Orange City - Lee Goldberg

Dystopia never tasted so good.

As far as management goes, the man, is pretty high up. To match his height, he is also a Grade A Sociopath.

Trying to run a Statuesque city, he toys with its citizens as the whim passes over him.

He got his kicks drugging and amputating at free will.

His greatest feet, hadn't even been released and there was massive demand for it. What was it? Simplicity, soda pop.

Different flavours, different moods, always thirsty for them.

One man's journey, against tyranny.

Status: Completed

Rating: 4.2/5.0

Dead Money - Srinath Adiga

What's the one thing they say you can't take with you if you die?

What if you could?

Ladies and Gentlemen, from the Bank of Eternity, I give you... Afterlife Dollars.

Spawned as an idea from a city trader, who was trying to get back the considerable amount of money that he had lost of a gangsters. Using Chinese fables and old stories of leaving money for the ferryman to take you to the other side.

Afterlife Dollars came into being. A load of unethical shit, and lie after lie a backstory evolved.

What was being sold? Nothing, a belief. Did it not matter? No. People thought they were investing in money that was going to be available to them when they died. They knew that they would not see anything till they were dead. The perfect fleece.

Then came Europe, a trader who had, had enough. Warnings made and ignored and a folio being built that would be more than profitable when the crash eventually came. With far right politics thrown in for good measure.

From something I thought that I wasn't going to enjoy to being engrossed within half an hour. Not my usual thing, but good just the same.

Status: Completed

Rating: 4.4/5.0
 

The Last Fight of Human Race - Sanyukta Suryawanshi

 IMMORTALITY

 

    The quest for, and the rebellion against.

    The plot, and the characterisations are strong. There a few areas which are a little grey. You think that some characters are countries apart. Only to find them together within a few paragraphs.

    The resistance is trying to eliminate those that are already immortal - those that are, appear to be cumbersome and whilst slower than humans, but have a strength almost inhuman.

    Blame the scientists, someone's got to.  

 

Status: Complete

Rating: 3.8/5.0

The Stranger Times - C K McDonnell

     Castlefield, a pimple on the nose of Manchester, supplying the lighter side of life since Roman Occupation.

    Based on the assumption that there are two forms of weather, raining or waiting to rain. The backdrop is set.

    A  motley crew, of "Journalists", an editor with a drink problem and a blunderbuss, and a newbie.

    Whilst the news for this paper maybe far fetched, the national enquirer would have been proud. Gods and Monsters sell, end of.

    With almost as many twists and turns as the M60, this page turner keeps you coming back for more. I hate to say this, but I woke up, and found myself reaching for this book to find out how it ended.

Oh yes...... and don't forget the ketchup.

Status: Completed

Rating: 4.6/5.0

Strange Labour - Robert Penner

 

     OK, so after a self-inflicted hiatus of reading in general. I thought I should think about making a return. So, here I am.

    Looking at #netgalley, for some inspiration, I stumbled across this in the Read Now Section. So here goes, sit back, kick off the socks and shoes and enjoy (hopefully).

    Although nothing is mentioned directly, something has happened the world and its residents. There are large swathes of the human race that have just upped and joined the diggers. They build trenches. Lots of trenches, all over the world. There are small pockets of people who haven't 'turned'. This seems to be where the individual in question. Has the urge to join the diggers, never to be seen again.

    We join Miranda, a drifter heading out west. She takes jobs where she can to support herself, care homes, outdoor work. She is joined by Dave, an ex maths teacher of considerable IQ, who has a taste for 'weed', stories and conspiracy.

    Whilst being almost constantly stoned (medically induced - epilepsy). He functions normally. He knows things, how to get fuel, what food is available, what drugs you can find where and whom to trade them with.

    There are neat pockets, where you are not on the road. Each bringing, its own trials and tribulations. Not all, is as it would seem.

    I read this in a couple of sittings, after pin the tail on the donkey selection. It held my interest, which is rare at the moment.

Status: Completed

Rating: 4.0/5.0

To Be Taught If Fortunate - Becky Chambers

Scientific findings, and a question that needs an answer.

This novella, packs a mighty punch into its 130'ish pages. The life of four astronauts scientists to the bone. A mission, four planets and detailed findings. The crew, follows to the last letter, in everything that they do. Something, thrown into conversation, almost flippantly......

 

This is Becky Chambers, first stand-alone story, and a right corker in is as well. 

 

Status: Completed

 

Rating: 4.3/5.0 

The Other People - C J Tudor

If you were to take a wander through this book, you would get arrested.

Based around the UK motorway system, there are a few characters who find themselves intertwined.  There a plenty of areas, that are described which you will find with ease, bridges and services are the easiest.

A car, a child. Murder. A parent who refuses to believe what he has been told. A sub-plot, drink, cars, and accidents. Organised, through the dark web, you can wish for whatever you want. At a price.

There is more than enough in this book to probably have kept it going for a couple of hundred pages more, without it detracting from it in the slightest. It is a real pager turner. In fact, including being at work, this only took me a couple of days to read (reading and work, don't mix very well with me, I can't normally read at all).

This lady, is fast becoming one my favourite authors. Would I recommend it, yes. Would I tell someone to buy it yes (their not having my copy). If I could think of a third question, I would have put it here.

Rating: 5/5

Status: Completed

The Temple House Vanishing - Rachel Donohue

The plot-line may have come straight from what could have been a trashy YA novel. However, the story telling was absolutely second to none and made it more than it originally seemed it was going to be.

16 & 41, one persons tale of a life that once was, and has become. A journalist writing a piece on a disappearance and tale of lust. The majority of the story focuses on a teacher, a want to be muse and a new girl at a catholic boarding school.

 

The teacher, grooming, the muse besotted and drawn into it all... the new girl. Predictable, yes. Twisted, in ways you wouldn't have thought of. Enjoyable, definitely.

 

This is one spanking debut novel. I take my hat off to you.

 

Rating: 4.7 / 5.0

 

Status: Completed   

Starve Acre - Andrew Michael Hurley

Disclaimer: I am not afraid to admit that I had to reach for the dictionary a couple of times during the progress of this book.

This is a tale, within a tale. A parallel, with several hundred years between them. The constant, Jack and the Hare.

The setting, is God's own country, Yorkshire, England.

The setting, is described and the tale told, in such a way that you are almost there with the characters. I suppose it also helped that I know the area a little.

Intertwined with almost a 50/50 split between the two and the interlinking that takes part, progressing together at a considerable rate.

The only drawback, the ending. Obscure.

Rating: 4.1/5.0

Status: Completed.

Perfect Kill - Helen Fields

I think I might have to have a look for some more by this author.

To say that I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement. I found myself reading it, in any amount of spare time that I had. Whether, that was at work or home any spare time was taken with it.

Set between Paris and Edinburgh. With twists and turns, that has highly selective abductions on  pseudo-medical grounds from Scotland to France and sex trafficking Eastern European women on the return journey.

Everything, has to come to a climax, and this delivers on all accounts. I don't want to give anything away. So, all I can say is that if your interested. Go and get this book.

Rating: 4.2 / 5.0 

Status: Completed

Left Handed Death - Richard Hull

Originally penned some time around 1938, this is a very twee, and gentile murder mystery.

I would like to think, that like Nostradamus, the prediction of world war being in full throw during the setting of the book. Were, that of the author. However, I think that this may have been edited into the work to give it the extra impetus. Not that this detracts from the story itself.

It is everything that you would expect from a work that is circa 80 years old. A part of the Crime Club books. Having read some of the blurb at the start of it, Mr. Hull, helped Agatha Christie hone her skills for the Murder Mystery genre, that was popular at the time of the original release. However, I digress.

To the story. Like I have already said, it twee, gentile and exponentially British. In a tongue of the time, there are times when you are left wondering about a word or two. But it flows. You don't necessarily need a dictionary with you. Because sometimes the words just leaves a satisfying buzz in your ear as all the others around it draw you in.

A man back from the war, discharged on medical grounds, an MD, Government contracts, accountants and London's finest. The twists and turns, meander. Not in a bad way. But, are present.

A very British framing, featuring manipulation, coercion and suggestion. 

This may not be for everyone, but it does give insight into just how different things were. It does take a little getting used to the prose. But overall, a good read.

Status: Completed

Rating: 3.9 / 5.0

A Window Breaks - C M Ewan

They say that revenge is sweet, and that despair can tear a family apart. In this whirlwind psychological thriller, you are about to find out just how true this might be.


A seemingly tragic accident, a charity founded on revenge, the police hell bent on keeping the truth well and truly covered up.#


A family break to recoup, the lodgings a friend and employers. And, the a fore mentioned police.


A real page turner, I managed to finish the last 25% before my coffee went cold. Keeps you on you the seat of your pants, almost from the off.


I'll be giving this a good 4.7 / 5.0


Status: Completed

The God Game - Danny Tobey

Religion, a paradox; God a chat-bot.

A new take on what I have seen on page and tape several times before. 

Despite that, I found this rather enjoyable to read. It is aimed more at a YA audience than my older age.

Take one group of social outcasts, put them in situations that they would never normally find themselves in. Add an AI god that appears to have put even the worst megalomaniacs to shame.

Do, as the GOD sees fit, and be rewarded. Go against its wishes, and be  prepared for the consequences.

Fairly well paced, with a few unexpected bits thrown in to boot.

Well worth a read if your 15 - 20ish

Rated: 4.2 / 5.0

Status: Completed

Review - Black Leopard, Red Wolf. Marlon James.

Well, I'd like to say that I manged to read this to completion. Was it that it was badly written. No. Lack of plot and character. Again, No. Substance, there.

I've literally spent weeks of my life trying to read this. I've got to put this down before I lose what sanity I have. If and I mean if, you manage to read more than twenty pages in one sitting. Your better than me.

Everything is there. I wanted so much t read this. But, I am having to abandon this title. I have lost the will to read on. I have not picked it up in over a week, that says something. I normally read everyday, without fail.

That just leaves the status of the book: Unfinished.

Sorry.