The Taken by Alice Clark-Platts.

Follow Detective Inspector Erica Martin as she investigates a murder in Durham of a celebrated preacher, Tristan Snow.

Although this is the second DI Erica Martin novel, it can be read as a stand-alone. There is an awful lot of content in this novel and gives the reader plenty to think about. It is not a regular police crime thriller but one that explores religion, loyalty and the whole meaning of family. I liked the plot and all the characters were likely suspects in the murder of Tristan Snow.

I liked the way the story developed including the journal written by Tristan's wife, Sera. This is not a forensic science heavy police thriller but one where the police have to listen very carefully to what people are saying. There is plenty of drama too with many shocks along the way. Each of these actions are later fully explained and everything has a knock on effect, including the pork chop!

The story was basically set in Durham, a county I lived in for the first 10 years of my life. It also features trips to nearby Peterlee and across the country to Blackpool. The local detail is very good and adds greater depth to this novel.

I found The Taken to be a GOOD read and I liked how you had suspicions about all the characters. It was great that after the murder other incidents took place, so it was not just a simple murder investigation. It was for me an engaging and entertaining read that gets 4 stars from me. I am now looking forward to hopefully the 3rd DI Erica Martin novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin UK for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Blood Lines by Angela Marsons.

Follow Detective Kim Stone in the 5th book of the series as she is on the hunt for a single stab wound killer.

This book can be read as a stand-alone and I have not read any other book by Angela. It is set in the West Midlands and is a mix of Police procedurals and a psychological thriller.

Although many of my friends on Goodreads really enjoyed this book, I found it rather run of the mill. Nothing really hit me about this book, I thought the plot was average and the psychological elements rather far fetched. I did not gain an empathy for the police officers and found the characterisation slim. I did not find Blood Lines to be an entertaining or gripping read.

I found this book quite ordinary and even the dialogue between the characters did not brighten it up. The odd bits of workplace humour were shallow and only raised a small smile, for example…

She found her colleague and friend outside, staring down in amazement. ‘You bought a patio set?’

‘It’s hardly that,’ she said. ‘It’s a bistro table with two chairs. If they’d sold it with just the one chair I’d have bought that,’ she said honestly.

‘But it’s garden furniture,’ he said, putting the drinks down. She looked at the table and chairs aghast.

‘Damn it, they never told me that in the shop,’ she said, sarcastically.

… Blood Lines for me was just a 3 star okay read. I would not recommend this book although it did fill the time. I know Angela has lots of fans who love her books but sorry, I will not become one of them. There was just one point in the story that made me gasp but the rest was just a plodding police story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Bookouture for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Bertie’s Gift by Hannah Coates.

Follow Bertie the beagle in his various quests with other dogs, a pair of cats and pet owners. Oh and this is also a book about Christmas!

I found Bertie’s Gift to be a warm, cosy read. The whole story is told from Bertie’s point of view. But Bertie doesn’t go “Woof! Woolf!” because his vocabulary is very good indeed. This is not a children’s book and is told in an adult way. I liked the focus on Bertie and all those doggy things that are so important to him. His relationships with pet owners is fully explored and it is nice to hear the human with dog relationship explained from the dog’s point of view.

I enjoyed reading Bertie’s Gift and I think that all readers will develop a tremendous empathy for Bertie. I liked how Bertie described his breed and what makes beagles different from other dogs. It brought it all back to me as I once walked a friend’s beagle for just one afternoon and that was 45 years ago!

The story is entertaining but the plot has no surprises. There is no dark mystery, no odd quirky characters and no building suspense. The whole storyline is rather predictable although told in a very loving and warm way. Bertie’s Gift is a very soft read with nothing challenging, disturbing or surprising. It is light reading that is told in a very articulate way. This book does not bite the reader’s imagination but it does smooth your emotions giving you an all over warm, contented feeling. Bertie’s Gift is a GOOD read that I believe succeeds in what it sets out to do and so gets 4 stars from me. Oh and yes, there is a happy although blindingly obvious ending that was foreseen relatively early on. There is no animal cruelty or steamy sex in this book and it is not a tear jerker, just a regular feel good story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Hodder & Stoughton for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Defender by G X Todd.

Pilgrim meets Lacey in this post apocalyptic thriller where some people can hear a voice in their head.

This novel is a little odd as we all kind of talk to ourselves in our heads. So here we have two central characters, Pilgrim and Lacey plus a “contributor” called Voice. So the format of this novel can be rather frustrating.

I found Defender to be a SLOW novel with nothing much happening. It took ages to discover what had happened 7 years ago. Then Pilgrim and Lacey go on a journey with little planning and everything they encounter appears to be unknown. It was a case of the blind, leading the blind. This goes against the reader learning about a story as it unfolds.

As a reader I felt all at sea and lost, in a bad way, as this story bumbled along. I could not fathom what was going on and did not engage with Pilgrim or Lacey. I found the plot very lacking indeed. I thought the whole book was a dull and depressing read.

This novel was not an entertaining read for me. Nothing really sparked my interest. G X Todd went to great depths in describing the scenes but I found the detailed scene setting rather tiresome. The dialogue between characters was basic and the story lacked humour.

Defender was a big disappointment for me and when I got to the poor ending, I thought why did I bother? It is nice to be rewarded by reading a novel but Defender simply bored me. I did not enjoy reading this book, I think it is a POOR read and only gets 2 stars from me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Headline for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Claude's Christmas Adventure by Sophie Pembroke.

Okay, hands up, I was drawn to this book by it’s cover depicting Claude, a French Bulldog. At home we have a little dog called Charlie and he is a Pug X Shih Tzu, so this book would be very easy for me to relate to.

Claude is left behind when his family go away for Christmas which makes for a good starting point for this novel. It is told from 4 points of view, Charlie the French Bulldog, Daisy a busy mother and Charlie’s owner, Jack the local postman and Holly a neighbour.

I enjoyed reading this novel which is centered around the theme of belonging. It explores the needs of both dogs and people to belong to homes, families and communities. It is a very soft and warm book that is full of love and has a strong whiff of romance too! I found it to be a light, fluffy and bright read. It is well written with no bad language or steamy sex and is suitable for readers of all ages.

I liked how Sophie used the 4 character points of view to tell her story. This structure gave her tale a lovely perspective and promoted great empathy for each character. I found the romance gentle and wished the story would work out well for everyone. Sophie described the behaviour and character of Claude very well indeed. Having owned a similar dog for 4 years, Sophie has got the doggy bits of her story spot on!

I found Claude’s Christmas Adventure to be a very pleasant read. It gave me good happy feelings and I felt warm and cosy throughout. It is a feel good book, perfect for holiday reading or times when you do not want a challenging or gritty read but a novel to wash over you gently with ripples of love. So it gets 4 stars from me for being a GOOD read and a packet of Gingerbread for my dog please!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher HarperCollins UK for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

So to finish off this review on my blog is NOT a picture of the book but of Charlie, our pet who is a 4 year old Pug X Shih Tzu.

Selection Day by Aravind Adiga.

From the slums of Mumbai, a father strongly encourages his two sons to excel at cricket and become selected for the team.

Aravind puts the reader in the picture about modern day life in India and you get the feel of Mumbai with the contrasts between the slums and the flash wealthy parts. I enjoyed the local colour and the reflections of the father who had moved from a rural Indian village to the vibrant city of Mumbai.

But this story is a drag and very ordinary. It has your usual hopes of the father, sibling rivalry between two brothers, the challenges of teenage years, growing up, finding your way into adulthood and your sexuality. Yes folks, I found Selection Day to be regular soap opera fodder. Think EastEnders moves to Mumbai to see the relatives on an extended holiday. Don’t be put off by the boring sport of cricket as this is as relevant as one character having a stall on Walford Market.

Aravind won the Man Booker Prize in 2008 for his novel The White Tiger which I thought was an okay 3 star read. But I found Selection Day to be a POOR read and a big disappointment. I did not get pleasure from reading this novel. I did not find it entertaining. Okay it did not bore the pants off me about cricket as this was only a tiny bit of this sorry novel. I did not develop an empathy for the father or his two sons. There wasn’t even some spicy sex to liven things up. Even the handling of the differences between the Hindu and Muslim faiths was tame. So sorry Aravind, Selection Day only gets 2 stars from me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Scribner for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Selection Day is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2016.

Dark Water by Robert Bryndza.

A body is found in dark water at Hayes Quarry on the outskirts of London. DCI Erika Foster wants to investigate in this 3rd book of the series.

I have not read a Robert Bryndza novel before and this novel can be read as a stand-alone. It got my attention straight away and I thought how can Erika solve a case with so very little to go on? I liked how the reader was learning all about the area etc at the same pace as Erika and her team. Robert told his story in such a way that I felt I was part of the team in the incident room. What was nice was that as the story unfolds, I felt that the case could not be solved because of the lack of evidence and the fact the body was dumped 26 years ago. How could anyone solve a case so old? But Erika was determined that she could solve the case.

The plot was very good and the pace spot on. What I really liked was the balance of the story. I felt as though I was living and working alongside the detectives. It has a lovely mix of working and personal life with wonderful characterisation. It nicely played on popular ignorance and prejudices. There was also some well placed workplace humour which further added to your feeling of being there.

Dark Water is a powerful and emotional story. I found it a very rewarding read and between reading sessions I would think about the characters as though it was a true life breaking news story. This book delivers on my appetite for a gritty and entertaining read. I was impressed by the quality of writing and the research that had gone into this novel to make it so realistic.

I can find nothing wrong with Dark Water and it’s content fulfilled my desire for a good read from my drug of choice. Dark Water gets the top score of 5 stars from me and I shall be very happy to read the other books in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Bookouture for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Dark Water is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2016.

Painless by Derek Ciccone.

Carolyn is a 4 year old girl with a very rare inherited genetic disorder called CIPA - Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis. This means that she does not feel pain, hence the title of this novel. Throw into the mix a secret organisation which wants to exploit this condition and we have the makings of this far fetched thriller.

This is Derek’s debut novel and he clearly tries very hard. The plot develops at a steady place with lots of back story and positive character development. The workings of the secret organisation are cleverly written with lots of grey areas making you wonder who the good guys are and who are rogues.

So the basic idea of this novel is rather good but I found this novel to be just an okay 3 star read. Although the building blocks were there the story was told with a very heavy overuse of cliches. One or two trusted cliches would have been okay but this was constant through the dialogue between characters. It was like watching an episode of Catchphrase on television.

Also although the plot was good, the action was very far fetched. Yes, the general public can be quite altruistic but never going so far out of their way like these characters! Then there is the violence and the lack of morality to consider.

Altogether I found Painless to be a 3 star okay read. It did not excel in anyway. If it was a television drama, it would be one that just washes over you. Readers want a little more from their reading pleasure rather than finishing the book and thinking that was okay.

Painless is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was first published in 2009.

The Evil Indie Author by Luis Samways.

In this short book, Luis tells you all you need to know about being an Indie Author through the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing platform.

I really enjoyed reading this book because of his frankness. It is not a get-rich-quick guide but a down to earth business plan. Luis is not writing about fame, fortune or celebrity but the idea of earning a living wage from writing books. He writes with great passion about writing every working day to develop a catalogue of books that will trickle an income to provide a salary similar to any other day job. It is this down to earth realism that is so attractive about this book. He is not talking about mega-riches but a living wage every month for a writer who writes every day.

When you read a regular novel, you should get a good feeling at the end. This book is no different because at the end you come away with the reassurance that should your day job come to a sudden end, there is another field that you could step into to earn a living wage.

So for me this book worked in 2 ways, a fall back job option plus the joy of reading about an imaginative and fulfilling keyboard based working life where you are the boss. Luis gets his message across loud and clear in this short book that was a pleasure to read. Okay, he does rant a little but this book certainly made me think. I found this a refreshing 5 star read and although I am happy in my day job, tapping out this review on my Chromebook does make me wonder!

The Evil Indie Author is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2015.

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

This is the memoir of a Somalia born Dutch politician who made a 10 minute film called Submission with Theo van Gogh. The film caused a stir in Holland and Theo was murdered in November 2004 because of it's criticism of Islam. This book details Ayaan's life from her childhood in Somalia, through years spent in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Holland.

Infidel is a powerful book. It is not a standard memoir of achievements and regrets. It is more than a human interest story. It asks lots of questions about culture, freedom, race, religion and rights. It is frank and open but told with a lot of love and warmth.

I found Infidel a refreshing read. It was not like a diary but more like an educational tour. Through the text I explored how clans in Somlia work and the importance of the family tree. The horrors of Female Genital Mutilation were fully explained…

The man, who was probably an itinerant traditional circumciser from the blacksmith clan, picked up a pair of scissors. With the other hand, he caught hold of the place between my legs and started tweaking it, like Grandma milking a goat. “There it is, there is the kintir,” one of the women said.

Then the scissors went down between my legs and the man cut off my inner labia and clitoris. I heard it, like a butcher snipping the fat off a piece of meat. A piercing pain shot up between my legs, indescribable, and I howled. Then came the sewing; the long, blunt needle clumsily pushed into my bleeding outer labia, my loud and anguished protests, Grandma’s words of comfort and encouragement. “It’s just this once in your life, Ayaan. Be brave, he’s almost finished.” When the sewing was finished, the man cut the thread off with his teeth.

...The oppression of women in Saudi Arabia was discussed. The differences between the cultures of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia were explored. Ayaan writes at great length about the freedoms and how nice the people are living in Holland. There is also a very good analysis of Islam and it's problems explained in a way that non-Muslims can easily understand.

On a lighter note, there are some lovely tales of her grandmother, a woman who had lived a hard life in basic and challenging environments…

My mother, Asha, was born sometime in the early 1940s, along with her identical twin sister, Halimo. My grandmother gave birth to them alone, under a tree. They were her third and fourth children; she was about eighteen, leading her goats and sheep to pasture when she felt the pains. She lay down and bore forth; then she cut the umbilical cords with her knife. A few hours later, she gathered together the goats and sheep and managed to bring the herd home safely before dark, carrying her newborn twins. Nobody was impressed by the exploit; she was only bringing home two more girls.

...Ayaan's writing is very good. I liked the structure of her book, the extensive detail given and her large, descriptive vocabulary. I learned a lot about African cultures and Islam from this book. Infidel is a very moving story and is very well written. Many a moment I had to remind myself that this was someone's real life and NOT a novel. There is a lot of sadness in this book and not just the killings but also the despair within the refugee camps in Kenya.

I found Infidel to be a very good and engrossing read. I agree with her conclusions about Islam and am pleased that although she has received many death threats and has been deported from Holland, she still has the courage to put her opinions and story into the public domain. I can find nothing wrong with this book and vote it the top score of 5 stars for giving me such a fulfilling read. It will also make it easier for me when I encounter Somali passengers on my coach!

Infidel is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2007.

Atom Bomb Angel by Peter James.

This is Peter's second novel that was published in 1982 and was reissued in 2015 featuring a brand new foreword by the author. Atom Bomb Angel is a thriller about terrorists who plan to sabotage Britain's nuclear power stations. Can Max Flynn of MI5 stop their plan?

So what can a book written over 30 years ago offer readers today? Very little, I am afraid. I have enjoyed Peter's other books but I found Atom Bomb Angel to be a big let down. Okay, early on in this novel it is quite cute reading about how things used to be, for example...

In one corner of the state room was a twenty-six-inch Bang and Olufsen colour television set, and next to it was a matching B & O stereo.

The only stitch of clothing on her entire body was a minute bikini bottom, either side of the front of which sprouted thick black tufts of hair.

I caught up with Ethel, the back-marker of the cars, going around Swiss Cottage; Ethel was a brown Morris Ital. I overtook Ethel and sat behind Mavis, a mustard Chrysler Horizon. That's one thing about the security services - they always buy British cars. Anyone worried about being tailed by MI5 can relax if he sees foreign cars behind him. We headed onto the M1, and the traffic was thin. About half a mile ahead, I could see Sheila, a navy Ford Escort.

... But the writing does not shine as it does in Peter's later novels. The plot is poor and dated, more like an old television police drama called The Sweeney. Character development is slim and Max Flynn is a poor man's James Bond. The idealism of the terrorists is not fully explored. Yes, there is action but it is rather comic book and lacks bite. There is nothing clever about this novel and it lacks a WOW! factor. I found it a drag to read. It lacked realism and was frustrating how people popped up in all the right places to help Max Flynn in his quest. What was more puzzling was, bearing in mind how different book publishing was in the 1980's - how did this POOR novel gain a publishing deal?

I was really disappointed with Atom Bomb Angel and was surprised that Pan Books reissued it. Sorry but this POOR read only gets 2 stars from me. There was however one dark, thought provoking idea put forward. What if a radioactive discharge took place and the public was never told?

Atom Bomb Angel has been republished in 2015 and has 323 pages.

All the Blue-Eyed Angels by Jen Blood.

4 people, members of the Payson Church of Tomorrow, died during a fire on 22nd August 1990. Were their deaths an act of mass suicide or murder? Erin saw those flames and 23 years later she decides to uncover the mystery.

Okay, the police did their investigation and ruled it a mass suicide. We all know about religious nutters and how cults work. But the purpose of this novel was to create doubt that it may have been murder. Normally people move on after the event and the police investigation, letting sleeping dogs lay. Erin however, will not move on and so plunges the reader into this mystery.

So I needed to forget about Erin raking up old ground after 23 years and enjoy this novel for what it is. I found Jen Blood very good at planting the seeds of doubt in the reader's mind. The pace was okay and the characters motives were skillfully developed. One of my pet hates is novels that flash back and forth in time. This book keeps flashing back to 1990, which is awkward as the reader is getting information that Erin is blind to. This makes the story a little clumsy but does make you second guess where the plot is going.

I did enjoy the twist and turns along the way with the constant finger pointing. Character development is good and nothing in this story would offend your grandmother. Erin does have the odd kiss but there is no steamy sex. I found this to be a good mystery and although it had it's faults, was still a GOOD read that I will vote 4 stars.

All the blue-eyed angels was written in 2012 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Holding by Graham Norton.

Follow Sergeant PJ Collins as he tries to solve the mystery behind the body uncovered by builders in Duneen, a village in rural Ireland.

This is not a regular mystery or crime thriller novel. I found the plot very lacking. The story is told in the same style that Graham uses at the start of each of his television chat shows. Yes, it is witty and very pleasant but is awfully polite and never hits hard. Graham builds his story by developing the police investigation along the lines of a romantic comedy. The whole novel is soft and more like a situation comedy, for all the wrong reasons. This story does not grab your imagination and is very easy to put down.

Characterization is fair and it is nice the characters are ordinary people rather than glamorous style icons. Fans of crime thrillers will be disappointed in the police work of solving the mystery of the body. Forensics do not play much of a part but cosy chats between Sergeant PJ Collins and the villagers saves the day.

I found Holding rather weak and I got little enjoyment from reading this book. The whole plot was flimsy and when everything was solved, I was disappointed by the shallowness of the story. This is Graham’s debut novel and I feel that had it been by an unknown author, it would not have been published. Graham Norton is a successful television presenter and is very good at that job but his novel is a big disappointment. This book should sell well because of his name, think lazy Christmas presents for people who enjoy his television chat shows. I found this book a POOR read and can only vote it 2 stars. Don’t give up the day job Graham because there are plenty of good debut mystery novels out there but yours is not one of them.

Holding is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2016.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Hodder & Stoughton for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Sleeping Dogs (DI Spicer Book 7) by Chris Simms.

Sleeping Dogs is not your usual crime thriller and this time the investigation is about DI Jon Spicer’s family, in the broader sense. Although this is the 7th book in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone. This novel focuses on dogs and also takes DI Jon Spicer, in his own free time, on an adventure in rural Ireland.

This book is different and covers a lot of ground. Fans of crime thrillers should enjoy it because of the plot and the strong characterisation. Dog lovers should also enjoy it because it is so in tune with the emotions you get from owning a dog. If like me you have a dog and day dream about crime thrillers whilst walking your pet, then Sleeping Dogs is right up your street.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Sleeping Dogs and I thought the balance of characters, dogs, family, plot and rural Ireland was right. I liked the research Chris did for his book and the use of a rare-breed dog that I have never heard of but is very real.

I found Sleeping Dogs a very entertaining read and Chris is on top form. This book was very engaging and with Chris’s use of local spoken English in rural Ireland - the dialogue made it so real - because that is how people speak and made this book a delight to read. Sleeping Dogs is a very good book and I vote it the top score of 5 stars. The epilogue has a good, tail wagging ending and I also liked the section “The ideas behind the story”.

Sleeping Dogs is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.

The Casual Killer (Frank McKenzie Mysteries Series Book 1) by Luis Samways.

Fifteen bodies are found murdered in one Boston home and Detective Frank McKenzie is on the case to catch the killer.

The Casual Killer is far from your average crime/thriller. Frank McKenzie is a cop who bends the rules to get the job done. This novel has an unusual plot when you consider the motives involved.

The story develops at a good pace and you try to work out how things are going and maybe slot together. But then you start to think that the whole plot and action are a little far fetched. More killings take place and the story moves up into top gear. Just as you start to join up the dots the novel quickly ends and you are left thinking “what the ???” and resign yourself to the opinion “oh well, that’s America for you”.

I found The Casual Killer to be a GOOD book which pulls away from the ordinary crime/thriller. Luis has taken great risks with his central character Frank McKenzie, a far fetched plot and lots of questionable violence. But it is a thought provoking read and given the violent everyday scenes throughout America, it questions the culture behind the many killings making the news.

So I vote this book 4 stars for being a GOOD read. It has it’s faults but entertains by being so refreshingly different from those check-sheet police procedurals, where skilled team work solves the crime.

The Casual Killer is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 ¼ Years Old by Hendrik Groen.

83 year old Hendrik Groen lives at a care home in Amsterdam. Here is his 2013 diary.

I got a lot from reading this book, the format is rather good. Remember when people published personal blogs on the web, rather than these very short snippets we now get from Facebook and Twitter? Well, Hendrik’s diary entries are very much like the best of blogs. You have a lovely mix of personal life, current day cultural trends and landmark historical occasions.

This book enables you to enter the very often closed world of life for 80 plus year olds in residential care homes. Although this book is set in Amsterdam, the attitudes, issues and problems are worldwide.

Hendrik’s diary entries are not simple prose but lengthy rants about whatever has got Hendrik’s goat that day. The language used is not simple but very mature and his range of vocabulary is spectacular.

This book brings an intelligent look at the daily life of residents in a care home. It explains what is important to them in their sunset years. I can see parts of this book being used in staff training sessions across a range of industries to explain to workers how the elderly think and understand their world. I found this book very useful and not just in relating to elderly passengers travelling on my National Express coach. My own father is also 83 years old and this month has just moved into a residential care home in Cardiff. This book helped me to see things through my dad’s eyes too. Not only does it give an 83 year old’s take on care homes, other residents, cultural changes and historical events but also the challenges posed to residents who have dementia. Because of the way dementia creeps on, I was blind to my father developing vascular dementia and just thought he was getting old and not bothering to compete for conversation between my mother and my wife. I was concerned how my father would cope with being split away from my mother, put into a care home and accepting his own dementia.

I found this book helpful, informative and reassuring. It allowed me to enter my father’s world and see it from his eyes. When I read this, I thought “that’s my dad!”...

Everyone in here has strong views on the subject of cake crumbs in fish tanks. But ask them what they think of the war in Syria and they’ll stare at you as if you’ve just asked them to explain the theory of relativity. A handful of fish floating belly-up are a thousand times worse than a busload of women and children blown to smithereens in some far-off country.

...I took a lot from this book and found it a pleasure to read. There is a lovely humour that runs through this book that is all deprecating, for example…

So indeed, yesterday I attended ‘Feel Good Fitness’. It was my first time. And also my last. When it was over and the instructor - ‘Call me Tina’ - gushed that I should definitely come again next week, I told her right then and there that once was enough. ‘Oh, and why is that?’ she asked suspiciously. ‘Because with so much female pulchritude about, I can’t concentrate on the exercises properly. I stiffen up.’

… I really liked this book and it was great to enter Hendrik’s world on such an intimate and personal level. Even if you do not have an elderly relative living in a care home, it is great read in the way that reality television fails to capture. It is a very good reading experience that I will vote the top score of 5 stars because it is entertaining, informative and rather witty.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Nina is NOT OK by Shappi Khorsandi.

Nina is 17 and lives in London where she also goes to college. Nina is sociable and chatty plus she also enjoys a drink. Follow Nina for a year in this first person narrative.

The writing style of this novel was simply a pleasure to read. Shappi writes her novel in the same voice as she uses on her stand-up comedy routines on television. Reading her book, you can imagine Shappi performing the content as a monologue on stage. However, Nina can perform too, especially after a drink and you can’t forget how she got that mess on her hair.

The story starts as a jolly tale with a lot of wit. For example…

It’s not jealousy, it’s not. Just fucking infuriating. Why do guys go mental over tall, skinny women with blonde hair? Why do girls like Zoe get watches on second dates and I get pictures of dodgy men’s cocks?

...But as the story progresses and Nina turns 18, serious issues are raised, notably alcoholism and sexual consent. There is great social commentary in this novel, which is Shappi’s first and I found the language used was spot-on for how teenagers talk today. I found this book both enlightening and entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and felt privileged to enter another world. You can escape into a world of youth and lots of drama.

Nina is NOT OK is a lovely down to earth drama which is easy to relate to and features ordinary people like the girl next door. I like the way Shappi built her supporting characters, they were a balanced mix of girl friends, boys and middle aged adults. The spread of Nina’s girl friends reminded me of that great sitcom on television called Some Girls which ran for 3 series between 2012 and 2014.

I think this book will appeal to both genders and all ages. I am a 57 year old man and I found this novel refreshing with all the social observations woven into the storyline. It is all about being human and making mistakes. There is a little bit of Nina in all of us, from making poor choices from time to time, enjoying a drink and getting sexual urges. This exploration of human nature with all it’s highs and lows plus some wonderful character development, made this book such a joy for me to read. The quality of writing is first class and I really engaged with Nina. It was a treasure to see the world through her eyes and this book creates a milestone of understanding about alcohol and sexual urges.  It will help readers understand how some people can so easily become an alcoholic and how easy it can be for them to relapse, time and time again. Thanks to Shappi for writing a top class novel that I will vote the top score of 5 stars.

Nina is NOT OK was written in 2016 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Ebury Press for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.

Stalker by Lars Kepler.

This novel starts…

It wasn’t until the first body was found that anyone took the film seriously. A link to a video clip on YouTube had been sent to the public email address of the National Criminal Investigation Department. The email contained no message, and the sender was impossible to trace.

… and so this crime thriller set in Sweden gets off to it’s creepy start as Margot Silverman leads the police chase to catch the stalker and serial killer.

Stalker is the 5th novel in the Joona Linna series but I have NOT read ANY of the other 4. What I thought would be a regular police crime thriller was very different because although Margot was in charge of the police investigation, Joona Linna an ex-cop and his friend Erik, a doctor - poked their noses into the case. This angle was odd because generally the reader follows just one lead character/detective as they solve the case. I did not feel as though it was one character’s story and with the content spread across Erik, Joona and Margot, I was unable to fully engage with the plot. I constantly thought, why are Erik and Joona poking their noses into police business rather than getting on with their lives? It was very difficult to root for Erik and Joona.

What was good about this plot was just how difficult it was for the police to pick up clues. The stalker/serial killer was forensically aware and those YouTube clips just poked fun at the police but gave nothing away. I liked how Lars Kepler made the stalker very creepy in the tale. The tone of suspense and danger/threat was spot on. From time to time you would suspect characters of being the stalker as the story moved on. But I did find the shifting focus between Erik, Joona and Margot a distraction. This structure of story telling was a disappointment for me.

I liked how the character Jackie brought into the story how blind people cope in their daily lives. The mysteries were explained and were a gentle way to raise public awareness. The humour within this novel was gentle too, for example…

‘Our lives aren’t boring,’ Thomas says calmly. ‘There’s nothing boring about not using drugs, or alcohol or tobacco… or coffee or tea.’

‘Why not coffee?’ Adam asks.

‘Because the body is a gift from God,’ he replies simply.

‘If it’s a gift, then surely you can drink coffee if you want to?’ Adam retorts.

‘Of course, it isn’t set in stone,’ Thomas says lightly. ‘It’s just guidance…’

‘OK,’ Adam nods.

‘But if we listen to this guidance, the Lord promises that the angel of death will pass our home and not kill us.’ Thomas smiles.

‘How quickly does the angel come if you mess up badly?’ Margot asks.

... This novel covers a lot of ground, a nice tour around sex and drugs but is rather far fetched in places, especially towards the end. But the epilogue is very good, especially the explanation of stalking and obsessive fixation syndrome.

I thought Stalker was a 4 star GOOD read, it got the creepiness of stalking spot on but lacked the character development and dynamics of police procedurals. It was a good crime thriller but not in the top division. The split between Erik, Joona and Margot simply did not work for me. I think readers like to strongly follow a single character rather than a trio who do not work for the same firm. But it was a GOOD read and will make me think twice about walking my dog whilst wearing my yellow rain coat with a camera in my pocket.

Stalker was written in 2014 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook. Lars Kepler is the pen name for the Swedish literary couple Alexander Ahndoril and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Harper Collins UK for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.