Tag: RATED 4/5

More Than Love Letters by Rosy Thornton

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My Rating: 4/5

I only recently discovered Rosy Thornton with her release of her book Tapestry of Love which I really enjoyed. What I didn’t expect was a book like this. I opened the page and was immediately worried. What faced me was a series of letters and emails. Not only was this the beginning of the book, it seemed that the whole book was made up this way. I would be lying if I said it didn’t bother me. How on earth was I supposed to get a feel for the story and characters through letters? I am pleased to say I was completely wrong!

The letters and various emails we see going back and forth are between the main characters of the book, and what characters they were. We see Richard Slater emailing his friend Michael Carrington who works in the Home Office. We also meet Margaret who frequently writes to her Gran and regularly emails her friend Bec’s. In addition to this we see the minutes to the WITCH meetings (Women of Ipswich together combating homelessness).

By around the 30 page mark I began to realise that this was not only cleverly written but was warm and funny. There is nothing better that getting a feel for people by reading the written word.

Margaret’s emails to her friend Bec’s were hilarious as we see them spouting off about their own lives. In addition to this there is a theme running through all of their emails where they try to integrate some of the lesser known words into their conversation and in turn award each other points for the use of the word. Never before in my life have I read a book and then actually gone to a dictionary and looked up a word. (By the way I can now tell you all that facinorous is another word for atrocious!).

I loved Cora, who was the woman who Margaret lived with and we see her take on things as she writes lovingly to her husband. In addition we see Margaret’s Gran writing back to her granddaughter to update her on her life and how things are going. I was very shocked and quite saddened at the realisation of Cora and her letters at the end but it was written so well that it all made sense!

All in all, I never imagined that I could enjoy this as much as I did due to the fact that it was all letters and emails. Rosy Thornton has done a grand job in writing a clever, warm and funny book by merely meshing together people’s thoughts and feelings. As much as this wasn’t the normal sort of book that I would pick up if I was in a shop, it just goes to show that Rosy Thornton can clearly produce a great book by doing things differently.

Desire by Louise Bagshawe

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My Rating: 4/5

I have never read a Louise Bagshawe book and only picked this up because I read and loved Scandalous written by her sister Tilly Bagshawe. I must say the first thing that surprised me was the content of the story itself. The cover is a glamorous hot pink colour with a woman at the edge of an infinity pool which screams Chick Lit at you.

However, when you read the book you soon realise that this book is a Chick Lit book with a bit of thriller thrown in for good measure. What a great job Louise Bagshawe does of it too! The first few chapters are filled with tension and pace as we see Lisa wake to a persons’ worst nightmare. A she flees the scene and tries to get out of the country we also see Sam start to be dragged in as he is the wedding journalist who happens to be there at the wedding and seeing it all first hand.

The story picks up even more pace as we see Sam get closer to Lisa and the lengths that she is prepared to go to for her own safety. The speed of writing and the chase itself doesn’t relent until the very last page which I absolutely loved. There are many people in other reviews I have seen say that this book is similar to another she has written. With this one being my first I can only judge it on this story alone and I absolutely loved it.

In my eyes it is the perfect combination of Chick Lit and Thriller all rolled into one. Yes the hardcore Crime and Thriller fans may not like it but this had the balance just right in my eyes. I will certainly be continuing to read her books and only hope that I enjoy them all as much as I did this one. I can’t really find too many negatives with the book although it did have a certain inevitability to it which was maybe the only thing I could criticise.

The writing style was really easy and the chapters the right length too. There was an easiness to reading this which I have missed in some of the more recent books I have read and I love that feeling. It is an absolute pleasure to pick a book up and immerse yourself in their world without too much cramming of information or facts going on in the background.

It looks like the Bagshawe sisters will be earning money from me in the future because they are both very talented women and I look forward to reading more of both Louise and Tilly’s work in the future.

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.

Stand By Me by Sheila O’Flanagan

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My Rating: 4/5

Dominique Delahaye is married to successful businessman Brendan. However, when Brendan disappears, leaving Dominique and their daughter to cope alone, things look very bleak for them. However, will Brendan ever return or is it too little too late in Dominique’s eyes?

This is a pretty hefty book at a little over 500 pages long. However, normally I would settle straight into an O’Flanagan book but this one took me a little longer than usual. What I absolutely loved was the fact that this story is told from beginning to end. Although the start of the book sees Dominique in the current day, you are swiftly transported back to when she was just a young girl and met Brendan for the very first time.

Dominique is a very young girl and her parents are devout religious people who try to mould Dominique to be more like her brother who wants to be a priest. Dominique has other ideas and becomes very independent even from a young age. Sheila O’Flanagan does a fine job of creating the typical religious Irish upbringing that Dominique has and you almost feel yourself rooting for her to create her own life away from her parents.

Dominique’s husband Brendan is introduced to the story very early on and we get to see how their relationship progresses and their family as well as Brendan’s business grows. Before long you find yourself slap bang in the middle of Dominique’s seemingly perfect life.

When Brendan disappears and leaves Domino (his pet name for Dominique) and their daughter Kelly to fend for themselves I found myself beginning to loathe the character. The story itself is wonderful in the sense that you get a real perspective of how their loves have become what they are and the reasons behind it.

The story is all consuming and I love the introduction of Brendan’s brother Greg and his wife, who also happened to be a school friend of Dominique’s. It makes for an interesting dynamic of the story and by the last quarter of the book I was so conflicted with how I felt about the different characters I almost got annoyed. The fact that I could get worked up over a story tells me the author has hit the nail on the head as far as the story goes.

The ending was wrapped up with what I felt was a good conclusion but it would have been nice to see an epilogue maybe a year on. Sheila O’Flanagan has produced another great book which I thoroughly enjoyed.

A Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton

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My Rating: 4/5

Okay, firstly I have to say that I am usually of the `trashier the better’ kind of attitude. If I am reading Chick Lit, I love the sleaze and glamour of it all. On the other side of the fence, I love a good crime thriller where we see the regular cop heroes turn up at every given opportunity. However, this book certainly doesn’t fit into the Chick Lit genre and I would be at a loss as to where to place it. It is a `real’ book, that’s the best way I can describe it. There is no gush, no fairytale typical storylines, and certainly no murders!

Rosy Thornton has managed to produce a book that doesn’t just tell you a story; it parks your butt on a plane and actually takes you there. Her style of writing is unusual in comparison to what I am used to but it is brilliant all the same. I could almost imagine myself sitting in the corner of Catherin Parkstone’s kitchen in the Cevennes Mountains and actually watching her life unfold. The characters are written really well and there is such an element of realism that you find yourself swept along with the tale. The scenery is so well described that it has left a vivid picture in my imagination of what everything and everybody should look like.

The story itself was great too and we meet Catherine’s local neighbours, who are at first very `French’, making Catherine have to work a lot harder to become part of the community. Catherine’s sister Bryony makes an appearance in Cevennes after making a radical decision to take a sabbatical from work. This complicates Catherine’s life more than she cares to admit. She struggles to get her priorities in her head the right way round. Although both her children are grown up she finds herself constantly worrying about whether they will be okay and whether moving to this remote part of France was a good idea after all.

The book is structured so that we see her time at her home progress over a number of months which makes it so much easier to imagine the different times of year in this area. It also gives the reader the element of how far she has come and what the future will hold.

All in all this was a fantastic book. I will admit that I would never have chosen this from a bookstore as it doesn’t look trashy enough for me, but boy am I glad I read this. A wonderful book with a real touch of realism that is perfect for curling up with. I would highly recommend this book and Rosy Thornton will definitely be added to my list of authors to pre-order from.

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).

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.

The Love Verb by Jane Green

My Rating: 4/5

Jane Green is a best-selling author that has been writing since 1997 with her debut novel Straight Talking. Once I had discovered her, I read every single book she had published. I then ensured that all of her new publications were on my pre-order list. However, when I reached her book Girl Friday I felt such disappointment. I felt like she had gone off the boil and lost her touch. When I saw that her new book had been released, I ordered it with the hope that maybe the last book was a blip. I think that after reading this book I am in two minds.

This book is about two sisters Callie and Steffi. Callie is the typical mother with husband and two kids who lives in the suburbs very happily. Her younger sister Steffi is the free spirit that still lives in the heart of New York, moving from job to job and man to man. Callie has everything and more, her children are her life, her relationship with her sister is good and she is still madly in love with her husband. Steff is working as a chef in New York and dating her latest in a string of Rock Star boyfriends. We also meet Lila who is Callie’s best friend. In the past she has struggled with relationships but has now met the man Ed who she thinks is `The One’.

It is extremely hard to give an idea on how the book progresses as it would be a major spoiler, but hence to say there is a `life changing experience’ that effects everybody’s life. The characters are written in true Jane Green style and I felt like her writing was back to her best. Although her writing was great the story itself was a little too sad for my liking. Having read to the end of the book Jane Green has written a chapter about why she has written this book and I have to say I believe this book was a good thing for her to do.

The story itself was well constructed and the characters were loveable. Many people will be able to empathise with the situation but I defy many to not reach for the tissues when reading it. I can only hope that this book was her comeback and maybe a soul-searching experience for her. I just hope that Jane Green in future returns to her well-loved recipe of great writing and storytelling with that feel good feeling about it. I would recommend this book but just be warned that is not the happiest book you will read and maybe you need to be prepared for that.

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

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My Rating: 4/5

Jodi Picoult is an author that I, like many others, are very aware of and the majority of her new books seem to be very popular. However for some reason I have never gone out of my way to ever read any of her work. When this book landed on my lap I was genuinely intrigued.

Jodi Picoult has been publishing books since her debut novel `Songs of The Humpback Whale’ in 1992. Since then she has gone on to write a further 16 novels including her latest `House Rules’ which was published in May 2010. Her books are translated into 34 languages in 35 countries and 3 of her books have been made into television movies. More recently her book `My Sister’s Keeper’ was turned into a big screen release starring Cameron Diaz.

Like I said previously I was intrigued by the jacket detail of this book as Jodi appeared to be focussing on a subject that I am sure many people have never heard of. Asperger’s Syndrome. Jacob Hunt is 18 and looks just like any other 18 year old boy. The difference is that Jacob is not like any other boy in his town. He lives with Asperger’s which is a form of autism. Jacob tends to fixate on certain things and his most current fixation is Forensic Science. He avoids eye contact, will only eat certain colour foods on certain days and has an almost photographic memory. His mother Emma not only has to deal with Jacob, but has to raise her other son, 15 year old Theo, on her own as a single mother. Jacob regularly turns up at crime scenes where he offers unwanted advice to the police about the forensic tests they should be running. One day, Jacob returns home from his meeting with his social skills tutor and is behaving oddly. His mother Emma finds that when the police turn up on her doorstep they only have bad news to give. Jacob’s tutor Jess was found dead and now they want to question her son about what had happened. All of the innocent traits associated with Asperger’s, like not looking somebody in the eye; now all seem like the signs of a person who is guilty. Emma, Jacob and Theo are thrown in at the deep end and have to fight to prove his innocence.

I admit I had never until reading this book, heard of Asperger’s Syndrome. Of course I had heard of autism but not of this individual type. The story is written incredibly well and we are introduced to Jacob with a wide understanding of his individual quirks and traits that come with his syndrome. I couldn’t help but grow to like Jacob and his quirky ways. Jodi Picoult introduces each character by chapter and along with that she changes the typeset so that it is very clear which character you are following.

Each character is written with feeling and compassion, to the point that even as they are making bad choices you can’t help but feel for them. Along the way we meet Rich who is the Detective in charge of the murder of Jess as he tries to catch who he thinks is the right killer. We also meet Oliver who is a lawyer who is just starting out. Oliver becomes not only their lawyer but an integral part of their lives. He gets to see the Hunt family day in day out and in all kinds of situations. He witnesses Jacob’s `meltdowns’, where he cannot cope with a situation and has to be coaxed out of it by reciting movie quotes or singing Bob Marley. The book is incredibly well written due to not only the talent of the author but the compassion she shows in writing about subjects that are open for debate. I found to my surprise that I was over halfway through the book and I still had no real idea of what had happened, I just felt that I knew the characters that bit better. As the book progresses through the second half we are drawn into the court case that the Hunt’s have to prepare for.

Overall I actually enjoyed the book and the story it told but was extremely let down by the ending. I actually visited her website after I finished her book and had a browse at her other books. It seems that she writes about subjects that are extremely sensitive or subjects that are currently being debated in one way or another. I am not saying I didn’t enjoy this book, it’s just that I question it when an author produces books that only cover sensationalist subjects. I think that Picoult fans will not be disappointed however can’t say that I would rush out to pre-order her next book.

Don’t Tell by Karen Rose (Chicago #1)

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My Rating: 4/5

I had never read any Karen Rose novels but a friend of mine mentioned I might like her books.

When it comes to genre I am a little bewildered. The front of the book as well as the jacket information gives the impression that her books are thrillers. Yet her website seems to suggest that she writes `Romantic Suspense’ books. After finishing her book I am not sure I would quite call her genre this but can see that she does have a romantic element running through the story.

Having said that this book is far from Chick Lit and the happy and bubbly lives the characters seem to lead. This book is real in all its glory. It’s almost real to the point that some people could empathise with the character. This story is based largely on a woman’s survival following years of domestic abuse.

Caroline Stewart has created a new life for her and her son and is trying to do the best she can to move on. 9 years after leaving her husband after faking her own death, a new man enters her life and she has all the challenges that a woman in her position is not used to dealing with. The aspect of the book that deals with the nicer side to Caroline’s life is refreshing. The reason I say this is that we also see the fear and absolute terror she is subjected to. Karen Rose has hit the nail on the head in terms of balance.

In my opinion, any author that can create a character like Caroline’s husband has done a first class job. It has been a long time since I have read a book that raises such hatred in me towards a certain character. Make no mistake, after reading this around a third of the way through, I was already hoping that the husband would wind up dead and in a long and painful manner.

The book takes us through Caroline and her son Tom’s life after their awful experiences with Rob, Caroline’s husband. Not only that, with the introduction of Max, Caroline’s new boss, we see how her son Tom reacts to the presence of a new man around the place. When Caroline’s car is found in a lake her husband realises that the chances of Caroline being alive have been upped. He is furious that he `stole’ their son away and is determined to find them.

The author picks up the pace considerably with Rob trying to trace Caroline and there are various scenes where he is seen for what he really is, a psychopath with a taste for murder. This book isn’t all roses but is a gritty and real thriller that I literally couldn’t put down. The author manages to create a fast paced book with the element of `real life’ added to the mix. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have already got my next Karen Rose novel ready to read.