Monthly Archives: November 2011

Brodmaw Bay by FG Cottam – Book Review

Posted on November 27, 2011
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Brodmaw Bay seems to be the perfect refuge for James Greer and his family. When his young son is the victim of a brutal mugging, Greer wants to leave London – the sooner the better – for the charming old-fashioned fishing port he has just discovered.

But was finding Brodmaw Bay more than a happy accident? What is the connection between the village and his beautiful wife? When his friendly new neighbours say they’d welcome some new blood – in a village where the same families seem to have lived for generations – are they telling the whole truth?

Perhaps the village isn’t so much welcoming them as luring them. To something ancient and evil. As it has lured others before . . .

 

Brodmaw Bay is another one of those books I’ve picked up this year that had me hooked before I’d read the first page.  I’m talking about the covert art design of course. A dark silhouette of a distant village – Brodmaw Bay – and the promise of something sinister lurking beneath the surface of the mirky water, what’s not to love? We all love a little something to heighten our senses and make us a little scared, Brodmaw Bay certainly does that!

Written by F.G. Cottam the book works on many levels, it has subtle humour, a very dark and psychological theme and is fairly insular, especially when it comes to the Bay. The Bay draws James Greer and his family in at just the right, or is that wrong, time. They are sucked in to the traditions they find endearing at first but it soon becomes blatantly obvious things aren’t what they seem, the people and the Bay itself hiding a violent and troublesome pass that mixes death and the destruction of a religion.…

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I shouldn’t be writing this

Posted on November 19, 2011
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Strictly speaking I shouldn’t be writing this blog post! A couple of months ago a friend of mine – Keith Walters from Books and Writers mentioned that November would be a very busy month. There would be little communication, no chance of drinks and emails were out of the question! The reason? He, like thousands around the world, would be participating in the annual Nanowrimo challenge – National Novel Writing Month – where established and rookie authors attempt to write 50,000 words in one month, beginning on November 1st and ending on the 30th.

When I first heard of the challenge I never in my wildest dreams thought I would take part. It just seemed ridiculously hard! I have enough to do with reading and reviewing books let alone attempting to write a novel! However, due to the enthusiasm of friends on twitter – Keith, Julia Crouch, Will Carver, Dave Jackson, Abi Fenton, and Meg Gardiner to name but a few – I decided to think about it and see if I could come up with a basic idea and see where it took me. I have forgotten to list many friends and for that I can only apologise, I’ll make up for it when I publish the book and will name and shame you all then!!!

During a trip to London last month I was sitting in a Covent Garden pub with friend and author Charlie Phillips and I mentioned that I had an idea for a murder – fictional of course – and while we both enjoyed the hospitality of the pub, watching the rain falling outside, I told her my idea. Charlie went to town and gave me a few suggestions which led to the naming of the novel …

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The Red Coffin by Sam Eastland – Book Review

Posted on November 19, 2011
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It is 1939. The world stands on the brink of Armageddon. In the Soviet Union, years of revolution, fear and persecution have left the country unprepared to face the onslaught of Nazi Germany. For the coming battles, Stalin has placed his hopes on a 30-ton steel monster, known to its inventors as the T-34 tank, and, the ‘Red Coffin’ to those men who will soon be using it.

But the design is not yet complete. And when Colonel Nagorski, the weapon’s secretive and eccentric architect, is found murdered, Stalin sends for Pekkala, his most trusted investigator. Stalin is convinced that a sinister group calling itself the White Guild, made up of former soldiers of the Tsar, intend to bring about a German invasion before the Red Coffin is ready. While Soviet engineers struggle to complete the design of the tank, Pekkala must track down the White Guild and expose their plans to propel Germany and Russia into conflict.

The Red Coffin by Sam Eastland – the second in the Inspector Pekkala series – is another title shortlisted for the 2011 CWA Ellis Peters Historical award this month and a book that completely took me by surprise. I have to say when I read the book cover I wasn’t immediately blown away. Russia in 1939, the height of Stalinism, held little interest to me if I’m truthful but after finishing Island of Bones by Imogen Robertson – another title shortlisted for the awards – I wanted to tackle something completely different.

Although the idea of Russia in the late 30’s didn’t exactly excite me, the front cover did. Evoking images in my mind of Steve McQueen and his solitary thrilling ride in The Great Escape I opened the book, settled down and began reading – I didn’t stop. I couldn’t put …

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Island of Bones by Imogen Robertson – Book Review

Posted on November 16, 2011
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Cumbria, 1783. A broken heritage; a secret history…

The tomb of the first Earl of Greta should have lain undisturbed on its island of bones for three hundred years. When idle curiosity opens the stone lid, however, inside is one body too many. Gabriel Crowther’s family bought the Gretas’ land long ago, and has suffered its own bloody history. His brother was hanged for murdering their father, the Baron of Keswick, and Crowther has chosen comfortable seclusion and anonymity over estate and title for thirty years. But the call of the mystery brings him home at last.

Travelling with forthright Mrs Harriet Westerman, who is escaping her own tragedy, Crowther finds a little town caught between new horrors and old, where ancient ways challenge modern justice. And against the wild and beautiful backdrop of fells and water, Crowther discovers that his past will not stay buried.

Island of Bones by Imogen Robertson marks the third in a series featuring the enigmatic and fastidious Gabriel Crowther and the wonderfully captivating Mrs Harriet Westerman. A finalist in this year’s CWA Ellis Peters Historical Awards – 30th November – Island of Bones, published by Headline, is sure to be a front runner at the awards ceremony for its engaging and free flowing narrative, entertaining storyline and a very well developed investigation. Although – as I have already mentioned – part of a long standing and successful series I had no trouble in picking up the novel and beginning my journey despite having missed the earlier adventures.

I was immediately transported to the 18th century where I experienced a public hanging and the inevitable shame it brought upon a family which in turn prompted Lord Keswick to sell his family’s land, seek privacy and detachment by changing his name following …

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Back Slash by Bill Kitson – Book Review

Posted on November 14, 2011
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What is the secret of the forester living a hermit-like existence in the remotest part of the Wingate Estate? Is he a callous murderer? Is he now taking a terrible revenge on those who wronged him? Or, does the truth lie elsewhere? A ruthless killer is on the rampage, one with a distinctive trademark. With resources decimated by a flu epidemic, Mike Nash is forced to use unorthodox tactics to expose a web of corruption and deceit spanning the years. Evidence all seems to point to an inevitable conclusion, but will Mike be able to uncover the truth, and can he do so before it is too late for all concerned – be they innocent or guilty?

Back Slash by Bill KitsonBack Slash took me by complete surprise. I’ve not had the pleasure of reading any of Bill Kitson’s previous work but on the strength of his latest Mike Nash adventure in crime solving I will have to make sure I go back to the very beginning and discover more about this maverick cop and what makes him tick. Back Slash is the fifth in a series that began in 2009 with Depth of Despair. If the others are half as good and entertaining as this novel then I highly recommend you check out the rest of the series, perhaps beginning with the debut title allowing you to enjoy the character development and growth I didn’t and although this novel is part of an established series I found Back Slash stood alone well.

The one thing I hadn’t expected was its fluidity. Back Slash includes an incredibly fast paced narrative and although used far too frequently, this is a book I certainly didn’t want to put down. Kitson somehow manages to cram a lot of evidence, murder and skulduggery – not forgetting a …

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The Killing Way by Anthony Hays – Book Review

Posted on November 10, 2011
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It is the time of Arthur, but this is not his storied epic. Arthur is a young and powerful warrior who some would say stands on the brink of legend. Britain’s leaders have come to elect a new supreme king, and Arthur is favored. But when a young woman is brutally murdered and the blame is placed at Merlin’s feet, Arthur’s reputation is at stake and his enemies are poised to strike. Arthur turns to Malgwyn ap Cuneglas, a man whose knowledge of battle and keen insight into how the human mind works have helped Arthur to the brink of kingship. Malgwyn is also the man who hates Arthur most in the world. After the death of Malgwyn’s wife at Saxon hands, he became Mad Malgwyn, killer of Saxons and right-hand lieutenant to the warrior Arthur. Right hand, that is, until a Saxon cut his sword arm off and left him to die on the battlefield. Arthur rescued him. Now a one-armed scribe and a heavy drinker, Malgwyn rejects the half-life that his liege gave him. But loyalty is sometimes stronger than loathing…and Malgwyn is pulled toward a puzzle that he can’t ignore.

Reading as many books as I do each month one of the fundamental requests I have from an author is that the work of fiction is entertaining, flows well and has a story that is strong enough to hold my imagination and concentration until the very end. For the most part The Killing Way by Anthony Hays succeeded in keeping me glued to the book, reading it over two very busy days, and once I’d made my way through the initial pages – struggling to come to terms with numerous characters and language – I settled into a rhythm and found myself warming to the narrator and …

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11.22.63 by Stephen King – Book Review

Posted on November 6, 2011
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WHAT IF you could go back in time and change the course of history? WHAT IF the watershed moment you could change was the JFK assassination? 11/22/63, the date that Kennedy was shot – unless . . .

Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.

Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

It’s very rare – in fact I don’t think it has happened – for me to finish a book and immediately begin writing a review. Over the past 14 months I’ve read some amazing books, some have moved me to tears, some have made me laugh endlessly and some amazed me in their energetic narrative that will remain with me for years to come, as long as my memory holds! I finished Stephen King’s 11.22.63 approximately five minutes ago and so moved was I with his storytelling and the enforced spellbinding relationship between Jake Epping – otherwise …

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The House of Silk – Sherlock Holmes by Anthony Horowitz – Book Review

Posted on November 3, 2011
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THE GAME’S AFOOT… It is November 1890 and London is gripped by a merciless winter. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are enjoying tea by the fire when an agitated gentleman arrives unannounced at 221b Baker Street. He begs Holmes for help, telling the unnerving story of a scar-faced man with piercing eyes who has stalked him in recent weeks. Intrigued by the man’s tale, Holmes and Watson find themselves swiftly drawn into a series of puzzling and sinister events, stretching from the gas-lit streets of London to the teeming criminal underworld of Boston.

As the pair delve deeper into the case, they stumble across a whispered phrase ‘the House of Silk’: a mysterious entity and foe more deadly than any Holmes has encountered, and a conspiracy that threatens to tear apart the very fabric of society itself… Sherlock Holmes is back with all the nuance, pace and powers of deduction that make him the world’s greatest and most celebrated detective.

Many years ago, my father introduced me to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – not in the flesh mind, I’m not quite that old – and his famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. As an impressionable teenager I lapped up the adventures of the pipe smoking, slipper wearing, Stradivarius playing detective and his loyal companion and biographer Dr John Watson. I couldn’t get enough. Who could ever forget The Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles and my favourite A Study in Scarlet.

A few years down the track my father – yes, he introduced me to a lot of things as a kid! – sat me down one winter’s day and we watched a double bill of Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce) and the comedic genius of Will Hay, it was a real father/son moment. I have …

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