The Beautiful Cure by Daniel M. Davis

 The Beautiful Cure explains all the research that has been done so that the reader can understand how the human immune system works. Daniel M. Davis is Professor of Immunology at the University of Manchester, so it is great to get accurate information rather than old wives tales.

I found this to be a very informative and interesting book. It covered in tremendous detail how the immune system works and also how scientists work with all their conflicts, so bad that many can’t stand to be in the same room together.

Daniel leads the reader steadily through the research undertaken through the years in a delicate way so that you learn in a similar way to the scientists of the day. This was a great way for Daniel to write his book because it is accessible to everyone. You do not need to be a medical or scientific person to enjoy and understand this book. I left school at 16 and have nothing to do with health or science. My usual reading genre is crime/mystery/thriller. So why did I buy this book? Okay, it was featured on the Kindle Daily Deal, reduced from £4.99p down to just 99p. With the current coronavirus pandemic I wondered how the human immune system actually worked, having heard so much about herd immunity.

This book blew me away, really firing my imagination. I eat, drink and walk around totally unaware of the internal universe inside my body. Daniel explained all about the many different cells, triggers and balances and how they deal with disease, germs and viruses. The human immune system is complex and even leading edge science does NOT understand it all. But just knowing a little blows your mind away. How can such a powerful immune system happen when we were conceived from 2 microscopic organisms? An immune system that runs like a very powerful computer network. An immune system that works in the background with the person unaware of the changes taking place within their cells.

I liked how Daniel explained the differences between innate and adaptive immunity. I also liked learning about different cells, the genes within them and how immune responses were turned on and off. The Beautiful Cure is a very thought provoking book that I wish some of my germophobic workmates would read. There was lovely discussion of things that readers can do which will increase or reduce their immune system.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Beautiful Cure and took a lot away from this book. Daniel does not shy away from the realities of laboratory research. He was very frank and open about the HUGE number of mice bred and killed so that we can understand how biology works. I found this an OUTSTANDING book, so it gets 5 stars from me.

The Beautiful Cure was written in 2018 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Desert Water: Farewell London by Alexander Ezike.

 Desert Water is the memoir of a young Nigerian man who came to Britain in 2011 on a student visa. Read this interesting story of his experience of life in Nigeria and his move to the UK.

Desert Water is a very personal tale in which Alexander lays bare all the mistakes he made in Nigeria and Britain. He starts his memoir off by detailing his life in Nigeria, with all it’s poverty and violence. Alexander explains the differences between tribes, cultures and religions in an easy, light and understandable way.

I loved reading his impressions of Britain as I often wonder what passengers arriving from Africa boarding my coach think of life in Britain. It made me smile when Alexander wrote…

Finally the bus arrived and one after the other we entered through the first door in a civilized and cultured manner.

...Alexander uses American English spelling for his memoir but reading the dialogue it is so easy to imagine his accent as like watching Gina Yashere, the stand up comedian, on television when she mimics her Nigerian parents.

I found it very interesting how Alexander viewed London during his stay in 2011 and 2012. He has that funny young person thing of navigating by postcodes and mentions them as a figure of speech, for example…

247 Gipsy Road, London SE27 9QY

...And like most foreign passengers boarding my coach, complains about feeling cold! Although British people are obsessed with talking about the weather, Africans always seem to complain about feeling cold. Then Alexander reveals the unseen parts of London, the homeless, the poverty and illegal immigrants being exploited by a whole range of people taking advantage of their lack of legal status. This is a whole new world to Alexander, best summed up by his shopping visit…

The next day, I went shopping at “PRIMARK” which is the most famous clothing company in the UK, Primark is best known for selling quality accessories and clothing wears at cheap and affordable prices. I knew I had to look good on stage, so I released 15 pounds from my account and bought a shirt and jean trouser.

...Yes, that will make your average British reader chuckle. Alexander is young and makes many mistakes and has a poor choice in friends. He meets many different girls along the way but Alexander fails to find true love. He does however impress many people with his singing under the stage names of Johnny Blac and Kool Daddy. I was surprised however when Alexander wrote…

After one week, I had performed in four different clubs in Manchester and made a total of 800 pounds. Though it was a paltry sum of money but I was grateful to God for the grace to be paid as an underground musician.

...These were not long sets but just a few songs as part of a show by many other musicians. That seems to be big money for a part-time underground musician, what I would call a hobby artist.

I found Desert Water to be a refreshing memoir to read because Alexander is not a celebrity or a success story but an average man in the street who has to live with the mistakes of his past. I am pleased he has put his story into the public domain and even if it does not sell, I am sure any children he later fathers, will love the story behind their dad. Desert Water is a GOOD read, so gets 4 stars from me.

Desert Water was written in 2014 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Kelly by T.C Barkley.

 Follow an unusual day with Kelly in her erotic short story.

This is NOT my usual reading genre but like all men we daydream and have fantasies. I picked up this 25 page fun read for FREE back in 2014. Kelly is an example of PWP - Porn Without Plot and is a refreshing distraction from mainstream fiction. Kelly is a fast paced story and is very adult and graphic in content. Once you have read this short story, you can’t unread it. A bit awkward for me as our next door neighbour is also called Kelly.

The action is dirty but if you are broadminded you will be able to cope with the vulgarity. Some of the things Kelly does are shocking, even for mature readers. Kelly can be polite with the sexy dialogue as she calls her casual partners Sir.

When I got to the end of this short story I did wonder where the author was coming from. Kelly could be taken at face value as an erotic short story. Alternatively it could be considered a CV publication for someone trying for a job in the glamour entertainment industry. Another possibility is revenge porn after a failed relationship. Or maybe it is joke, an attempt at getting a raunchy story published on the Amazon Kindle as a challenge. Perhaps it is a standup comedy routine, although a female audience could be offended by the misogynistic humour.

So, if you are getting a little bored with the mainstream fiction book you are currently reading, take a refreshing break with Kelly and her okay 3 star read.

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

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.

 Coopers Chase is a retirement village in Kent. The residents have many activities to enjoy and one of them is called The Thursday Murder Club. Their quest is to investigate old unsolved murders, seeing if the police have missed something so that they can solve the crime. All ticks along nicely until a builder involved with the retirement village is discovered murdered. Can the retired folk of Coopers Chase solve this live case?

This is an awfully British, cosy mystery that shows retired people having fun and purpose in their old age. It is a jolly read told with tonnes of light humour. For example…

He is wearing an expensive polo shirt, and a watch so large it might as well be a clock.

...And...

‘Would you like some sherry?’ asks Joyce. ‘It’s only Sainsbury’s, but it’s Taste the Difference.’

...Richard Osman is very well known for being a presenter on the BBC One television quiz show, Pointless. Richard has a distinctive conversational style that is mirrored by Joyce, a leading character in his novel. Joyce has a lovely British turn of phrase and she sounds so much like Richard does whenever he is on television. Even in his acknowledgements at the end of this book, he has the same voice as Joyce when he writes…

I had wanted to write a novel for a long time, and over a very nice lunch at Skewd Turkish restaurant in Barnet (delicious, great value for money, try the chicken wings) Mark gave me exactly the encouragement I needed, at exactly the right time.

...I enjoyed reading The Thursday Murder Club, the accent was not on the crime but retired people making the very most of their later years. Rather than being out of touch these lively residents enjoy all that modern life can offer. I found this book to be a refreshing tale of retired life. I loved how it depicted modern day Britain and the cultures we share. How people view groceries, shopping and the prestige of stores like Waitrose. How people embrace modern technology and software like Fitbits, WhatsApp and Tinder.

The Thursday Murder Club is NOT a hard edged, gritty crime thriller full of police procedure and special skills. This novel is a warm, heartfelt tale of people coping with the mistakes of the past and making the best of current times. There is sadness but also people meaning well.

I found this book an entertaining read and loved the colourful characters. The pace of the murder enquiry dragged a little but my interest was retained by how the residents coped with everything else that was going on. Richard has a very relaxed writing style and his tale is told with all the time in the world, kind of like how some old people talk. Overall, I found this a very pleasant GOOD read that gets 4 stars from me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Books UK/Viking for providing me with a free copy of this book on the understanding that I publish a review.

The Thursday Murder Club was written in 2020 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Untouchable by Sibel Hodge.

Maya Morgan, 37 has been living happily with her boyfriend Jamie Talyor in his home at Tyttenhanger, near St. Albans for six months when suddenly he does not come home from work one evening. Has something gone wrong? Is there a reason for Jamie’s delay from work? Find out the truth behind Jamie’s disappearance in this British crime thriller.

There were some nice bits in this story early on like the dialogue shared between Maya and her sister Ava. The way they spoke to each other reminded me very much of Ellie and Izzi, sisters who appear week after week on the successful British Channel 4 television programme Gogglebox.

Untouchable is a first person narrative with a difference. The reader starts this novel from Maya’s point of view, in the first person and the current day. Then we have alternating chapters between Maya in the current day and Jamie in his childhood decades ago ALL told in the first person. This is followed by Jamie dropping out of the story to be continued by Maya in the current day ALSO in the first person. But then, new guy on the block, Mitchell gets his chapters to tell his current day story in the first person. This shifting focus is a disappointment leading to frustration as I worked through this novel. I did not like the format in which this story was told.

This story got off with the alarm bells ringing when Maya got home from work. But then the reader was thrown into the position of knowing more than Maya did because you discovered Jamie’s back story. I found this very frustrating for a first person narrative.

I found Untouchable very run of the mill. We had the usual tales of historic child abuse, conspiracy, lies, media restrictions, politics and wealthy people getting away with murder. No surprises were sprung on the reader as Maya and Mitchell got to the bottom of this sorry tale. Although this novel featured historic child abuse, there was nothing in the script that would shock your grandmother. There was nothing in this tale that would excite a paedophile.

 

I found Untouchable to be a drag and full of cliches. I thought Mitchell was an unrealistic hero. I lacked empathy for Maya and wondered why she did not simply let sleeping dogs lie as she was clearly out of her depth but financially secure. I thought Untouchable lacked entertainment value and was a disappointing POOR read that gets just 2 stars from me.

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

 

Where the Memories Lie by Sibel Hodge.

 Olivia Tate is a happily married mother living in the pretty Dorset village of Portesham. Problem is that Olivia is very, very nosy and it can get her and her whole family into a lot of trouble.

Where the Memories Lie is a psychological thriller centred around the concept of lies, all lies, from little lies to big lies and whether these lies should be revealed or kept secret.

I liked how Sibel set this novel in the real physical location of Portesham and she even mentions the real Kings’ Arms pub which is welly boot and dog friendly. Included are other wonderful attractions within the county of Dorset. This all gives added value to this British drama.

I also liked how Sibel made focus of Alzheimer’s and how this disease can be extremely confusing for the person affected and a real challenge for visitors to understand. 

I started reading Where the Memories Lie straight after I had finished reading Sibel’s previous book, Look Behind You. Although both novels are psychological thrillers, Where the Memories Lie really lacks the tension that made her earlier book such an outstanding read. The tension within this book was quite low key, like a nagging doubt. Yet again there were many twists and turns which cast doubt on all the characters involved.

I really enjoy first person narratives but I did not like the character of Olivia Tate. She is incredibly nosy and I did not develop an empathy for her as I considered her to be nothing more than an interfering nuisance. I did not feel sorry for Olivia but felt very sorry for her extended family as Olivia poked her nose into everyone’s business. If only Olivia would leave things alone.

I did not enjoy reading Where the Memories Lie as much as I enjoyed reading Look Behind You. However, this was still a lovely British tale that gave the reader plenty to think about, especially the secrets held by people with Alzheimer’s that may be revealed. Makes me wonder what my dad may have done with the Army in Germany before I was born. I found Where the Memories Lie to be an okay read that gets the middle score of 3 stars from me.

Where the Memories Lie was written in 2015 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Look Behind You by Sibel Hodge.

Chloe Benson is 27, a married woman living in Welwyn, Hertfordshire. She wakes up in darkness, her ankles and wrists tied together. She can’t remember what has happened and has no idea where she is. 

Is this a dream? Chloe is unsure. Can she escape her binds and recover from this nightmare? Follow Chloe through this British psychological thriller as her fears mount with each page.

I have not read a Sibel Hodge novel before but was encouraged to buy a copy after reading 3 different 5 star reviews from my friends on Goodreads. Having read this book, I am IMPRESSED.

I think Look Behind You is an OUTSTANDING read. I found it very engaging and entertaining. It is a thrilling read and all the warning flags are there. Sibel really builds up the terror in her novel. Her high quality writing really shines through the horror of this story. I love how this is a first person narrative and I felt as though I was in Chloe’s very wobbly shoes. Don’t view this story as Women’s Literature because anyone can enjoy this psychological thriller for what it is. Forget how old you are because everyone can relate to this story which is the stuff of nightmares, which we would all wish to escape from. Oh, and if you are married, gay or straight, this novel will make you shudder.

I got a real buzz from reading this book. It is articulate and thought provoking. It explored the concept of False Memory Syndrome and challenged the reader with Occam’s Razor. It gave me everything I want from a novel and was simply a pleasure to read. I enjoyed it so much that I will give it the top score of 5 stars and am starting on her next novel called Where the Memories Lie.

Look Behind You was written in 2014 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.