Dark Fragments, by Rob Sinclair

This is a thriller about a seemingly normal man who seems to fall into a spiral of bad choices.

Ben is married to Gemma with two children, Harry and Chloe. Harry is Ben's son with his first wife, Alice, who was brutally murdered seven years earlier, potentially by a serial killer.  As the story progresses, it flashes between a future point where Ben is being interviewed by a counsellor / psychiatrist, and the present time, where he's in too deep - and getting ever deeper -  with a local gangster.

The trouble spirals quickly for Ben and he descends further and further into a constant state of rage. I felt like the reasons for this could have been fleshed out a bit more, as he seemed to be living a perfectly nice, normal life at the start, then by a few chapters in he was in debt to the local gangster to the tune of £100,000 and self destructing his own life and relationships.

I do feel like some aspects of the book move unrealistically fast - his relationship with Cara being a prime example of this.  There's a point where he states that he couldn't believe that she could cut him out of her life so quickly, but I felt like they'd only been on about four dates!  He does also seem to spiral quite quickly once the trouble all starts for him - he makes a lot of bad decisions, but it karma does bite back pretty quickly.

However, this is a fast paced story - I read it in two sittings. I enjoyed the story as a whole once I'd finished it and could think back over the whole story. I definitely think that the whole book is greater than the sum of its parts. I'm glad I stuck with it, there are some intriguing characters and I feel like there is an open door to explore those characters further. I hope this is the case - I'd definitely be interested to see where the characters go!

Nows your chance to grab it on sale for the Kindle - it's currently 99p!!!  Dark Fragments

Disclosure - I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. 

Hunt for the Enemy, by Rob Sinclair

This is the first book I've read by Rob Sinclair, and I realised shortly after I started that it's actually the third book of a trilogy.  I didn't find it too hard to follow what was going on, and the flashbacks weren't too heavy-handed, but the series has been designed to tie in closely together, rather than each book being more standalone.  An example of a series with more standalone books would be the Rebus books by Ian Rankin - the books follow a loose series order, but it doesn't have a massive impact if you read the books out of order, whereas i feel that this trilogy is a lot more closely knit.  To be fair, it didn't really put me off, but I tend to try and read series in order and I feel that this series would be best served by reading in order. 

Carl Logan is a security operative for a mysterious government firm, the Joint Intelligence Agency (JIA), and has been for twenty years.  However, the agency has turned on him and he's been framed for murder, forcing him to go on the run and delve deep into his past in order to discover the truth.  

This book is fast paced and a good page turner.  I read that the author was inspired to start the series by wanting to write a book that would keep his wife awake all night to keep reading, and I feel that this is a decent attempt at the genre.  I enjoyed the story and the characters, especially enjoying the flashbacks to when Logan was being trained in the Scottish Highlands, as it was interesting to get an insight into a stereotypical, James Bond-esqe character and their motivations, although I feel that this may have been explored in more depth in the earlier two books. 

Overall,  I enjoyed the book, but if i was going to recommend this to other readers, I'd definitely advice them to start at the beginning of the series.  It would be a good beach read I think, as it rattles along at a good pace with plenty of twists, turns, double crosses and bluffs.  An enjoyable read. 

Disclosure - I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. 

Prayer for the Dead, by James Oswald

I've read several of the previous books from this series before, so I was pleased to get a copy of the newest in the series for review.  The main character is Inspector Tony McLean, a young-for-his-position police officer who often finds his personal and professional life mixing a little too often for his own comfort. 

The new addition to the series picks up after the last one, involving a largely familiar cast of characters, who will be well known to previous readers.  The primary mystery revolves around a missing journalist, who is soon found dead - having been ritualistically murdered - in a tourist attraction.   The story follows many twists and turns, involving the ex-wife of the murdered man, as well as his colleagues and the subjects of his newest investigation... a shadowy collection of potential cultists and conspiracy theorists.  What i've enjoyed about this series are the themes that it deals with - identity, how your past can impact on your future - and to which extent, family, loss, isolation, faith.  The stories introduce a very very subtle hint of supernatural activity, but this is in no way the main focus of any of the stories - I found it to be more of a counterpoint against which to view the beliefs of some of the characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and found the mystery engaging and entertaining.  The tale rolls along at a good pace, the characters are well portrayed and multi layered.  This isn't your usual maverick cop, plays-by-his-own-rules trope that is so often portrayed in this genre.  Inspector McLean is flawed, and doesn't get it right all the time.  He's intelligent, but to a point that often isolates him from the rest of his colleagues.  Even if / when he achieves something from his work, he's not necessarily wholly accepted by his colleagues, many of whom distrust him and his motives. 

I'm reluctant to go too in-depth into the story, considering the potential for spoilers, but I definitely recommend this as a strong example of the crime / detective genre.  It does stand alone, although it does refer back to previous novels in the series, however, it is not essential to have read the previous books in order to enjoy this one.  Although - why not?  If this type of story is your bag, then you'll enjoy the whole series.   Personally, I prefer reading entire series' in order, although this can sometimes result in not working my way up to the most recent installment for quite a while!  But if a series is written well, then I find that it adds a lot of depth to the story to have read all the preceding parts.  Although there are some authors who are worse than others at framing a new story so that it ties in enough with the rest of the series without just retelling all of the previous stories - its a fine art!  I feel that this is a good example of a story that calls back to previous stories just enough, while keeping its current story ticking along. 

Comments are welcome - what do you like about series' of books?  Do you have to read them in order or can you dip and out?


Disclosure - I received this book for review from Netgalley.

After Birth, by Elisa Albert

I'm not a mother yet, but my sister and two of my best friends have fairly recently become mothers, and its been enlightening to hear what childbirth and motherhood are like from people who are close enough to give all the untarnished, gory details, instead of just saying 'Oh it's great, and the pain is absolutely nothing when you hold the baby in your arms!'  Don't get me wrong, they love their children very much and wouldn't change what they have for the world, but motherhood is not the easy breezy cakewalk that TV adverts and hippy earth mothers would have you believe. 

This is why I was intrigued by the synopsis of After Birth, by Elisa Albert.  Ari is a young woman who gave birth to her baby boy a year before the book takes place.  Although a year has passed, she still feels out of place and disconnected to everyone she knows, including her husband.  Finally Mina moves to town, who's a bit older, a bit different from the norm and pregnant, and she slowly becomes a friend to Ari, which helps her start to become more comfortable in her role as a mother. 

Although a fairly short book, this is not an easy read.  Some of the words that came to mind while I was reading were searing, visceral and stark.  However, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, as I think that the themes addressed in the book are vitally important.  Ari clearly loves her child, but also finds him at times to be a burden, irritating and a thief of her time (she's attempting to complete a PhD in Women's Studies while raising her son).  There's a great scene where Ari describes attending mother/baby groups and finding that she just doesn't fit in with the mothers there.  Another big theme in the book relates to identity, as Ari feels that she has lost her own identity and personality in being a mum to Walker and a wife to Paul.

Elisa Albert unleashes on a culture that turns its new mothers into exiles, and expects them to act like natives 

I personally feel that there is a lot of pressure on new mums to 'fit in', and I don't believe that it is ever really made socially acceptable for a new mum (or an any mum) to put her hands up and admit that she's struggling or feeling a bit down, which is terrible! Part of the blurb states that Elisa Albert unleashes on a culture that turns its new mothers into exiles, and expects them to act like natives, which I think is very apt. I believe that this book would resonate with a lot of parents, and would heartily recommend to them, even if just so that they would know that its OK to sometimes feel overwhelmed. Parenthood is hard, and everyone has an opinion, down to strangers on the bus.

It sounds strange for me to say that this book rang very true to me, considering that I haven't had any children, but in a way, it's nice to know that motherhood isn't sunshine and rainbows for everyone. I really enjoyed this, and it stayed with me for a long time after I finished reading it. The writing is sharp and clever, and I believe i'll be thinking about it for a long time in the future.

Disclosure - I received this book for review from Netgalley.

What I'm Reading Now...

Say You Will, by Kate Perry.  This was a quick, 'chick-lit' read, as I wanted something quick and easy to read.  This is the start of a series (the Summerhill series) about a wealthy, upper class family of six sisters, all named after Shakespeare heroines.  At the start of the book, they are attending the funeral of their father, who by all accounts is a terrible person, who has died in a car crash with his mistress.  However, they can't locate his will, and its urgent that they find it in order to ensure that they don't lose all their property and money.  Throw in a half sister that no one knew about, and a love interest and the story romps along from there.  It was an engaging read, and the rest of the series follows each of the sisters in turn.  It will probably be a decent series, but I wasn't really in a rush to pick up the next one. 

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell.  This is the first David Mitchell book i've ever read, although I have seen the film of Cloud Atlas.  I did try and read Cloud Atlas several years ago, but just couldn't get into it.  I feel that this is a good place to start with David Mitchell, as the story starts off with a fairly basic premise - Holly Sykes has a massive fight with her mother, and runs away.  Her younger brother ends up going missing on the same day.  However when Holly was running away, she ends up having an unusual encounter with a stranger, which will impact on the rest of her life.  I don't want to say any more about the rest of the plot, but I really enjoyed this book, despite it veering into sci fi towards the end.  The books is structured into 6 sections, which follow Holly and various characters through her life.  It was really interesting and i'd definitely recommend it - i'll definitely be making more of an effort to read more by David Mitchell. 

The House of Fiction, by Susan Swingler.  This is a memoir of Susan Swingler, whose father Leonard was married to a famous Australian author, Elizabeth Jolley.  It's an interesting story, but quite unusual.  Susan tells the story of how her parents, Leonard and Joyce were friends with a woman called Monica (who later changed her name to Elizabeth and apparently changed her name several times through her life).  However, Leonard and Monica were having an affair unknown to Joyce, which resulted in both Joyce and Monica having children within weeks of each other.  Leonard leaves to go to Scotland for a job, but it later turns out that he has moved to Scotland with Monica, then they move from there to Australia, where they stay for the rest of their lives.  The odd part of the story is that Leonard asks Joyce not to contact his family, and he then carries on communicating with his family as though he is still with Joyce.  This is then all found out when Susan becomes an adult, and the book deals with how Susan unravelled the tangled web of lies that she discovers and how it impacts on the rest of her life.  Its an interesting story, but incredibly odd and unsettling. 

Something Wcked This Way Comes,  by Ray Bradbury.  I choose to read this in the week running up to Halloween, as I wanted to read a good horror classic, and it didn't disappoint.  The language used in this story was absolutely amazing, and it was extremely creepy in parts.  It tells the story of two boys, Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade, who are intrigued to learn that a circus is coming to town, but the circus is not what it seems, and the fate of the towns survival lies in the boys hands..  I'd definitely recommend this, its fairly short and a great read.

What I'm Reading Now...

Hi all, another weekly update about what I've been reading this week...

It Would Be Wrong To Steal My Sister's Boyfriend (Wouldn't It?), by Sophie Ranald.   I picked this up as part of my Kindle Unlimited subscription, as I wanted something light and easy to read. I really enjoyed this, I found it to be a cut above the usual run of the mill chick lit - I could mostly tell how the characters were going to end up, but it was done in a clever enough way that I didn't find the book boring or draggy,  like this genre can often be.  I think it was a good idea for a book, as it was a bit of a different spin on a genre than can be a bit formulaic!  I'd previously read another book by this author, called A Groom With A View, and I had also really enjoyed it - I'd definitely read more by Sophie Ranald! 

What You Wish For, by Mark Edwards. I've previously read two of Mark Edwards books,  Because She Loves Me and The Magpies, and really enjoyed them, finding them to be good psychological thrillers. This one however,  just wasn't up my street. The story is about a photographer called Richard who falls in love with a woman called Marie... who believes in aliens.  Four months into their relationship,  Marie suddenly disappears, and the rest of the story is concerned with Richard searching for Marie through the underworld of alien and UFO believers. I just don't have a lot of time for alien conspiracies, but so much of the story was focused on it! I read it to the end,  but it was only 200 pages so it wasn't too much of a time investment.  In the authors comments at the end of the book, he says that he starting writing the book approximately 15 years earlier, and ended up scrapping it all and rewriting it, just keeping some characters intact.  I think it shows to be honest - there's not as much finesse, and to be honest, I just didn't find it as clever or as engaging as his other books.

Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld.  I wanted to try something by this author, before I read her version of Pride and Prejudice, which she is writing as part of the Austen Project.  I read Sisterland and really enjoyed it, so I bought a couple of others to try and this is the first one. Lee is a 14 year old girl attending a prestigious school and struggling to fit in. She's quite and shy, and finding that she doesn't really fit in with the elite. I'm only about 20% into the story, but I'm really enjoying it so far, im interested to see how it goes!

What I'm Reading Now....

Hi all!

I thought I'd just post a quick update to let you know what I'm currently reading - in depth reviews to follow!

The Innocents, by Francesca Segal. I'm reading this for my book group, and really enjoying it! It was chosen by one of the other members,  and is about Jewish families in North West London.  Adam has been with Rachel for 13 years, and at the beginning of the story they've just gotten engaged.  However, Rachel's glamorous cousin Ellie appears on the scene, will she lead Adam into temptation or will he stay in his safe little cocoon of a life?

The Girl With All The Gifts, by M R Carey. This was a recommendation from a friend. The story focuses on Melanie, who lives in a locked down facility that's staffed by the army and scientists. She's kept locked up at all times and isn't told anything about the current world.  This is a good take on a common theme, but in all honesty, I've had to force myself to pick it up a few times, im finding the story to drag a bit in places and most of the characters are fairly unlikeable. I'm about 80% of the way though now so will definitely see it through to the end.

Red Or Dead, by David Peace. I've only read one other David Peace novel previously,  1974, which was good, but fairly harrowing, so I've still to return to the rest of that series. Red or Dead started being talked about on various media outlets quite a while ago. It could be seen as a companion book to The Damned United - the cover photo is the the same one on both books - and both are a type of fictional nonfiction.  A lot of the information is correct, but there's a lot of information which simply couldn't be known by the author. A lot of the buzz around this book regarded the writing style, which is extremely repetitive.  I thought I would find this irritating, but after the first page or two, it becomes extremely hypnotic. I am enjoying this book,  but I do find its taking me quite a while to read. I'd recommend it though, even to non football fans - it's an interesting read!