his character very well and I can't help but believe that this book was written based upon personal experiences (bit worrying). 

Took me a while to plough through and I still can't make up my mind just what I took from it, but I'm glad I stuck with it and now I will never read it again.

Birthmarked - Caragh M. O'Brien

"In the dim hovel, the mother
clenched her body into one final,
straining push, and the baby
slithered out into Gaia's ready hands."

Rated 3/10

After climate change, on the north shore of Unlake Superior, a dystopian world is divided between those who live inside the wall, and those, like sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone, who live outside. It’s Gaia’s job to “advance” a quota of infants from poverty into the walled Enclave, until the night one agonized mother objects, and Gaia’s parents disappear.

My Thoughts: Bear with me, as I'm reviewing this on my phone. Birthmarked is a fairly bland read, with no real direction and characters that I just couldn't find realistic. I didn't get worked up over the problem, if there even was one. I couldn't see what all the fuss was about within the plot at all and didn't care. 

I thought the book was going to be so much more than it turned out to be - quite disappointing.