Tag: book

Bookish Coasters: a new place to rest your drink

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OutofPrintClothing.com coasters

OutofPrintClothing.com coasters

I spotted these bookish coasters over on the fabulous Out of Print Clothing website.

They come in a set of 8, each with a different classic book jacket design including Lolita, Catch-22, and The Hound of the Baskervilles. What’s more, they can be stored in their very own canvass-wrapped ‘book case’.

Perfect for book fans of all ages!

And, as if that’s not great enough, for every sale of the coaster set, Out of Print Clothing donate a book to a community in need.

To get yours, pop over to http://shop.outofprintclothing.com/Literary_coaster_set_p/z-coast-1001.htm

Classic Favorite: State of Fear by Michael Crichton

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cover image

cover image

State of Fear by Michael Crichton has to be one of my favorite books.

It’s one of those books that, if I want the guarantee of a great read, I’ll pull down from my book shelves and re-read.

Filled with Crichton’s trademark blend of science and action, its subject is global warming and, more specifically, how it can be used as a weapon. Fast-paced, with intrigue, great characters and a plot that twists and turns across the globe, I’ll fly through the 675 pages in just a few hours.

I’m a real Crichton fan, but this one is definitely my favorite.

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Review: BLEED LIKE ME by Cath Staincliffe

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cover image

cover image

What the blurb says: “The Journey’s Inn, Lark’s Estate, Manchester. Three bodies have been found, stabbed to death in their beds. A man – apparently the father and husband of two of the victims – has fled. The police are in a race against time to find him – especially when they discover his two young sons are also missing …

Manchester Metropolitan police station. Having survived a near-fatal attack, DC Janet Scott is quietly falling apart. And her best friend and colleague DC Rachel Bailey is reeling from a love affair gone bad. DCI Gill Murray is trying to keep the team on track, but her own family problems are threatening to tip her over the edge.

Finding the desperate man is their top priority. But none of them knows where he is going or what he intends to do next. Or what will they have to do to stop him …”

BLEED LIKE ME is based on the characters from the hit ITV series SCOTT & BAILEY.

It’s a police procedural, but as well as a race-against-time premise to find the missing children and their father, it delves deeper into the stormy personal lives of the three female protagonists.

And their lives are certainly complex. Covering challenges that many will relate to – from juggling work and home life, bringing up teenagers, and the illness of a parent – to the more extreme – recovering from an attempt on your life – the three women are up against it from the outset. Artfully written, this exploration of the characters lives doesn’t slow the pace, instead it adds layers of tension onto an already tense situation.

The setting is highly atmospheric, with Manchester and the surrounding area painted with a gritty realism. From getting the call, the three women work tirelessly, often a great personal cost, to try to find the killer and his two young children before it’s too late. The story twists and turns towards a nail-biting conclusion, defying you to put the book down until you’ve read the very last page.

With a great pace, deeply drawn characters, and high action, I think BLEED LIKE ME will appeal to fans of the series and those new to Scott & Bailey.

Highly Recommended.

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On Pre-Order: DOWNFALL by Jeff Abbott

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Jeff Abbott at the 2007 Texas Book Festival, A...

Jeff Abbott at the 2007 Texas Book Festival, Austin, Texas, United States. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Okay, so hands-up, I’m a huge Jeff Abbott fan.

I love both his standalone thrillers like FEAR, TRUST ME, and RUN along with his Whit Mosley series and now his newest series featuring Sam Capra.

The first two novels in the Sam Capra series – ADRENALIN and THE LAST MINUTE – are just the type of breathlessly paced, page-turning action thrillers that got me hooked on the genre in the first place. So, I’m really excited to have discovered that the third book in the Sam Capra series – DOWNFALL – is scheduled for release on July 16th 2013.

I really can’t wait.

How Not to Write a Novel by Sandra Newman & Howard Mittelmark

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How Not to Write A Novel cover image

How Not to Write A Novel cover image

For those of us aspiring to write a published novel, ‘how to’ books that help us learn the craft can be a great resource, but how do you choose which ones to buy from all the many available?

Well here’s one with a difference.

Rather than focusing on ‘how to’, Sandra Newman and Howard Mittelmark focus instead on ‘how not to’. The result is this hilarious and entertaining book, that also drives home 200 different things to avoid in your work-in-progress.

It has sections covering plot, character, style, world-building, and also how (not) to approach agents.

With examples of each type of mistake clearly shown, this book is both fun to read and also really educational.

If you’re an aspiring author it’s well worth checking out.

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In the Spotlight: CHALK VALLEY by D.L. Johnstone

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kindle cover CHALK VALLEY

kindle cover CHALK VALLEY

What the blurb says: “In a remote mountain valley in British Columbia, a human monster preys on innocent lives.  After teenagers discover the body of a missing girl in Chalk Valley, searchers find the remains of two more victims secreted deep in the woods.  A serial killer is at work.

Chalk Valley police detective John McCarty is picked to lead a task force to find the murderer, but inexperience, politics and McCarty’s own inner demons quickly overwhelm him and the investigation falters.

Meanwhile, on a dark, lonely highway many miles from Chalk Valley, RCMP Sergeant Dave Kreaver comes across a van crashed at the side of the road. The driver is anxious to leave the scene, but Kreaver discovers an unconscious teenaged girl in the van. Kreaver feels in his gut that the driver could be the serial killer everyone’s looking for, but his inquiries are ignored. The task force is in well over its head, buried by thousands of leads and potential suspects. His supervisors tell him to back off and let the task force do its job.

 

Kreaver finds himself in a deadly cat and mouse game with a murderous psychopath, a race against time with innocent victims in play. Operating alone and without official sanction, can he stop the Chalk Valley Killer before he claims more lives?”

This complex, multi-agency and multi-location police procedural has the big picture feel of a television show like The Wire. Told through the point of views of a range of characters involved in the case – including police officers, journalists, victims and the killer – it shows how incidents that at first seem unconnected all fit together into a web of violence and terror.

The twists and turns of the story sprint along but there’s still plenty of procedural detail to satisfy fans of the sub-genre. With the killers point of view included, readers discover their identity before the police have collaborated all of the evidence – this ups the tension for the reader as you will on the various police departments, hoping that they’ll find the connections before it’s too late.

With a dramatic finale and a poignant ending this is a story well worth checking out.

D.L. Johnstone lives in the Toronto area. He’s co-authored several medical research publications and is a semi-dedicated fitness freak with a second degree black belt in Taekwondo. CHALK VALLEY is his debut novel.

You can find out more about him and his writing at www.dljohnstonewriter.com

A sneaky peep at the cover of the next Reacher novel …

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Today the Jack Reacher Official Facebook page shared the cover image of Lee Child’s next Reacher book.

If you want to check it out, nip across to Facebook and have a look here: http://www.facebook.com/JackReacherOfficial

The novel is called ‘Never Go Back’, and it’s out on the 29th August in the UK.

I can’t wait!

 

Review: GHOSTMAN by Roger Hobbs

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GHOSTMAN cover image

GHOSTMAN cover image

A rapid paced, nail-bitingly tense action thriller

When a casino robbery in Atlantic City goes horribly wrong, the man who orchestrated it is forced to call in a favour from someone occasionally called Jack. Only a few people know this man exists, some believe he’s dead and none know his true identity. Those are the closely guarded secrets of an exceptionally trained, experienced and talented criminal.

But as he struggles to clean up the mess left from the bungled heist, Jack finds himself increasingly more visible. With the FBI and other interested, and deadly, people on his tail, he’s forced to use every ounce of his skill, ingenuity and instincts to survive.

From the opening page this story hurtles along at a breathless pace. Jack is a mysterious character. Able to change his appearance, his voice and his persona in a moment, he is a true master of disguise.

He’s attractive, smart and although more than capable of defending himself, he only uses violence when he deems it necessary (which in the course of the book is quite often). He also translates classics into English as a hobby when he’s not on a job. Although you know he’s a criminal, he never seems entirely bad, and has his own moral code by which he operates.

At the start of the novel Jack reluctantly agrees to sort out the aftermath of a bungled casino heist as repayment of an old favour to the criminal mastermind Marcus. His brief is simple – find Marcus’ missing man and find the stolen cash.

But as he investigates the operation, discovering what actually happened outside the casino that morning, and who else is after the money, Jack realises there’s a whole lot more to the situation than he first realised. Add into the mix the bright and dynamic FBI agent Rebecca Blacker, and the mysterious and deadly criminal kingpin ‘The Wolf’ and soon Jack is fighting just to stay alive.

This rapid paced, nail bitingly tense action thriller has plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. This is a distinctive debut by 24-year-old novelist Roger Hobbs.

Highly recommended.

 

GHOSTMAN by Roger Hobbs is published in hardback by Bantam Press on 14th February 2013.

 

Single or Multiple: what kind of a reader are you?

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books

books

What kind of reader are you?

I must confess I struggle to read one book at a time. I usually have two or three on the go at once: a hardback or paperback fiction, a non-fiction, and then a kindle or ePub fiction.

I read them at different times of the day, in different locations.

For example, a paper book is best to read in the bath for me, because I’m very likely to dip it in the water by accident.

But a kindle or ePub book is easier to grab for a quick ten minutes during my lunch break at work.

On the train it’s got to be a paperback or kindle/ePub – a hardback is just too heavy! Although, if it’s an excellent story by one of my favorite writers I’ll often make an exception.

And in bed any format works.

So, I guess that makes me a multiple kind of girl.

What about you?

What book are you reading this week?

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CTG

CTG

 

My ‘to be read’ book stack seems to grow higher each day. In fact, it’s so tall that it’s become two reading stacks!

 

Right now, I’ve just finished reading A Wanted Man by Lee Child (review to be posted soon).

 

I’ve started reading The Obsession by T.V. Locicero.

 

After that, the next book on my pile is Ghostman by Roger Hobbs.

 

What book are you reading this week?