Free Country – Jeremy Duns

I’m sure you know what its like when you read a book and get so engrossed in it you’re  gutted when it comes to the end, well for me Free Agent was like that. To the point that I contacted the author to ask when the next would be out,

(I’m serious thanks to twitter you can literally send a message to people you don’t know without needing to find their email address first)

I know that there are many of you will know there is always the fear that a new author can’t live up the quality of their first book, that they miss the sweet spot that their first book hit with ease, Don’t worry though this isn't the case with Free Country!

In the first book (Free Agent) -we were introduced to Paul Dark who works for MI6 and thanks to his “flexible” moral code, you more than you think. not only from Larry Dark’s boy with what happens to him.

Its rare that you get a story where the main character takes such a beating, if you’ve read the James Bond books or watch the films you know he’s going to come out of it with a smile a martini (shaken obviously) and a red head on either arm. But there’s no guarantee that Paul Dark is going to survive the chapter! Which makes for a fast tempo book that once you start you can’t help but finish, I know I should have limited myself to a couple of chapters a day but I couldn’t, I sat and fall headlong into a cracker of a story.

When I twittered about Free Country, I got loads of people asking about where they could buy it! After it went on sale fair few of the people got back in touch by email or direct messaged through Twitter to say they loved it. Honestly I’d encourage you all to buy Free Country if you’ve already read Free Agent, and if you’ve not buy them both there will be a 3rd in the trilogy coming next year.

With the quality of the first two the weird thing was when I read both books I “watched” them in black and white –its weird I know but when I enjoy a book its like watching a film… only in your head, I’m sure you ever one who falls deeply into any story like I do understand what I mean when I say the book in your hands vanishes and its like watching it. 

At the time I said that I thought Free Agent didn’t feel to me like a gritty spy thriller which is what I was expecting, It felt more like a 40's era gumshoe/ film noir, It came across as a slick, highly polished and very enjoyable cold war thriller and Free Country picks up the gauntlet and runs with it, its just as  polished and complete a story as the first and lays the fears I had to rest

I did mention at the top that some authors struggle to match their first book Jeremy Duns isn’t one though if you enjoyed the first you will enjoy this the 2nd of the 3 book trilogy,

after finishing Free Country I found I was left with a small nugget of sadness came with the last page, the knowledge that the next book will be the last.

Lastly, when I posted my review of Free Agent I said

“It's a good size, some book's are a little small and holding them gives me cramp in my hand's but not this one, I've not got the hugest hands in the world but they're not the smallest either so a decent size book is a pleasure to hold”

I have to say that both Simon & Schuster and Jeremy Duns have listened and gone the same way with a slightly bigger book, it feels great in your hands and saves you from getting cramp when you read for a few hours at a time,

http://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/

http://www.jeremyduns.com/

http://authors.simonandschuster.co.uk/Jeremy-Duns/66095423

If you want to follow Jeremy Duns on twitter go to twitter.com/jeremyduns or @jeremyduns and if you want to follow me on twitter if you check out twitter.com/50bookchallenge or @50bookchallenge

Changes are a foot

As the title says changes are afoot, over the past few months I’ve been finishing the editing of my first book, and writing the first half of the second.

As you may have noticed that has pretty much killed this site, between the writing and editing my reading (obviously) has taken a back seat, I’ve still been reading just not my normal 3-4 books a week, I’ve been down in the one book a week range which is about the least I think I’ve EVER read.

the changes I was referring to are to the reviews I’m willing to take requests as long as I’ve either read the book or got the book. if you want something reviewing other than that I’m sure we can come to an arrangement :)

I’m going to be posting news, reviews, product tests and more, while the site will remain at its core a book review site there will be some branching out in new and hopefully interesting ways,

If you like the changes please let me know and just as importantly if you don’t like the changes again, let me know.

In the short term it could be more trial and error (hopefully more trial than error) so I would ask you to stick with me through the lumps and bumps and hopefully we can all come out the other side with a better more rounded site

The Red Queen – Philippa Gregory

The Red Queen

As some of you will remember after I finished The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (which I've since discovered was the 1^st book in a new 3 part series) - I immediately loved it. At the time I'm sure there were more than a couple of people sick of hearing about it. If you want to read the review I posted please click this link to read the full review. 
     The Red Queen is the 2^nd in Philippa Gregory's 3 part series and like the first I will not be the one to ruin it for you! It's so easy to say the wrong thing or mention something you didn't mean to when you write a review and that could quite easily ruin book, spoil the plot lines or tip someone of as to who the killer is or if the butler really did do it, so I try not to whenever possible, especially when it's a new book that not a lot of people have had the chance to read yet.
     When I wrote the review of The White Queen I said "There is no way I'm giving any of this books plot or story away! It is brilliant full stop" and I stand by that still, to the point that I wouldn't spoil this one either more so because it's the 2^nd part of a trilogy. Previously in the review I wrote for The White Queen, I said "This book follows the Princes in the tower and is a fantastic murder mystery and one that has genuinely gone unsolved for hundreds of years." And while I have said again I'm not going to be the one person who spoils it for everyone.
     I also said "Don't literally judge this book by the cover. I wouldn't have thought a murder mystery set the thick end of 600 years ago would have been my kinda thing, I couldn't have been more wrong" And again the same couldn't be truer this time around. 
     If I were being 100% honest I'm like most people and as evolved as we all like to think we are, I do judge books by their cover, we all do! Because of that I probably wouldn't have picked up the 1^st of these books up as I strolled through the book isle in Asda, Tesco, Whsmiths or Waterstones (although I buy alot of books online I enjoy the feel of the paper and the smell of the ink even if I do go home and buy them online) As I said in the other review I would have been missing out, big time! 
     I can't help but think in the years to come that the BBC or another production company should go all out to make these 3 books into costume dramas (even if the 3^rd may not have yet been written lol) while they wouldn't use me to direct or produce it they really should, after devouring both of the books so far I have it all set out –although because of the quality of Philippa Gregory's writing style we could all be getting the same mental images as we read the books. I will say though that the images I get in my mind while I was reading it have more than matched up to Pride and Prejudice, Bleak House or Little Dorrit 

The White Queen

     I did say in the review I posted about The White Queen "I wouldn't recommend sitting down and reading it in 2 or 3 sittings as much as you may want to make it last, think of it like a fine wine or 30 year old single malt treat yourself." I really should follow my own advice, I did try not to read it in one or two sittings, I even tried to limit myself to 20 pages but that soon became 50 pages which became 75 then 100 and I think we all know how that ends. If you're anything like me you get hopelessly lost in a books story; you forget how long you can sit with your head firmly wedged between the pages. 
     The bottom line is The Red Queen is an excellent book, its engaging and engrossing and to me while I think its maybe not quiet the match for The White Queen, as very few books are - you will likely love this book, if you haven't read the 1^st book in the series that OK, it's more than strong enough to stand alone; and if I were pushed to give the 2 books a score out of 10, I'd give The White Queen 9 out of 10 and I'd give The Red Queen 8 out of 10 the only reason I haven't given it the same score as the first one is because the 2^nd time around I knew what to expect and how the writing style works, how the ebb and flow of the story goes where as the 1^st was a bolt from the blue and completely unexpected and was one of the top 10 books of last year (the full list is available by following this link) 

     The white Queen, written by Philippa Gregory, is published by Simon and Schuster UK. It is available as to order from both Amazon.co.uk and Play.com its also available on both CD and ebook 
     The Red Queen, is also written by Philippa Gregory, and is again published by Simon and Schuster UK. It is available as a pre order from both Amazon.co.uk and Play.com and is also available in a digital ebook format.

The Red Queen will be released on 19^th of August 2010

Nearing the end of my 50 book challenge

With the end of my 50 book challenge drawing near, I thought I’d list the books that I’ve read, its not a review of each book but a simple list of the books I’ve read over the last 12 months, the ones I have read will have links to their reviews the others wont but if there is one that you’d like more information on or a review of let me know by emailing me at the50bookchallenge@gmail.com

in no particular order;

The Library of the Dead – Glenn Cooper

The Bro Code – Barney Stinson

Murder Most Fab – Julian Clary

Blindsighted – Karin Slaughter

Blood Born – Kathryn Fox

The Last Patriot – Brad Thor

The Crucifix Killer – Chris Carter

Free Agent – Jeremy Duns

Martin Misunderstood – Karin Slaughter

The End of Mr. Y – Scarlett Thomas

A Quiet Belief in Angels – R.J Ellory

The Book with No Name – Anonymous

The Book with No Name – Anonymous

The White Queen – Philipa Gregory

The Cairo Diary – Maxim Chattam

Child44 – Tom Rob Smith

The Seventh Daughter – Ronnie Seagren

Secret Speech – Tom Rob Smith

The Da Vinci code – Dan Brown

Angels and Demons – Dan Brown

Tuppence to Tooley Street – Harry Bowling

Family Betrayal – Kitty Neale

Along Came a Spider – James Patterson

Goodnight Sweetheart – Annie Groves

No time for Goodbye – Linwood Barclay

Silk and Steel – Catherine King

Home Before Dark – Charles Mclean

The Spellman files – Lisa Lutz

The revenge of the Spellmans – Lisa Lutz

Curse of the Spellmans – Lisa Lutz

Shutter Island – Dennis Lehane

Quirkology – Dr Richard Wiseman

Pop co – Scarlett Thomas

Kisscut – Karin Slaughter

Fractured – Karin Slaughter

Daemon – Daniel Suarez

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher – Kate Summerscale

The Doomsday Prophecy - Scott Mariani

The Resurrectionist – James Bradley

The Secret Servant – Daniel Silva

The Mozart Conspiracy – Scott Mariani

The Crystal Skull – Manda Scott

Cross Country – James Patterson

Kiss the Girls – James Patterson

Big Bad Wolf – James Patterson

Double Cross – James Patterson

You’ve been Warned – James Patterson

I, Alex Cross – James Patterson

Midnight Club – James Patterson

Mary Mary – James Patterson

4 blind mice – James Patterson

Cross – James Patterson

Jack and Jill – James Patterson

The Quickie – James Patterson

The Host – Stephanie Meyer

 

As I near the end of May, my 50 book challenge draws to an end. and during the first week of June I will be starting my next 50 book challenge and I have some books that I’ve been holding back and not reading because I know I’ll enjoy them so much more if I’m sat in the garden in the sun reading them.

 

I’ll update again soon :)

The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold

The Lovely Bones is by Alice Sebold and is available to buy from both amazon and play.com

Well, to begin with I bought this book because I saw the adverts for the movie on TV and I thought “Hmmm that looks alright” 

Before I carry on, I do want to say that I have both seen the movie and read the book. Although, when I watched the film I hadn’t finished reading the book. It must be said as usually happens with people I preferred the book to the movie.

Although unlike some of the film reviews I’ve read I personally think Peter Jackson did well with the movie even if some of the plot and storylines in the book were ignored, it didn’t detract from the overall story of the book.

Well, I’ve got to say that although I enjoyed the film I thought the book was much better. I wont spoil the book or the film but I will say that you should only read it, its not a bad book by any means.

One question I’ve asked myself while I was reading it was, “Is it me or does it jump around?” That for me is the biggest flaw of the book at times the narrative jumps around by that I don’t mean it changes from person to person, what I mean is that one line your are hearing about the changes to Buckley (Susie’s little brother) and the next your reading about the gazebo in Susie’s own individual heaven with no warning.

I cant help but think that if i say much more I’ll either spoil the film or the book so this one is to be a short review. I’m going to condense the rest of the review as much as I can without giving anything away about the story in either the book or the film.

Book score out of 10…..8/10

Film score out of 10…..7/10

Did I enjoy the book? yes. Would I tell you to read it? yes. Did I enjoy the film? yes. Would I tell you to read it or to see it? yes.

The story in my opinion travels well from the printed page to the silver screen and like any good story it doesn’t matter how you consume it just as long as you do.

You need this book to get what you want by Mark Palmer and Scott Solder

You need this book to get what you want is by Mark Palmer and Scott Solder and is currently on sale at Amazon.co.uk

Like most of you out there I’ve never read a self help book, the closest I came before this book was Feeling Unreal by Daphne Simon & Jeffery Abugel but that is about depersonalization and derealisation which as you can guess is a world away from getting what you want. But with a title that grabs you the way it does how can you not pick it up and read it?

Mark Palmer and Scott Solder are experts in their field of interpersonal dynamics and they took their corporate seminars that big multinational companies attend to get ahead and turned it into a book. With self help books like How to win friends and influence people and the like I’ve always looked at them as a bit ‘flouncy’ especially after participating in team building exercises in work. Surprisingly it isn’t though; in places it’s both wry and funny;

Most self help books are all about changing you as a person; they tell you how to be happy, easy going etc none of them teach the dark art of manipulation –until now. While I’ve yet to put what I read about into practice I don’t doubt it works a lot of it seems like simple common sense. Saying that though some of the other parts like reading people’s moods and being your own celebrity to get served at the bar quicker or to get someone to like you sound plausible but I’ve yet to try them.

One thing I will say though is while the premise sounds farfetched as regards it working a lot of topics and techniques –unsurprisingly are or at least were when I worked there taught by a certain UK telecoms behemoth to the advisors to get them to connect with the customer establish a rapport before over coming objections in the process of a sale. Now I know you’re thinking “all those advisors have a script” and while true there are scripts that the less able stick to the better sales advisors go off script and secure the sale usually quicker (and yes I speak from experience I was one of the sales advisors that got people to sign up to something you didn’t want, couldn’t afford or didn’t need.)

The bottom line is that this book works. I like many people out there have been taught how to sell, and it works. If this book is as easy to put into practice for the general public as the sales techniques were for me, keep your eye on the people around you they will be manipulating the situation to their benefit and you wouldn’t even know it. In short you need this book, not only to get what you want but to stop everyone else from getting what they want from you!

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Still Alice is by Lisa Genova is published by Pocket Books, its available to buy from the 4th of March 2010, it can be currently bought on pre-order from Amazon.co.uk

I’ve been trying to find a tactful way of saying this,  but tact has never been my strong suit. This… really isn’t my kind of book. There I said it. You’re far more likely to find me lost in a James Patterson, Dan Brown or Lisa Lutz book. But (and like all buts’ its a biggie) truth be told I enjoyed it and I really wasn’t expecting to.

As I mentioned above I’m a lot more at home with my characters chasing serial killers, kidnappers and the like. So a book about the slip in to an unrecognising oblivion didn’t appeal all that much. (In all truthfulness when I picked up Still Alice from the book case I picked up The Murder of King Tut by James Patterson and Martin Dugard, for when I’d given in after the first few pages or chapters. -As yet The Murder of King Tut is still sat on the coffee table unopened)

Personally, like each of you out there reading this I have a certain genre of books that I enjoy; there are other subsections of other genre that I find enjoyable but wouldn’t go out of my way to read like the Enid Blyton books I read as a child I enjoyed them then and probably would again but without being forced to read one I doubt I’d pick one up and read it. One thing that has remained constant since I was a kid though was that I always have a preference for fiction over non fiction and this is is because of 3 reasons.

1, Anything can happen, I don't read fantasy or sci-fi and never will they’re just not my kind of thing, much like many of you out there I’d rather be beaten with a phonebook rather than read a sci-fi fantasy book.

2, When something terrible happens be they murders, kidnapping or serial killers who tattoo themselves head to toe before trying to find out the secret word of the free masons. When you close the book you forget about it, its not like watching the news and seeing the damage of the earth quake in Haiti and not being able to do anything other than donate money. That kind of thing sticks with you.

3, To me non-fiction forces you to pick a side and then empathise with the people in the book, because that’s what they are… people they aren’t characters. The thought that they are out there; walking around some where just like you. So when you read some of the horrible things that happened to them its not as easy to put it out of your mind.

Although on the back of Still Alice it says fiction, to me it doesn’t read like it the little nuances and details that make up the quiet strengths of the book couldn’t be made up. Either that or Lisa Genova did an amazing job of researching before she sat down to write it.

In some parts of the book you feel like a bit of a voyeur as you read on, The profound feelings of loss strike out at you as part after part of Alice slips away. As I mentioned above it doesn’t feel like fiction as you read it, and I cant help but think that Lisa Genova has to have had experience of someone close with Alzheimer's, because to me there’s sections that simply couldn’t be plucked from the ether without first knowing, Like how after reading the book I got the feeling that I could trace it all back to a single point in time when it all began.

One thing I will say though is that Lisa Genova has wrote Still Alice with a forceful confidence that carries the book through some of the quieter parts of the story and forces you to empathise with Alice and her family as they go through the stresses and strains that Alzheimer's places on family and relationships.

I found Still Alice to be an enjoyable book, which is odd because as I mentioned at the top it really isn’t my kind of book.

Would I recommend it? Yes and I already have.

Will you enjoy it? Probably although its possible that you could like it for completely different reasons than I did.

Would I read it again? Yes and no for this one, yes I would read it again but it wouldn’t be for a while; I say that because like any book that leaves a mark, it takes a while and needs to be missed to be enjoyed a second time. That and now my mother has the book I doubt I’ll be getting it back anytime soon. LOL.

John Dies in the End

So, John dies in the end? Its a pity it wasn’t sooner and save us all the pain of reading the book. For the first 30-50 pages the stage was being set for what I hoped would be another cult read. Unfortunately this just wasn’t to be for me at least.

Where books like The Book with No Name and the Eye of the Moon find an inner strength and don’t force the story John Dies in the End doesn’t, it seems to jump around which only works for so long and in time becomes a distraction.

Its rare that I put a book back on my bookcase without finishing it BUT… and like all buts its a biggie John Dies in the End managed it. Through its ability to annoy and aggravate me in equal measure it’s gone to live on the upstairs bookcase with some of the other less than loved books I’ve bought over the years.

Why? I hear you ask, well… Its hard to read. I don’t mean it’s got words I don’t understand or its got harsh or graphic descriptions of events it doesn’t. What it does have is a ‘staccato’ narrative which seems to be the authors way of writing. -This could easily be from his time as cracked.com’s editor. I’ll be honest personally the ideas and the concept of the book sounds like fun, they were my original motivation for buying it in the first place and I’m sure when it’s been made into a movie (apparently by the same bloke behind bubba ho’tep) -I’ll come back to it and give it another go and see how it goes. I’m sure the film will be great I loved bubba ho’tep

A while ago I watched a documentary on the BBC called Why Reading Matters, during the documentary they described how your brain can ‘skip a beat’ as you read depending on what is wrong with the sentence that generated the ‘skip’. If its the meaning of a word that makes your brain skip its called an N400 which occurs 400ms after you read the words. Where as if the grammar causes the ‘skip’ it’s called a P600 and this occurs 600ms after you read the words.

For example Shakespeare used the sentence “they thought so well of the hero they godified him” which causes an N400 in your brain because of the use of godified rather than deified. Where as if the sentence had been “they thought so well of the hero they candled him” this would generate both an N400 and a P600 because it simply doesn’t make sense.

Now I know what your thinking ‘what’s this to do with John dies in the end?’ well when you read something that generates these N400’s and P600’s it takes you out of the moment. So you re-read it to make sense of it. Which for me at least kills the flow of the story; I’m sure there are those of you out there that would really enjoy reading this and enjoy the challenging linguistics. Unfortunately -for me, I'm not one of the chosen few.

Personally I’d have loved to tell you to rush out and buy this book. Sadly I can’t, I have to tell you to buy it only after reading some of it, if you like the writing style I’m happy you’ll enjoy it.

I’m not sad that its on the bookcase like I was with A Quiet Belief in Angels by R.J Ellory (I wanted to enjoy that book) I’m just not that bothered that its back on there; which I suppose is worse than if I’d hated it.

If your on the look out for a pop culture referencing modern fun horror style of book, I have to tell you to spend the money and buy The Book with no Name and its follow on The Eye of the Moon both of which are by Anonymous. I found them both to be are far more enjoyable and rewarding read, not to mention the fact I wasn’t sat there with N400’s and P600’s getting in the way.

I’ve said it before about other books I’ve not liked, not all books are aimed at everyone and sometimes the more aimed and targeted a book becomes (such as this one is) the less of the public at large will find it enjoyable. But that’s not to say YOU wont like it. Only that after spending my own money on something I didn’t enjoy it.

Just a quick reminder…

 

Seeing how since the refresh of this site I’ve largely been ‘slacking’ on the reviews, –I say slacking but the truth is reading books takes time.

So I thought I’d just do a quick post to act as a reminder of the books that have been reviewed so far, you can click on any of the book titles to go to its review they all have links you can follow if you wish to buy the books.

ok in no particular order;

The Library of the Dead – Glenn Cooper

The Bro Code – Barney Stinson

Murder Most Fab – Julian Clary

Blindsighted – Karin Slaughter

Blood Born – Kathryn Fox

The Last Patriot – Brad Thor

The Crucifix Killer – Chris Carter

Free Agent – Jeremy Duns

Martin Misunderstood – Karin Slaughter

The End of Mr. Y – Scarlett Thomas

A Quiet Belief in Angels – R.J Ellory

The Book with No Name – Anonymous

The White Queen – Philipa Gregory

The Cairo Diary – Maxim Chattam

Child44 – Tom Rob Smith

The Seventh Daughter – Ronnie Seagren

Secret Speech – Tom Rob Smith

The Da Vinci code – Dan Brown

Angels and Demons – Dan Brown

Tuppence to Tooley Street – Harry Bowling

Family Betrayal – Kitty Neale

Along Came a Spider – James Patterson

Goodnight Sweetheart – Annie Groves

No time for Goodbye – Linwood Barclay

Silk and Steel – Catherine King

Home Before Dark – Charles Mclean

And to top off this little review freshener here is the link to my top 10 books of 2009 –click me

Kathryn Fox – Blood Born

Blood born by Kathryn fox
This was the first of Kathryn Fox’s books I've read despite having her previous book Without Consent on my book case for almost a year. You can buy Blood Born online from Amazon as well as play.com

Please don’t misunderstand me I did like the book but it got a little too lost within itself about 2/3rds of the way though before being tied up twice at the end, something which I’ve noticed more and more new writers doing and it only happens when I think they got a little lost with the story themselves. Like I said though I liked it. The characters felt a little distant in the beginning –something that I feel Kathryn Fox addressed during the book mainly when Anya the very self sufficient main character looked to her best friend for shelter and support.

Would I read it again or read any of the other books that Kathryn Fox has wrote? I would yes, I’m not the world biggest Patricia Cornwell or Kathy Reichs fan although I do enjoy some of their work. At times they can be a little too detached from the characters which stops you from becoming engrossed in one of their books.

I will say though that Blood Born walked that fine line while it was a little cold at times by the end it was enjoyable although I didnt really care what happened to the characters.
I do think id have enjoyed it more had I read some of her previous books before this one, although the evolution of her writing style is evident as you work your way through the book so I’d hazard a guess that this could easily be her best so far,

When id finished the book I could help but think that If this had a little less of the clinical aspects and a little more of 10yr olds vomiting in the back of Ferrari’s it would have been a much better read. -Saying that the vomiting in the back of a Ferrari you cant help but think has to have happened at some point. It would be rare that a writer could write with such warmth and humour about something they’d not experienced be they the driver, passenger or the vomiting child