Shadow (Marc Dane #4) by James Swallow.

 Shadow is the fourth book in the Marc Dane series but can be read as a stand-alone. This time Marc Dane and his workmate Lucy Keyes are on the quest to stop a bioweapon being deployed by a far right extremist political group.

Shadow follows on from the other books in this series and is more of the same. More bad guys, more guns and slaughter plus the continuity of previous characters from earlier novels. Having read each book in the series things are all sounding quite familiar. Even with a gap between reading each novel, James will stoke your memory with highlights from earlier books.

James wrote this novel before Covid-19 and it is creepy that the featured bioweapon is a variant developed from the Marburg virus which can be found among fruit bats. Also research has gone into weaponizing the Marburg virus and sadly Dr. Nikolai Ustinov died from the virus after accidentally infecting himself while injecting guinea pigs with the Marburg virus for the Soviet biological weapons program.

I enjoyed reading about the technical skills used within Shadow but again was bored with all the fighting and discharged firearms. However, I found Shadow to be a GOOD 4 star read that reminded me that a terrorist threat could be lurking around every corner of the globe. The relationship between Marc and Lucy has slowly developed with each novel and I wondered if maybe it would become physical until I read…

He lay down next to her and pulled closer, until they were side by side. She didn’t object. Lucy knew as well as he did that the fire wouldn’t be enough to stave off the cold, even out of the wind. They would have to conserve what body heat they could as well. ‘Don’t get handsy,’ she told him. ‘Break your fingers.’

...So maybe next time then!

Shadow was written in 2019 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Unreported Truths about COVID-19 and Lockdowns: Part 3 by Alex Berenson.

 This book gets off to a good start with a technical look at COVID-19 followed by an in depth look at the conspiracy theories surrounding this global pandemic.

I found the first two chapters good but then from Chapter 3 which was 40% into this book, all it talked about was the future after COVID-19. So for the last 60% of Unreported Truths, Alex waffled on at great length about remote working and how education may change after COVID-19. I was not interested in his speculation of what may happen after this pandemic. Alex is a journalist and judging by the title of his book, I assumed he would investigate the problems around lockdowns. However, there was absolutely no analysis of lockdowns which makes the reader feel short-changed. Thankfully this short book is a freebie at the moment on the Amazon Kindle.

Overall I found Unreported Truths to be a disappointing POOR 2 star read. Shame really because if Chapter 3 onwards was actually about lockdowns and written in the same quality and style of the first two chapters plus dropped the boring chapters on remote learning and education, then Unreported Truth would have made a good read.

Unreported Truths about COVID-19 and Lockdowns: Part 3 is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2020.

Cunk on Everything: The Encyclopedia Philomena by Diane Morgan.

 Diane Morgan regularly appeared as Philomena Cunk on Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe on BBC television. Her character did wonderful pieces of mockumentary to camera in a dead pan manner poking fun at many things. I loved the television programme, so I bought the book. I did not want an audiobook as I do not want somebody wittering on into my ear.

So how does a television programme I loved transfer into a book? 

BRILLIANT, as the whole book is done in character. The personality of Philomena Cunk shines through from the very first word to the last. Diane’s accent and voice rings in your head as you read the words. This is satire at it’s best. The book is formatted as an A to Z of things important to Philomena. She has a lovely bending of the truth and develops conspiracies of things that could be true. Philomena also has great word play, not just misspellings but using the wrong words in an innocent manner. Her character is dim, but nice. She presents an alternative view on history and life.

This book is very British, with numerous cultural and geographical references. Quite often when you read a memoir of a comedian, there are very few jokes throughout the book. Cunk on Everything is VERY different and is like a transcript of a stand-up comedian’s full length stage show. I found this book to be very entertaining and simply a joy to read. This is a quality, satire read. Editing was spot on and there are no wasted words, it is comedy gold. It also makes you think and forces you to refresh your views of society here in the UK.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Cunk on Everything and found it an OUTSTANDING read that gets the top score of 5 stars from me. I highlighted 75 sections of text on my Kindle to use as a quote later, but I do not intend to copytype them all. So here are 5 clips to demonstrate the quality of Diane’s writing....

You might think our closest planet is the Moon. But you’d be wrong. Because our closest planet is Earth. Earth is the science name for the world, so it has two names, like Puff Daddy and everything in Wales.

The Big Bang was where everything started. And to be honest, it’s nice to have something to blame. What was it like? Nobody knows. Because nobody was there to see it. Like Top Gear when it went to Amazon.

Science can’t decide if a carton is a bottle or a box, because it looks like a box but you treat it like a bottle.

David Bowie was a series of different singers from between the years 1969 and 2016. Although it was the same person, like Doctor Who he regenerated every album or so into a new Bowie.

Police try to stop crime - but couldn’t exist without it. If there was no crime, what would they do all day, except putting addresses on bikes with that hammer? If no one’s going to steal those bikes, that’s just decorating, and much harder to justify as a reasonable spending of taxpayers’ money.

Cunk on Everything was written in 2018 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Ghost (Marc Dane #3) by James Swallow.

Ghost is the third book in the Marc Dane series but can be read as a stand-alone. This time our Spooks style hero is working for the Rubicon Group, so he has more opportunity to work alongside Lucy Keyes and maybe more. The bad guys are a group of hackers called Ghost 5 and their extremely powerful software can cripple infrastructure. Marc is on the case to catch these hackers before they launch another attack.

I enjoyed reading Ghost and it is more of the same. The structure is very similar to the previous 2 books, Nomad and Exile. The reader is refreshed with the stories of Marc Dane and Lucy Keyes plus many of the bad guys from Nomad and Exile. Previous naughty boys have a part to play in Ghost. The way this story is told, Marc and Lucy in their day job plus returning baddies makes this novel like Holby City, a popular British television drama/soap opera. But enjoy Ghost for what it is, an easy to follow workplace drama with familiar characters.

Ghost is action packed with lots of bombs, guns and fighting. The violence was tedious and the death toll is very, very high. But I really enjoyed the technical Spooks bits. The plot was good and got off to a great start. Anybody being nagged by their energy supplier to upgrade to a smart meter will shudder after reading this enlightening and entertaining book.

I found Ghost to be a glamorous, life in the fast lane, GOOD read that gets 4 stars from me. It also raised a smile along the way when the story reads…

and Madrigal stirred awake on a collapsible pallet in the middle of the derelict office. She blinked at him, for a moment chastely pulling the sleeping bag up to cover her bare chest. When she realised he was alone, she let it fall away and swung her feet out and on to the dusty floor.

… Ghost was written in 2018 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Straight Outta Crawley by Romesh Ranganatham.

Romesh Ranganatham is a British stand-up comedian and television presenter. He was born in Crawley and this is his memoir.

I have enjoyed Romesh’s appearances on many television programmes including Live at the Apollo and Mock the Week plus many chat shows. I like his deadpan humour coupled with his ability to do a whole range of accents.

However, Straight Outta Crawley is a memoir and is a completely different vehicle to his television work. I loved how Romesh told his story in his usual television chat show manner with his trademark shooting off at tangents. I could hear his author’s voice bellowing loudly from the page.

Romesh’s stand-up comedy is good but his memoir is not a transcript of his stage show. If you are looking for humour or jokes to repeat to friends, this is NOT a book for you. Straight Outta Crawley is a story told in the fashion of a first date. Romesh is amusing and frank, for example…

I’ve read enough memoirs to know that people always describe their partner as the most wonderful, funny, intelligent person ever, and I always think it’s because they suspect their other half is going to read it. So, Leesa, if you read this, I was mainly looking at your arse.

My one sadness in my marriage is that I haven’t managed to convert Leesa to hip hop. She hates it. HATES IT. It would have been easier to convert her to Islam.

...Straight Outta Crawley has a good trawl of anecdotes but they are second rate. Romesh comes across as the bloke next door and very ordinary. I found nothing sparkling in his memoir which came across as sharing small talk with fellow dog walkers down our local park. Romesh is simply a normal bloke whose day job entertains loads of people on television. However his memoir leaves me with the impression of ships passing in the night. I found Straight Outta Crawley to be an Okay 3 star read that lacked any surprises or WOW! Factor. Although I love his stand-up comedy, it was sad to read that he has become another victim of abuse and hate mail on social media. I do NOT wish Romesh any bad feelings but I did not enjoy his memoir like I do his stand-up comedy. It was nice to read about the man behind the stand-up routines and my curiosity has been satisfied.

Straight Outta Crawley was written in 2018 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Exile (Marc Dane #2) by James Swallow.

Exile is the second novel in the Marc Dane series but this book can be read as a standalone. Marc has left his job as a forward mission specialist for MI6, the British Security Service. Our behind the scenes hero is now working with the United Nations Division of Nuclear Security investigation team in Croatia. Marc is on high alert and is on the chase to find and disarm a dirty bomb.

I enjoyed reading Exile and found it to be a great piece of escapism. Like the first novel there are plenty of military and technology skills used to both educate and entertain the reader. This time we have the threats posed by fake bombs, real dirty bombs, leftover kit from the cold war and lots of bad guys telling lies. More terrorists than you can shake a stick at, this time Al Shabaab with their Somali pirates. The new thrill for Marc and readers is HAHO - High Altitude High Opening - jumping from an aeroplane at over 30,000 feet!

There is enough backstory threaded into Exile for new readers who have not read Nomad. But the trouble for readers who have read the first book is that Exile is more of the same. Nothing too bad with that as Exile is an entertaining and exciting Spooks style thriller. Once again Marc has his trusty Aladdin’s Cave of a backpack and he chases the bad guys around the world with the help of Lucy Keyes and Rubicon. Lots more guns are discharged with a whole range of ordnance used. Sniper tradecraft is discussed again making the reader into a gun spotter thinking which gun would be best for the kill. Oh yes, Exile has a very high death toll with the relentless slaughter. Even the previous bad guys from The Combine have a role to play in this long story that runs to 496 pages.

Although Exile is clearly more of the same, it is still a GOOD read and gets 4 stars from me. Had it not been for the relentless action, maybe Marc and Lucy could have had a bit of romance but that did not happen.

Exile was written in 2017 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook. 

Nomad (Marc Dane #1) by James Swallow.

 Marc Dane is a forward mission specialist for MI6, the British Security Service. Marc is the ‘bloke in the van’ supporting Operations Team Seven, call sign ‘Nomad’, when things go fatally wrong. Follow Marc in this Spooks style thriller as he helps stop some bad guys and terrorists.

I liked how Marc was a behind the scenes tech guy rather than a gun wielding super-hero. I loved all the technology that was brought into play. I loved all the detail of the equipment and methods used by all the characters, the good guys, the bad guys and even those guys who were just doing their job. There was a surprising range of ordnance used throughout this thriller. Heckler & Koch submachine guns, Mossberg tactical shotguns, Colt M4 assault rifle, Glock 17 semi-automatics to name just a few. Oh and some HMX explosive plus many other types of bombs, large and small.

Nomad is an action packed thriller and with all the bombs and guns going off, there was a very high death toll by the time the battle worn reader got to the last page. I did dislike the slaughter and playstation attitude to gun fights. These gun battles were the least interesting parts of Nomad but with 496 pages there were plenty of pages left for top rate content.

I found the military technology very interesting including all the hi-tech things like drones. I liked how data was analysed and the many hacks that were used, especially the hack used on a vending machine. Men joke about all the junk women carry around in their handbags but Marc had an Aladdin’s Cave in his ‘go-bag’ - a rucksack he carried all around the world in his quest to bring down the bad guys.

The plot was scary although it would not work with girls wearing crop tops in the summer! I found Nomad to be a wonderful piece of escapism that was very entertaining. It covered a lot of ground with lots going on and no dull sections to wade through. The plot was deep enough to maintain my interest throughout. Writing this review and looking back over this story, it was a big long adventure. Some people compare Nomad to I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes but in my opinion this is a far, far better novel. I think Nomad is an OUTSTANDING 5 star read, so good that I am not starting to read the next in the Marc Dane series called Exile.

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