Voodoo Deadly by Sibel Hodge

Voodoo Deadly by Sibel Hodge is Amber Fox's third adventure.

Yet again Sibel has written a cracking story. 

Amber's mum is on her case as she's seen a hat she loves, but won't buy it until Amber has set a date for the wedding.  Amber is scared to set the date as she's afraid Brad is going to leave her again.

Amber's case this time involves a missing person and is all caught up with voodoo practitioners, dodgy clinics and the seedier side of medicine.

The story is well written, mostly light with a few "dark" bits and is classic Sibel Hodge.  If you enjoyed her previous Amber Fox mysteries, you'll be comfortable in Amber's world.  If you haven't, you don't really need to have read the others to enjoy this, but it will help.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0071NLG0W

Anne Droyd and the House of Shadows by Will Hadcroft

This is definitely a children's book, but I must be a child as I really enjoyed this.

This is the second book about Anne Droyd and her friends Gezz, Malcolm and Luke.  I haven't read the first book, so wasn't quite sure where Anne came from or why she was with Gezz, etc, but to be honest, I just accepted she was there and it didn't detract from the story.

I really liked the character of Anne.  Being a robot / cyborg and learning everything as she went along meant she would say exactly what she wanted to ask.  This often got her into trouble, but I'm sure everyone would love to ask the questions she does.

The story did evolve into being a bit scary towards the end.  I was thinking this would make a lovely family movie, with a bit of parental guidance for the end.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005XDQLS4



Survival Instinct by Declan Conner

This is definitely a book of many parts.  There's the light hearted dating experiences that our hero Jamie gets thrown into.  There's the serial killer going about his business "off stage" and then the other bits that are linked back to Jamie's time in Afghanistan.

I liked Jamie and had my suspicions about just about all the characters he comes across.  Needless to say my ideas about whodunit chopped and changed from chapter to chapter.  In this type of book you know there'll be a twist and boy, did this book twist and turn.

Once or twice I shouted to Jamie (in my head of course)  "tell the police", but that would be too easy for him, lol

I wasn't too fussed on one of Declan's short stories, but this was certainly a good read.  In fact I read it all today, I didn't want to put it down.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004PGN24G

Eulogy's Secret by Grace Elliot

Eulogy's Secret is the tale of Eulogy who turns up in town and loses her possessions and papers to prove who she is.  She gets taken in by someone who knew her secret mother (purely because she looks like her) and the story is how she goes about proving herself.  Since this is a romance, it is also how she falls in love with a man outside her station and all the smouldering looks and touches that come with that.

I'm not really one for this kind of romance, but I've tried a few recently and I think it will become a secret pleasure of mine.

I was drawn into the story and enjoyed the writing.  Nothing was too over the top and ridiculous.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005XD5IBA

Hollywood Sinners by Victoria Fox

Many years ago, I loved Jackie Collins, Jilly Cooper, Shirley Conran with their sex and shopping bonkbusters.

It's been a long time since I read anything as good as those books, but this week, I have found someone that is up there with them.

This book is more modern than those books mentioned above with a bit more monogamy and less of the sleeping around, but the female characters are just as strong.

I did see Elizabeth's shock coming long before she did, though :)

I'm looking forward to reading more Foxiness.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004UGRDIC

The Mountain and the Flood by Sheila Perry

I really enjoyed this.  I've not been to Scotland and so don't know the geography, but could picture the newly evolving "features", like the ragiing river at the bottom of the garden.
As a side note, we'd visited Barry on the weekend where a nearby cliff had recently collapsed leaving caravans dangling over the edge www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-15540048 and we could see it from there.  And it was tipping down with rain and blustery
So it was things like that that I was envisioning.  Actually, I was so caught up in the story I was reading it in the car on the way there.
Again with the geography, it seemed like Gavin was covering a lot of land.  It took him and Jen a long time to get to the hut and hardly any to get back to Edinburgh.

As a future, this story sounded quite plausible.  Rules and regulations at each turn, it was quite scary.  It seems it was easy for one rule to follow another until it got out of control.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004HD64FQ/

The Baby Trap by Sibel Hodge

You know exactly where you are with a Sibel Hodge book (well, mostly ). In chick-lit land.
This one, though, is a bit more "chick" than usual. This is the story of Gina who decides she wants a baby with hubby, Karl and finds she can't. The story follows Gina extremely closely !!!!!! as she spends quite some time and many methods of trying to get pregnant.
I know some blokes love a bit of Sibel (oo er missus), but you will need to (wo)man up before attempting this book. It goes into extreme detail of all the methods Gina tries to get pregnant.
I did enjoy this book, but I couldn't relate to Gina, so I, personally, wouldn't rate this as one of Sibel's best books. I much prefer the fantasy of Amber Fox than the realities of close-up fufus

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006JFIA84

Bang: Memoirs of a Relationship Assasin by David Wailing

Well, what can I say - apart from "Marvellous"

This is the story of "Scott" who is a relationship assassin, ie someone who ruins a relationship for payment. He starts off quite cocky, but as the story unfolds he becomes more human. As with Fake Kate there's a lot about identity.

I really like David's writing. It is simple and flowing and just a joy to read. I hate discovering fresh new authors as there's no back catalogue for me to devour . I am officially a massive Wailing fan.

If you liked Fake Kate, you'll love this.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006ODLZ2E

Dark Tidings by Ken Magee

"What happens when ancient magic meets the internet? One thing is sure, modern life will never be the same again." Now that's certainly an eye catching tag-line. It caught my eye again and again, so then I just had to read it. And, boy, is it a damn fine read.

The two stories run seperately for the early portion of the book. You know their paths will meet at some point, but it's not like you are waiting for this to happen before the story can get going. The separate stories are enjoyable in themselves.

I thought this story was quite original. It's probably not, but it had that fresh feel to it. Try it - you may very well like it.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0064TN0K

The Time Hunters and the Box of Eternity by Carl Ashmore

After waiting ages (plus a few more days) I finally got my hands on Time Hunters 2.
The wait was well worth it as this is another gem. Basically if you liked the first one, you'll love this one.

Becky and Joe are off on another adventure with Uncle Percy and Will. This time they have to deal with Chicago mobsters and pirates.

This may be a children's story, but I adored it. If I was a parent I'd happily read this to my child again and again. I also think this story would make a lovely family film.

If you want a fun packed adventure story. This is the one to get.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006H9NTJC

Bodyswitch by David Callinan

The first text of this book is "BODYSWITCH a paranormal erotic psycho thriller" which startled me as I didn't think it was quite that from the description on Amazon.
Luckily (for me) it wasn't too paranormal nor too erotic, but plenty of psycho and thriller

The paranormal bit was that the protagonist visits a "half-way land" to say goodbye to his recently deceased wife. This didn't seem out of place, it seemed like a nice thought about the interim afterlife. There wasn't a lot of sex, just some encounters that mostly moved the story along. I didn't particularly like the character of the psychiatric consultant, she seemed a bit unprofessional.

This seemed a long book. It wasn't "un-put-downable" but I kept going back to it to see what happened next. It's not a masterpiece by any means, but certainly an enjoyable read with some good ideas and plots.
I will probably check out some more books by David Callinan.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00629VTBM/

Carnival of Hope by George Hamilton

This is the story of Tomas and Thereza who grew up and live in the slums of the North East of Brazil and the fight they have to get out of town via the Carnival.

This story is heartbreaking in its portrayal of just how poor these people are. I could picture the streets and tips that George describes. Tomas doesn't eat for 3 days and that is just unbelievable for me in my comfy house. I've no doubt this story could well be a true story many places in Brazil.

Tomas in his heart is a good person, but who knows how far we would be pushed before we do bad things like he reluctantly has to.

I think George is a good writer, the story is easy to read and even though nothing exciting happens, I was always "in the story". As with his previous book Secrets from the Dust, this wouldn't have been one I would have looked at twice, but I'm so glad I did. I was thinking of Tomas and Thereza long after finishing the book.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006ARNIB0/

The Dark Deeps by Arthur Slade

The Dark Deeps is the second book in The Hunchback Assignments series.

Modo and Octavia are sent to investigate ships being sunk by "sea monsters" in the waters off Iceland. This being a steampunk story, it's obviously not a living creature but an underwater submarine (as submarines generally are :-)

Modo gets split up from Octavia who doesn't play such a big part in this book. Instead the heroine is Collete, a French spy who is a bit more mature - well she is 18. It's very Jules Verne.

I think I slightly preferred the first book in that it was a magical new story as I was introduced to the wonderful characters. But that's not to say that this is any less a good book. I shall definitely get book 3 and I hope there's much more to come.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005JSXKFA/

Build a Man by Talli Roland

If you are a fan of Talli's books, then you will love this. It is 'classic' Talli, so you know you are getting a fantastic chick-lit read.
It's no secret I'm a fan. The writing is superb, very readable.

It's an interesting story set in a plastic surgery about Serenity who wants to be a reporter. You really feel for her as things go wrong around her.

I think Talli's books get better and better and I again look forward to reading more.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00642BCX2/

Iditarod by Andre Jute

What can I say? This book is an immense story. My finger nails are no more.

The Iditarod is a race across the Alaskan countryside of well over a thousand miles. Easy you may think, but it's a dog sled ride in temperatures of minus stupid and winds of way past gale force with snow getting everywhere you don't want snow. This is no winter wonderland.

Andre describes this utter whiteness so well you can feel you are there. Also the loneliness of the competitors makes you want to go hug the nearest person (not if you are reading it on public transport !!!!!!)

The way the side story of the wolves is written made me think of David Attenborough doing the narration. There was a definite shift in the writing that made you realise that this is a seperate part of the story and built it up to the climax of the finale.

I believe most of this story is true, just the two main characters with their "sub-race" is the fictional part.

I can really imagine this as a film. But in a made-for-TV movie kind of way If it was a blockbuster it would be all about the stars, but on "Real Stories TV", the dogs and the landscape would be the bigger stars.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004GKMQE8

Crime in the Community by Cecilia Peartree

First off I will say that I really don't like the cover, it's gritty and grey and bleak and Scottish . This book kept cropping up and it's free and time passed and even though I kept clicking on the Amazon page, I really didn't fancy it. But for some reason I tried it and I'm so glad I did.

I would possibly call it a bit chick-lit-ish apart from the main character being a bloke. I might even put it into the cosy mystery group, but it's not too cosy. Perhaps a bit Miss Marpley but the mystery is not that important.
Whatever, it was a great read with some lovely characters and not at all gritty like my first impressions gave me. I didn't find it too Scottish either :)

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005DFEFDU

Fake Kate by David Wailing

The cover always drew my eye and I'd looked at the write up a few times but the £1.71 was a bit too expensive for my stinginess. But after tasting the sample I knew I was hooked. I needed to know about Kate.

The story was gripping from the start. I loved Team Kate (and surprisingly the 4th member). I could quite imagine Belinda running around London looking for clues as to Kate's whereabouts.
The book seemed a meaty size. After all the plots and twists and turns I was surprised to only be at 50%. Perhaps the scenes in the nightclubs went on a bit too long for my liking but it was all relevant to the plot.
This was a story where you didn't know where it was going nor where it would end. I had a few ideas, but they were cast aside.

A big thumbs up from me

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005GDZE7A

The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade

The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade is my recent foray into the Steampunk genre. The fantastic looking cover caught my eye in the first place.

It's the story of Modo who is taken in as a baby by Mr Socrates who trains him to be his agent. I don't like giving the story away in my reviews, so go read the blurb to see what it's about Due to mention of orphans at the start and being taken in by a mysterious rich gentleman, I was thinking along the lines of Lemony Snicket, but as it got into the adventure I was picturing the film Young Sherlock Holmes in that they were running around Victorian London.

This book is aimed at the younger market, yet was certainly grown up enough for me.
It was a very visual story, I could imagine the look and smells as described.I will certainly check out more by Arthur Slade. This book is free at the moment and a fantastic introduction to a great writer, so get it quick and start reading.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005H7Z8WG

Cruel Justice by Mel Comley

The first book in the DI Lorne Simpkins set of books. It was a page turner, I read it in two nights as I just wanted to keep going. Even though the murders were gruesome, Mel doesn't go into gory detail like some authors do which, in my opinion, made for better reading.

I look forward to reading more of Lorne's cases, but I hope she gets a few days off as even I was getting tired by her hard work and long hours.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005QOY4FM/

A Time for Change by Mel Comley

Whilst I enjoyed this story, I wasn't too fussed on the behaviour of the two males in Danielle's life. Obviously the "wrong" one was a jerk, but I found the "right one" to be a bit of a spoilt brat who needed a slap.

The story was a pleasant read and I wanted to be on the trip with Danielle, she seemed like she was having a great time on her own.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005M1OQJS