Blog Archives

Worth Dying For by Lee Child (book review)

Posted on September 19, 2010
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Astounding, brilliant, magnificent and dynamic – just some of the superlatives that best describe Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series. His latest offering “Worth Dying For”, out at the end of September incidentally, is another jaw dropping sure fire hit and one you’ll fail to put down. Available in the United States 19th Oct.

The 15th Jack Reacher novel moves on from the explosive end in “61 Hours”, leaving South Dakota our maverick hitches south making his way to the wilds of Nebraska.

Nebraska is flat and cold – it’s winter time!

Jack Reacher has a knack for finding trouble. He doesn’t go looking for it, trouble finds him – it’s that simple. A nomad and a drifter, Reacher is high on moralistic values and tries to do the right thing no matter what the cost. It’s these principles that continually land him in high adventure and low company.

The Duncans rule the town, slowly but surely they’ve sucked the heart and soul out of the farming community – they own the trucking services, the harvesting and the suppliers. If the town had police, they’d own them too, the clan is powerful and dangerous.

The local farmers are stuck, lifeless and without a say in how things are run – the Duncans rule everything. De-spirited over time, the farmers are frightened and with nowhere to run, fight eludes them; they’ve given in, bowing to each and every whim the Duncans desire.

Reacher arrives at a desolate crossroads and makes his way to the only motel in town, Hotel Apollo has seen better days; so has the owner.  After checking in he makes his way to the bar and drinks stewed coffee; not the best he’s had but it’s hot. The only other person drinking is the local …

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Crossfire by Dick Francis (book review)

Posted on August 15, 2010
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The last Dick Francis book I read was “Proof”; published in 1986 I read it sometime in the late 90’s if memory serves me! It was the story of wine merchant Tony Beach who became involved in a murder mystery. A wonderful read and I can’t for the life of me recall why I’ve never read another since!

When Dick Francis died in February 2010 aged 89, he had been working with his son Felix on what was to be their final book together, Crossfire.

Felix Francis is the younger of Dick’s two sons. Over the last forty years Felix has assisted with the research of many of the Dick Francis novels, not least Twice Shy, Shattered and Under Orders. But since 2006, Felix has taken a more significant role in the writing, first with Dead Heat and then increasingly with the bestsellers, Silks and Even Money. Crossfire is the fourth and final novel of this father-and-son collaboration.

Tom Forsyth, captain in the British army, is injured in Afghanistan by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED or roadside bomb). Badly injured, Forsyth spends months in an NHS hospital as he learns to deal with the loss of his Right leg seven inches below his knee. When he is finally discharged from hospital he has nowhere to go and has no option but to return to his childhood home in Lambourn, home to the Kauri Horse Stables owned by his mother and champion trainer.

They have never seen eye to eye and expectedly receives a less than lukewarm reception on arrival from his mother and stepfather. Within days Tom discovers his parents are in trouble and with her horses mysteriously underperforming he sets about investigating the loss of form. He soon discovers his parents are seriously in debt, …

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From The Dead (Mark Billingham) – book review

Posted on August 12, 2010
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“From The Dead” is Tom Thorne’s ninth outing and judging by the latest offering his career isn’t over; by a long shot.

Mark Billingham’s novel is my first foray into Thorne’s world, a self assured character who knows what he wants and how to get it.

10 years ago, Alan Langford had everything; a successful “career”, money, palatial house, daughter Ellie and his wife Donna. That all changed when his charred remains were discovered in a burnt-out car set deep in the forest. Donna was found guilty of conspiracy to murder her husband and served ten years in prison. Not only had she paid someone £25,000 to kill her husband but when asked, she formally identified him and sealed her fate.

Three months before her release, Donna receives an anonymous envelope containing a photo of her husband. Langford it appears is very much alive and enjoying the trappings of wealth, but how is it possible? He was dead; it had to be a mistake. Order from Amazon

From The Dead focuses on four main characters, DI Tom Thorne, Alan Langford, his wife Donna and the rookie private investigator Anna Carpenter.

I related to Tom Thorne (as a character) almost immediately, a likeable chap who has a dark, dry sense of humour and isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. As the book progressed I found my affinity with Thorne grow, surely a few drinks at the local pub wouldn’t go amiss? He loves his country music especially Bluegrass and as I sat reading, my mind often wondered if he’s heard of Alison Krauss?!

Anna Carpenter is stuck in a rut. She quits her highly paid job at the bank to trap cheating husband in honey traps set up by her boss Frank, a rotund individual who likes …

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Caro Ramsay’s Dark Water – book review

Posted on August 10, 2010
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Dark Water begins at a furious pace. A young woman on her way home from a New Year’s Eve party in 1999, 40 minutes before heralding in the new millennia. Driving conditions are poor and visibility is at a dangerous level on slippery roads. Suddenly a car drives into view and forces her off the road. The time is 23:25.

Caro Ramsay was born and educated in Glasgow. Now in her late thirties, she lives in a village on the West Coast of Scotland with an odd selection of stray dogs including Emily, the demented pit bull terrier. Dark Water is the third book in the Costello/Anderson series it follows Absolution (2008) and Singing to the dead (2009).

One of the main advantages with starting a new book is you really have no idea what you are going to get. We all, as readers, have expectations. However, until you begin the literary journey held within the covers you can never be certain if the pages contain a gripping and well told story or not. Available in Paperback from Penguin.

Dark Water had me from the very first page, the Prologue. It set the scene for the entire book. It was atmospheric, descriptive, suspenseful and gripping.

When a hideously disfigured body is found in the attic of a deserted tenement it began a journey full of discovery and pain that with each turn of the page seemed to multiply. Little do investigating officers DI Anderson and DS Costello know then that the murder would open up old wounds long since closed.

Partickhill police station is on its last legs, DCI Rebecca Quinn is close to retirement and has one big case left in her, solve it and Partickhill’s future is assured, fail and they lose not only the rundown station …

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Peter Robinson’s “Bad Boy” book Review

Posted on August 7, 2010
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I’ve been a fan of gritty TV police dramas for as long as I can remember; Frost, Morse and Rebus to name but three. I have to admit, ashamedly I may add, that until this book landed I had never heard of DCI Banks – after all this is the 20th book in the Banks series!. “Bad Boy” has put paid to all that with this the latest enthralling novel from renowned Yorkshire author Peter Robinson.

The latest news in is that ITV have commissioned a two part pilot series for Peter Robinson’s creation airing in September or October – dates to be confirmed. The ITV pilot will be based on his 2001 book called Aftermath.

Peter Robinson has come a long way since Banks’s inception in 1987 with his debut novel “Gallows View”. From the strength of his latest offering, “Bad Boy”, it’s easy to see why. I have no doubt the DCI Banks franchise will transfer to television effortlessly and with Stephen Tompkinson in the lead role, Left Bank Pictures will be assured of an extended run.

Back to “Bad Boy” – the book begins with DCI Alan Banks on holiday in America retracing the steps of the fictional Sam Spade in San Francisco. Meanwhile on the other side of the pond the team react to an illegal and armed hand gun. Juliet Doyle is a mother in crisis. A long-time friend and an old neighbour of Banks, she has the unenviable dilemma of reporting her daughter to the police. Disappointed to learn that Banks is on holiday, she places her trust in the unknown.

Banks’s daughter Tracy has fallen for the wrong boy. Her flatmate’s boyfriend is good-looking, ambitious, and surrounded by an intoxicating air of mystery. He’s …

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Face of Betrayal (Lis Wiehl) – book review

Posted on August 5, 2010
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Every once in a while a book comes along, unexpectedly, that you just can’t put down despite your best efforts. Life goes out the window as each character magically comes to life and every scene a page turner. Face of Betrayal by Lis Wiehl is that book.

I honestly can’t remember the last time I managed to read my way through an entire novel (320 pages) in one day but the engaging characters and mysterious sub plots had me hooked from the very first chapter. Food yesterday was secondary to a gripping mystery novel of whodunit, betrayal, love and murder.

Lis Wiehl best known for her stint as a Fox News commentator and legal analyst in the United States, teams up with mystery veteran Henry (Buried Diamonds) on a sizzling political thriller.

When 17-year-old Senate page Katie Converse goes missing on her Christmas break near her parents’ white Victorian home in Portland, Ore., law enforcement and media personnel go into overdrive in a search for clues.

Published by Thomas Nelson the book is now available in the US (paper and Kindle versions). The current UK book launch (paperback) is not expected until 6th December 2010.

The novel centres around three friends – Allison Pierce, a federal prosecutor; Cassidy Shaw, a crime reporter; and Nicole Hedges, an FBI special agent – together they are “The Triple Threat Club”.

They discover Katie’s “private” and cryptic blog and despite the best efforts of a 17 year old it doesn’t take Nicole Hedges long to decipher who the young girl was writing about. Senator Fairview is thrust into the limelight with allegations of improper relations surfacing; allegations that threaten to derail his career in the senate.

Was Katie kidnapped, did she run away or was she murdered? It takes a while …

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Ask Bearders Book Review

Posted on August 3, 2010
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Bill Frindall was an integral part of Test Match Special from June 1966 until his ultimate ill-timed dismissal in January of 2009, ironically an Ashes year. To many, Bearders was one of the main reasons to tune into Radio 4’s TMS, he will be sorely missed by hundreds of cricket fans around the world. Buy Now

Ask Bearders is as you would expect a collection of questions put to the great statistician and fast bowler over his career as the BBC’s main cricket statistician and radio pundit he would often be heard to growl at a question posed by cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew on air.

The questions included in this book are sectioned and appear within numerous chapters such as “on the ump”, “stats cricket”, “bowling wizards” and “well fancy that”. This isn’t your usual book, there’s no story or writing style to comment on, simply Bill’s precise and often dry responses to the fans who attempt to trick him with an impossible question.

Although not meant to be a tribute as Agnew suggests in his foreword, “Ask Bearders” is a tribute to the bearded one. Although no longer here to continue his blog, a blog he started in 2001 in response to the thousands of questions he would receive over his radio career, the book serves as his final farewell to those who took the time to question his deep knowledge.

Terry Jones of England asked a question of Bill in which he described it as being one of the more unusual questions he had been asked in his first 50 years, elevating him to agony aunt status!

“My mother was to take me (aged three) to see Bradman’s last innings at Worcester in 1948 but instead went into labour delivering my brother. He was born on 28 April, …

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Lee Child’s the “Killing Floor” (Jack Reacher 1) book review

Posted on August 2, 2010
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In the “Killing Floor”, Lee Child’s introduces us to Jack Reacher the ex military cop and army major who is now a nomad travelling from state to state seeing America at his own pace.

Margrave, a sleepy little town in Georgia hasn’t seen a homicide in 30 years but when Jack Reacher jumps off a bus and walks fourteen miles in the rain things are about to change. Little does he know it but Reacher has walked into a hornet’s nest of corruption, deceit and money laundering. Lee Child’s Website

Reacher is a victim of circumstance. Wrong place, wrong time – Simple. Sitting quietly in the local diner he is arrested and taken to the police station and charged with murder. Needless to say he’s innocent but has a hell of a job proving it.

The police force is corrupt and it doesn’t take Reacher long to figure out things aren’t what they appear to be. He doesn’t know who to trust but he has no choice but to figure out who is involved, if only to clear his name.

As he investigates, secrets leak out and the body count mounts.

The book is faced paced, a true page turner in every sense. With a great blend of horrific violence, conspiracy and intrigue the novel is an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end. Reacher receives news that makes the situation intensely personal. One thing is for sure, the crooked cops and town folk picked on the wrong guy in Reacher.

Forget Arnie; Reacher is the all American Action Hero and with an eye for the ladies, the book offers a softer side to the ex-Major hell-bent on revenge.

The supporting characters are incredibly well balanced and play a huge role in a very successful novel. The book is …

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Bradman And the summer that changed cricket – Book Review

Posted on August 2, 2010
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Bradman And the summer that changed cricket : Christopher Hilton | JR Books

I’ve been fortunate enough to have read and reviewed two previous books by Christopher Hilton (Cricket’s 300 Men and The Birth of the Ashes) and one thing Hilton could not be accused of is lack of research and depth in his books. His latest offering, “Bradman and the summer that changed cricket” pushes the boundaries even further with an impressive, almost statistical, ball by ball account of the matches in the summer of 1930.

The series would change the way England approached a series and in its very next series encounter saw Douglas Jardine command a small army of soldiers to Australia to recapture the Ashes in 1932-3, Bodyline. Buy Now

If you are looking for a comprehensive account of the 1930 tour then this is most certainly the book for you. The trip begins with a build up in Tasmania and Western Australia, the smallest of details recounted in black and white. It was on this tour that Sir Donald discovered he suffered from debilitating seasickness.

Accompanying the match reports and scene setting accounts are newspaper reports of not only the matches but the pomp and ceremony that followed the young cricketer on their long journey beginning in March and ending in October 1930. Bradman only missed four matches in the whole tour, three against weaker sides expected to prove little competition. The book includes scorecards from the matches he missed including Essex, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire and Sussex.

Australia’s tour of England was not expected to be a major success given the lack of experience and make up of the team. With this in mind and the lack of expectations, the departure, certainly in press terms, was rather muted and cautious.

Bradman’s first run outside …

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Lee Child’s “Die Trying” Book Review

Posted on August 2, 2010
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Ex-military policeman Jack Reacher is back in Lee Child’s second instalment “Die Trying”. Following on from his first novel and critically acclaimed “Killing Floor” Child is not only back on form but is better than ever!

In the “Killing Floor”, Jack Reacher stumbles upon a web of corruption, murder and money laundering. Unable to escape due to corruption at the highest level of the local police Reacher is hell-bent on proving his innocence and bringing those guilty to his own unique level of justice.

Similarly in “Die Trying” Reacher is minding his own business when he walks past a small dry cleaners in Chicago and bumps into Holly Johnson, an attractive FBI agent new to the agency. Holly, recovering from a knee injury sustained while playing soccer, stumbles and Reacher is on hand to stop her from falling. At that very moment the pair are hurried into a waiting car, kidnapped at gunpoint and taken far away.

Reacher is once again a victim of circumstance but once he gets to know Holly he commits to the “relationship” and is determined to look after the rookie agent.

Child’s is at his descriptive best, effortlessly filling in Holly’s back-story as their journey unfolds.

We discover the truth about Holly and her family, why she is critical to Borken’s master plan of destruction and why despite kidnapping her he is adamant that no harm comes to her. Beau Borken is the enemy. There’s something different about his character, as a reader you want to side with Reacher (and you do) but I can’t help thinking some level of admiration for the cult leader for his ingenuity and guile. Borken is a clever but ruthless enemy who will stop at nothing to achieve the end game.

Full of twists and …

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Alec Stewart’s Cricket Companion – Book Review

Posted on July 28, 2010
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stewartbI have always been an admirer of Alec Stewart. I never held it against him because he played for England, there was always something about him as a cricketer that caught my imagination. Was it his great work ethos, competitiveness or his cricketing ability? Whatever the answer, they are just some of his traits many people, myself included, admired about the Chelsea loving cricketer. Buy Now

Alec Stewart’s cricket companion is an interesting and eclectic look at cricket and sport in general. The book isn’t structured and Alec, in his introduction, makes no apology for this! The book isn’t an autobiography as such, it’s a chance for Alec to share his thoughts on what’s happening in the cricket world today including the way twenty/20 has captured the public’s imagination. It also includes numerous stats, trivia and a generous helping of history through the ages.

Statistics feature heavily throughout and include amongst other the World Cup, the Ashes, Twenty/20 and a ground by ground breakdown (England & Wales). We learn that Sheffield hosted a Test match at Brammall Lane in 1902. The ground’s only Test match ended in a 143 run victory for Australia) nothing new there then). It is better known today as home of Sheffield United FC.

For me, my greatest memory of Alec came during the 1993/4 season when England toured the Caribbean. Against all the odds he pummelled the West Indian bowling in Barbados and scored back to back centuries with a great deal of panache and determination.

Stewart’s Test debut was at Sabina Park, a game he remembers with pride after helping England (with 13 runs!) secure an unlikely victory. He was fortunate to be out in the middle when Wayne Larkins struck the winning runs; it allowed him to collect a stump as a treasured …

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Harold Larwood biography – review

Posted on July 28, 2010
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Duncan Hamilton, who is perhaps better known for his award winning book on Brian Clough “20 years with Brian Clough” has once again put pen to paper with his comprehensive biography on England great Harold Larwood. Apart from a collaboration in 1965 between Harold and Kevin Perkins there has been no other biography fully endorsed by the Larwood family and in all likelihood there never will be another. To be honest, there is no longer any need, Hamilton has it covered.

The book is as comprehensive as you could ever wish to read on the former Nottinghamshire pit boy, a book that has obviously been written with a great deal of thought, care and admiration for the once lambasted England hero who played no small part in quashing Sir Donald Bradman’s effect in the notorious Bodyline series of 1932-33.

Harold was not only fast but incredibly accurate. Countless batsmen testify to this fact but it is left to Somerset’s  tail-ender Bill Andrews to succinctly tell it how it was “he was bloody frighteningly fast”.

Andrews, like many other batsmen to face the fast bowler, was concerned for his health when faced with the prospect of facing the demon bowler.  Following a previous encounter against Larwood, Andrews was so worked up he had developed stomach pains so severe that he was caught on the toilet when he was called in to bat!

Bill called out “who’s out?” to which the reply came back “Frank Lee. They’re bringing him back on a stretcher”. Andrews said “I was really in a state, and it took some time to adjust my clothing. As I passed the umpire I said hopefully – I must have broken the two minute rule”.

With testimonies like that, the book succeeds. The descriptive powers and …

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No Mercy by John Gilstrap – ebook review

Posted on July 13, 2010
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No names. No feds. No trace evidence. That’s how Jonathan Grave operates. As a freelance specialist in covert rescues, he has to work outside the law to get things done—especially in highly sensitive hostage situations. But when an Indiana college student is abducted, and Jonathan’s meticulous plan explodes into a deadly shooting spree, the local authorities are out for blood—and they’re not alone. Someone wants to control a devastating secret… someone rich and powerful… someone willing to capture, torture, and kill anyone to get it. Even the people he loves most…

I have to admit I’d never heard of John Gilstrap before picking up this book. When I say “picking up” I do actually mean downloaded from Amazon for Kindle via the iPad! The wonderful gadget, albeit expensive gadget has re”Kindled” my appetite for ebooks and No Mercy is my first via the Kindle application. No stranger to the wonderful and elegant ibooks application I came across “No Mercy” as a free download and thought why not! Available in Paperback

Gilstrap is a New York Times bestselling author known for thriller’s including Nathan’s Run, Scott Free and Six Minutes to Freedom which in itself gave him the idea for the Jonathan Grave series. I wasn’t sure what to expect, you never are when you pick up a book from a new author. I’m always excited when I pick up a new book from an unknown author (by me, not the New York Times I add!). You never know what to expect. Will the author’s writing style suit your personal tastes? Is the hero or heroine believable? How will the book flow?

No Mercy (June 2009) is a wonderful read. The characters are believable, true and colourful. Jonathan Grave, known affectionately to his friends as Digger is a …

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Gideon Haigh’s Inside Out – book review

Posted on April 8, 2009
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Not only is Gideon a great Aussie bloke but he is a highly talented and skilled writer whose limits know no bounds! Well, that’s not entirely true. If he could carry off his literary skills onto the cricket field he would surely be playing alongside Punter, Pup and Mitch but they don’t and he doesn’t! This is probably a good thing!

Inside Out is his latest offering; the usual sharp wit is there as is the effortless writing that we have come to know and love in recent times. Haigh is up there with Cardus and is without doubt “the don” of our time as far as author’s go. Enough flattery, he gets enough! The articles are taken from a variety of sources that include “The Australian”, Cricinfo and Wisden Cricketer.

The book takes a detailed look at the administration, Bodyline’s 75th anniversary and a whole host of articles on Sir Donald Bradman to name but a few. In the book Gideon claims the best book written on Bradman is by Irving Rosenwater “The book is as superior to all other Bradman biographies as Bradman’s average is to those other batsmen”.

Putting Bradman to one side, Gideon devotes an entire section to commenting on various articles and books that have been published over time including Jack Fingleton’s “Cricket Crisis”. Fingleton’s book, published in 1946, is a retaliatory publication aimed at the bow of Sir Pelham Warner’s 1942 offering “Cricket between the two wars”. Both men give their account of that infamous dressing room incident that centred around the Australian captain Bill Woodfull and Sir Pelham Warner. Of the Australian captain, Fingleton with one hand commended his skipper as a fine fellow and with the other claimed “but Bodyline was a grim and ruthless battle into which a leader of …

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