Into The Dark by Karen Rose

  Welcome to yesterday's stop on the blog tour for Karen Rose's latest thriller (sorry, my bad, I got the days muddled up).
This was a book of two halves for me. It starts off as a murder mystery coupled with a will they/won't they romance angle. The main story concerns two young boys that see their step father murdered (don't worry, he deserved it) and go on the run. They end up with Dani (a doctor) and Diesel (a hacker/journalist). He loves her, she him but keeps him at arms length for reasons that become obvious soon enough. For the most part this early part of the book gripped me. The plight of the brothers was edge of the seat stuff and the way the older looked after the younger kinda makes you want to crawl into the book and look after both.

As for the romance angle, well, that's where I struggled. The first part worked really well with the tension and the 'need' but when they (SPOILER ALERT!!!) finally get together it just seems to be all about his muscles, his tattoos, his bald head and I did find myself losing interest for a while.

Thankfully though the murder mystery angle saved it with a very interesting bad guy. The main reason being that when it started out he didn't kill anyone who didn't deserve it though that did change later on.

All being said, I enjoyed the story but feel it may appeal more to female readers.

Thanks as always to Anne Cater for inviting me on to this tour and please, if you get chance, check out the posts from the other bloggers on the tour

Eye of the Observer by David Tallerman

 And so, with a happy heart I return to the world of Tallerman's Black River Academy. As you may know by now The Academy is the place would be Dungeoneers and Questers go to learn their craft (well, let's be fair, D+D can be a very risky pursuit so it's good to get your necessary skills learnt and honed beforehand rather than just blundering in with a rusty poker that might, just might, one day turn into Excalibur)

Anyhoo, EotO sees our heroes from the previous books, Durren, Tia, Arein and Hule up to their necks in adventure and peril as they embark on their level 3 journey. This time round magic has gone awry - in a bad way. And it might just be our heroes own fault.

As with the previous books in the series this is pure D+D style fun that feels just like someone has taken a table-top gaming session and turned it into a book (and a blooming good one at that). With different classes, races, monsters, quests and all the peril a group of aspiring Dungeoneers can handle this is Tallerman doing what he does best - telling wondrous tales (Maybe he should be known as Tallerman the Teller an 🤣)

Highly recommended 6/5*

Angel Mage by Garth Nix

Welcome to the blog tour for Garth Nix's first adult novel. Following on from his previous young adult series this story starts over a century after the end of the last series.

Liliath, our villain, has woken from her magical sleep and, looking just as she did when she crept into the sarcophagus that was her resting place for all that time is now looking to with Palleniel, her archangel lover.

As things have moved on she will need the help of 4 strangers, all unknown to each other but also, in a way, feeling a kindred spirit when they meet. They may not know they are being manipulated but they know something is happening and they are part of it. With Angelic magic, action reminiscent of The Three Musketeers and a magic system that feels very religion based this large tome is a very fast moving tale and certainly one that will appeal to Nix's fans and, I think will win him an army of new ones.

4/5 *

Thanks to Stevie Finegan at Gollancz for the invite onto this tour and supplying the review copy. Please, if you get the chance, have a read of the posts by the other bloggers on the tour

Beyond Kidding by Lynda Clark

Rob's life is in a bit of a rut. Working in his friend's 'adult entertainment' shop, the marvelously named 'Empornium', drinking and takeaways is all there is. After a falling out he applies for a job at  Credit Co, embellishing his life to date in the hopes of making a better impression.

Part of that embellishment is inventing a son he doesn't have, which is all well and good until people want to meet him. Thinking on his feet (not his best idea!) Rob tells his colleagues his son, Brodie, has been kidnapped. As folk rally round to help him in his 'hour of need' Rob digs himself ever deeper until a situation that was already drifting out of control really goes off the rails. Rob gets a call from the police saying they've found his son... Everybody is happy now apart from Rob

Who is the little boy fitting the exact (made up) description of Brodie? How can people remember a boy who never existed? Is Rob going insane? 

This is a good, weird story, quite humorous in places and quite 'laddish' in it's characterisation. And although the ending was kinda what I expected it still wrapped up well.

3.5/5 stars 

Doing Time by Jodi Taylor

 Welcome to the final day of the Blogtour for Doing Time, the first in a new series by Jodi Taylor.

Set in the same world as the author's other series (The rather wonderful St Mary's books) this is, in a way, more of the same but it's so much more than that too. The Time Police, for this is their story, are responsible for keeping the time lines straight as, now that time travel is 'available' to all trouble is never far away. Much like the Star Trek Redshirts new recruits are easily lost in action so the need for replacements is constant.

Enter our 'heroes' Jane, Luke and Matthew, three totally different characters whose very differences mean they will never get on so, of course, they are put together and forced to do so.

Jane is very timid but wants to be more, Matthew is the geek kid whose parents are part of St Mary's (The Time Police's 'rivals') and Luke is a bit of a playboy type whose father has enrolled him to teach him a lesson but who is determined to get through his probation and leave with as little effort put in as usual. When one of the 3 is accused of a crime they may or may not have committed only by coming together can our bunch of misfits find the answers they need. Yup, they'll never get on but events don't give them much choice.

If you've read the St Mary's books you'll have an idea of what you are getting - time travel, historical settings, humour and great characters. If you haven't I truly recommend you start at the beginning as this is really entertaining stuff.

How much did I enjoy it though? Well, let's just say I had this with me on holiday and got through it in 2 days. Yeah, I guess you could say I enjoyed it.

Thanks as always to Anne Cater for inviting me onto this tour and please, if you get a chance check out the other bloggers posts.

Effin Birds

Welcome to Day 2 of the Blogtour for Effin' Birds by Aaron Reynolds.

Have you ever strolled down a country lane hearing nothing but the sweet song of the birds? If so you probably think they are twittering away about the joys of life, a warm nest and the juicy worm they had for breakfast. This is the book to show you how wrong you may be

Billed as A Field Guide to Identification this rather lovely book is a hearty chuckle on every page. What the author has done, with gorgeous illustrations to boot, is give us his take on what the birds are really saying. Such things as

"Can this shit be someone else's problem"

"It must be dickhead season"

"Listen to my opinions"

Added to this are descriptions and where to find such joys as

The Abstruse Heron

The Snub Gull

The Truculent Hawk

So, yes, this is very much a tongue in cheek (tongue in Bill?) look at nature's minstrels but it's really good fun, beautifully illustrated and just the thing to brighten the day.

You'll never listen to birdsong in quite the same way again

Thanks, as always to Anne Cater for inviting me onto this tour, Unbound for providing the review copy and please have a look at the blog posts by the other bloggers on this tour

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons

This could have been a confusing read. The story, as it begins, is framed as a conversation between jailer and prisoner and both tell their part, in alternating chapters and in separate timelines. Our hero, Khirin, tells the tale of how he got to where he is now. Talon, his jailer tells what is basically Khirin, the earlier years.

And then it all comes together in an ending that just blows everything else out of the water.

The Ruin of Kings has everything you need and want from a fantasy classic - prophecy, artefacts, Gods and Demons etc etc plus a healthy dollop of politics (though not heavy and boring) and world building that is up there with the best of the best. Oh, and a humongous dragon, can't forget the dragon.

It takes a few chapters to get into the rhythm of the different timelines but the end result is well worth it.

Another name to add to the list of awesome ladies who are taking fantasy fiction by storm. Thankfully I have book 2, The Name Of All Things with me now so expect that review soon