Review of AMBER WAKE: Gabriel Falling by P.S. Bartlett & Ronovan Hester – 5 Stars

AMBER WAKE – Gabriel Falling by P.S. Bartlett & Ronovan Hester

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I recently finished reading Amber Wake by PS Bartlett & Ronovan Hester and I must say it is such a catching and intriguing storyline. It is set around the classic storyline of a hero trying to right a wrong done to him but it is so much more than that. When Royal Navy Captain Gabriel Wallace finds himself unknowingly tricked into a situation the ruins his career and risks his family he makes the decision to leave England. With the help of his friends and crewmates, they make an escape and become regarded as Pirates. As a reader, you truly get caught up in the need for Captain Wallace to take down Admiral Chambers and all that he corrupts. With drama leaping off the first page, it gets its hook into you straight away. A page-turner from start to finish.

 

I adore historical fiction novels anyway, but I must say Amber Wake’s storyline is excellent and unlike anything I have read before. I don’t know much about the British Royal navy (and maybe that made it all the more intriguing to me), but felt I could easily have lived through each setting from the British courtroom, the American Colonies, Caribbean ports, and, of course, the ships themselves.

 

The characters throughout the book were superb. As a reader, you could feel the strength of Captain Wallace, the loyalty of his crew, the difficulties with trust and friendship. All the emotions leapt straight from the page. Of course, there is also moments of strong comradery and humorous touches too. One of my favourite quotes being:

“His face was puffed-up and as red as a drunken Irishman with an empty wages packet.”

For me, the book was totally unpredictable and a real gem of a discovery. The authors writing style, the plot twists, the locations and most importantly the strong storyline all kept me turning each page eager for more. Highly recommended.

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For those that haven’t yet discovered it. Ronovan has a great blog right here on wordpress with loads of hints and tips for writing featured, a hiaku prompt, and a weekly flash fiction prompt – Visit for more info. https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/

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Review of The Viking by Marti Talbott – 5 Stars

The Viking by Marti Talbott

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

With a recent obsession with the Vikings tv series, when this book came up I thought the story blurb sounded interesting. This is novel tells the story of Stefan, a young Viking on his first raid with his father. When the raid goes wrong Stefan finds himself stranded in Scotland and at the mercy of a young female, Kannak, who has hidden him from her clan. Kannak has a lot going on too, her father has deserted her and her mother and clan tradition is that one of them must marry, but her mother has a secret that Kannak can never know that could threaten their way of life. With Kannak alone knowing the truth about Stefan, can she protect him from the clan at risk as a suspect of betrayal? Will her refusal to marriage endanger her and her mother’s way of life?
The story had an interesting premise, and it gripped me very quickly. The author seems to have researched a lot of details making it very realistic. The split between Kannak and Stefan worked very well and the blossoming relationship between was lovely! Suspense, drama, passion, history, and innocence all add to this dramatic story.
The settings are well written and you can feel the isolated village come to life, I really enjoyed the opening scenes on the boat too, an exciting start to the story which was brilliantly described. These are wonderful details that certainly added to the story and plot.
This book captures your interest in a beautiful historic setting, giving a fairly well known story a refreshing view. These books will appeal to most historical fiction fans especially those of Philippa Gregory. I will certainly keep an eye out for more from this author. This novel is part of a series so I look forward to reading more in the future.

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Review of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, I should have probably tried to get this review published in December when I read this book but time has a way of running away from me at times. So happy belated Christmas first of all! Now, obviously Dickens A Christmas Carol is a classic and doesn’t need my two-penny worth to be so but I just wanted to put this review on here anyway to encourage all those who haven’t read it to do so.

So many people have this image of classics being long-winded, with lengthy wording that is cumbersome to read (– I’m looking at you Thomas Hardy!), but this book truly isn’t. At a length of 112 pages this book can actually be read in a sitting or two. As to the cumbersome, here is a little extract I highlighted, this is as fanciful as the wording gets:

“They were a gloomy suite of rooms, in a lowering pile of building up a yard, where it had so little business to be, that one could scarcely help fancying it must have run there when it was a young house, playing at hide-and-seek with other houses, and forgotten the way out again.”

Although you may not read “one could” in many novels nowadays analysing the rest of the sentence you have got to love that it is a little cheeky and a little sarcastic.

I probably don’t need to tell you a summary of the plot as Disney has managed that very well but I will say that the book is better; more magical, a little darker in places, and there is quite a few scenes not included in the modern adaptions. I think everyone should read this book, at least once, you may even be surprised by the happy boost it will give you.

At the time of writing it is even free on amazon for kindle – what more incentive do you need than free. 🙂

KL ❤

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Review of The Last Sherlock Holmes Story by Michael Dibdin – 3 Stars

The Last Sherlock Holmes Story by Michael Dibdin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hmmm… I am not sure what to make of this book – I have read other reviews and well they are very mixed and that is my opinion of this book – mixed.

There was parts I thought were great. Holmes as narrator was particularly well written and I actually enjoyed the locations and the time period. I actually really liked the concept of this book with Sherlock on the hunt for Jack the Ripper and trying to decipher if Jack was actually arch-nemesis Moriarty.

Onto the bad, I did feel the detective’s classic sleuthing was glanced over. I missed the dry sarcasm that is associated with Holmes, apart from one paragraph criticising Doyle’s interpretation of a Holmes case at the beginning this wit was missing during the book. Towards the end I must admit I did stop enjoying the plot of the novel to some extent, it’s difficult to go into details without giving away the plot but I was a little disappointed.

It was a short-novel and quite easy to read in one or two sittings. The writing was good, the characters were mostly kept true to form, the time-period was really well adhered to and the concept was excellent. A good attempt at a classic. Good for a short quick read, not the book for a die-hard Holmes fan.

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Review of Hushabye by Celina Grace – 4 Stars

Hushabye by Celina Grace

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an unusual police crime thriller, following DS Kate Redman. Kate has just changed jobs and is now Detective Sergeant in a local unit. Her first case is one she struggles with that immediately pulls at her heart strings, someone has murdered a nanny and kidnaps Charley, a three-month-old baby. With no ransom note and a lot of potential suspects, this is quite a super-sleuth novel, keeping the armchair expert guessing to the end.

This is much more of a TV drama type crime story, Frost or Jonathan Creek style plot. Without too much gore or aggression present but enough mystery, frustration, red-herrings and humours to keep the reader guessing and judging the characters.

The story had an interesting plot, with lots of drama from the first page. This novel is incredibly well written, particularly as the first in a series as the story stands up very well on its own. The writing style is very easy to read, straight forward and quick-paced.

The characters are incredibly well written and I can see them easily returning in future novels in the series. Kate particularly is a well thought it character with a complicated personal life, a mother who is a drunk and secrets that Kate hopes to keep that way. The only character who I wasn’t too impressed with was Olbeck, he played a critical character at certain stages of the book but his character itself seemed a bit stale, hopefully that is just the author leaving room for his character to grow in future novels.

These books will appeal to fans of MC Beaton or Kate Ellis style writing; not too dark or gritty, but still quick-paced, crime thriller with a very smart plot, a smart character and plenty of action.

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Review of Harry’s Torment by Michael Beck

Harry’s Torment by Michael Beck

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an unusual crime thriller set (mostly) in the ports, checking the Lorries that come and go for drugs, cigarettes etc. It is an interesting premise and one that I had not previously come across. The department have to integrate with a lot of others and those that are in charge get frustrated that the credit for a good catch never falls to them.
This is a multi-viewpoint story, often told from the perspective of one-time respected top dog Harry who is in charge of a local unit, but his methods and manner is out-dated and when he is side-stepped for promotion by a younger, less experienced, female his world starts to become that bit more difficult. The story also follows Clint a shy, easy-going officer whose main focus is doing a good job, unfortunately this is often at the detriment of his home life.
The story had an interesting plot, with lots of drama from the first page. This novel is incredibly well researched by the author, which I think gives it a really interesting feel for the predicaments the characters have found themselves in. The gritty, dark, drug-dealing underworld is truly brought to life in this dramatic story.
The characters are incredibly well written and I can see them returning in future novels, this would make a great crime thriller series. These books will appeal to fans of Ian Rankin or David Baldacci style writing; dark, gritty, and quick-paced, crime thriller with a very smart plot and plenty of action.

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The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths – 4 stars

The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m a fan of Elly Griffiths Ruth Galloway novels and admire her unusual style of historic mystery writing. This novel is no exception. Expertly written to really evoke the post-war old-school British era, the seedy back stage areas and the awe that magicians once had.
This is a multi-viewpoint story from the perspective of one-time superstar magician Max Mephisto and DI Edgar Stephens, a lonely shy policeman. They served together in the war as part of a shadowy unit called the Magic Men, formed to use stage trickery to confuse the enemy.
The story had an interesting premise, with little bits of drama both during and post-war period. This novel was inspired by the authors Grandfather, which I think gives it a really interesting feel of a rekindled era. Mystery, magic, mayhem and murder all add to this dramatic story. The characters are incredibly well written and I was excited to read that Max & Edgar will be returning in a future mystery novel, making this an exciting start to an unusual mystery series. There was a few areas that the novel was a little slow filling in quite a bit of background info but I am hoping that is used to the authors advantage in future novels in the series.
This book captures your interest in a particularly unusual historic storyline. It is definitely different from the Galloway series but I did enjoy seeing the author’s diversity. These books will appeal to fans of Agatha Christie & MC Beaton style writing; cosy murder, mystery but with a very smart plot and plenty of action.

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Review of The Confessions of Katherine Howard by Suzannah Dunn

The Confession of Katherine Howard by Suzannah Dunn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I discovered this novel in the local library and thought the story blurb sounded interesting. This is novel tells the story of Katherine Howard from the perspective Cat Tilney, the poor relation in the Howard house. Cat has been brought up under the pressure of her mother to better herself in every way possible, but mostly through marrying well. Katherine appears to have no such pressure and is only interested in clothes and boys. Despite this the two girls do become close, when Katherine catches Henry’s eye she somehow becomes queen of England, a fate she never expected but soon allegations are made about her girlhood love affairs. Cat alone knows the truth and with own lover Francis at risk as a suspect will she sacrifice her friends secrets.
The story had an interesting premise, a true story told from the unique perspective of Cat, Katherine’s childhood friend and later lady in waiting. The author seems to have researched a lot of details making it very realistic. The split between the childhood and adulthood timeline also works very well! Suspense, drama, passion, history, and innocence all add to this dramatic story.
I did feel the settings could be explored a little bit more, I would have really liked to have a little bit better feel of the glamour of the courts etc. I would also have liked to have read a little bit more about Henry himself as he is only really referenced in the story. These are just trivial details that certainly don’t detract from the story but I would have loved to have seen them added.
This book captures your interest in a beautiful historic setting, giving a fairly well known story a refreshing view. These books will appeal to most historical fiction fans especially those of Philippa Gregory. I will certainly keep an eye out for more from this author.

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Review of Second Chance by Dylan S Hearn

Second Chance by Dylan S. Hearn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I discovered this author’s blog prior to his novel and admired his unusual style of writing. This novel is no exception. This is a multi-viewpoint story so tells the story from the perspective of four different characters: a politician, an investigator, an information cleanser (someone who searches the internet and deletes any unsuitable information), and a science technician.
The story had an interesting premise, set in a futuristic world with scientific research taking a lot of worryingly advanced steps. The author seems to have researched a lot of detail making it very realistic. On the night the politician is elected, a university student goes missing, an event that connects the main characters. It is not a light-hearted thriller! Suspense, drama, politics, weird science and odd incidents all add to this dramatic story.
I did feel the characters could be explored/ explained a little more and think Hearn has a lot more story to tell with the characters in his future books. The reader did get glimpses of the characters pasts, the futuristic present and also a further uncertain future. At which stage does science go too far and will those at the top cover it up?
This book captures your interest in a particularly bizarre setting. These books will appeal to fans of George Oswell; dark, twisted and gritty storylines with plenty of action (and the odd bit of compassion) to keep the reader going. Looking forward to future reads from this author.

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Review of World’s Scariest Places – The Catacombs by Jeremy Bates

The Catacombs by Jeremy Bates
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This mainly follows the story of Will, an American staying in Paris. When his friend and (pretty) language tutor Daniele shows him footage of a video camera discovered under Paris and tells him she plans to investigate it, he feels the need to go with her.
The story had an interesting premise, who can refuse creepy catacombs as a base of a story and the author seems to have researched a lot of detail making it very realistic. It is not a light-hearted thriller! It is easy to read, but is quick and hard-hitting with the story flowing naturally. Suspense, horror, treacherous terrain and odd incidents all add to this dramatic story.
I did feel the characters could be explored/ explained a little more and think Will has a lot more story to tell with the opportunity to feature in future books. The reader did get glimpses of his past throughout and these little snippets of info really helped the reader engage for him and hope he had the will-power to survive.
This is book two in the series “A World’s Scariest Places”. The first “Suicide Forest” was also a great thriller, capturing your interest in another particularly creepy setting. These books will appeal to fans of Stephen King’s earlier work; dark, twisted and gritty storylines with plenty of action (and the odd bit of compassion) to keep the reader going. Looking forward to future reads from this author.

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