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patchworkbunny's Reviews (2.12k)
When humanoid bones are found in a remote dig in Israel, scientists start going missing. Ex war correspondent Ethan Warner is called in to conduct a missing persons search for Lucy and keep it under the radar to prevent derailing the peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. However he must take with him Lucy's desperate mother, Rachel, and keep her safe in a troubled land. It soon becomes clear that there's more to these bones than meets the eye. Why are they so important? Are they the bones of our ancestors, a fallen angel or could it be an extra-terrestrial life-form?
Now, I'll freely admit to avoiding "conspiracy thrillers" like the plague. Unfortunately, publishers market them as Dan Brown wannabes which just doesn't appeal to me but I know I'm being prejudiced. As I was sent a copy to review, and I'm all for giving every genre a shot, I'd thought I'd better see what I was missing out on. To be fair, the blurb says it's more like Michael Crichton and it does have a science element. Although when the science or history just got interesting it would seem to stop and carry on with the plot. Being over 600 pages long, I certainly wouldn't have wanted extra pages, so I think Crawford is just trying to fit in too much.
Saying that, it is a pacy read so you'll soon whizz through those pages. There are a lot of characters too and I found myself getting confused a little with who's who, a side effect of not enough time time spent of developing their personalities. It was also lacking a bit in emotion when people, who you're supposedly meant to care about, die. Description was spent on the actual physicality of their deaths rather than the after-effects. This probably isn't a concern to regular thriller readers and possibly what puts me off them.
With so many characters and things going on, you start to feel the story is being wrapped up when there's 200 pages left to go, yet each character seems to get their own ending. Along side Ethan's adventures in Israel, there is a police investigation running back in Washington DC. I enjoyed this side of it though it also suffered from over-population of characters.
It's positive to see a book that tackles Christian extremist views at a time when everyone thinks it's only other religions that harbour fundamentalists. The evangelical pastor is a rather scary character, and whilst taken to extremes here, there are people like him in the world.
There is a follow-up novel next year, Elixir, and I'd be tempted to know how Ethan gets on with the search for his wife, who disappeared in Israel years earlier. I shall have to wait and see how many pages it's got!
Now, I'll freely admit to avoiding "conspiracy thrillers" like the plague. Unfortunately, publishers market them as Dan Brown wannabes which just doesn't appeal to me but I know I'm being prejudiced. As I was sent a copy to review, and I'm all for giving every genre a shot, I'd thought I'd better see what I was missing out on. To be fair, the blurb says it's more like Michael Crichton and it does have a science element. Although when the science or history just got interesting it would seem to stop and carry on with the plot. Being over 600 pages long, I certainly wouldn't have wanted extra pages, so I think Crawford is just trying to fit in too much.
Saying that, it is a pacy read so you'll soon whizz through those pages. There are a lot of characters too and I found myself getting confused a little with who's who, a side effect of not enough time time spent of developing their personalities. It was also lacking a bit in emotion when people, who you're supposedly meant to care about, die. Description was spent on the actual physicality of their deaths rather than the after-effects. This probably isn't a concern to regular thriller readers and possibly what puts me off them.
With so many characters and things going on, you start to feel the story is being wrapped up when there's 200 pages left to go, yet each character seems to get their own ending. Along side Ethan's adventures in Israel, there is a police investigation running back in Washington DC. I enjoyed this side of it though it also suffered from over-population of characters.
It's positive to see a book that tackles Christian extremist views at a time when everyone thinks it's only other religions that harbour fundamentalists. The evangelical pastor is a rather scary character, and whilst taken to extremes here, there are people like him in the world.
There is a follow-up novel next year, Elixir, and I'd be tempted to know how Ethan gets on with the search for his wife, who disappeared in Israel years earlier. I shall have to wait and see how many pages it's got!
Hayling Island sits off the coast or Portsmouth on the south coast of England. Fourteen year old Alix is walking her dog along the beach one cold spring morning when she witnesses a man being thrown out of a boat. With her at the time is Samir who is a loner at school, constantly bullied for being an immigrant. Together they pull the man out the freezing water and hide him in an abandoned hut on the beach. Alix knows little about asylum seekers but Samir is determined to prevent the stranger from being deported.
It's the first book I've read in a long time where the voice of a teenage narrator actually sounds like the average teenager. She's a normal kid that does an amazing thing but she also has all the insecurities going round in her head. I loved the part where she became convinced that everyone around her might be racist just because they never speak about their opinions and that she'll have to hide away from people for the rest of her life. At the start of the book, she does think some racist thoughts, but not out of malice, partly out of fear and partly out of only hearing about stereotypes.
Hidden highlights how so often prejudices are born out of ignorance. Alix has made assumptions about practically everyone in her life but she soon learns to judge people based on fact and experience. It's a true coming of age story, going from worrying about getting a date to standing up for basic human rights.
It's the first book I've read in a long time where the voice of a teenage narrator actually sounds like the average teenager. She's a normal kid that does an amazing thing but she also has all the insecurities going round in her head. I loved the part where she became convinced that everyone around her might be racist just because they never speak about their opinions and that she'll have to hide away from people for the rest of her life. At the start of the book, she does think some racist thoughts, but not out of malice, partly out of fear and partly out of only hearing about stereotypes.
Hidden highlights how so often prejudices are born out of ignorance. Alix has made assumptions about practically everyone in her life but she soon learns to judge people based on fact and experience. It's a true coming of age story, going from worrying about getting a date to standing up for basic human rights.
Lily Bard chose the quiet Arkansas town of Shakespeare to escape as the name appealed to her on the map. She's suffered in the past and wishes to keep it there, so she busies herself with her cleaning job and keeping out of trouble. Until one night she sees a body being dumped in the park near her home. Being a cleaning lady she is privy to the secrets of many and her curiosity leads her to investigate further.
I do like Charlaine Harris's easy-going writing style and this was a enjoyable light read. Maybe a few too many pages dedicated to cleaning and working out at the gym for my liking though it did guilt me into putting the book down and doing some cleaning myself! There weren't really enough clues for me to have formed an opinion on who-dunnit so the end was surprising but not in a wholly satisfying way. I will accept that the first instalment of a series needs to set up the characters and I definitely want to read more about them, especially that dishy policeman across the street!
For those of you used to Charlaine's supernatural books, this is a pure mystery (though I'm sure Lily popped up in one of the Sookie books briefly).
I do like Charlaine Harris's easy-going writing style and this was a enjoyable light read. Maybe a few too many pages dedicated to cleaning and working out at the gym for my liking though it did guilt me into putting the book down and doing some cleaning myself! There weren't really enough clues for me to have formed an opinion on who-dunnit so the end was surprising but not in a wholly satisfying way. I will accept that the first instalment of a series needs to set up the characters and I definitely want to read more about them, especially that dishy policeman across the street!
For those of you used to Charlaine's supernatural books, this is a pure mystery (though I'm sure Lily popped up in one of the Sookie books briefly).
As a young man, Warwick Cairns met legendary explorer, Wilfred Thesiger. At the time, he didn't know who he was. He had gone a long to a meeting of one of those charities that arranges community work in third world countries for youngsters that haven't decided what to do with their lives. A fleeting friendship is formed between the two and Thesiger invites Cairns out to his other home, in Africa.
The cover blurb would have you thinking it was a dramatic account of Thesiger's survival in savage lands but it's far from it. The author's train of thought is somewhat meandering but in a way I enjoyed. Sometimes you may feel like he has gone completely off-topic but it all is cleverly interlinked with his travels to meet Thesiger in Africa and stories from the explorer's past. I found the style engaging with a few laugh out loud moments, especially when he goes to the doctor to get and STD test and explains the reason for his concern.
At times I was unsure when events were taking place. Thesiger's travels are marked with dates but not the author's. At the start it felt a little old-fashioned in places. Where he describes the clerks in the back room of the bank sorting cheques feels like a different age to today (though I imagine some people feel this is all their bank staff do anyway) made me think of an E.M. Forster novel.
The historical aspect takes a bit of a backseat. As second hand accounts, they didn't seem to have the same life as the travel writing even though the content of colonial era exploration would be a fascinating one. However there was something touching about Thesiger and his need for friendship and the end had me in tears. So often the death of a historical figure is skimmed over unless something noteworthy happened. Age simply got the better of him but the description of his last months is so far from how he would have wanted to go out.
The cover blurb would have you thinking it was a dramatic account of Thesiger's survival in savage lands but it's far from it. The author's train of thought is somewhat meandering but in a way I enjoyed. Sometimes you may feel like he has gone completely off-topic but it all is cleverly interlinked with his travels to meet Thesiger in Africa and stories from the explorer's past. I found the style engaging with a few laugh out loud moments, especially when he goes to the doctor to get and STD test and explains the reason for his concern.
At times I was unsure when events were taking place. Thesiger's travels are marked with dates but not the author's. At the start it felt a little old-fashioned in places. Where he describes the clerks in the back room of the bank sorting cheques feels like a different age to today (though I imagine some people feel this is all their bank staff do anyway) made me think of an E.M. Forster novel.
The historical aspect takes a bit of a backseat. As second hand accounts, they didn't seem to have the same life as the travel writing even though the content of colonial era exploration would be a fascinating one. However there was something touching about Thesiger and his need for friendship and the end had me in tears. So often the death of a historical figure is skimmed over unless something noteworthy happened. Age simply got the better of him but the description of his last months is so far from how he would have wanted to go out.
At the site of a ground-breaking archaeological find, a more recent burial is discovered. With an important summit being held in the region, authorities are on the look-out for Basque separatists all the while trying to protect the local foie gras farms from animal activist attacks.
You would think that either Basque separatists or archaeology would provide a fascinating vehicle for a crime novel. However even the dead body takes a back-seat to the foie gras industry. The first 60 odd pages are practically an advertisement for something a lot of non-French people disagree with. Now I'm happy to be re-educated and am aware of ethical foie gras production outside of France but the author has a bit of a well-meaning slip-up when trying to defend it. I quote “the force-feeding of the birds, was also a natural process”.
The word “force” in itself implies the process is not natural. The fatty liver condition that gives us foie gras does indeed occur in the wild when certain species of ducks and geese fatten themselves up for winter. A visit to a local duck pond will demonstrate the birds' fondness for food that isn't healthy for them and I'm sure these foie gras farms could invite local children armed with bags of stale bread on a daily basis and get the same effect as sticking a funnel down the birds' necks.
This disagreement wouldn't have been so much of the issue if Bruno had spent more time investigating that dead body or securing the town for the impending summit. He's only a local policeman, employed by the mayor rather than the gendarme who are the military police of France, so I can understand his job isn't to run murder investigations. If he hadn't have spent so much time eating foie gras that he shouldn't have been able to afford, I might have felt it was part of his job. Instead it came across as indulgent preaching.
Read if you like foie gras or don't mind that being the premise for the story. It's an easy read and I wanted to like Bruno but I just felt a bit let down. I did quite like his dog, Gigi the basset hound.
This is the fourth novel in the Bruno, Chief of Police series by journalist and foodie, Martin Walker.
You would think that either Basque separatists or archaeology would provide a fascinating vehicle for a crime novel. However even the dead body takes a back-seat to the foie gras industry. The first 60 odd pages are practically an advertisement for something a lot of non-French people disagree with. Now I'm happy to be re-educated and am aware of ethical foie gras production outside of France but the author has a bit of a well-meaning slip-up when trying to defend it. I quote “the force-feeding of the birds, was also a natural process”.
The word “force” in itself implies the process is not natural. The fatty liver condition that gives us foie gras does indeed occur in the wild when certain species of ducks and geese fatten themselves up for winter. A visit to a local duck pond will demonstrate the birds' fondness for food that isn't healthy for them and I'm sure these foie gras farms could invite local children armed with bags of stale bread on a daily basis and get the same effect as sticking a funnel down the birds' necks.
This disagreement wouldn't have been so much of the issue if Bruno had spent more time investigating that dead body or securing the town for the impending summit. He's only a local policeman, employed by the mayor rather than the gendarme who are the military police of France, so I can understand his job isn't to run murder investigations. If he hadn't have spent so much time eating foie gras that he shouldn't have been able to afford, I might have felt it was part of his job. Instead it came across as indulgent preaching.
Read if you like foie gras or don't mind that being the premise for the story. It's an easy read and I wanted to like Bruno but I just felt a bit let down. I did quite like his dog, Gigi the basset hound.
This is the fourth novel in the Bruno, Chief of Police series by journalist and foodie, Martin Walker.
Abbe grew up in South Africa in the midst of Apartheid but chose to make Honolulu her home with her pastor husband, Greg, and her young daughter, Chloe. One evening she goes out to the movies with Greg, leaving Chloe with a good friend who loves her daughter just as much as she. On returning, they discover the worst has happened and their daughter is dead.
There are two central plots in Come Sunday, the present day in which Abbe falls apart after the accident, and the story of her past in Africa. I really struggled through Abbe wallowing in her grief. Whilst it's certainly realistic that depression can bring life to a standstill and make even everyday tasks difficult, it doesn't make for a gripping read. I guiltily couldn't empathise with Abbe until near the end and I felt sorry for her long-suffering husband.
More enjoyable was the story of Abbe's past in South Africa, the political climate of the time and the disintegration of her family. The structure seemed a bit dislocated in places with little link between past and present. Fortunately the two did come together in the end but it needed more perseverance than I would normally give a book.
You might be thinking, well at least the locations are spectacular. There was very little description of the landscapes of Hawaii and South Africa. The current day story could have been set in any western town, be it rather middle class.
There are two central plots in Come Sunday, the present day in which Abbe falls apart after the accident, and the story of her past in Africa. I really struggled through Abbe wallowing in her grief. Whilst it's certainly realistic that depression can bring life to a standstill and make even everyday tasks difficult, it doesn't make for a gripping read. I guiltily couldn't empathise with Abbe until near the end and I felt sorry for her long-suffering husband.
More enjoyable was the story of Abbe's past in South Africa, the political climate of the time and the disintegration of her family. The structure seemed a bit dislocated in places with little link between past and present. Fortunately the two did come together in the end but it needed more perseverance than I would normally give a book.
You might be thinking, well at least the locations are spectacular. There was very little description of the landscapes of Hawaii and South Africa. The current day story could have been set in any western town, be it rather middle class.
"I can't decide what to do with your ashes. It's been nearly a year now. Almost summer again."
...
"This is not forgiveness. Don't think that."
A powerful start. We know Rob is dead. We know there were funerals. We know Rob has done something that cannot be forgiven, not even by those closest to him. The story returns to the start of that summer. Jamie's interested in a girl, Caro, and doesn't have much time for his brother who has been discharged from the army following an injury in Afghanistan. Everyone knows Caro is a slag, expelled for an affair with a teacher, she spells trouble. Jamie's sister warns him off but he doesn't care, he's infatuated.
This is Not Forgiveness tackles the topical issue of how war can affect young people in two very different ways. For some the army is all they know and when injury forces young soldiers to return home they can struggle to fit into civilian life. Especially if they signed up to escape a life that didn't hold much for them in the first place.
Then those that haven't had direct contact with conflict can feel like they don't have a voice without violence. How easy it is to latch onto extremist political views because what they see and hear is wrong and they feel the need to bring about change.
This isn't a book where you'll love the characters but you will be gripped by the events and left thinking after the final page. The first chapter is a fantastic pull in and will keep you reading even when you are starting to hate some of the things the characters are doing. There are three narrators, Jamie, Caro and Rob so there is insight into each of their thoughts and reasoning behind their actions.
...
"This is not forgiveness. Don't think that."
A powerful start. We know Rob is dead. We know there were funerals. We know Rob has done something that cannot be forgiven, not even by those closest to him. The story returns to the start of that summer. Jamie's interested in a girl, Caro, and doesn't have much time for his brother who has been discharged from the army following an injury in Afghanistan. Everyone knows Caro is a slag, expelled for an affair with a teacher, she spells trouble. Jamie's sister warns him off but he doesn't care, he's infatuated.
This is Not Forgiveness tackles the topical issue of how war can affect young people in two very different ways. For some the army is all they know and when injury forces young soldiers to return home they can struggle to fit into civilian life. Especially if they signed up to escape a life that didn't hold much for them in the first place.
Then those that haven't had direct contact with conflict can feel like they don't have a voice without violence. How easy it is to latch onto extremist political views because what they see and hear is wrong and they feel the need to bring about change.
This isn't a book where you'll love the characters but you will be gripped by the events and left thinking after the final page. The first chapter is a fantastic pull in and will keep you reading even when you are starting to hate some of the things the characters are doing. There are three narrators, Jamie, Caro and Rob so there is insight into each of their thoughts and reasoning behind their actions.
Things have taken on a darker edge in the second instalment of the Lily Bard Mysteries. The town's champion body builder is found dead at Marshall's gym and all signs point away from accident. With that and the deaths of two others, one a young black man Lily had recently saved in a fight, the racial tension in the town is reaching boiling point.
Shakespeare's Champion started off very much like the first book, with Lily going about her training and cleaning routines and keeping the local men at a distance. However it soon becomes a lot more gripping and I found myself not wanting to put the book down. It feels a lot more like the Sookie stories and I think even if you're disappointed by the lack of supernatural you would still enjoy this series.
Shakespeare's Champion started off very much like the first book, with Lily going about her training and cleaning routines and keeping the local men at a distance. However it soon becomes a lot more gripping and I found myself not wanting to put the book down. It feels a lot more like the Sookie stories and I think even if you're disappointed by the lack of supernatural you would still enjoy this series.
When Eve crashes her paraglider into the Thames she thinks she's about to die but is rescued by a mysterious stranger. Of course she's grateful but she starts to worry when she's taken into Tower Bridge and finds out it's being occupied by the military. Her knight in shining armour turns out to be Major Harker who thinks she's a spy and she soon realises this is not the London she knows. She must be in a coma and dreaming it all up...
As a reader we know straight away that Eve has somehow fallen into an alternate universe. One where France is our enemy and Britain is practically a third world country, fighting both international and civil wars. As Eve seems to know so much about technology that is unheard of, they take her on a mission to liberate a computer from coalitionists in the north.
The character of Eve was a bit two dimensional for the most part and over obvious about things at the start. However the world Kate Johnson created is engaging and the plot fast paced so I ended up enjoying more than I thought I would after the first couple of pages. There is a cast of characters that more than makes up for my antipathy for Eve, who fortunately doesn't hog page space, and it's certainly not a fluffy read despite a touch of romance.
The author states in the acknowledgements that she's a big fan of Bernard Cornwell and Terry Pratchett and you can see their influence throughout. As a romance writer she's made a valiant effort at combining chick-lit and fantasy warfare although it does get a bit soppy in the final chapters. I think it would appeal more to the curious chick-lit reader than an established fantasy fan though.
As a reader we know straight away that Eve has somehow fallen into an alternate universe. One where France is our enemy and Britain is practically a third world country, fighting both international and civil wars. As Eve seems to know so much about technology that is unheard of, they take her on a mission to liberate a computer from coalitionists in the north.
The character of Eve was a bit two dimensional for the most part and over obvious about things at the start. However the world Kate Johnson created is engaging and the plot fast paced so I ended up enjoying more than I thought I would after the first couple of pages. There is a cast of characters that more than makes up for my antipathy for Eve, who fortunately doesn't hog page space, and it's certainly not a fluffy read despite a touch of romance.
The author states in the acknowledgements that she's a big fan of Bernard Cornwell and Terry Pratchett and you can see their influence throughout. As a romance writer she's made a valiant effort at combining chick-lit and fantasy warfare although it does get a bit soppy in the final chapters. I think it would appeal more to the curious chick-lit reader than an established fantasy fan though.
Lily is looking forward to spending Christmas with Jack but first she must return to her home town, and the family she ran from, for her sister's wedding. Before she leaves, she reads an article in the paper about unsolved crimes including a baby snatched around Thanksgiving eight years earlier. When she gets to Bartley, she's horrified to be in the middle of a murder case once more...
Another good mystery from Charlaine Harris. I did think Lily's family were going to be horrible when compared to her thoughts in previous books but they seemed like a nice normal family whose worst crime was caring for her. With a title like Shakespeare's Christmas you'd expect it to be quite festive but the plot unfolds around the wedding plans instead and you would be able to read this any time of year.
Being away from home Lily spends less time working out although she does manage to squeeze in some cleaning!
Another good mystery from Charlaine Harris. I did think Lily's family were going to be horrible when compared to her thoughts in previous books but they seemed like a nice normal family whose worst crime was caring for her. With a title like Shakespeare's Christmas you'd expect it to be quite festive but the plot unfolds around the wedding plans instead and you would be able to read this any time of year.
Being away from home Lily spends less time working out although she does manage to squeeze in some cleaning!