Deception (Powell Book 3) by Bill Ward.

And so onto the 3rd book in the series, which can be read as a standalone. This time the trouble comes to Powell’s bar in Brighton with a request to help an old friend who he met in Saudi Arabia called Lara.

I found Deception to be far better than the two previous books in the series. Bill continues with the same characters from book 2 and there is more gritty sex to enjoy! Deception weaves conspiracy and terrorism into the story which has a very good plot. This book is very much in the mould of the popular BBC television series Spooks.

I liked the questions Bill asked through his novel about the war on terror and how to deal with ISIS. These questions were thought provoking outside the plot of this novel and the many what-ifs make you wonder how far governments will go outside their borders. This book was written before the real-life chemical attack in Salisbury of Sergei and Yulia Skripal on the 4th March 2018. So Bill clearly had his finger on the pulse with exactly what can happen in the UK.

Deception captured my imagination and I found it thought provoking because of the problems caused by misinformation and the value of intelligence gathered under interrogation. 

I liked how all the characters had to cope with misdirection and how the reader has to shift through all this data to see the wood for the trees. This unravelling of truths and plausible lies made for Deception to be an enjoyable and entertaining read. This makes Deception an OUTSTANDING 5 star read and shows that Bill has returned to the form he revealed when he published both Revenge and Encryption.

Deception was written in 2015 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Abducted (Powell Book 2) by Bill Ward.

Book 2 in the Powell series starts off where Book 1 finished but it can be read as a standalone.

I was put off by Powell returning to Romania as I hoped the next book would be a new story. But Bill decided to continue with the problems surrounding Afina and Mara. It was a full ten per cent into Abducted before Powell had completed his business in Romania and the reader could take up Powell’s new challenge.

Surprise, surprise and yet again Powell was dealing with big money as he was not doing extra work for the National Minimum Wage. This time he was helping to recover two children who were abducted from the UK to Saudi Arabia. For this work Powell charged a staggering £1,000 a day plus expenses and the mother was happy to pay his fees!

Okay, Bill is clearly having more fun with his novel as our flash hero Powell spends money like water and enjoys some more sex along the way. I found Abducted to be a fun read and not to be taken seriously. I liked how Bill created a range of interesting characters in Saudi Arabia. I liked how all the characters had active parts to play in the recovery of the two children.

I was frustrated at how in many chapters the story returned to Brighton for an update on how Afina and Mara were getting along. This seemed unnecessary as although the reader was brought up to speed, Powell was left in the dark.

Still, Powell gets the job done and sorts a few things out in Brighton on his return in an action packed ending.

I thought Abducted was an Okay 3 star read that lacked realism but was fun to read. The inclusion of terrorism and the intelligence services improved this story from being a simple search and rescue mission to be a loosely spooks based scenario. Overall I found Abducted to be not as good as Trafficking but still worth a read.

Abducted was written in 2015 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Trafficking (Powell Book 1) by Bill Ward.

Set in Brighton, we have the usual story of a young woman who has been brought into the UK with the promise of a job, only to find that job does not exist but she must repay the people who have trafficked her.

Trafficking is the first book in the Powell series and he is the hero who helps the victim. Powell has luck on his side as he has plenty of money plus he has special skills and contacts he developed from his previous job with MI5.

Although the trafficking of sex slaves is a serious issue, this story is told in a jolly way. I imagine Bill had great fun writing the sex scenes in his story. I found the sex and the characters very entertaining, there was something for everyone, lesbians included.

Although Afina, the young woman from Romania was the victim, she was also very lucky in the people she bumped into. The two lesbians she met along the pavement just bent over backwards to help her. These strangers did not point her in the right direction but took her under their wings. Powell with his flash BMW car simply doled out the cash without question. Powell could also with the odd phone call get a lot of help with no questions asked. But although Afina and Powell are lucky, don’t let this lack of realism spoil your enjoyment of this story.

I enjoyed Trafficking and found it light, easy reading. I thought the plot was average and the pace good. Having recently had our car serviced and was offered fixed prices for different jobs which could be done, it made me smile that Bill included a full tariff of rates charged in a brothel. I liked this extra detail as it added perspective to the story.

Yes, there is misery about sex slaves all around the world but Trafficking is a jolly GOOD read that gets 4 stars from me.

Trafficking was written in 2015 and is available as an Amazon KIndle eBook.

I Talk Too Much: My Autobiography by Francis Rossi.

Francis Rossi is the lead guitarist and singer of the very popular and successful British rock band Status Quo. Here is his memoir, refreshingly told in his own words.

Switching from my regular reads in the crime/thriller/mystery genre, I Talk Too Much was quite a surprise. Francis does not write like a regular author and his writing style is very personal. He writes in very long paragraphs which are a shock at first until your brain gets into gear and you slot into his rhythm. His memoir reads like a television  chat show guest who is given free reign to tell his story. And boy! What a story it is!

I have seen Status Quo performing on stage many times but that was a very long time ago! What I loved about this book was the way Francis told his story, it was riveting. I feel that you do not need to be a fan to enjoy his book. If you simply like books that deal with people doing their day jobs, then you should get a lot from this autobiography.

Francis is now 70 years old and his memoir gives a lovely perspective on things. You get a mature view on life, love and work. I got a lot from this and found the whole book entertaining. I Talk Too Much was simply a joy to read. I think it is a wonderful memoir.

I liked how Francis was very frank about his life. He writes about his failings and mistakes. His is very honest and lists his regrets. He writes about women, sex and drugs. He writes about marriage and having children. He is very open about his use of cocaine.

I loved how Francis’s personality shone through his memoir in the way he told his anecdotes, for example…

Meanwhile, as a teenager I did more of less become part of Alan’s family. For better of worse. The Lancasters were an archetypal hard-as-nails old south London family from Peckham. They had a black cat called Nigger.

And…

Jean had always kept me from meeting her mum before we were married. Now I found out why. The woman could be very difficult. It was as though she had leapt straight from the pages of a Les Dawson joke about mothers-in-law. She would sit slumped in the armchair, chain smoking, with her old fashioned dress pulled up around her hips so that you could see her big old-lady knickers and she would do the most evil-smelling farts. Much to her poor daughter’s annoyance and embarrassment.

I liked how Francis explained the changing dynamics within Status Quo and how the music business works. Status Quo worked very hard over the decades and were famous for always touring. Francis and his band really put the hours in, the concerts were more than promotional tours for a new record but a way of life. Francis has moved with the times and how the music business is very different now to the 1970’s. I loved his comments about recorded music formats when he wrote…

I know they keep banging on about the so-called vinyl revival, but that’s like saying people still make black-and-white movies. It’s a fetish. A cult. Nice if you are into it, meaningless to almost everybody else.

I loved this book and think it is an OUTSTANDING 5 star read. It has an intimacy that makes you feel as though he is a mate sitting next to you. When you reach the end, you are left in no doubt that Francis knows all about his day job and the really important things in life.

I Talk Too Much was written in 2019 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.