Category: Crime, Thriller, Mystery

The Family by Martina Cole

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My Rating: 3/5

Martina Cole used to be one of my favourite authors until recently. Hard Girls was an awful read and The Business was even worse. I was convinced that Martina Cole had lost her skill however I am pleased to see that maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Don’t get me wrong, this book was not in the league of the books from her early days such as Ladykillers, but it was a massive improvement on her last two books.

Early on we are introduced to the Murphy family and we meet Phillip the head honcho. He emanates the self importance of being the leader of such an influential crime family. We meet Phillip and his family along with Christine very early on and learn how the family all came to be in a position of such importance.

I liked the fact that the book is set over many years with the early introduction of how Christine and Phillip met and the sort of woman Christine was. We see their love affair turn to marriage, children and lastly the solid family Phillip wants and expects. Phillip is the eldest of the children in the family and although the main story leads with him we get to see the effect he has on his brother Declan and sister Breda. They are both part of the family business and as such get caught up in all the drama.

The story itself was a vast improvement and it was a pretty fast paced read. There is lots of action and business very early on and the tension runs high in the book which I loved. Martina Cole has also slightly changed her chapter style for this book with many shorter chapters as each persons role and situation changes. I wouldn’t necessarily say this was a bad thing and I think it helped highlight certain key situations.

I liked the characters she created and loathed Phillip Murphy from the outset. Although I must admit that Christine just wasn’t a strong enough character in my book. She is the woman that is put into a situation where she no longer recognises the man she has married. This was a major opportunity in my opinion to develop her as a woman and to fight back. However, this doesn’t really seem to happen and she just drowns her world in drink and prescription pills.

The story itself is a typical crime and underworld family involved in business that can and does go wrong so from that point of view it was okay. Due to the storyline and Phillip Murphy the book was a surprisingly easy read. The thing that still bothers me is that this still seems to fall so short off the mark of what she used to produce. Whether that is because there is so much competition or whether MC has lost her touch, I don’t know. All I do know is that this was much better than the last two and I can only hope that her next one is even better and maybe we will see the Martina Cole of old.

Severed by Simon Kernick

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My Rating: 4/5

Former Soldier Dan Tyler is about to have a very bad day. He awakes to find himself in a strange bed with your girlfriend lying dead next to him. Not only is she dead but he is covered in her blood and according to the DVD in the machine, it was him who killed her. He is then instructed to deliver a briefcase to a shady address in East London and then wait for further instructions. There seems no way out for Dan so he has no choice but to follow his instructions and only hope he can survive the next 24 hours and uncover what really happened before he ends up dead too.

My first Kernick book was Relentless which I cannot praise highly enough. I then moved on to his most recent book The Last Ten Seconds which I loved too. I had really high hopes for this book but it didn’t quite live up to expectation for me.

Don’t get me wrong, it certainly wasn’t a bad book, but in comparison to the last two I have read it just wasn’t as good. The great thing about Simon Kernick’s writing is that he isn’t backward in coming forward. Each book I have read starts at 100 miles per hour and doesn’t seem to let up in pace. Normally the first few chapters are what grab you and pull you in. In this respect Severed is no different and he certainly manages to do this. However, the story was a little on the side of too un-realistic.

I must confess that although believability is good, the whole point of reading is for fun so if the realism isn’t there then it doesn’t bother me too much. Having said that, this story at times, fell too far over the boundaries of being far-fetched for my liking. That aside, everything else needed for a great read was there. The character Tyler is an ordinary guy who happened to have served in the Army for quite a while. It is pretty clear from the beginning that there are not many people he can trust or turn to for help.

His army training certainly helps with some of the situations he comes across though and pretty soon we meet many other shady characters. Aside from Tyler we don’t get to learn too much about the other people in the story unless they are absolutely necessary which makes a refreshing change. Sometimes there is too much background on characters, whereas with this it felt quite balanced.

The first half of the book is spent with Tyler following orders and suffering the consequences, whereas the second half of the book changes pace again with him fighting to get some kind of control back into his crazy day. The story is split over two days but the vast majority of the book is over 24 hours. Along the way we meet the likely suspects for Tyler’s set up but as the story progresses it appears that nobody is who they appear to be.

Yes, this book is a little unrealistic but the writing is fantastic. As a reader I am drawn into the plot (no matter how far fetched) and find myself wondering who is involved from page to page. Yes this book is escapism with a capital E but it is a worthwhile read. Towards the end of the book you are thrown a few plot twists which I liked and the story is finished with an Epilogue which wraps it all up nicely. I enjoyed this book, although not as much as Relentless but I will continue to work my way through the rest of his books and look forward to it.

American Devil by Oliver Stark (Harper and Levene #1)

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My Rating: 5/5

Synopsis: The Killer has entitled his masterpiece The Progression of Love. All he needs is 7 beautiful women. He is a violent killer who is preying on the young and beautiful women of New York. Detective Tom Harper is currently on suspension after hitting a superior. However, the NYPD feel that he is their best chance of catching the killer. He is taken back on the case on the proviso that he seeks therapy from psychologist Denise Levene. The NYPD have to hope that as unpredictable as he is, that he won’t fall apart or ruin their case as they must catch the killer before he completes his mission.

My Review: Oliver Stark…where have you been hiding? I am a typical Crime and Thriller fan and read through numerous books a month. Yep I have my favourites and the typical series of characters I typically return to such as Alex Cross and Roy Grace. Mr Stark has just upped the ante.

When I got the book I realised that it was a pretty hefty read at 576 pages, but as usual, didn’t allow that to put me off. I started the book and was instantly drawn into the sheer violence of the lunatic killer. Yes there are hundreds of crime writers who churn out books about serial killers but there was something different about this book.

First off the characters were incredibly strong but not contrived. The lead character Tom Harper has a lot of issues which make him a great lead. However, although he has a number of attributes that other famous characters have, such as having an issue with authority, Oliver Stark somehow made him completely unique. Tom Harper has a serious chip on his shoulder but that doesn’t stop him from being a great copper. He isn’t the typical one man band who solves everything and is God’s answer top the best Detective, and the story shows that great team work in involved.

We are also soon introduced to Denise Levene who is the psychologist treating Tom. She is also a very strong character but comes across as a well balanced but intelligent woman. Somehow in many books with a lead female, some of the women are made out to be overly macho or pathetically weak, but here the balance was perfect.

The story itself can seem in the beginning a little slow but as you read on you become more and more hooked with the story developing quickly and the killer becoming more and more brazen as time goes on. I love the fact that many mistakes are made, and that the killer is openly challenging the police.

As the story progresses, the pace increases and I found myself turning pages at the speed of lightning. This debut novel is outstanding and by far the best debut I’ve had the pleasure of reading all year. There is a lot of detail involving the crime scenes, forensics and police procedure so not for the faint hearted.

Patricia Cornwell used to be one of my favourite authors however I gave up the ghost last year and no longer read her work. This book reminded me of the type of work Cornwell produced in the early years. I cannot recommend this highly enough and would recommend it to people who are a fan of this genre. All I need to do now is impatiently wait for instalment 2!

POSTCARD KILLERS BY JAMES PATTERSON

My Rating: 2/5

James Patterson seems to continually disappoint me these days. It’s bad enough that I hated his last two books, but this one is only marginally better. Many people are die hard Patterson fans and until quite recently I would have also put myself in that category. Unfortunately, I am now becoming very cynical when it comes to any book he has co-written.

This particular book I was actually looking forward to due to many reasons. The first is that he has never co-written with author before; and secondly because Lisa Marklund is a successful author in her own right. Once again I have been let down.

The story itself sounded pretty good from the bog standard jacket info. NYPD Detective Jacob Kanon is on a tour of some of the most famous European cities. However, his reasons for the tour are not what you imagine. His daughter Kimmy was brutally murdered along with her fiancé while visiting Rome. Since then other couples have been found murdered in many other cities. There seem to be no connections except for a postcard that is sent to a local newspaper prior to each of the murders. Jacob feels that he has to track the killers down to find himself some peach and the only way to do that is team up with Dessie Larson, a reporter that received a postcard in Stockholm.

The first few chapters are pretty good with non-stop action from the killer and the detectives. Gruesome crime scenes and the police scratching their head is the general theme of the story in the beginning. This book actually had the potential to be really good.

Sadly, both Lisa Marklund and James Patterson got bored around halfway through this book and decided to slow the pace and the storyline at the same time. The story itself was okay, but it seemed to become more lacklustre the further into the book you got. The main character Jacob was not the strongest character I have read, but by no means the worst either. The relationship between Jacob and Dessie was also a bone of contention for me as it was very unbelievable and stilted.

Besides Jacob and Dessie, the only other characters that the reader is drawn to, is that of the killers. The killers were so mentally unbalanced it was laughable. There was nothing like the connection you feel to characters when reading a Cross novel. This is one of the major factors that is turning me rapidly into a Patterson turncoat.

I still pray that when the next Cross novel is released by Mr Patterson alone that I will take back all my words of criticism and be a number one fan again. I think that overall Patterson fans want just that, Patterson and Patterson alone. Leave the co-writing alone for a while!

Gangster Girl by Dreda Say Mitchell (Gangland Girls #2)

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My Rating: 5/5
I have a large list of authors that I repeatedly pre-order books for and at least 70% of them I have read every one of their books. However, I enjoy adding new authors to that list and Dreda has just shot straight to the top of it.

Nearly all of my books are brought through Amazon and every time I pre-ordered a book by Mandasue Heller, Martina Cole or June Hampson this authors name kept popping up. What caught my attention was the reviewer rating for each of her 4 books. 2 of them had the maximum 5 star rating and the other 2 were a 4 star and 4.5 star. I decided to take a chance, ordered her latest release and hoped I wouldn’t regret it.

As I opened the book and started to read I was transported back to the time when I read `The Ladykillers’ by Martina Cole. The reason I say this is that when I read that first Martina book she had a raw energy which hooked you as a reader (it’s just a shame it doesn’t still happen with MC). There was the same feel with this book and I just knew I was onto a winner. Dreda Say Mitchell has a knack with her writing style which conveys an authentic feel to the story and characters. It took me no more than 3 chapters to be totally absorbed.

Daisy Sullivan is a brilliant character who I adored from the very beginning. Yes she is a gangster’s daughter but this element of her was not overdone and the storyline that drags her past into the present is totally perfect. There is nothing about it that felt over the top and she was the perfect mix of bad girl turned out good. The other characters which appear are also written with equal skill. Ricky Smart is the opposite of Daisy but as soon as he comes into the story you can’t help but want him to be the perfect match for her. The pace itself was quick from the outset with events spiralling the further into the story you get. I love a book that makes me want to read quicker to find out what happened and this book did exactly that.Lastly, I have to say that any author who can have as many plot twists as Dreda did is the best you can get. There are some major twists in this story which I didn’t see coming at all and the author manages to reveal them in the last 4 chapters.

A soon as I finished this book I was determined to get her other three books and stick them in my to-read pile. This is possibly the best new crime author I have found this year. She is now a permanent fixture on my author pre-order list and I can’t wait to get cracking on her other work. Dreda Say Mitchell is a rising star in my opinion. The likes of Martina Cole need to be fearful, because once this lady gets a following (if she keeps on writing like this) she will be a serious threat to all those who take their fans for granted. If you like authors such as Mandasue Heller, Martina Cole and Jessie Keane then do yourself a favour and pick up this book; I promise you won’t regret it.

PRIVATE BY JAMES PATTERSON

My Rating: 2/5

I finished James Patterson’s co-written book `Don’t Blink’ a couple of weeks ago and thought that I would never be able to read a book as bad as that with his name on it. Boy was I was wrong!

First off there are so many plots and sub-plots that you’re constantly thinking “Who”? That’s just the first gripe. The story itself is told in such a manner that it is almost rushed. You never get to connect with any of the characters because they don’t appear for long enough.

Plot wise you would think that a school-girl serial killer and Jack’s best friend being murdered would be enough but clearly not for James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. In addition to this we see Jack’s twin brother in trouble because he owes the Mob $600,000 as well as American Football Referees fixing matches. In my eyes this sort of level of plot detail is far too much for the style of writing many of his fans are used to.

Jack is the main character and all we seem to hear about is his war-torn past. Now don’t get me wrong if it’s relevant to the character and/or story then fine, but this just seemed to come across as rambling at times.

In addition to the plot and character problems there is the believable factor. I am fully aware that any fiction novel, especially one with James Patterson as co-writer, will have a certain element of things that are slightly outside the normal realms of life. However, this book really went overboard with the mention of a crime lab owned by Private that is better than the FBI has?!? There are also a number of scenes where Jack randomly turns up at the home of one of the leading figures of the Mob un-announced. I think there was too much of this type of scene which took it from being over the top to laughable.

There are very brief moments where we see Jack’s love life come to the forefront. Unfortunately for the ladies in question it is so brief that they probably weren’t even aware of it. The story felt rushed, incomplete and totally ridiculous.

All in all I was AGAIN disappointed with a James Patterson book. I still debate in my own mind whether the reason is because JP doesn’t contribute to the co-written books that much, or whether I am just tiring of his work. I think it must be the former as recently he has produced a reasonable offering with Worst Case featuring Michael Bennett. Like a fool I have pre-ordered his next book due Postcard Killers which is a co-written book due for release early September 2010. I am pinning my hopes on this particular one a little more as Lisa Marklund is the co-writer and as I understand it, has not co-written with JP before.

DON’T BLINK BY JAMES PATTERSON

My Review: 1/5

I pre-warn you, I am on a serious case of getting on my soap box here so if you don’t want to listen to 50% opinion and a 50% rant to the author then please feel free to read no further. The fact that I read this in a day and a half, and then spent a 20 minute walk moaning about it to my sister speaks volumes. You read the jacket and find yourself thinking “it sounds pretty good”. How wrong could I have been?

The story is the most important part of a book closely followed by the writing style and talent of the author. Clearly James Patterson though both these things were irrelevant. There has been a lot of hype over the deal between JP and his co-authors with some people claiming that JP contributes very little to these books, however nothing has ever been confirmed or denied from the Publishers.

This story was just awful and to be truthful so farfetched and ridiculous it made the plot from the film Crank look realistic! I have to mention in particular the first major scene which is the murder of a mob lawyer. Now you have to bear in mind that this scene is set in one of New York’s most `happening’ restaurants which is full to the brim. This `assassin’ manages to walk in (obviously he knew the Maitre D’) walk past all the packed tables and manages to approach the table and cut this man’s eyeballs out. I have no knowledge, but I am guessing that this sort of killing in real life takes a little more than a minute or so. But still this killer manages to do all of this in an exceedingly short space of time. Once the task is complete, the whole restaurant is screaming but luckily there are two off duty police officers who `draw their weapons’. However, the killer manages (with two guns pointed at him remember) to produce two guns of his own. Not only does the killer manage to retrieve his two guns before the police discharge their weapons, he also manages to kill them both with a single bullet to the middle of the forehead. Following his miraculous shots he exits the building through the kitchen and vanishes! Now do you see what I mean about the ridiculous storyline? I know this is fiction, but come on!

Aside from the major flaws of the story being so farfetched it’s ridiculous it also lacked any real oomph. The characters are one dimensional and the dialogue between them is laughable. The only good thing about this whole book is the fact that the chapter layout and style is the typical Patterson special. Short and sharp, it’s just unfortunate that it’s the only positive I can find. The ending was predictable and everything wrapped up like a perfect Christmas gift.

Never before have I read a Patterson and hated the characters as much as I did in this one. The main character Nick Daniels is like a modern day Indiana Jones but even Indiana doesn’t get as unlucky as this guy. Nearly every chapter produces a scene where the guy is ‘nearly killed’. His so called relationship with another character in the book Courtney was like something out of a teen flick and made me cringe. Never one to give up I read the book from cover to cover and found that the nearer to the end I got the happier I felt. The sooner I finished this mess of a book the better. If this was a debut novel with no authors name on the front I would be surprised if many readers bothered finishing it, let alone reading another.

This may seem ridiculous to people that I feel so strongly about a book, but I just feel…..well robbed would be the best description. I have personally contributed a lot of my hard earned cash to a man that is an excellent writer with an extreme talent, who for some reason seems to enter into any deal that has his name on the cover?

I still believe that James Patterson is a one of the most talented authors out there that can produce books that all his reader’s love. However, I am beginning to think that JP maybe doesn’t care what his readers/fans think? I mean he is hardly doing this for the money now so why does he continue to co-write such a vast number of books? I would rather have to wait a year for one book that would be his work and his work alone.

Mr Patterson, your readers deserve a refund!

Live To Tell by Lisa Gardner (DD Warren #4)

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My Review: 4/5

Danielle Burton is the lone survivor of her family massacre over 25 years ago. She currently works in a children’s psychiatric ward trying to help if not save children. It is fast approaching the 25th anniversary of the event and she feels powerless to stop all the old emotions from returning. In a nearby working class neighbourhood, a family is found dead. There is one survivor the father, who is clinging on for life in the Intensive Care Unit. Detective DD Warren is called to the scene and soon realises that this is not a simple open and shut murder case.Victoria Oliver is trying to just get through each day of here life. She tries her best to keep her son safe from himself and the outside world but the day to day struggle becomes harder when she realised the biggest threat is from her own son.The lives of Danielle, Victoria and DD will soon collide, only none of them realises just how great the consequences are going to be.

I have been a fan of Lisa Gardner’s since I picked up one of her earlier books. I almost always pre-order her books so that I don’t miss a publication date. Her books in the past have proved to be absolutely edge of your seat suspense. This book, well, in a word I have mixed feelings.I read the first review on Amazon from a lady in the US who read one of LG’s earlier books entitled `Alone’ and then read this current book next. The lady had stated in her review she wondered if they were the same author and I know where she is coming from.

LG has always written really fast paced thrillers and the characters are always really strong and passionate people that are thrown into the deep end of a story. In one respect this book is no different. However, there is one major element to this story which threw me which was the `supernatural’. Now I must point out that I do NOT read supernatural type books and do not subscribe to the `supernatural belief system’. Therefore, this element of the story threw me a bit.

Although the mention of supernatural is recurring throughout, this element of the story is strictly surrounding only one character. I think that you can choose to take this element which ever way you please. It is also clear that two of the main characters, namely DD and Danielle are `non-believers” which I think adds to the realism of the story. The ending can be read in two different ways as well. I think the author used the supernatural element in addition to the other characters as opposed to the only answer. I thought that the supernatural element to one side, LG has again produced a fantastic story with great characters and a really strong plot. Although some fans may not think this is one of her best I actually really enjoyed it.

A lot of this book is based around the children that are housed in the psychiatric unit in a hospital and the kind of behaviour that they display due to varying medical conditions. Danielle is a nurse on that ward and a good chunk of the story centres in the unit and its children and staff. Lisa Gardner writes these children’s problems with great care and it makes you realise that taking a pill isn’t always the answer for some sick kids. I also read at the end of the book that LG was compelled to write this into one of her stories due to her own personal experience with a friend’s child.

It was great to see DD Warren back in the hot seat, although for some reason in this latest book she has become a sex-starved workaholic with a very bitter outlook on life. Don’t get me wrong, she was a great character to begin with and I always like realism in a character. I just didn’t remember her being quite so harsh. All of the slight negatives regarding supernatural to one side, I still thoroughly recommend Lisa Gardner and cannot wait for her next one (albeit hopefully with less woo-woo in it).

Broken by Karin Slaughter (Will Trent #4)

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Kat’s Rating: 5/5

Kat’s Review: Karin Slaughter has hit the jackpot with this latest book. She has now merged the two series (Grant County and Will Trent) and this is the 2nd book in the Georgia series. What a book! It starts out with a young girl having been murdered at the lake and initially it looks like suicide but Lena Adams soon realises that may not be the case. With a suspect in custody and Sara Linton back in town, Sara receives a phone call to say the suspect wants to see her. When Sara arrives at the station, the suspect is dead and that sets off a chain of events that puts them all in the middle of it. Will Trent arrives in town and together they try to solve the crime. Karin Slaughter has successfully pulled off the merger of two series and has created a great platform for all the characters. I had my doubts with the Will Trent Series but was always a huge fan of Grant County.The two together are even better! Great storyline, nothing too contrived or obvious and all the favourite characters showing their true colours. Absolutely loved this book and cannot wait until her next release.

Deadlock by Sean Black (Ryan Lock and Ty Johnson #2)

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My Review 4/5

Sean Black released his debut novel Lockdown in June of 2010 as this was the beginning of a series featuring Ryan Lock. His follow up book Dead Lock was released a month later.

I read Sean Blacks first book and absolutely loved it. Ryan Lock is an ex-military bodyguard who has worked private security and has now set up his own company that can be called upon for any type of job. He has a partner Ty Johnson who is an ex-marine who Ryan met whilst in Iraq. Together they make a formidable team and seem unafraid to take on any type of work.

Their latest task at first seems to be quite straightforward. All they have to do is keep a prisoner by the name of Frank `Reaper’ Hays alive for a week. He is a very important witness for the states prosecution against the white supremacist gang the `Aryan Brotherhood’. What they soon realise is that the job is a little more difficult than they first realised. Frank Hays is a prisoner inside Pelican Bay Super Max prison. For them to protect him, they need to do it from the inside.

They enter Pelican Bay as supposed convicted felons that have been sentenced to twenty years. The only people that are aware of the truth are the FBI and the prison warden, or at least that’s what they hope.

The Aryan Brotherhood is responsible for the killing of an undercover FBI agent and his family and the FBI are determined to see the group brought to justice. However, Hays is not a willing participant when he realises Ryan Lock has been assigned as his cell buddy and protector. It is soon very clear to both Ty and Ryan that looking after the prisoner was not their main problem in prison, it was staying alive themselves.

The story itself was great as was the pace of the book. I loved the fact that we are now in the midst of a character series where the reader waits to find out what happens to the characters. However, as much as I enjoyed the book I only found myself grappling with one element. The character Chance is a woman that is involved in the plot and is very much on the side of the Aryan Brotherhood. I have no issues with the fact that this woman was running around killing people but the fact that she was heavily pregnant while doing it smacked of a certain `disbelief’ element. Aside from that, the rest of the book was as good if not better than his debut.

The characters Ryan and Ty are explored a little more although I am looking forward to finding out a bit more about both of them in the next instalment. The end of the book wasn’t bad at all and the prison element of the story was first class. It shocked me to read at the end of the book that the author had actually `done time’ at Pelican Bay in the course of his research. Not only is he a brave man, but an incredibly clever one. The scenes in the prison were written by somebody that `really knew’ what it was like to be inside those walls. Overall a fantastic read that has made me look forward to his next book.