Guest Post: Sir Charlie Stinky Socks .... by Charlie Kennedy (aged 8 &2 days)

Sir Charlie stinky socks

And the really spooky    adventure

One cold day at the tall tall tower with a pointy roof sir Charlie decided to go on an adventure. He brought his sword, his trusty grey mare and his cat called bow. So he set of then Charlie stepped in some quick mud so he yelled to his grey mare “ quick grab that vine so I can get out” so his grey mare ran to the vine grabbed it and threw it at sir Charlie but it was not a vine it was a poisonous snake they were really in trouble Charlie tried to get out and grab his sword. Then Charlie was free and grabbed his sword and sliced it in half and they ran. But he could not go anywhere because there was a  deep lake. So he built a raft rowed it to the other side of the lake on the other side of the lake was home. So he went home and had a very very long sleep.

 the end

Book Review: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

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A very short book, only 133 pages published in 1926. To be honest I have no idea why I downloaded this. I have a vague memory of listening to a radio programme on the author some time ago, which I found interesting, so it must have been that!  Gibran is described in Wikipedia as, 'the third best selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Laozi.'  

The book is written in bible-esque so if you are not a fan of that or indeed of religion it may not be a book for you.  On the other hand and bearing in mind this was published in 1926 almost every passage can be related to every single one of us and our lives today.

There are no chapter numbers in this short volume but they are defined by the questions asked of 'The Prophet' by the assembled town folk as he prepares to leave them, returning to his 'home'.

Marriage

Children

Giving

Eating and Drinking 

Work

Joy and Sorrow

Crime and Punishment 

Freedom

Reason and Passion

Pain

Teaching

Friendship

Good and Evil

Prayer

Pleasure

Religion

Death

So many of the words written by Gibran over 80 years ago, must surely, if you are tempted to purchase this book, resonate with something in your life today and his simple but reasoning outlook will remind you to step back and reflect on how you look at life and maybe think that there is something that you can do to change, for the better, on how you interact with others and with yourself!

I'm not saying that I have had a religious or moral epiphany while reading this book, I personally still have no idea whether I am an atheist, agnostic or just a plane old fence sitter waiting for something different or better to come along, if that is indeed possible.  I did write somewhere in regard to the Bible, and I suppose in the same tone the Koran would be included, that I look upon the former as a good novel and if only more people would read it (them) without the religious zealotry and bigotry surrounding it (them), the world would probably be a far better place for all humankind, but that aint gonna happen.  But that should not take away from the fact that there are important life lessons in these works that are as relevant today as they were when they were written, as Mr Gibran's words, I believe, fall firmly within that description.

Enjoy..... 

Editing for Kindle: 4 out 5 

Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Plot:
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Chapters:
Page length: 133 

 

Book Review: Stone Cold by C.J. Box

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Mr Box took a little break from writing about Wyoming Game and Fish Warden Joe Pickett and the ensemble cast of characters that inhabit Joe's world to give us 'The Highway' but he has come back with a real cracker.

Nate Romanowski kicks off this book and he appears to have finally gone of the reservation and who could really blame him for that considering what happened in 'Force of Nature' 

Joe is back in Saddlestring and is found trying to retrieve ANOTHER trashed department truck that has been buried under snow on top of a mountain for months.  Dave Farkus is with him, you'll recall Dave from 'Nowhere to Run' and that oft repeated line,  ‘Shut up Dave’, and he is just as dumb and talkative in this one too....

There is a new director in charge of the department, Lisa Greene-Dempsey or LGD as she likes to be known, and like all of her predecessors, she doesn't much like Joe Picket either.  Joe has been reinstated, again and this time has his old badge number, 26 back, and of course his seniority, thanks to his association with Governor Rulon.  

Sheridan is still at college in Laramie and is now a Resident Assistant looking after freshmen and has a 'gut feeling' about a new student, April and Lucy are still at home and April seems to have changed from being vlad the impaler to April 'sunshine' but the interest of Dallas Cates in her and Joe's dislike of him is about to change all that, again... all in all business as usual in the Picket household with Marybeth as the peacekeeper in the middle dodging the bullets.  I oft think of my son in law Steve on reading about the Pickett family as he too is in a household with four strong willed women..... 

It's been over a year since he has had any contact from Governor Rulon and out of the blue receives a call to tell him the Governors private plane will be arriving at Saddlestring airport to collect him and deliver him to the State Capitol, the proverbial S... is going to hit the fan again.

The Governor sent a state CID officer to Medicine Wheel County at the request of the Feds. Apparently he fell asleep smoking in bed in his motel room; It burnt to the ground, with him in it.....

As the Governor's 'Range Rider' he tasks Joe to be briefed by FBI agent and old 'friend' SAC Chuck Coon with both informing him that he only needs to go there, sus out the lay of the land, try and find out what is going on with Wolfgang Templeton a retired Financial whiz kid and who has recently bought up most of the county, oh, and to find out if Nate Romanowski is involved... Under no circumstances is he to ask any questions or get under anyone's skin.  Observe, note and report back ... yeah like that is gonna happen.

The rest is up to you guys but you just know that when Joe Pickett sees wrongdoing of any kind he just cant help himself, so go on do yourself a  favour get this and the other Joe Picket books and buckle yourself in for a great read 

One of the best lines in this book was from a barmaid to a customer. "Don't flatter yourself cowboy, I was looking at your horse!"   Loved it 

Editing for Kindle: 5 out 5
Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Chapters: 31
Page length: 336 no page numbers on electronic devices

Book Review: The Tournament by Matthew Reilly

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Move over, Cornwell, Stockwin, Sidebottom and Iggulden and any other writers of historical dramas/fiction that are out there, a 'new kid' has firmly arrived on the street... Matthew Reilly has continued his blockbusting cinematic writing style of contemporary novels with his latest novel, The Tournament set in the Middle Ages.

He has taken 13 year old Bess along on  a journey, accompanying her teacher and Royal Court attendant, Roger Ascham, with Mr Giles, the latter, King Henry VIII's choice of representative in the worlds first Chess Championship to determine who truly is the best Chess player in the world......

The Tournament is invitational only to be held in the Ottoman capital of Constantinople at the invite of 'His Exalted Majesty Suleiman The Magnificent, Caliph of the Sons and Daughters of Allah, Sultan Lord and Ruler of All That He Surveys".

Thirteen year old Bess, if you haven't read the clue above, is the daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII and will eventually rise to become Queen Elisabeth I of England. Ensconced in Hatfield House, away from Court she is under the tutelage of Roger Ascham a Cambridge Scholar and a firm believer that a good 'education' is not something to be trifled with, even if his methods sometimes bring down the wrath of the King!

It would be difficult to review the story of this book without giving away many spoilers, so in broad terms only, Suleiman The Magnificent has issued invitations to the main and upcoming rulers of the day in all known Christendom.  Contained within that invitation is a secret message and all are instructed to send their own chess champions along with a 'gift' for the Sultan.

King Henry consults Ascham as to his friend and fellow Cambridge teacher, Gilbert Giles, as to whether he is 'the best chess player' in the land.  Ascham confirms that it is his belief that he is, and so Giles, accompanied by Ascham, Bess and the Ponsonby's, chaperones for Bess, set off across Europe for Constantinople.  Bess is also allowed to take a travelling companion and chooses Elsie Fitzgerald who around 5 years older than Bess and much more worldly, and a very interesting character, finds herself in a whole heap of trouble.

However, notwithstanding Elsie's liaisons, there is much more trouble and intrigue in the Royal Palaces of Topkapi and Hagia Sophia in the heart of Constantinople.  The city is being terrorised before the tournament by a murderer who once the murder has been committed , then skins the lower jaw of his victims leaving the skin, jawbone and teeth exposed and then leaves the bodies on display.

On the opening night;s ceremony's Bess leaves the banquet hall to get a better view of a fireworks display and is met with the sight of Cardinal Farnese, an envoy accompanying the Holy See's player and an outspoken opponent of Allah and the Moslem faith, dead, in a courtyard pool, with a disfigured jaw!

All in all there are 6 murders over the remaining pages and after the first The Sultan tasks Mr Ascham with finding the killer after hearing from Michaelangelo - did I mention that this book is sprinkled with many famous characters from history, yep Michaelangelo of Sistine Chapel and other famous works of arts and invention, and an old friend of Mr Ascham's -  that he has some detective skills.

That's all I can really tell you without giving the whole thing away, suffice it to say Mr Ascham does on more than one occasion come close to losing our future Queen in the most terrible of circumstances....

Matthew Reilly writes big descriptive scenes, he lays it all out there like a cinema screen and you are visualizing these scenes in your minds eye as you race through this book and it does become a race as he writes so intelligently and with a fluidity that makes it difficult for you, the reader/ watcher,  to stop turning pages.

He has done some marvellous research both on Chess, and the period of history described, that he almost convinces you, like those fine authors mentioned in the opening paragraph and in their historical pieces, that the events unfolding in front of you, DID REALLY OCCUR.  He weaves true events into the story line and informs us that even some of the maladies of our own time started even before the setting of this tome and continue to vex as now as they did then and we realise, that just maybe, there are no solutions to the ills of man and religion so long as 'faith' has followers and the predilections of the weak willed are covered up by their unswerving following and adherence to that 'faith'..

This really is a marvellous read and your reading enjoyment will only be increased by adding this to your TBR pile, but when you start it, you wont be able to stop. I should warn you though, that this book, like most of Mr Reilly's other published works, is not for the faint hearted.  The descriptions of priests, and others,  and their 'use' of young boys and others, could offend and there are, through Elsie Fitzgerald's descriptions, some 'racy' sexual encounters too.

At the end of the book Mr Reilly informs us of the material he used for reference and also reproduces an interesting interview he gave on the subject of the book 

Editing for Kindle /iPad: 5 out of 5
Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Page length on kindle /iPad: Not given, but about 432 pages in length
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Foot Note.  If you want to get a taste, FOR FREE of Mr Reilly's writing and of Mr Roger Ascham then I recommend his little FREE prequel to the Tournament, Roger Ascham and the King's Lost Girl The whole thing is about 88 pages in length with only about 25 of them a very short and interesting tale of murder in Cambridge, introducing us to the analytical mind of Ascham.

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Book Review: Henry Wood Detective Agency Time and Again (Book 2)

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Book 2 in the Henry Wood Detective Agency series, Time and Again was every bit as good as the first, my review of that first book is here in fact Mr Meeks, or Brian to me, as I follow him on Twitter at @ExtremelyAvg seems to be getting into his stride and I actually enjoyed this one even more than the first, which clearly bodes well for number three in the series....

So, we are still in 50's New York and Henry has settled in to his new office in the Flatiron building with some of the quirky characters, such as Bob, turning up here again , this time helping Henry in a new case.

Can it be called  new case though.  Henry receives a visit from one of New York's finest telling him that he needs to come with him, there's been an accident!

On arrival at the scene of the accident Henry learns the news that his mentor and boss, Michael Thomas Moore a PI, who trained Henry in Detective work, is the victim of a hit and run, while that in itself is a crime, the police are looking at it as an accident.

It doesn't take Henry long to look at it as a crime, a street full of parked cars and where the only gap is, a bunch of dog ends discarded from someone sitting in a car ... waiting and watching.

Henry asks to look at the body and lifts Mickey's note book from it to look at later.

Henry soon discovers that his old boss, mentor and friend hasn't changed his ways and that the notes of the case he was working on are all in code but he does discover that he was working on a case that involved the shady side of the art world with secretive collectors who were willing to pay vast sums for black market art.  Interestingly and as an aside I recently watched The Monuments Men at the cinema and Mr Meeks does touch on this in this book, without actually referring to that film title, I suspect, like the rest of us he did not know of their existence while researching for this one but he does describe what was happening to works of art during WWII in the same way as the movie, which makes for a contemporary and fascinating link!

An old flame appears on the scene, well not really, more a case of unrequited love on Henry's part which complicates the mix and a secret auction being set up to buy a piece of lost art that most people, even in the art world, had never heard of.  Henry finds he needs to call in reinforcements and enlists the help of Big Mike, from book 1, who has accumulated leave from the NYPD and Professor Dr Brookert from NYU. He even manages to get a secretary to manage his life, I mean office, and things begin to pick up in that area but the case has more twists than a spiral stair case.

The strange cabinet in Henry's wood work cellar makes a couple of appearances disgorges clues once again, but Henry so wrapped up in the case and the reappearance of Katarina in town, that he misses the first set of clues, which he believes, had he found them, may have prevented Mickey's death and this troubles him greatly.  I'm sure that in book three, or at least I hope, in book three that the mystery of this time shifting magic cabinet will be explained and while it is an anomaly it somehow doesn't seem to out of place here!

Mr Meeks does need to slow down a little and maybe take a little more time in editing, before pushing the upload button to find and correct the few minor errors sprinkled throughout, but and I do emphasise that they were  minor, they did not detract from the overall enjoyment of the story.  My only criticism of the story line would probably come at the end of chapter 54 leading into chapter 55.  I finished off the chapter started the new one and then had to go back as I thought I had missed either a chapter or at least a couple of paragraphs as some of the main characters were being followed to a destination and then suddenly seemed to have somehow been kidnapped by other unknown characters.  It did confuse a little but did become clear in the end!

All in all, another good book from Mr Meeks and Henry Wood ......


Editing for Kindle /iPad: 4 out of 5
Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Page length on kindle /iPad: 225 with proper page numbers too. Oh what joy....
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Film Review: The Monuments Men

(c) http://www.indie-eye.it/

Went and saw this Saturday with Ishbel. I'm sure I don't need to go into it in any great detail as it has been reviewed ad infinitum on the telly and newspapers before opening day on Friday 14th February as the latest offering from Gorgeous George Clooney.

It's the true but little known story of a group of art historians, curators and architects who were charged with going in to occupied Europe to try and retrieve looted art back from the nazis before they destroyed it.

I have to say both Ishbel and I loved the movie but it wasn't the greatest movie in terms of dialogue, which I found to be rather banal at times but the story needed to be given the wider audience recognition that it has; as from all accounts very few of us, including me, did not know about it before.

It was clearly a serious business and there were so very few of them but the film also relied on a good bit of humour, not laugh out loud humour but really chuckling at the screen humour.  I also found myself welling up a little when a couple of these middle aged to elderly guys got killed in the line of duty, dying in their quest to save bits of canvas or marble for us to admire today.  I can relate to that as Ishbel and I have traipsed round many a museum both here in the UK and in Europe and marvelled at many wonderful pieces of art that may well have been destroyed had it not been for The Monuments Men.

At just a smidgen under two hours I did think, mainly because of what I considered lack of meaningful dialogue, opening scene with Clooney and Mark Wallberg, sorry Matt Damon in the Met in New York and then at a bar as point in case, it was probably about 30 minutes too long, but never the less still enjoyed it immensely.

 

Ishbel gives it a 5 out of 5
Tom gives it a 4 out of 5

Book Review: The Highway by CJ Box

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Amazon US here

Another departure for Mr Box from  Joe Pickett, but not totally unexpected as he has done so now on a few occasions.

The Highway is a pretty terrifying read describing in pretty explicit detail how to become a serial rapist, torturer and murderer..... And all you need is a very large  truck  and a tremendous amount of guiltless ruthless guile and cunning.

This is the story of one long haul truck driver who has turned the act of kidnap,rape, torture and murder into almost an art form as he travels about the U.S. This is a loners existence as you would expect but circumstances and his carefulness in avoiding the risks that have allowed him to do what he does without being caught  for years were circumvented by a domineering mother with a big mouth and a hoarding complex who said the wrong thing to the wrong person, and he was caught by a state trooper who pulled him over.  

Unfortunately for the victims though this particular Trooper, Rick Legerski, wasn't out to save anyone, he had his own agenda too and Ronald Pergram aka The Truck Lizard found himself with a partner in crime who wanted to share the victims without taking the risks! 

This is the story of Danielle and Gracie Sullivan on a road trip to visit their father when older sister and airhead Danielle decides to visit her long distance boyfriend instead, the son of Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Dept Investigator Cody Hoyt, and who end up in the glare of the Truck Lizards headlights. 

At the insistence of his son, even although the girls have only been missing for a few hours, Hoyt begins to investigate aided by his partner Cassandra Dewell.....

As is usual for a Mr Box novel, the pace of the novel is insistent but much much more visceral, invoking base emotions in the reader with his hard descriptive prose. It keeps you rooted turning page after page and surprises you when a sudden twist happens that was unexpected (Hoyt/Legerski) even although you forgive yourself afterwards as the signs were clearly there in the first place......

Editing for Kindle: 4 out 5
Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Chapters: 42
Page length: 320

Book Review: The Book of Shadows by Alexandra Sokoloff

Bought this book way back in March 12 on a whim after coming across the author who had written a piece on the 'Murderati' web site in regard to the casting of a rather diminutive actor to play the role of an extremely large peripatetic loner from the world of crime fiction .... the trolls were giving her a hard time over her comments and for some reason I bought this book and it's been sitting there since then, but better late than never......

I thought I had never read any occult and then suddenly I remembered finding Dennis Wheatley in the 70's and devouring almost all of his novels, how could I have forgotten, particularly since I had a clear out a couple of weeks ago and there were at least a dozen of his books donated away to make space  .... memory

Anyway to the book at hand:  Erin Carmody, a Bostonian socialite teen and student is found dumped in one of Bostons rubbish infill sites.  Well, we find out later that it is she, as when the body is discovered it has no head or hands....

Detectives Adam Garrett and Carl Landauer are assigned the case and quickly find themselves dealing with what appears to be a murder linked to the Occult; something neither of them have any belief in or understanding off.

On chasing down what little leads they have they soon arrest Carmody's boyfriend, another college student and band member who appears to have gone off the deep end psychologically speaking and also has an unhealthy interest in the occult.  The detectives believe they have the right guy for the murder but someone called Tanith Cabarrus, an occult shop owner from Salem turns up at the police station and gives details of the mutilation that had not been, as far as they knew, to the press or anyone outside the investigation, then she informed them that the boy they had arrested for the murder was not guilty and that it was in fact a ritual killing, that one other had already taken place and that more would occur before Samhain or Halloween to you and me.

There is no record or reports of a previous murder of this type in the system and clearly the detectives are more than a little sceptical of this walk-in witness......

This is a complicated thriller, mainly for the characters, doubtful and disbelieving detectives with one having his whole belief system challenged the other totally dismissive of an occult connection and with an arrest in his pocket and all the evidence pointing to a conviction.  The Assistant DA, the girlfriend of the doubting Thomas detective not wanting anything to get in the way of securing that conviction, a conviction that will turn her and the arresting detectives into superstars,  and his confusion and turmoil as he is assailed with information from Tanith Cabarrus that he just can't bring himself to believe is true.

It turns into a bit of a rollercoaster and a race, with Garrett putting his life and career on the line. His partner in a coma and three more lives at stake,  can he put his prejudices aside and can he stave of the suspension long enough to get the job done..........

Editing for Kindle: 4 out 5
Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Chapters: 49
Page length: 321

Book Review: A LUMBERJACKY CHRISTMAS by Penny Watson

As you may or may not have surmised my interaction in other folks wonderful blogs has been fairly

Penny Watson (c) PennyWatson 

minimal of late, for reasons you are all probably aware of and so, I have just been dipping in and out and sometimes I miss things, like this beautiful little FREEEEEEEEE TO DOWNLOAD vignette of a story from the delightfully Tiara Adorned, Cocktail Loving. Lumberjacky Aficionado PENNY WATSON over on her blog Penny Romance.

Cabin in the woods (c) PennyWatson

Hannah Watson decides to take a sabbatical at Christmas away from her family and friends in deepest snowy Vermont to complete a project she is under pressure to get handed in on January First.     Deciding to go snowshoeing for the first time ever she gets stuck as the weather closes in and thinks she has broken her ankle, cold wet, alone and feeling completely miserable on Christmas Eve.   Rescue is at hand in the form of  bearded Lumberjack hunk, David Green who,  after loading up his chopped wood for his cabin,  is about to drive away when he spots Hannah and comes to her rescue.

As it turns out David is a famous children's author with writers block and coincidentally Hannah is an illustrator for children's books, awe isn't that lovely.....

Well as it happens, yes it was.  Just 17 pages on a word document of smart, easy reading with a dialogue as crisp as the snow falling outside the cabin.  A little schmaltzy but not out of place at all in this story where the two with similar problems, find each other and collaborate to bring each other out of their predicaments, I found it totally sweet, engaging and romantic and for a short Christmassy story, totally loved it

You can download your very own FREE COPY  of this delightful little tale over on Penny's blog HERE


5 out of 5 stars from me

Book Review: The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith

If you have not read Mr McCall Smith, why not? He writes gentle humorous stories filled with a cast of star studied characters who seemingly make the the most innocuous comments on life but at the same time can be so thought provoking.  Homilies of a bygone time when respect for our, families, friends, fellow man and neighbours was once upper most in our minds .....  and he reminds of us those times in a modern day setting with Mma Ramotswe in Botswana.

The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency is in a state of flux as 'associate' Detective Mma Makutsi takes maternity leave to have her and her husband Phuti Radiphuti's first child, mind you, as usual when Mma Makutsi doesn't want to discuss something, she won't and so the fact that she is pregnant and the subject of maternity leave are not open for discussion until it is to late, not to late in that something goes wrong except for the fact that another encounter with a cobra brings the pregnancy to an end and the delivery of a healthy boy is announced.  So snakes do come in useful, sometimes, and this again proves to be the case in dealing with a Radiphuti aunt later on, so funny .....

Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, husband to Mma Ramotswe and owner of Speedy Motors on Tlokwen  Road, has a desire to become a more modern husband and enrols in a new course at the university and then Mma Ramotswe finds him, for the first time ever, helping to prepare dinner, but she is gentle with him in explaining,

"So you are mashing them now?’ He nodded. ‘And it’s rather hard work, Mma.’ ‘You’re mashing them even before you have cooked them, Rra?’ He frowned. ‘You cook them first?’ Mma Ramotswe reached around him and took the pan from his hands. It was half-filled with water in which fragments of raw potato floated morosely, like a soup. Very gently she poured the mixture down the drain. ‘I will show you how to start with new ones,’ she said. ‘You cook the potatoes first and then you take them out and mash them up with butter and salt. That is how mashed potatoes are made, Rra.’ He turned away sheepishly. ‘I was only trying to help, Mma.’ She felt a warm rush of affection for the man beside her. ‘But of course you were, Rra. But I am quite happy to cook mashed potatoes."

In the background of course there are two cases to be solved as business still has to continue even without the assistance of the Associate Detective and Mr JLB Matekoni's lack of cooking skills, but he is still an excellent mechanic...

These books are for anyone who wants a gentle meander through the countryside surrounding the city of Gaberone in the wonderful country of Botswana or so it appears to be from the descriptions in these books, waiting on the rains to revive the country and it's people's, dealing with the serious and the not so serious.

For the first time in reading though I have only two small criticisms; 1. We don't get to read the outcome of the case with Mma Sheba the Lawyer, although we know what Mma Ramotswe wants to do, it is left somewhat unresolved, and 2. how did the cooking of the sausages go with Mr J.L.B. Matekoni?

Editing for Kindle: 5 out 5
Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Chapters: 17
Page length: 256

Book Review: High Heat (A Jack Reacher Novella) by Lee Child

16 year old Reacher is on school holiday from South Korea and is passing through New York en route to visit his older brother who is a cadet at West Point Military Academy.

It's July 1977 and it's hot. Son of Sam is on the rampage and a sweaty guy is slapping a sweaty woman in the face......

Even at 16, Reacher has already established a code of honour and conduct, and a guy slapping a woman on the face falls outside of what is permitted....

Reacher prevents the guy from doing any more harm to the woman and a night of cat and mouse with a local drug lord ensues although as usual Reacher, even at 16 is not the hunted but the hunter in the blacked out streets of New York dodging fires and looting as a city wide power cut takes affect.  In between making the drug lords life unbearable, he finds time to hook up with a co-ed a and is introduced to a special first time encounter in the front seat of a sports car and then to assist a suspended FBI agent with information on Son of Sam.

These occasional diversions by Child into Reachers past are as entertaining as the 'up to date' titles. They show us the boy who became a man growing up inside the Marine Corp and being enveloped by a system of honour and do right at all times, even if that means taking extreme actions to find a solution to a problem.  As long as the solution achieves the aim of winning the contest / solving the problem, then it is the correct way to go.......

There were a couple of small issues with the editing for the Kindle with extra spaces between words, but other than that no problems.

Editing for Kindle: 4 out 5
Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Chapters: none
Page length: 77

Book Review: Caribbee by Julian Stockwin

Number 14 in the Thomas Kydd series from Mr Stockwin detailing the life of 19th century Royal Navy mariners as they protect England and it's dominions from the threat of Napoleonic domination.

Caribbee sees Thomas Kydd and his Frigate L'Aurore dispatched from the successful but ill fated attack on Buenos Aries to the Caribbean to request a relief force. 

On arrival, station Admiral Cochrane denies the request and informs Kydd that he and the Frigate L'Aurore are now under his command and that he and his crew will patrol the Caribbean to protect British interests from the French and Privateers! 

With Napoleon issuing a decree that makes all trade with Britain and her colony's illegal the economic threat to Britain and the Crown is a crushing one and added to the threat of capture most trading and commerce is brought to a standstill.

Once again Stockwin draws us in to this 19th Century world and throws everything at us, from hanging on for dear life in a ship and soul destroying hurricane (chapter 7) where you end the chapter relieved but drained, to heart pounding chases of sighted enemy vessels, to formal dinners where upon at one it is revealed drunkenly in front of peers and local aristocrats of Kydd's humble and lowly beginnings ....  Can he recover his status after that 

It is revealed that there may be a secret French base commanding ships and privateers in the local and Nicholas Renzi is firmly in the firing line after gathering information that leads to an attack by British forces only to find that there is no evidence that a base of operations ever existed.... Can Nicholas recover from the embarrassment of being a failed master spy too....

All in all another exiting read from a master storyteller and very much worth the annual wait for the next instalment 

Editing for Kindle: Hardback 1st Edition
Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Chapters: 13
Page length: 347 including authors note

Book Review: The Pagan Lord by Bernard Cornwell

On a recent visit to hospital I was advised that as well as having cancer I have a heart condition, such is life, and then I settle down to read the latest Bernard Cornwell offering, 'The Pagan Lord' featuring Uhtred of Babbenburg and Cornwell nearly kills me off along with the hundreds of Danish horde that his creation Uhtred dispatches throughout this latest in 'The WARRIOR Chronicles' as my heart is pounding almost from the opening paragraph to the very end. Dear Lord Sir, but you can write!

Uhtred is in trouble from the beginning, again when he sets of with son number two and a small band of warriors to retrieve son number one who has become mixed up with the Christians, them Christians will be the death of poor Uhtred one of these days.... Only to find that son Uhtred has converted to the faith and has become a priest.   

In trying to retrieve his son from this folly Uhtred inadvertantly, for a change, kills of a Bishop and disowns his son renaming him Judas and promoting son No 2 up the ranks to be henceforth called Uhtred........

On returning to his hall he finds it burning and Sigunn his woman gone. Cnut Ranulfson has visited to exact his revenge, and while he and Uhtred are sworn enemies, on this occasion Uhtred has no idea what he has done, this time.....

Cornwell goes on to describe Uhtred's criss crossing the country and the seas to Frisia.  It starts off on horseback crossing these green, pleasant and wonderful lands, at a trot and then into a full canter before galloping across blood filled fields and streams and rivers with Uhtred and his small force of loyal men attempting to reclaim his home of Babbenburg.

Once again and to save the Christians he so loathes but time and again saves from destruction giving them England from the massed armies that Cnut Ranulfson has been building,  to finally take over Wessex and Mercia to once and for all create a Daneland and to consign the English to what they deserve, Slavery and Death.

No spoilers from me here suffice to say that Cornwell really is a master story teller spanning the 20th and 21st Centuries and his characters and stories pull you in from page one and get you turning page after page into the wee small hours gasping for air as another wave pounds over the longship as she fights the storms or gasping for breath through the blood and snot and sweat as you take up position in a shield wall with the blood lust screaming from every pore as you wait to kill or be killed ....   you become part of the story, you are involved and you have a vested interest in it's eventual outcome.  Cornwell has clearly mastered the art of making the reader feel all these things, making you cry out in despair when you get to the end and find that there is still more to come and you are left hungry waiting in anticipation for the next stanza in this epic tale of the birth of England and it's rescue from the Danish hordes.

Editing for Kindle: 5 out of 5
Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Chapters: 13 (in 4 parts)
Page length: 321 but again not evident on Ipad or  Kindle devices, sort it out folks for goodness sake

Book Review: Never Go Back (Jack Reacher 18) by Lee Child

No 18 in the Jack Reacher series and there isn't much to say that hasn't been said before. I read a review recently that tore into Mr Childs and his character of Reacher commenting that it is all repetitive with Reacher just stumbling along finding the same old same with different names and graphically detailing how he takes apart the same old villains in a blow by blow account making it unreal and unnatural......

Yeah, well hard to argue too much with some of that as Reacher does wander about finding those in need of help who are being ground down by the little bad guys supported by the brainless hulks BUT, and especially if you are British, it is a bit like marmite you either love it or hate it, me I love it. The thing is though that Childs has mastered his skill as a writer over the years and while it may seem to be a tad repetitive he writes a flowing dialogue that is pretty seamless and you find yourself just turning page after page until you get to the end.  The previous book I read (not a Childs one), really engaged me,even allowing for the errors in it, but it took me nearly three weeks to finish it, a Reacher book, if you aren't careful you could start in the morning and probably finish it be the evening, easily, and  supposing you set aside your other life commitments like work and family and life and that I suppose is the mark of a good writer. Someone who gives you a narrative that flows along and compels you to keep reading his or her words!

On this occasion though it isn't your typical small town nice folk who are in need of help but Reachers contemporary a female Major now running his old unit, the 110th MP.  Reacher, we don't know why, has phoned the old unit and spoken with Major Susan Turner.  Liking the sound of her he decides to head to Virginia from South Dakota and turn up unannounced and ask her out to dinner.  On arrival he finds that Major Turner is no longer in charge and some stuck up Colonel is running the unit.

Reacher finds that,  a) Major Turner has been arrested and placed in a cell off base, b) he is accused of a 16 year old murder and c)  that he has fathered a child and being sued for maintenance and of course the 'icing on the cake' well as far is the efficient Colonel is concerned, is that he has just drafted Reacher back into the Army as a Major, making him subject to all military regulations.  He should have read Reachers file in a bit more detail and he would have known, like us, that Reacher was never one to really pay much heed to those regulations the first time round and so we knew he wasn't going to pay much attention to them on this little merry go round.

We then spend the next 417 pages finding out why these old cases have reappeared and what is the connection to Maj Turner who has been arrested and jailed.  I have to say here, even allowing for the comments above about my love for this character and Childs flowing writing, that I did find the story of two Deputy Chiefs of Staff  being involved in a nefarious enterprise and the poor 'help' they employed to take out Reacher and Turner more than a bit weak overall.  The introduction of a daughter who on first introduction was, well never mind, no spoilers, but it was an intriguing side bar to the story and it is entirely believable that Reacher may well have killed someone in the past as he beats down on them,  leaving them on the sidewalk and walking off into the sunset. Who's to say that one of his victims hasn't then died and he never knew ............

As a side issue, not really, but for the first time in 18 books I did find a little error; the e was missing from like in one sentence, oh my, but.........


Editing for Kindle: 5 out of 5
Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Plot: 4 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Chapters: 69
Page length: 417 and evident on my devices, see it can be done!

Book Rev: The Desolate Garden by Danny Kemp

Liked and loathed this book!

When reading on my Kindle it is easy to make notes and highlight passages and excerpts in a book and I have even started doing this as I now write these reviews when reading a 'paper' book.  It's easy then to go back in and review what I thought at the time

Up until now, the number of notes and highlights have numbered no more than 15 and they have been more in marking interesting phrases or passages than errors,  on this particular book though, if you have an absolute abhorrence of poor grammar and spelling you just might wish to avoid it as I have 63 highlighted spelling and or grammatical errors with a couple of formatting issues thrown in for good measure......  You have been warned.

Having said that the author, on his first attempt did write an intriguing novel. It revolves around the Paterson Family who have been the British Governments Secret Bankers for generations, funding everything that the governments of the day would rather the public did not ever find out about.  The management of the bank is passed on from generation to generation and only the highest echelons of government and ministers are aware of its existence.

Harry Paterson an ex Army officer is informed about his fathers murder and then his brother, the latter who is running the bank today, is also found murdered. Is this an attack on the Paterson s, a titled family, an attack on the bank or an attack on the Government? Who knows, Harry certainly doesn't  and he has little or no knowledge of the bank or its affairs and has been estranged from his father for years and on first hearing the news of his death shows little concern at the news, caring little for the fact that he is now elevated to 'His Lordship' at his fathers passing.

There begins an investigation by the Secret Service with Harry being assigned a 'minder' whose job it is, is to get Harry to tell her everything about his Father, Maudlin Paterson s past and what he knows of it.  Nothing is to be excluded.  Every detail of their lives is to be scrutinised in the hope that the identity of the murderer can be discovered before another Paterson is killed.

It does get a bit convoluted in places and the 'action' switches from Harry's interrogations to Russia as we find out that Maudlin fathered a child to a Spanish woman during the civil war and they fled to Russia at Maudlin's insistence, the mother dying, and Harry's half brother growing up and becoming one of Russia;s top officials and a spy, funded by Maudlin and the Paterson Bank......

This is, I understand Kemp's first book and not withstanding my opening comments, he has done well in stringing  a long and convoluted story together.  It does become a little tedious in places but if you can stick with it, it is a good story and has a surprising revelation as the killer in the final few pages, really never saw it coming which is always a good indication and promising for future books.  If you can be kept guessing right to the end then the author has done what he or she probably set out to do when penning a thriller.

Editing for Kindle: 2 out of 5
Reading Enjoyment: 4 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5
Chapters: 45
Page length: 334 apparently but not evident on my kindle or iPad app - just % read

Isle of Wight Literary Festival

TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE for the second Isle of Wight Literary Festival, sponsored by Red Funnel, in Cowes on October 18-20. This year’s line-up includes some hot tickets, so don’t forget to book early! Tickets are priced from £4.00 with the majority of events costing just £8.50 per ticket. There are also a limited number of special passes, which entitle holders to visit as many events as they like for just £1 per session. Daily passes are available for Friday 18, Saturday 18 or Sunday 20 October at £13.50 per day, or a full weekend pass costs £34.00. New additions to the packed programme include Westminster wit Simon Hoggart, who will be entertaining the Trinity Theatre, Cowes on Saturday 19 with tales from the corridors of power.  Then on Sunday night there will be more hilarity from Tim Brooke-Taylor. Tim has been delighting audiences with his gentle, zany humour ever since he rocketed from the Cambridge Footlights to West End stardom alongside John Cleese and Bill Oddie, before starring in TV’s ‘The Goodies’, and BBC Radio’s ‘I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue’. Be entertained by Tim in conversation with broadcast journalist and former ‘That’s Life!’ co-presenter Chris Serle at Trinity Theatre on Sunday evening. Other new speakers joining the amazing line-up are blogger of the moment A Girl Called Jack, whose austerity food has captured the public imagination. She’ll be joining supper-club innovator MsMarmiteLover to talk about food blogging, cookbook writing, and their personal inspirations. Guardian writer Sue Arnold also joins the bill, talking about the wonder of spoken stories. They will be speaking alongside renowned journalists including Charles Moore and Sir Max Hastings, famous authors Louis de Bernieres, Kate Mosse, Nicci French,Conn Iggulden, Felix Francis and Chris Cleave, television and radio star Penelope Keith, and many more. For budding writers there is also a packed schedule of events, including a creative writing workshop with international best-selling author Jason Goodwin, and a ‘Dragons Den’competition where brave authors can pitch their synopsis and opening chapter to three brilliant publishing professionals, all in front of an audience.  Deborah Moggach, author of ‘Tulip Fever’ and ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’, will be holding a unique masterclass on turning books into film, and three big hitters of the literary world – Christopher MacLehose  (the man who brought us Stieg Larsson),Richard Charkin of Bloomsbury Publishing and James Heneage (founder of Ottakar’s Bookshops and Booker Prize judge) will be holding a debate on the future of publishing. FRIENDS AND VOLUNTEERS Support the Isle of Wight Festival and become a Friend for just £10. All Festival Friends will be entered into a monthly draw to win a weekend pass for one. The August winner of the draw is James Bookings. Or sign up as a volunteer to help with running the Festival in Cowes. We welcome people of all ages and skills to assist at this fantastic and great fun event. Email to register your interest at volunteer@isleofwightliteraryfestival.org For more details see www.isleofwightliteraryfestival.org Find us on Facebook or Twitter

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Book Review: Secret Doors; The Challenge by Brian D Meeks

Look inside Amazon UK here
Look inside Amazon US here 

The Famous Five meets Harry Potter.......

I follow Mr Meeks on Twitter and saw a post from him looking for Beta Readers for a new novel he was getting ready to publish.  Normally, even although it is a chance to get a first look at a new book before publication, I do not, as a rule, take part in this type of process, preferring to wait until the book is published, have a look at the 'fly leaf' and then decide whether I want to purchase it, or not.  On this occasion however, I sent an email to Mr Meeks and said I would be willing to take a look at the book for him, and I am glad that I did.

YA fiction in book or film form really aren't my cup of tea but I did however enjoy the Harry Potter movies a great deal and so too did many others if the film and book revenues are anything to go by and so too did Mr Meeks if this new book is anything to go by!

I absolutely loved this opening book to his planned series and if it doesn't make his name I have no idea what will.

This is essentially a story of Abby, a young girl orphaned in a fire.  She is seen being rescued on TV by a rich Boston socialite, who hated the thought of having children  and despised the fact that as she did, and needed to as it was a 'condition' of the marriage to a banker, that she gave birth to twin boys.  She would have much preferred to have had a pretty girl to dress and fawn over, than horrible boys... and twins, double yuk!

When Abby was rescued and seen on TV she was grimy and dirty and all that Mrs Draper knew was that she was a girl, so, encouraged by his wife, Mr Draper pulled considerable strings and arranged for a swift adoption. Abby steps out of the car to be greeted by her new family only to have her new mother sneer at her as she turns away, commenting angrily, "My God, she is a ginger...."  and from that moment on the 'ginger brat's' life is made even more of a living hell by her new 'family'.

Enter stage left, streetwise Stevie, also an orphan living in a local orphanage who manages to regularly escape the confines of the dormitory into the real world.  He befriends Abby and they become the closest of friends.

During a visit from Stevie, when Abby has been locked in her basement room by the Drapers while they head off for the weekend to visit real family, Abby and Stevie head off to the Pak's, a Vietnamese couple who run a local store and with whom they get on well.  Abby and Stevie notice a tiny little door down near the floor in one of the Pak's rooms.  As they look and wonder what it could be for, there is a huge bright light that engulfs them and they suddenly find they are no longer in the Pak's store but have been transported to a meeting room with lots of other kids in it and a bunch of adults on a stage.

Buckle your seatbelts and get comfy folks.  Gather your necessities around you, coffee, beer, wine snacks if you are an adult,  or if you are a youngster reading this review, get your fizzy pop, sweets, chips and whatever else you might want for a couple of hours of reading -  and get ready to take 'The Challenge', as this is where the book comes into it's own and you will not want to stop turning pages.  You have just entered a magical world through an opening not unlike that famous train platform from somewhere else and the roller coaster of high adventure of the scary and awesomeness begins.

The characters were just right with the mixture of feisty red headed orphan girl Anny, to the self obsessed narcissistic Cindy, scholarly introverted and  thoughtful Jo, Georgie the lion who begins to find his courage during The Challenge and finally to streetwise Stevie who has both courage and brains but also has the heart to look out for others.

The introduction of other characters Chancellor Alphius Omega, "but you may call me Alphie", Alouicious and  those wonderful giant talking guinea pigs, Billy and Badger was masterful, even if Badger only talks in 'wheeks' was clearly due to the authors obsession with the quaint and ridiculous and teaches us all that the quaint and ridiculous should be embraced with vigour and love.

He has made it so difficult to pick a favourite character but I am particularly fond of Alouicious in the adult department and can't wait to find out what else he has in his magical pockets as I loved the fact that he carries an oasis around in his pocket for when he travels in the desert, I mean, if you were magical, why wouldn't you do that sort of thing it was such a deliciously delightful thought implanted in my mind but, as for the kids I am torn, clearly Abby is going to be the star, with Stevie at her side, as he is in the 'real world' but I do really like them all, even Cindy who had grown on me by the end of the book,  . And then you give us Mr Pincer who we just know is going to be trouble along our journey and that at every opportunity he is going to go after Abby and the rest of the gang .... So, keep writing.

Editing for Kindle: 4 out of 5 - but this was a Beta copy and there were only a couple of very minor issues 
Reading Enjoyment: 5 out of 5
Page Count: 159
Front cover Art Work: 5 out of 5
Plot: 5 out of 5
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5