The Black Book - Rebus doesn't quite hit the mark

It's a while since I read the last book in this series featuring John Rebus, the grumpy Edinburgh policeman, and I was looking forward to getting to know him again. However, The Black Book, by Ian Rankin just didn't grab me as much as I had hoped. Don't get me wrong, it is a perfectly fine novel, but there seemed to be a bit of a spark missing that would have taken it to the level I was anticipating. As the book opens, Rebus finds himself out of favour with his girlfriend, Patience, and living back in his own flat with his student tenants. Then his ex-con of a brother turns up looking for a place to stay, which stirs up some familial turmoil. Into this, we have several incidents - someone is knifed outside a butcher's shop, a body is dumped on the coast and, Holmes, a colleague of Rebus gets a smack on the head leaving a local diner. During the investigation, Rebus gets wind of Holmes' little "black book" and on looking at the coded entries starts to suspect that his workmate has stumbled upon an unsolved murder from 5 years ago involving some very dodgy local faces. This sets him on a trail which, inevitably, leads him into conflict with his boss (no change there), and Big "Ger" Macafferty - a dangerous villain who has never been brought to justice despite numerous attempts by many in the local constabulary, including Rebus himself. Will our hero finally be able to outsmart Macafferty and bring him to justice after all these years? This is a well written book and there is plenty of action to keep the interest levels going. However, where it fell down for me was that there were so many characters that things got a bit confused at times, and I couldn't work out where they were all fitting into the story until right at the end. Some people would say that this is good thing - to not know what was going to happen - which I would usually agree with, but there were so many strands that it was too much to get your head around at times. But it might just be me - got a lot of non-book related things whizzing around my head at the moment! However, it hasn't put me off these books, I really enjoy Rebus as a character - I just didn't feel that this was one of the best!

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 340 print pages.
Price I paid: 50p in a local charity shop.
Formats available: Print; MP3 CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Rosie Project - hugely entertaining

This book was recommended to me by a work colleague and I am so pleased they did. What an absolute cracker! The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion centres on Don Tillman, a genetics professor who, having aspergers, struggles with the norms of social interaction. He copes with everyday life by adhering to strict routines - even having the same 7 meals every week ... if it's lobster, it must be Tuesday! Despite this, he does have two friends - Gene, a professor at the same university in Australia, and total dog, and his wife Claudia, who acts as something of a therapist to our hero. With his 40th birthday rapidly approaching, Don decides to set up a "wife project" - because he has discovered that married men are happier and live longer. He tries a few dating options, such as speed dating, but decides that he should, instead, create a questionnaire for prospective wives to complete, which he can review and filter out anyone who does not meet his exacting standards. Needless to say, this doesn't go too well. However, when Gene sends the beautiful Rosie, Don incorrectly assumes that she is one of the candidates. He soon realises his mistake - all Rosie requires from him is help with a genetics query, and anyway, she is SO unsuitable as a wife, failing on many of the criteria for his life partner. Don decides to help Rosie anyway, who is on a mission to find her real father. And so begins a new project and a relationship, with an actual woman, that leads Don to experiences that he would never otherwise have had - and while he struggles against his instincts to stick to his safety net of timetables and rules, he finds that the times he spends with Rosie are becoming the best days of his life. This is a touching, and really, really funny book. I loved the audio edition, narrated by Dan O'Grady - whose often deadpan delivery really suits this first person story of someone who is once-removed from his emotions. Take a punt on this one, and much of the time, you will be reading with a smile on your face, I promise you.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 352 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; unabridged audio CD; ebook.

The Beating of his Wings - relentless and shocking

Oh my, oh my! It's not often that a book actually surprises me to such an extent that I gasp out loud, but The Beating of his Wings, by Paul Hoffman made me do this, not once, not twice, but THREE times. This is the final book in the Left Hand of God trilogy, the story of Thomas Cale, a troubled boy brought up by religious fanatics (the Redeemers) who train and prepare him to become the Angel of Death, on earth to dish out God's wrath on humanity. They think he will bring about the end of the world so that it can start afresh. However, Thomas is not a boy who readily submits to his apparent destiny. This final book opens with Thomas barely able to function and in a medical facility. He has long therapy sessions with one of the nuns and a wool doll who makes snide comments (yeah, I know, this was never really fully explained), who tried to get Thomas to face up to himself. When two assassins spring an ambush, he miraculously escapes and leaves his place of safety and he is pulled back into the centre of things. Very few people actually like him and almost exclusively resent his presence, but also know that without him, their chances of defeating The Redeemers - who are on the move to put their plan of total destruction into place - are zero. When the elite army suffer a heavy defeat, Thomas, with his two childhood friends - Vague Henri and Cleist - starts to put together an army of farmers and labourers. Training and tactics are the watchwords, and inevitably, the battles commence. There are some REAL shocks in this epic tale. There are definitely more grim moments than light, and whilst the central character is exceptionally hard to like, somehow, you cannot help but root for him. This book has had some terrible reviews on Amazon. Maybe I am unusual in really enjoying this one - or maybe it was because I was reading the audio version, narrated by the genius who is Sean Barrett who brings so much to anything he narrates. Whatever, I personally thought this was a fitting end to this series.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 512 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99.
Formats available: Print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Men at Arms - trolls, dwarves and a rogue gun!

Anyone who has been following this blog over the last few years will know that I am a fan of Terry Pratchett and his phenomenal Discworld novels. There are various themes within this series and Men At Arms is the third of the "City Watch" sequence. Our heroes are the set of misfits that make up the Night Watch (or policemen) of the city of Ankh Morpork - both human and non-human. When one mysterious death starts snowballing into a series of similar fatalities - some weird snowball effect seems to be happening ... because each murderer seems to be the next victim! The insanely good Corporal Carrot sets off to investigate with his fellow Watch members, which include three new recruits - a troll, a dwarf and a very attractive werewolf! Their leader, Captain Vimes, is, however, not really leading them very well - he is an unhappy man - which is surprising considering he is about to retire and get married. He is fearful for his future, as he is, and always has been, a Watchman! He is warned off investigating the deaths by the nominal leader of Ankh Morpork, which makes him suspicious. He pulls himself together, and he and Carrot follow the trail, only to discover that there is an unusual weapon at the centre of  the mayhem, a weapon that should have been destroyed as soon as it was created, but which most definitely seems to have a will of its own. As usual, the tale crackles along, with plenty of humour and jokes - I frequently chortled out loud! Mr Pratchett never fails to deliver and this is a great addition to the series.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 381 print pages.
Price I paid: £3.00 (from a great second-hand bookshop in Newcastle Upon Tyne).
Formats available: print,