Don’t mess with Meadowside! by Michelle McGrath

This is a 2,500 word short story about the residents of Meadowside Residential Home as they launch Operation Retribution. They have been a target of anti-social behaviour from some teenage school boys and plan their revenge.

As short stories go, this is rubbish. It is a very tame story told for people with a very low reading age. It has as much style and content as an advertisement for replacement double glazed windows. Short stories should be quick, sharp and excite but this is very dull and obvious. The dialogue is what you can expect from a children's comic.

Nothing attracted me to this short story as it left me so cold and bored. Michele has used this story to promote her other books but as adverts and teasers go, this is a put off. Don't Mess With Meadowside! is a simple tale for simple people that I will vote the lowest score of 1 star.

Don’t mess with Meadowside! is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was published in 2014.

The Cutting Club by April Thompson.

The Cutting Club has four simple rules, no cutting deep, no Killer cuts, tell no one and keep your distance. But sadly things can go wrong.

The Cutting Club is a YA novel about high school teenagers in America and how they cope with life. The characters self-harm for various reasons and this adds a certain darkness to the story. Slowly each character's back story unfolds and you wonder how the story will develop. I quickly developed an empathy for the lead characeter Liz and her personality was fully explored. Before the end you discover Liz's dark secret that makes her self harm.

This book is a thriller all the way to the end. It is sympathetic to readers who may self harm and does not put a negative judgement on the characters. For readers who do not self harm, it explores a lot of the reasons why and the feelings involved. The descriptions of the cuttings are very powerful indeed and the thrill rushes off the page at you. I am NOT qualified to offer an opinion if this book COULD be a trigger to a self harmer.

I think The Cutting Club is a good read. It covers emotional issues and tackles the hidden activity of self-harm. Although the book may be aimed at the YA audience, because of the darkness, suspense and tension it will appeal to older readers. The plot lines are good and this makes for a thrilling read which I will vote 4 stars.

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

Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo.

Cockroaches is the second Harry Hole thriller by the top selling Norwegian author Jo Nesbo. Detective Harry Hole travels to Bangkok to investigate the murder of the Norwegian ambassador.

So, welcome to the Harry Hole brand. You do not need to have read the first novel The Bat, in the series to enjoy this book. Cockroaches stands on it's own and although scenes from The Bat are referred to in a back story fashion, they are not crucial to this story. Cockroaches is a stand alone read but fans of the first novel will enjoy the continuity in the same way they do with a Police television series.

The plot is very complex and the story telling has the same anecdotal quality that his fans enjoy. Cockroaches is a top quality read and puts Jo Nesbo at the top of crime thriller drama. It made my head buzz trying to understand who the murderer was and whether he/she was responsible for all the dirty tricks. There were very many vaild suspects and Jo teases the reader by pointing them in one direction only to change their mind in a later chapter. Enjoy Cockroaches for a thrilling, mind puzzling 5 star read. I could find nothing wrong with this book and will be happy to purchase further novels in this series, Jo Nesbo is SO good.

Cockroaches has 437 pages and was written in 1998 but was translated into English by Don Bartlett in 2013.

Bigfoot and Santa vs Al-Qaida by J.K. Jackson.

This book is a pantomime style Adult comedy when magical, mythical creatures plus American political leaders have a fight against Al-Qaida. It is a fun read and a great platform for airing politically incorrect rants. This is not about the war on terror but a humourous story poking fun at everyone across the political and religious divide.

In the Western corner we have the mythical characters of Bigfoot, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy with Santa Claus and his elves plus a leprechaun, helped along by previous American presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush and the current president Obama. In the Middle Eastern corner we have many terrorists lead by Sharia Claus.

This is not a serious story but the humour is very adult. Although the plot is childish, the content is not suitable for children. But this is a good laugh and I loved the political ribbing between the characters. Gone is the public relations speak and in comes frank, no holds barred, on-the-street honesty that calls a spade a spade. The political balance of this story is neutral and told in a very funny way. Although it challenges the American political scene, the rants are so well scripted that they are fully understood by other English speaking readers. It does seem odd that real life politicians are featured in the same story as mythical make-believe characters but because this story is such a mickey take, it does work rather well. You start to view all the characters as silly people with their many faults and weaknesses. This all adds to the intensity of this adult humour, these characters are not to be believed, mythical or actual party leaders. If that does not convince the reader of the fun being poked at everyone, then the magic does. Oh yes, there is plenty of magic to laugh at too! You watch all the news reports of terrorists charging around a desert in their vehicle of choice which always appears to be a Toyota Hilux pick up truck. Oh no, not in this story as these terrorists have magical flying carpets, one for each terrorist to ride on whilst clutching a trusty AK 47.

So have a good laugh at this humourous story, it is light reading but with an adult content. It will give you a good chuckle as you enjoy this tale and think how ridiculous some of our cherished characters can be. This is a good fun read that I will happily vote 4 stars.

Bigfoot and Santa vs Al-Qaida was written in 2014 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Amy, My Daughter by Mitch Winehouse.

Amy Winehouse, a very popular and top selling British singer, died just 27 years old. In this book her father Mitch Winehouse tells the tale of his daughter’s short life.

I was fascinated by this book which told the story of Amy from when she was born until after her death when the Amy Winehouse Foundation was established to help to prevent the effects of drug and alcohol misuse on young people and to support, inform and inspire vulnerable and disadvantaged young people.

Mitch writes at length about his father/daughter relationship, all the pitfalls and successes plus the constant ups and downs of coping with Amy. This is an intimate story and you feel as though you have become a member of the Winehouse family as Mitch trusts you with the family’s secrets. Amy got a fair amount of bad press in her lifetime and here Mitch puts the record straight rather than the distorted picture portrayed by the press to gain further sales.

I learned a lot about Amy and Mitch has made a lovely legacy with his book. I really engaged with this story and Mitch captured the very feeling of fathering a daughter caught in the media spotlight, letting her lead her own life but being there for her when needed. The focus of this book is strong and I took a lot away from it. Mitch writes…

Drugs were illegal, expensive and required privacy. Alcohol was freely available, and she could drink wherever and whenever she liked, mostly without public criticism. As a consequence, her lack of inhibition about drinking was yet another problem - it was moving beyond serious, and if she carried on, her illness might end up killing us both.

… This book has many highs and lows with Mitch getting across to the reader how this turmoil affects a father and how tiring supporting a daughter through her problems can be. Amy was such a kind, loving and generous person you just hoped she would work through her problems and come out shining. I got so caught up in the tension within this story, that when I got to the end, a wave of sadness crashed over me. This is a very powerful and moving story with such a sad and avoidable ending. MItch has written a wonderful tribute to his daughter as well as giving the man-in-the-street a fascinating and hugely informative read. This has got to be the best taxi driver tale, ever and I will vote it the top score of 5 stars. You do not have to be a fan of Amy or her music to get an awful lot from this book. This is top class human-interest material and will really make you question how you feel as you are enjoying drinks with friends.

Amy, My Daughter is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2012.

The Bat by Jo Nesbo.

The Bat is the first Harry Hole thriller by the top selling Norwegian author Jo Nesbo. It is a Police Crime Drama set in Sydney, Australia. Harry Hole is a Norwegian policeman sent down under to investigate the murder of a Norwegian young woman working in Sydney.

The Bat is different to other crime thrillers in that it is not solely focused on the plot or the development of characters. The Bat is full of anecdotes given by everyone involved in this story. The plot moves on as the police try to indentify and catch the murderer of Inger but alongside this there is a wealth of anecdotes imparting wisdom on the reader. As the scenes unfold, a character will present an anecdote to explain the background or procedure involved. This vast content provided by these anecdotes makes you feel involved with the story as you are carried along on it’s learning curve. None of these anecdotes are tedious or just put in to bulk out this story. Jo Nesbo tells his story with such a lovely depth. I finished the book and the themes of these anecdotes still buzzed in my head. Most of the anecdotes are quite long and detailed, so I will quote 2 very short anecdotes to illustrate…

1. He watched her as she bounced up and down. She met his gaze, sent him a brief smile and looked away. It was the kind of smile you get when you’re on the tram and inadvertently stare at someone for too long.

    2) ‘The precursor to Coca-Cola was discovered by an American chemist who wanted to concoct a remedy for hangovers,’ Joseph said. ‘But he reckoned he’d failed and sold the recipe on for eight dollars. If you ask me no one has found anything better.’

Jo Nesbo has written a very good novel and he is a top author in this genre. The Bat is a very good read, it is a full and entertaining story. I was impressed and could find nothing wrong with this book. I am not alone in my praise for this book as the editors at Amazon have included it in their top 100 thrillers to read in a lifetime. I will vote The Bat the top score of 5 stars and look forward to reading the second novel in the Harry Hole series called Cockroaches.

The Bat has 425 pages and was written in 1997 but was translated into English by Don Bartlett in 2012.

Kindle Unlimited UK - Get Kindle Unlimited Books for Free by Lavee Natch.

This brief guide tells you all you need to know about the business model behind the Amazon Kindle Store and the Kindle Unlimited subscription service. Here in the UK you can pay £7.99 a month to have access to over 900,000 eBooks within the Amazon Kindle Unlimited brand. But as Lavee Natch explains, by studying his guide and searching intelligently on the Kindle Store website, you can download for free - without a subscription - from a range of 60,000 eBooks including 23,000 novels. By downloading these eBooks for free, they are in your collection for ever and you can read them years later, when they can cost maybe £4 each.

Lavee tells you how to search the Kindle Store website and provides links to send your Kindle browser to an Amazon webpage to let you view all the free to download eBooks for that day. He also provides a link so that you can get email alerts for when the price of an eBook you are interested in falls to £0.00p - this is priceless because once you download for free, it is yours to keep.

I have had a Kindle for over 4 years and Lavee is right, there is plenty of good free content available out there, all you have to do is search intelligently. Grab those eBooks while they are free, add to your collection and read maybe years later. It is quite surprising when you look on the Kindle Store soon after your free download, how the price has risen! These 2nd division authors have an awful lot to offer the reader. They do not sell as many copies as the 1st division top selling authors but their books give you the same reading pleasure at a much reduced or even free cost.

So I suggest you learn from Lavee and grab some eBooks for free. Lavee writes clearly and gives good explanations, for example…

All the authors, who are part of the Kindle Unlimited program, have multiple options to promote their books. One of the promotional tools they have is to offer the book for free…

The authors can offer the book for free up to 5 days each quarter.

...I will vote this guide the top score of 5 stars for his altruism and for putting his knowledge into the public domain.

Kindle Unlimited UK - Get Kindle Unlimited Books for Free is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2015.