Anno Dracula - entertainingly complex!

Anno Dracula, by Kim Newman presents an alternative version of the late Victorian era, where fact and fiction have been merged together to create something very dark and disturbing. It is 1888, and Queen Victoria is no longer a widow mourning the loss of her beloved Albert - instead, she has married Vlad Tepes, otherwise known as Count Dracula. This has led to a distinct power shift from the "warm" to the undead. Anyone with any power has "turned" and the new world order is a scary place which sees impaling as a suitable form of punishment once again. Charles Beauregard, a spy, lives to protect the interests of the Queen, and is commissioned by the mysterious Diogenes Club, to track down Jack The Ripper, who is stalking Whitechapel and killing vampire prostitutes in the most bloody of ways. Also on the case is Geneviève Dieudonné, a four hundred year old vampire "elder" who has seen it all. Together they make a formidable team and hunt down their prey through many twists, turns and not a little danger. There is an enormous amount of atmosphere in this book and the main characters are ones that you are happy to spend time with (the obvious exception being The Count ... for those of us with a sensible disposition). However, the plot is dense and so many characters are jammed in, that it was easy to become lost - I did keep having to pause to remind myself who was who. If you are not familiar with Bram Stoker's Dracula, as well as the other key literary characters who embody the Victorian era, I think you might struggle at times. Personally, I would have preferred something with a little bit more focus. That being said, this is a highly enjoyable, if bloody, romp and will please fans of gothic horror, thrillers and those who love to theorise about who Jack the Ripper really was! 

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 560 print pages.

Formats: print, unabridged audio download, edMP3-CD, ebook.

Price I paid: £1.99.

Mister Johnson - Not for Me!

Written in 1939, Mister Johnson, by Joyce Cary tells the tale of a young African man in colonial Nigeria who lives life as largely as he can, but with little thought for the consequences of his actions. At the beginning of the book, he falls for Bamu, a beautiful woman from the nearby village, and determines to marry her. He negotiates a bride price - even though he has almost no money - and starts to make plans. But this isn't the only thing he can't afford. He works as a clerk for the Colonial Office, and dresses in the English style. He swaggers around, lavishly entertaining the townsfolk, in a manner he feels befits his position. His debts mount up all over town, but he keeps managing to put people off by his infectious manner and promises of a better future. He thinks the world of his boss, and helps him to build a road to connect the town to the North, from where more trade will come and increase the prosperity of the area. But the way he helps is by cooking the books, and this cannot go unpunished. And so things start to spiral downwards ... I really struggled with this book. I found it hard to like the foolish Mr Johnson and, indeed, any of the characters. Certain passages made for uncomfortable reading in how Mr Johnson conducted himself or was treated by others. Many of the situations I just didn't find believable or convincing. There is a deep sadness to the book and the ending is heartbreaking. I know this book is well loved by many people, but I just didn't "get it!"

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 251 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from my husband.
Reading formats available: print; ebook.

Milkman - Funny and heartbreaking!

Milkman by Anna Burns, won the Man Booker Prize in 2018 and is a very stylised novel set in an unnamed city sometime during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. The narrator is a young woman whose life is changed when Milkman, a senior figure from amongst the "renouncers" (her description of the IRA), starts to pay her particular attention. As much as she might try to ignore it, this unwanted attention affects where she goes, who she sees and what she does. And, for the first time within her community, she has become someone that others start to notice - which is the opposite of everything she has tried to achieve. She just wants to go below the radar - it's safest that way. No character names are used, for instance, our narrator is Middle Sister, and the young lad she has been seeing is Maybe Boyfriend. This style took a little getting used to, but once I did, I enjoyed it - and weirdly, it did help to place everybody, whereas sometimes, when there are a lot of characters in a book (which there are in Milkman), you can lose track of who is who. The titles indicate WHAT they are in relation to the narrator, not WHO they are, if that makes sense! The story intrigued me from the outset, with the influence of Milkman over Middle Sister increasing over time and veiled (and not so veiled) threats darkening the mood. However, around three quarters of the way through, it seemed to lose a little bit of impetus and my interest started to wane. I wanted to find out what was going to happen, but the denouement seemed to take forever ... and it's not a particularly long book. However, it could just be me and what was going on in my own life outside of the book! Both funny and heartbreaking, it does give you a flavour of what it was like to live in a place so divided and dangerous. Although if you didn't know anything about Northern Ireland and "The Troubles" then some elements may be lost on you. Overall, I would recommend this book, as the characters have stayed with me - which is always a good sign. I read the audio edition narrated by Brid Brennan, who did a sterling job.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 368 print pages.
Price I paid: £5.84.
Reading formats available: print; unabridged audio download; audio CD; ebook.

Vinegar Girl - limp and lacklustre!

In this retelling of The Taming of the Shrew, Kate Battista is 29, single and keeping house for her father, an eccentric scientist, and her little sister, Bunny. Kate has a reputation for speaking her mind and seems incapable of keeping her opinions to herself, which doesn't always endear her to her work colleagues, although the kids in the preschool love it! So when, totally out of the blue, her father asks her to marry his Russian lab assistant, Pyotr, in order to prevent his impending deportation (the book is set in the USA), it comes as no surprise that Kate refuses to oblige. However, as the date of deportation becomes closer, and her father becomes more desperate (he thinks his life's work will be ruined if he cannot keep Pyotr working with him), Kate's resolve starts to crumble, and she reluctantly agrees. But the path to the "fake" wedding isn't exactly a smooth one, with Bunny trying to put a spanner in the works on numerous occasions. This is a light and not altogether taxing tale that I raced through in super quick time. There is humour, and you do end up rooting for Kate and Pyotr, even though every modern sensibility within you is screaming ... you have got to be kidding me! However, I was a little disappointed at Kate's lack of overall strength and there certainly wasn't enough sparky dialogue between her and Pyotr - I would have expected much more of that from a retelling of Shakespeare's cracking play. And I found some of the scenes and dialogue unconvincing, with people not being true to their characters. Overall, Vinegar Girl, by Anne Tyler would make a good holiday read where you don't have to concentrate too much, and you are pretty much guaranteed a happy ending. I wanted to like this so much more than I actually did, but it won't put me off reading more work by this author.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 263 print pages.
Price I paid: FREE, borrowed from my Mum.
Reading formats available: print; unabridged audio download; audio CD; ebook.

Before They Are Hanged - bloodthirstily entertaining!

Anyone who has been reading this blog for any length of time will have come to realise that I am partial to a bit of fantasy fiction, even though it tends to require commitment and loyalty (or maybe because it requires these two attributes!) This is because you rarely get a stand alone novel in this genre. And Before They Are Hanged, by Joe Abercrombie, is no exception. This is the second part of The First Law trilogy, and the war with the formidable Bethod, King of the Northmen is beginning in earnest. The Union is being defended in the north by a poorly trained and disastrously led army in which the solidly reliable Captain West is given the impossible task of keeping Crown Prince Ladisla out of trouble. Barely escaping with their lives, West somehow hooks up with the dysfunctional band of killing machines led by Threetrees, who end up back in the Union army. Meanwhile, Bayaz, the First of the Magi, is leading a band of misfits on a mission to find the ultimate weapon. Through many trials and tribulations, this group start to form a cohesive, if grumpy unit and the specific relationship which develops between Logen Ninefingers and the formidable Ferro (one of the strongest female characters you will come across) is both hilarious and touching. Meanwhile, Inquisitor Glokta, my favourite and yet most despicable character from the first book, has been sent to defend a city that is both surrounded by the enemy and rotten with traitors. Each of these three scenarios would make a book by themselves, but the author weaves them together with aplomb. The action scenes are unrelenting and not for the faint-hearted, the dialogue is meaningful and funny and the characters are well drawn. As it's been a while since I read the first instalment, it took me a little time to catch myself up on who was who, but once I'd cracked that, I was totally invested in them once again. There are a couple of unexpected plot twists which took me by surprise, which is always a delight. Added to that is the introduction of some devilishly hard to kill and scary creatures (The Eaters - need I say more). Whilst it didn't, for me, reach the dizzying heights of the first instalment - there was a touch of treading water at times in readiness for the final part of the trilogy - this is still a great book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Roll on the conclusion to this epic tale!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 570 print pages.
Price I paid: FREE - it was a present!
Reading formats available: print; unabridged audio download; audio CD; ebook.

A Symphony Of Echoes - another romp through history!

A Symphony Of Echoes, by Jodi Taylor, is the second in the Chronicles of St. Mary's series about a time-travelling group of historians. The action centres around Max (Madeleine Maxwell), who manages to get into all manner of scrapes across the great expanse of history and somehow survive by the skin of her teeth. In this book, she goes in search of Jack The Ripper, witnesses the murder of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral and tries to find the Hanging Gardens of Babylon too. Along the way, she gets caught up in a future St Mary's where their arch enemy has wreaked havoc to the extent that there is a very real chance the research facility will have to close. Of course, you could go back in time and just kill this man who is threatening the very fabric of history - but then that would mean St Mary's might NEVER have existed ... so a good old paradox in time is created! This is a highly enjoyable, fast-paced adventure that is laced with gritty and extremely sarcastic dialogue. In between the adventure we have the on/off/on relationship between Max and Chief Farrell, which, if it continues in this vein, may get a little wearing! I do like Max as a character, but she does seem to cause havoc wherever she goes and one might be left wondering how on earth she is let loose in history ... in fact, something always seems to go wrong on the trips - not sure what kind of Health and Safety Rules they've got there, but there doesn't seem to be much of a pension plan! Great fun, wouldn't want to work there! I read the audio edition, excellently narrated by Zara Ramm.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 340 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.99.
Reading formats available: print; unabridged audio download; MP3-CD; ebook.

The Sisters Brothers - strangely hypnotic

If you think this book is just another Western, think again. Yes, it's set in 1850s America, the Gold Rush has begun and we have two gunmen (Eli and Charlie Sisters) on the trail of the entertainingly named Hermann Kermit Warm. So far, so "Western" - however, the story is really about the struggle that Eli Sister is starting to have with his life, and the seemingly unbreakable bond he has with his brother. The story is narrated by Eli, and no holds are barred in how he describes the way he and his brother live. They work as assassins for the Commodore (who has shades of a mafia boss for me), and are incredibly good at their jobs - if the Commodore sets them on your trail, you haven't got long to live. Eli is the sensible one, who takes pride in his work and seems to be continually trying to keep his savage brother focused on the job at hand, but Charlie cannot help but drink to excess and seek the company of the ladies of the night. Eli is beginning to dream about meeting a nice girl and settling down - maybe running a store. But Charlie doesn't care for this proposition and seems to be more than happy to carry on as they are. Eli is determined that this will be their last job, and tries to keep the bloodshed to a minimum, but the bond with his brother is so strong that when he is threatened, Eli demonstrates just how deadly efficient he can be. These two brothers are psychopaths and the body count soon increases as they travel across the country to hunt down their prey. You know you shouldn't like these characters and yet, it's hard not to have a certain amount of sympathy for them - which just goes to show how excellent the writing is! I found myself really rooting for Eli to find his new life, away from his brother who always seems to drag him back into violence. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt is, despite its subject matter, a funny and easy to read story. Others have compared it to a Coen Brothers film and I can totally see where they are coming from. Quirky. Entertaining. Great witty dialogue. If you can take a bit of blood and gore, you'll thoroughly enjoy this book.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 325 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from my husband.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, audio CD, ebook.