Fallen by Karin Slaughter.

Faith Mitchell gets to her mother’s house late to pick up her daughter Emma but there is blood on the door. So starts this novel in the Georgia series of crime thrillers from Karin Slaughter. It has been over 5 years since I have last read one of Karin’s novels and it feels like I have suddenly bumped into an old friend I had lost contact with. I have read a total of 5 novels from Karin and each one is a stand alone book, so you do not have to read them in a sequence. Karin is a very popular top selling American author and she bangs out a new novel each year. I like her writing style where she bombards the reader with tonnes of information that supports an intelligent and very involved plot. She is very good with forensics and Police procedure.

Karin is good at explaining popular culture in her novels so that the reader can step into the environment, for example…

‘He’s only got one tattoo.’ Young gang members generally used their bodies as a canvas to illustrate their lives, etching tattoos of teardrops under their eyes for every murder, wrapping their elbows and shoulders in cobwebs to show they’d done time. The tattoos were always rendered in blue ink culled from ballpoint pens, what was called ‘joint ink,’ and they always told a story. Unless their story was so bad that it didn’t need to be told.

...Karin also has a powerful knack to describe feelings to the reader so very well. We all enjoy everyday freedoms and can take them for granted, however…

If they were lucky, this diagnosing and classification process took around six weeks before they were assigned to another prison or moved to the permanent facilities at D&C. Until then, the inmates were on twenty-three-hour lockdown, which meant that but for one hour a day, they were confined to their cells. No cigarettes, coffee, or soda were allowed. They could buy only one newspaper a week. No books were allowed, not even the Bible. There were no TVs. No radios. No phones. There was a yard, but inmates were allowed out only three days a week, and that was weather permitting and only for whatever time was left on their one hour day. Only long-term residents were allowed visitors, and then it was in a room that was halved by a metal mesh that required you to yell to be heard over the voices of the other visitors. No touching. No hugging. No contact whatsoever.

...I enjoyed reading Fallen, it was a very entertaining and thrilling read. It is a great story to run with as a daily read. It is easy to follow and picking it up is like getting the day’s gossip from workmates. Karin is in the top league of authors for crime thrillers and this book is a comfortable read that does not disappoint. I can find nothing wrong with this novel, so I will vote it the top score of 5 stars and look forward to reading her next novel called criminal in the Georgia series.

Fallen has 463 pages and was written in 2011.

It’s No Picnic by Kenneth E. Myers

This novella is about an American detective called Alexander Lax in the village of Longport. It is an odd tale where you wonder if Alexander is actually dead and this is his after death experience. Then you wonder if Alexander is off his trolley and this is a tale of his madness. I could not make any sense of this book and I was no better off at the end as I was at the start. This whole book was a disappointment to me and I felt my reading time was totally wasted. I took nothing away from this book, only a sense of loss, my loss of the time wasted. This book gets the minimum score of 1 star from me and I suggest you AVOID it at all costs. It is nothing more than the of a nutter. Thank goodness I managed to get a copy as a free download! Mind you, Kenneth chose his title with some thought as this sorry book is clearly no picnic.

It’s No Picnic is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.

The Gilgamesh Conspiracy by Jeffrey Fleming.

Gerry Tate is a British MI6 intelligence agent and she is an expert in the Middle East. Follow her in the quest to get to the bottom of a secret operation codenamed Gilgamesh.

This novel is a regular conspiracy tale about Iraq, the alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction and the illegal invasion in 2003. Although this is a conspiracy story, because of the real historical facts and the people involved, it is quite cross-genre with historical fiction. Clearly a lot of background and culture have been researched to form the backbone of this novel. But like the famous dossier presented to the British parliament in 2002, this novel is also sexed up. Gerry Tate is not a deskbound agent but comes out all guns blazing.

Conspiracies are one of my favourite book genres. The Gilgamesh Conspiracy is a realistic scenario and it is quite believable. The workings of security and government agencies are spot on in this novel. I found this book to be a good read although the details of a hidden secret document are withheld from the reader almost to the end. It was frustrating that this document was constantly hinted at but the contents had to remain secret and the reader is kept in the dark, just like Gerry Tate. Also I did not like how the time frame flicked back and forth from the First Gulf War in the 80’s - through many conflicts between and 2009 when this story ends. I feel this story could have been told from the 80’s to 2009 without going back and forth. Maybe Jeffrey has his reasons for writing his novel in this flashback fashion but it is beyond me and non-linear timeframe novels are one of my pet hates.

I liked the historical context and accuracy of this novel. Featuring real people in this story added to the realism. However, rather a lot of violent action padded out this story. As an action thriller this novel fails but as a conspiracy it is okay. What is silly though is the amount of theft and violence Gerry Tate is involved in. Most intelligence work involves a huge amount of time monitoring internet activity and individuals. Most intelligence agents do not go around stealing lots of gear and killing people. Gerry Tate does have some cover identities using different names which is a shade confusing, so much so that the author uses her wrong name when she is sailing on a yacht!

I enjoyed reading the Gilgamesh Conspiracy, it is a good read that I will vote 4 stars. It is not the best of conspiracy novels but is still a good read. I have not voted it the top score of 5 stars because of the lack of a rigid straight ahead timeframe, unrealistic amounts of theft and violence plus the unnecessary sexing up of the story, even though the actions of Fiona brought a smile to my face!

The Gilgamesh Conspiracy is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.

The Farm by Catherine Ione Gray.

Janyl lives on The Farm, she is happy but things are about to change. And when they do, she considers leaving. This is her tale of life on The Farm, what is wrong and her escape.

I found this to be an odd novel, no dates are mentioned but it is set in the future. No locations are given but by the language and spelling, I assume it to take place somewhere in America. Janyl is the central character but you only get a vague impression of her personality, her back story is a mystery. Character development of Janyl is poor and the other characters are shallow and play minor roles.

You are left to plunder the mystery of The Farm and the society it is a part of. You will wonder as you read through this book whether Janyl is actually a woman or if she is a farm animal, the story being a parody like Animal Farm, written by George Orwell in 1945.

I found The Farm to be a big disappointment, it was confusing and unrealistic. The plot was very far fetched and very slow to move. The whole point of the novel was lost on me. Maybe it is a long rant by a vegetarian as it raised issues of food production. I got very little reading pleasure from this book and when I got to the end, things just did not add up.

The Farm is a long winded rural ramble like a lazy summer’s afternoon falling asleep on a blanket after a picnic. It is a poor use of your time and after your nap you have the guilt of feeling your time could have been better used. This is a book to AVOID and I will be voting it the minimum score of 1 star. The only people who may like this book are Vegans but even then I doubt they will actually enjoy it and it would be a 2 star read for them.

The Farm is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2013.

Every Scar Has a Story by Sarah Mazucci.

Marla Banks is an attractive girl living in New York yet there is lots of sadness in her life and she self-harms as a way to cope. This novella is about abusive relationships, depression, self-harm and suicide. Sarah starts her book with a plea to readers suffering from abuse, depression or self-harm to seek help.

Sarah ticks all the boxes in a tale highlighting the issues and pressures that lead to Marla being a cutter. Sarah’s writing style is very incident report and comes across like a teenage blogger with boyfriend problems. She is unable to describe the cutting experience with the precision and style I enjoyed in The Cutting Club by April Thomson. However the tale moves on from troubles at home, to troubles at work, to boyfriend trouble before Marla seeks help from a therapist. I will not spoil it by saying what happens next! There are lots of high’s and low’s as Marla gets on with her life.

Sarah uses her novella as a vehicle for vulnerable readers to get help. I can imagine it is a book that teenage girls will find it very easy to relate to. Mature readers however will find this book an okay read with many typos along the way - fancy getting the names wrong at a wedding! There is no bite to the script and it does come across as rather bland. It is not a dynamic story and it is rather predictable. It does not cover new ground and is about as interesting as reading last week’s news. This is tame reading that does not get exciting and is not a thrilling read.

Sarah’s writing quality is poor, she is not a great story-teller or novelist. You will not be on the edge of your seat and her book is not a page-turner. For an entertaining read relaxing at home, Sarah brings nothing to the game. I hope that Sarah’s aim was to encourage vulnerable readers to seek help rather than to be a successful author. Every Scar Has a Story is an okay read that I will vote the middle score of 3 stars and Oh! Sarah, don’t give up the day job lass.

Every Scar Has a Story is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.