Sunday 31 August 2014

Kindle Fire HD Manual by Jake Jacobs.

This brief manual tells you what the Kindle Fire HD can do. It is easy reading and gives you an insight into the scope of content available. Jake keeps it simple and consise making his manual an okay read that I will vote as 3 stars. He puts you on the right path to enjoy your Kindle Fire HD for what it is.

Kindle Fire HD Manual is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2013.

Thursday 28 August 2014

Hidden by Derick Parsons.

Kate Bennett is a psychologist working in Dublin. Hidden is mystery thriller concerning secrets that are hidden for various reasons. Very slowly those secrets are exposed throughout this novel as the reader learns how people cope with past traumas in a variety of ways. Kate even takes on a new patient called Grainne, a very troubled teenager, although it is not until Chapter 7 - which is 20% into the story before you meet her.

Hidden is a good book that has plenty of clues thrown in along the way. You work through the 27 chapters and then have everything confirmed in the epilogue. Hidden is a book about how people think and cope with life. This is not a workplace drama as Kate has her own problems and history to deal with, Grainne is yet another challenge to her.

Hidden is an interesting read because it gets you to spot problems and understand people. You are entertained becuase each new character gives you doubts about their honesty and motives. The pace of the story is steady and covers a lot of ground. It has all the hallmarks of a good television drama. The delight is how you process the clues and imagine what lies behind the secrets. It does not matter how you interpret the clues, it is the fact that those clues fire your imagination.

I enjoyed reading Hidden and thought it was a good book that I will vote 4 stars. I feel that readers who enjoy the hugely successful Kathy Reichs forensic pathologist series of books, should also enjoy Hidden. For a debut novel, Derick has done very well and I look forward to his next book.

Hidden is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2012.

Tuesday 26 August 2014

Nifty Fifty (Plus) Free Apps for the Kindle Fire by Edward Jones.

There are so many free apps for the Kindle Fire that Edward Jones has written this guide to possibly the best 50. As brief guides go, it serves a purpose. It gives a snapshot of what is available.

However, because the choice is huge and people differ so much, this guide could only point you in the right direction. It is not the best of guides to read and I think you would be better off spending your time trawling through the Amazon Apps Store and Google Play. This guide is a disappointment and although it may help novice users, to anyone who has used the internet before, it is nothing more than you can hear from your neighbour across the garden fence.

This guide is a POOR read and is nothing more than a pull out newspaper supplement, so I will vote it 2 stars.

Nifty Fifty (Plus) Free Apps is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2012.

Monday 25 August 2014

Kindle Fire HD User Guide by Ken A. Douglas.

This guide tells you all you need to know to start using a Kindle Fire HD. It is clearly written and very easy to understand. Ken talks you through the history of the Kindle Fire, what it can do and how to get the best from it.

I enjoyed reading this guide which very quickly told me what I wanted to know. By reading this guide you can decide if this is the right device for you to purchase. If it is then you will know exactly how to use it right out-of-the-box.

Ken has written a good user guide that I will vote as 4 stars.

Kindle Fire HD User Guide is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Friday 22 August 2014

I'm Used Abused & Paid (The Holiday Whoring Series) by Cindy Centurion.

This is a short story about a prostitute called Mae. She has a job with a punter who likes rough sex.

As short erotic stories go, this one is BAD. It is cheap writing and this short story is bundled as a teaser to Cindy's other work. Cindy sets the scene of Mae dressing up for her job as though she is describing a women's clothing catalogue. The encounter with the punter is mundane and the sex is vanilla. Oh! big deal, in the height of passion the punter grabs the prostitutes throat. No harm is done and Mae walks away with only 50% of her fee. Both the prostitute and the reader are short changed. This is a bad short story, all tease and nothing to recommend. This is a short story to AVOID and I vote it the minimum score of 1 star.

I'm Used Abused & Paid is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.

Wednesday 20 August 2014

Going Underground by Chris Ward.

This short dystopian story is about Rob, who had heard rumours that trains continued running on the disused London Underground tube network. Rob finds a spot where he can sneak into a disused station and meets an old man to whom he explains his mission.

I did not like this short story as it did not grab me. I found it very dark and slow. There were only 2 characters in this tale and their dialogue was rather drab. Nothing sparked my imagination and I was not entertained. Chris has published this short story to try and lead readers onto his Tube Riders novels. Well, I will leave those trains in the depot!

I found reading Going Underground a chore. It never seemed to gather momentum and the ending was no big surprise. I will not be getting Tube Riders and I vote this sad little tale the minimum score of 1 star.

Going Underground is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2012.

Sunday 17 August 2014

I'm Used Abused & Paid by Cindy Centurion.

This is a short story about a prostitute called Mae. She has a job with a punter who likes rough sex.

As short erotic stories go, this one is BAD. It is cheap writing and this short story is bundled as a teaser to Cindy's other work. Cindy sets the scene of Mae dressing up for her job as though she is describing a women's clothing catalogue. The encounter with the punter is mundane and the sex is vanilla. Oh! big deal, in the height of passion the punter grabs the prostitutes throat. No harm is done and Mae walks away with only 50% of her fee. Both the prostitute and the reader are short changed. This is a bad short story, all tease and nothing to recommend. This is a short story to AVOID and I vote it the minimum score of 1 star.

I'm Used Abused & Paid is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.

Friday 15 August 2014

Evening Prayer by D. G. McIntosh.

Bill Braddock is a successful, top earning, high spending lawyer until things go badly wrong for him.

Evening Prayer is a tale of the plight of homeless people trying to survive day to day in America. It highlights the hidden problems of the homeless, a life that is unseen by most of the population. It shows just how easy it is to find yourself homeless through no fault of your own. It is not just the odd homeless guy that has taken a lifestyle choice to live on the streets but thousands of people thrown out of their homes into squalor. You will be surprised at the sheer numbers that go unseen living cheek by jowel in the prosperous cities. The homeless share a despair and lack of hope as they survive with no status or rights. This book really makes you appreciate your home and the security it provides. Evening Prayer is a gritty read with plenty of realism and a strong social message.

This book does get off to a rather slow start. I initially did not have any empathy for Bill as he was a big spending, money show off. The author has an obsession with describing furniture. A table is a table but to the author it has a certain type of wood, of various age and carved in a particular style. This obsession bored me but he does not care about proof reading or spelling. Trying to understand the typos decreased my enjoyment of this otherwise good book, so I will vote it 4 stars.

Evening Prayer is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.

Thursday 14 August 2014

Durga The Warrior Goddess by Rhada Surya.

This little book is about a Goddess called Durga. It is a poorly written book with no structure and scripted in small paragraphs. It is a complete ramble and when I finished I was no better informed than before I started. This book makes no sense and I wonder why Rhada has bothered to publish it. Therefore I suggest you give this book the MISS and I will vote it just 1 star.

Durga The Warrior Goddess is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2012.

Wednesday 13 August 2014

For the Brides of Gopalpur by Umme Raza.

This is an epic Indian short story about a wedding in Gopalpur some 600 years ago.  This work of fiction is narrative poetry with 4 lines to each verse. It is an odd little book because of it's structure and constant rhymes. I do not think that poetry works as a short story because the words have to have a musical rather than a story telling feel. You do enter a different and quite magical world, so this makes an okay coffee time read that I will vote with 3 stars.

For the Brides of Gopalpur is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2002.

Monday 11 August 2014

Carnival Girl Lover by Soichiro Irons.

Carnival Girl Lover is a romantic erotica short story. Adrian meets Serena at a carnival and they have some fun together.

As short stories go, Carnival Girl Lover is not much fun. Soichiro writes clearly but there is nothing special about this tale. It is simple vanilla sex and nothing unusual happens. Character development is poor and the dialogue is ordinary. Carnival Girl Lover is a boring read and does not brighten up your day. It is about as much fun as reading a cookery book so I can only give it the bare minimum score of 1 star.

Carnival Girl Lover is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2011 and republished in 2014.

Thursday 7 August 2014

Against Her Will by Peter Martin.

Donna is walking to the train station when she is grabbed and violently raped. This novel follows her recovery from rape trauma.

Against Her Will is not a survivor tale told in the first person but a suspense thriller in which you wonder what may happen next. There is a lot of tension in this novel and Peter has made a creepy story as Donna tries to move on from her attack. This is a powerful story that fully describes the fear that Donna holds as she tries to rebuild her life. She views every man with suspicion and finds everyday living a great challenge. You pick up on her fear that lurking around the corner, her attacker may be watching her and ready to strike again. This fear and suspense continues until the very end of this novel.

Do not let the initial violent rape scenario put you off this novel. The rape just sets the atmosphere of mistrust that is crucial to the suspense of the book. Peter has taken a risk by using a taboo subject and including such a violent start to his novel. But this is a good suspense thriller that will not let you down. Peter has the knack of telling a creepy tale where you mistrust the central characters so much.

How can a book with such a violent start be such a good read? It is all down to the storytelling and the timing of those little clues. This is a suspense thriller that is gripping and therefore does it's job. Against Her Will is a thrilling read and makes for a good book that I will vote 4 stars.

Against Her Will is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2013.

Friday 1 August 2014

Black Hat (Raven Children) by Kayla Al-Shamma-Jones.

Maeve is a 22 year old university student who has been given a pill by her room-mate Anne to help her study better. She takes just this one pill and suddenly things start to go wrong for her. Black Hat is a supernatural tale about a strange old man with big eyes who watches Maeve whilst wearing a black hat.

I suppose this novel is aimed at Young Adults as it highlights the dangers of taking drugs. It shows how just one pill of an unknown substance can wreck your life and maybe lose your sanity. Because it delves into the supernatural it loses any gritty urban realism. Black Hat is an easy read and provides a distraction. However, the entertainment value is POOR and this is not a fulfilling read. There is nothing special about this story and it did not provoke much interest for me.

It was hard to feel any empathy for Maeve as she has quite a spoilt little girl attitude.Her relationship with her parents is disrespectful and she can be rather rude to everyone. I did not find anything to like about this novel, so I can only vote it 2 stars.

Black Hat is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2012. This novel is Volume 1 of the Raven Children series. Volume 2 is called The Weeping Room and I shall not be bothered to download a copy.