Invent-10n by Rod Rees - a review

The year is 2030 and there are cameras everywhere. It is a bleak Britain with everyone (well, almost everyone ) being observed and controlled by the Government. There is very little oil, gas, heating, lighting etc - all in all, a pretty miserable place.

The Government is wanting to send all the "Gees" (Russian refugees) back to where they came from but things change when Ivan Nitko ( one of the 'gees') is found to have a new power source (the invent-10n of the title). Sebastian Davenport, a low level Government worker is sent to Scarborough to meet Nitko and try and get the details of Invent-10n but they haven't counted on Nitko's new PR person, Jennifer Moreau, who is as anti-government as there is.

The story is told from the point of view of both Sebastian and Jennifer (but as her alter-ego Jenni Fur). Their parts of the book are written in the style of blog posts or diary entries and along with these there are also newsletters, magazine/newspaper type articles that help to explain what is happening in the world. These sections also give clarity to the terms used to describe the people and places of 2030 Britain.

The two main characters are very different but also similar in ways. Sebastian works for the Government while Jenni Fur hates them and everything they stand for but maybe Views will change along the way (you don't really think I'm going to tell you do you?).

For me the strongpoint of this book is Rod Rees' gift for characterisation. While Sebastian comes across as a bit meek and mild Jenni Fur is totally in your face.  She talks in a hep style of years ago and throws in other bits of slang and at first I thought this could be a bit of a bind but it is so well written that it feels natural and within a few pages you barely notice that it's slang.

For me Jenni Fur is one of the best female leads out there today.

One other thing to think about while you are reading this book - there are cameras everywhere, watching your every move. You are constantly being told what you can or can't say and do......maybe Rod Rees' vision of 2030 isn't all that far away.

A cracking and well presented book - 5 stars

The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams (a review)

Bobby Dollar is an Angel Advocate, whose job on earth is to plead the case for the souls of the recently departed. At point of death each person is judged, with an advocate (from Heaven) and a prosecutor (from Hell) trying to "win" the soul - good people go to Heaven, bad people to Hell and those in the grey area spend a time in Purgatory before moving on.

Things start to go wrong for Bobby when he turns up to plead for a soul and the soul in question has disappeared - and this is only the first! Added to this, a short while after, the Prosecutor,  Grasswax is found murdered (most gruesomly ) at the scene of the missing soul and Bobby starts to look around and solve the mystery. There is also the small problem of a missing item, belonging to one of Hell's big hitters, which everyone seems to think Bobby has (apart from Bobby) and everyone wants to get there hands on.

The world of Bobby Dollar (aka The Angel Doloriel) is not what you might be expecting in a tale of the eternal battle between Heaven and Hell. It is a gritty, Chandleresque version of our world. Our hero himself also, is not what you would expect from a member of the Heavenly Host, a very rough round the edges guy with a habit of getting into trouble. The story starts at a run and picks up more speed as it goes along with hardly a chance to draw breath. Unsure who to trust, constantly on the run, pursued by demons and monsters, and falling for The Countess of The Cold Hands (yeah, that's right an Angel in love with a member of "the other side") - life with Bobby is far, far from dull, with a full supporting cast of the weird and wonderful.

This is possibly Tad Williams' best work since Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, which will appeal to fans of The Dresden Files and Mike Carey's Felix Castor books. I'm certainly looking forward to more in this series.

King's Artesan by Cas Peace - A review

This, book 3 in the first of the 3 trilogies, picks up from exactly where the second ended. Major Sullyan (Sully)has won her battle but is suffering severe injuries as a consequence. With help she manages to remove the majority of the poison on her body but there is still a small portion within her she can't reach and if it is left there it will kill her.

The answer turns out to be that to cure her completely she needs the staff, the 'maguffin' from the first book, which is still in Taran's cellar back in their home realm but Sully, due to the poison in her system is unable to cross between realms so it is up to her friends to retrieve the staff before the enemy get to it.

This is a very good end to a quite remarkable story and the author has done a very good job of tying up the loose ends here while setting things in motion for the next series in the trilogy. The whole world (or series of world's if you want to think of it like that)is well realized and the lead characters are the kind of people you want to spend time with. Add to that a quite clever magic system and you're onto a winner.

As a lead character Sully is probably one of the best there is at this moment in time. She is a leader who cares for, and about, those under her command and her friends but is prepared to do what
 is needed to get the job done.

So, the next up will be a new trilogy and hopefully it won't be too far away as I can't wait to travel in Cas Peace's realms again.

A phenomenal effort - 5 out of 5 stars

The Broken Shore by Catriona King - a review

The fifth book to feature Superintendent Marc Craig and his squad is more of what I expected - an intriguing murder to keep you guessing (even when you think you have the answer you'll find you are doubting yourself), a good feel for Belfast and the surrounding area, and the company of characters that feel like old friends.

The Crime this time involves the murder of a young woman where method and location have startling similarities to a murder 30 years ago, at the height of The Troubles. There is also a side Story that is a lot closer to home for one of the characters.

There is reference to events from earlier in the series and appearances from at least one character from a previous story so it would be of benefit (although not essential) to read the other books first.

As with the previous books in the series the storytelling is top notch, making you want more when the book is over. There is insight into the lives of the squad members, sometimes little things, sometimes momentous, but even the little things feel like they matter.

I am looking forward to the next book and seeing where things go for Marc Craig and his team. One thing is certain - Catriona King is a writer who deserves to be up there with the best of the crime writers -I see a bright future ahead for her

Nine Lives by Terry Tyler - a review

I must say that until recently I haven't been a massive fan of short stories but here is another collection that has helped to change my mind.
I have been a fan of Terry Tyler's long fiction so trying the "short stuff" didn't take too much thinking about.
What we have here are nine excellent slices of human life, each slightly different but all well told. The author, as she usually does, gets you right under the skin of her characters. The stories, as you would expect, are not over long but that doesn't lessen the enjoyment factor.
A good solid collection suited to both male and female readers. Hopefully there will be more like this in the future.

Painter of the Heavens by Bart Stewart (a review)

I was given a copy of this book by the author in exchange for a true and fair review.

This is a story of two parts, the first being the meeting, relationship etc of the two main characters, Penny and Lyle, the second part being the aftermath of their actions. When they meet it seems in his bookshop. She falls for him straight away and they have several discreet dates but he tells her he is on the verge of "something big" so she must keep their relationship secret and tell no-one.

After several dates he lets her in on his secret - he, along with an acquaintance, has forged a letter from William Shakespeare and now he knows he can trust her he needs her help to sell it at auction, after which they will spend the future together living a much better life from the profits.

As you would expect from this kind of story things go wrong just as they are about to make good their escape to pastures new and the story turns into a hell for leather chase and that is where the story real picks up pace. The first 3/4's of the book felt like it could have been a strand for a season of Desperate Housewives and went at a much steadier pace.

The main problem for me was the lead characters - I just didn't connect with them overly. Lyle, as he needed to be, was a somewhat shady guy but Penny was just a little too wet. The way he treat her at times I would have expected her to leave him but she just kept going back to him.

The final resolution of events worked out well though. That seemed more like the Penny I would have expected her to be.

All in all, an enjoyable enough book that would make good holiday reading (and as for the Desperate Housewives comment - that was meant as a compliment, I was actually  a fan of the show)

Shot Through The Heart by Ed James (review)

Ed James will be better known to his readers for the (quite excellent) Cullen books, a series of detective stories set in and around Edinburgh.

This latest from him moves him firmly into supernatural/ Hammer House of Horror territory - and, boy, has he done it well.

The story revolves around Mark Campbell who is writing a book on 'The Clearences' - not a good time in Scotlands history. Having a wife and new baby Mark uses an assistant to do some of his research but gets a call to say she is missing.

Mark goes up to the village of Ruthven to search for her but (as you may expect) all is not as it seems. Some of the villagers will talk to him, some won't, but there are certainly 'things afoot' in the Highlands of Scotland.

I do not want to give too much away so all I will say is, the book is very atmospheric and ramps up a lot of the tension by suggestion rather than blood and guts on every page. We see a man slowly seeming to fall slowly apart as he tries to come to terms with what is happening both to him and around him.

As I mentioned earlier, very much in the Hammer vein but also rather reminiscent of mid career James Herbert (when I felt he did his best work)

4 and 1/2 stars