The Power of Six - non-stop action

Some books are slow burners, take their time and creep up on you. Others smack you in the face from page one, make you sit up and take notice .. and never let you go until they are finished with you. The Power of Six, by Pittacus Lore is definitely in the latter camp. There is the briefest of scene setting, just in case you hadn't read the first book in this series (I am Number Four) and then off we go, hell for leather, the whole way through. We pick up where the previous book left off, with two aliens from the planet Lorien - John Smith (Number Four), our hero of the first instalment, and Six - his newly acquainted compatriot and saviour - on the run in the USA with John's best friend (and human), Sam. They have just escaped their mortal enemies, the Mogadorians, who are determined to exterminate the nine children who were smuggled off Lorien during the war with the Mogadorians, and onto Earth to hopefully rise again and save their home planet. Meanwhile, in Spain, Number Seven is feeling isolated and trapped inside a convent - it may have helped to keep her hidden, but she has had no training, and wants to find her fellow Loriens. Her "boring" life is about to change, when a strange man starts to take an interest in her and she starts to worry that the Mogadorians have found her at last. Desperate to escape, she tries to find her inheritance, a "chest" which contains some of the special jewels from her home world - some will heal, some will kill. The tension builds in both countries and when the action starts, there's no stopping it. This is an excellent sequel to the first book. The characters are really coming into their own and the reader gets more of a feel for back story of why these aliens are here and what the future might hold not only for them, but for planet Earth itself. The new characters quickly find their feet and whilst this is a satisfying tale in its own right, it also leaves the reader with enough of a cliff hanger to make you look for the next in the series - and yes, I'll be going there soon!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 400 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Sharpe's Sword - like an old pair of slippers

This is the 14th in the epic series featuring Richard Sharpe, a rough, no-nonsense soldier who has been dragged up from nothing and is now a Captain in Wellington's army, in their apparently never ending war against Napoleon. The action takes place in and around Salamanca, during the summer of 1812. During a bit of a lull in the fighting, Sharpe's Company takes a prisoner - a French dragoon calling himself Captain Paul Delmas. Sharpe is intrigued by the exquisite (and expensive) sword his captive is carrying, and eyes it with envy. When Delmas later escapes, killing several people in the process, he escapes into Salamanca with Sharpe hot on his heels, looking for revenge. Upon investigation, it turns out that this Frenchman is not who he claims to be, but is, indeed, a Colonel Leroux, whose mission is to find El Mirador - a British spy - from whom he intends to extract the names of every other spy before he kills them. Sharpe is tasked with finding Leroux, but this is proving a difficult task. One night he is taken to a party where he is introduced to La Marquesa, the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. She is a well-educated and wealthy aristocrat, but despite the gulf between their social status, there is a strong attraction, and guess what, Sharpe just cannot resist - putting his wife and daughter to the back of his mind. Men! Still on the hunt for Leroux, Sharpe has to wait until the nearby forts are overwhelmed by the British before he can go in and continue his hunt. During which, he corners our man but is shot and disappears. Will he survive, will he catch up with Leroux, and will he get his hands on that sword? Well, I think we all know the answers to those questions - but it's fun getting there. As ever, there is plenty of action, twists and turns in this book, and the tale is wrapped around real events and real people. Reading these books is like putting on a pair of old slippers - you know where you are and what you are going to get and there is a certain degree of comfort in knowing these characters so well. I do enjoy escaping into this venal world at times - despite Sharpe's lack of moral backbone and immense flaws. Maybe it's a case of a great place to visit ... just wouldn't want to live there!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 314 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.50 from a second hand book shop.
Formats available: Print; abridged audio CD; abridged audio download; multiedia; ebook.

The Bat - a cracking introduction to Harry Hole

The Bat is the first book in the Scandinavian crime series starring Harry Hole, a Norwegian policeman who, inevitably, has a few demons rattling around from his past - only some of whom, I suspect, surface in this tale. I have heard people gushing about Jo Nesbo for a good while and have been keen to try him out, and I have not been disappointed. The action starts with our hero flying out to Australia to work with the Sydney police following the murder of a Norwegian TV star. Harry is teamed up with Andrew, an aboriginal officer and they form a bond from the get go. They start to follow up on any leads they can find, which takes Harry into the soon-to-become welcoming arms of a Swedish barmaid who knew the victim. Is this simply a case of a violent drug dealing boyfriend taking it out on the nearest person one night, or have we got a serial killer on the loose? As things turn darker, the action is interspersed with cultural pointers aimed at helping Harry (and us) understand the two distinct Australia's in terms of ethnicity - both from the point of view of past and the present. There are some really interesting characters, well fleshed out and fully rounded, so much so that, when something happens to them, it is really shocking. Plenty of twists and turns keep the reader guessing, and whilst there are some grisly bits (the good old Great White Shark makes a spectacular cameo), there are plenty of lighter moments too to create a good balance. I liked Harry, despite his self-destructive tendencies, and I am eagerly anticipating the next book, which I'm kind of hoping is based in his home country! I will also be tempted to continue this series via the audio book route, which is how I read this first one - as I really enjoyed listening to this with the fantastic narration of Sean Barrett - who is rapidly becoming my go to narrator!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 386 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; unabridged audio CD; ebook.

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,