Dark Beach by Lauren Ash.

Jenny goes on holiday with her husband Ron, their daughter Kip and their dog Charlie to stay in a beach house at Rocky Shores.

With a title of "Dark Beach" and a moody start to this novel, you hope for an exciting mystery. WRONG. This is a moody tale of a pregnant woman on holiday. Sometimes you go on holiday and you wonder why other tourists actually bother to go away. Well with Jenny and Ron droning on about the beach house, you just want them to pack up and go home so that you can read an entertaining novel instead.

Dark Beach is a poor read. It does not entertain but just drones on with it's hints of forgotten mystery surrounding the beach house. Dark Beach is all promise and very little action. I developed no empathy for any of the characters. This book was a drag to read and I hoped it would improve towards the end but it just droned on. The ending was disappointing in the extreme.

I took nothing away from this book except that I am glad I am not married to a boring woman like Jenny. Dark Beach is available as a 291 KB Amazon Kindle eBook that was written in 2012. Thankfully I obtained a free download and did not pay for this very poor attempt at a novel. Lauren Ash does not have the skill for storytelling and I vote her book only 2 stars.

CCTV Blue(s) by Brian Martin.

Mark Watson works behind the scenes viewing live CCTV screens in a control room. His job is to help with UK airport security and if he sees anything dodgey, he has to alert a supervisor. Then those CCTV images are saved, filed and appropriate action is taken. CCTV Blue(s) is Mark's story as this book reveals what goes on behind the scenes and the effect it has on the CCTV operators.

Mark is on the watch for three activities. Drugs, money and sex. As the story unfolds the reader learns about how security systems work in our airports and the targets the operators are looking for. Much of their work is monitoring the mundane movement of ordinary, innocent travellers. Occassionally the operators chance upon something of interest and they alert their supervisor.

CCTV Blue(s) asks the questions about why Britain has become the most monitored nation on our planet. It attempts to show what hidden agendas may be at play by both our government and the commercial companies running these security operations. This book shows the culture where everyone is a suspect and are closely monitored with access-all-areas cameras. Everybody is viewed with suspicion, the general public and staff alike.

Mark has a life outside of work and part of this book is about how his work affects his spare time, family and friends. The plot rolls on and relationships develop. This book is not soley about how CCTV is used but that people have a life beyond those 2 dimensional images.

Many travellers are caught on the CCTV cameras by Mark. These incidents are amusing and demonstrate the wonderful diversity we share within our society. None of these incidents are shocking or offensive and the title of CCTV Blue(s) is a little bit of a tease. The sex scenes are very tame and this is NOT an erotic novel.

This book draws to an end that enables the reader to form their own opinion of CCTV surveilence in our country and how those images are saved or used. I think it is good that Brian Martin has written this book as the general public can be blissfully unaware of how
much power is being developed under the guise of protection. All companies and governments claim that CCTV is for our protection but many people know that there is a hidden agenda. CCTV Blue(s) is a cautionary tale as Britain sleepwalks into a Big Brother society.

I really enjoyed reading this book that is available as a 399 KB Amazon Kindle eBook. It is bang up to date with it's focus as it was written in 2013 and mentions the American Prism program. CCTV Blue(s) is a good book and I vote it 4 stars.

Beautiful Force by Ella Quinn.

Allison is a sex psychotherapist and tries to help her patients while pleasing her own desires. This is the story about control and how sometimes men have the upper hand but at others it is women who hold all the cards.

This novel starts off with such promise, maybe exploring the work of a sex psychotherapist and the many problems the patients present. Peoples' sexual lives differ greatly and we can all be voyeurs as we wonder what goes on behind closed doors. Maybe this book will reveal some of those secrets and present answers to problems within sexual relationships.

WRONG. Beautiful Force is one of the worse books that I have read. There are just two main characters, Allison the sex psychotherapist and Channing a patient. It does cover Allison's relationship with her father and other patients plus their spouses.

Ella's writing is dreary and all her characters ramble on in long boring conversations. The sessions of psychotherapy drone on and on. There is very little action, it is unrealistic and simply a tease that Allison may be some wonderful sex guru who takes her patients litterally in her own hands to cure their problems. Will her patients who have lost their libido turn on her with animalistic desire or will the reader fall asleep in an armchair? If you think this novel could be a sexual turn on, think again because it is like counting sheep.

Beautiful Force could not even class as erotic. What sex there is appears pedestrian and vanilla. There is no plot as such although the ending is no great surprise as Ella has drip thread the possibilities from the very start when she dedicated her book to having a second chance. I do not suggest you give Beautiful Force one chance but give it a MISS. I took nothing away from this book and will not be reading another of Ella Quinn's novels.

Beautiful Force is 298 KB of waffle that is an absolute bore that was written in 2012. It is like listening to one side of a conversation on a mobile telephone as a passenger on a coach drones on and on for the whole goddamn journey.

Aiden's Sphere by Jonathan Brizendine.

This book gets off to a good start with twin plot lines about a strange forcefield and a mysterious virus, divided into short chapters. Aiden's Sphere was written in 2013 and is available as a 408 KB ebook. It is lightweight reading that is enjoyable and fun.

Aiden Walker is a 17 year old living in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is a bright kid with a "can do" attitude who can get things done. This novel has a good storyline that maintains a mystery of how the forcefield and the virus will turn out. Aiden is lucky at how things are easily available for him to use and how he can go straight to the top among government agencies.

Aiden's Sphere is not a challenging read or a literary masterpiece. It is second rate science fiction where you wonder whether the forcefield or the mystery virus will kill them first. This novel is not true to life but a fun make believe story. There is no realism but plenty of escapism in a kids story way.

This is a good book that I will vote 4 stars. The ending is rather predictable in a sugary sweet way. It is a funny, sweet American story where the good guys win in the end.

Walk a Mile In My Shoes (I'm a Survivor NOT a Victim) by Kristie Romero

This book is a short memoir of just 161 KB that was written in 2013. Kristie just wanted to be a normal kid growing up with her single mum. Kristie had a bad start in life. Sadly her childhood was not normal and Kristie fell victim to abuse, harassment, imprisonment, neglect, rape, self harm and violence.
Kristie was a victim of her circumstances, over which she had no control. No sooner had Kristie escaped one abusive encounter, had she stumbled into another abusive situation. You then realize how unlucky some people can be when family lets them down. You discover how easy it is for victims of all types of abuse to be targeted by other abusers and the cycle of abuse continues.
Kristie stood strong through all that life could throw at her and after all the trauma, this memoir has a happy ending. Walk a Mile In My Shoes is a very good book and I vote it 5 stars. There are quite a few typos within the text but do not let them spoil this amazing story. I am pleased that Kristie has put her story into the public domain, as I feel it will help other victims of abuse recover from their ordeal. Her memoir is a true inspiration to victims of all types of abuse. This is an exciting story for readers of a regular childhood and adult life, I really enjoyed reading it.

Underneath by Kealan Patrick Burke.

Dean is being bullied at school and his bully has set him the challenge of having a date with the school freak. Stephanie has a badly scared face and other pupils poke fun at her. Dean asks her out in the hope that the bullying will stop if Stephanie agrees to a date. Stephanie gives Dean a keen and wanting look as she is normally ignored by all the other boys.
Underneath is a short story of just 205 KB and was written in 2010. It is a quirky read all the way to the end and it is rather refreshing. Dean is apprehensive about going on his first date but is spurred on by the look in Stephanie's eyes. I developed a lot of empathy for both characters and wondered where this novella was going.
There is a lot of intrigue in this story which addresses a lot of social issues. Underneath is not just about the menace of bullying but also about how people judge others only by what is on the surface rather than what is underneath. People's surface can hide both sadness and joy.
Underneath is a good read and I vote it 4 stars. There is a twist at the end and this novella has a strong social message to take away with you.

Looking Good Dead by Peter James.

Tom Bryce finds a CD on a train and inserts it into his laptop. Then the trouble starts and Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is on the trail to solve a murder and more. This novel is set around Brighton and has a good plot with a plausible background. This entertaining story gives a nice insight into the work of the Police High Tech Crime Unit and how criminals may use computers.

Looking Good Dead is another crime thriller in the DS Roy Grace series. Although the main character in this series is DS Roy Grace, it is all about networking and working as a team. Lots of favours are asked between various people, who respond and together save the day. There is a nice dry gallows humour between the Police Officers...

A good choice of location for a safe house, Grace thought, except for one minor detail that appeared to have been overlooked. Who in their right bloody mind would put a paedophile in a house a few hundred yards away from a school playing field? He shook his head. Didn't anybody ever think?
'Is Mr D'Eath expecting us?' Nicholl asked.
'With morning coffee and a box of Under Eights I expect.' Norman Potting said, following this with a throaty chuckle.

...This book is a brilliant illustration of the wonders of team work. Without the flagging and passing on of tiny bits of information between many Police Officers, these crimes would not have been solved. Peter James is very good on police procedures in this book of 519 pages which was published in 2006.

Looking Good Dead is a good story and I vote it 4 stars. This is a stand-alone novel, although reading it straight after Dead Simple, it is a seamless follow-on. I am a little disappointed at how much appeared to be brought over from Dead Simple, which is quite lazy as this was not new content. There is another dramatic ending in the style of an action hero movie.

Looking Good Dead shows how ordinary acting and looking people could be involved in the darker side of society, without anyone suspecting.