tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16468652602399900292024-03-13T13:42:13.895+00:00Miss Muppet ate my hamstersparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.comBlogger324125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-3997136371223417112021-07-08T16:25:00.013+01:002021-07-08T16:34:30.911+01:00What came first? A guest blog.<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">What Came First? The Plot or the Deaths?</span></p><p class="s3" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s2" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">By Joe Dugdale</span></p><p class="s3" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p class="s3" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">(Joe Dugdale lives in Bridgewater, Somerset, England with his partner and three pet children.</p><p class="s3" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">He works with authors helping them prepare for publication and marketing their books.</p><p class="s3" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">He is currently in preproduction of ‘The Paranormal’, a film and TV series, all being made on a zero budget with a cast and crew with no experience of film)</p><p class="s3" style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">As we watch films or read books, when it comes to horror, the deaths are </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">often </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">an integral part of it. There are times when the deaths are the only good thing </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">taking place</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">.</span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">As an author and filmmaker, I sometimes look at these in a different way and it takes me back to when we made our first film.</span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">I remember it well. We had just finished watching </span><span class="s4" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Camp Blood</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">, which was an indie homage to the Friday the 13</span><span class="s5" style="font-size: 7px; line-height: 8.399999618530273px; vertical-align: super;">th</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> film series but, just to give you an idea</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> of how good it was</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">, it was far distant from being as good as those films – even the latter ones. Somehow though, they had managed to get their DVDs into every Blockbusters.</span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">We decided that if they could do it, then so could we. So that night, we obviously worked on the plot to ensure it would all </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">go</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> smoothly.</span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">No.</span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">That </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">isn’t</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> what happened.</span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">When it comes to making slasher films, the plot is secondary. What we did that night was come up with some cool deaths that were different to what </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">we’d</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> seen before. We then looked at the plot, by seeing what would fit the deaths.</span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">For me, this is a problem, as I like my horror to be as good as any other film when it comes to having a story that I can follow. I like a beginning, middle and end.</span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">This all happened over fifteen years ago, and we are now in pre-production of a new film, to be followed by a tv show. The budget is a little bit of a problem – we </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">don’t</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> have one. This </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">isn’t</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> going to stop us from making something we can be proud of though.</span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Working out the plot is far more complicated when you have a TV show in mind, and especially in this case, as I have worked out the main thread for the film, plus five seasons</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">. I </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">haven’t</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> even worked on deaths yet, for this I’ve put together a creative team, made up of local people who will be making this with me, here in Bridgwater, Somerset (that’s in England).</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">We’ll</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> also be working on a number of sub-plots, to keep everybody interested.</span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">What is more important though? </span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Is it the deaths, the moments of horror or the plot? </span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Do you really need a good plot to make a good horror? </span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Do you need a plot at all?</span></p><p style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">What do you look for when it comes to horror?</span></p>sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-47902386412608221892021-06-27T16:18:00.002+01:002021-06-27T16:20:03.457+01:00<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dRmZEgF9Phs/YNiWr0jowgI/AAAAAAAABJA/4-B9E-PwweMCbeENCVloD0KIAl16iVswACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/3717C3B9-8515-40B8-8DDC-6AD0DA5767E4.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1283" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dRmZEgF9Phs/YNiWr0jowgI/AAAAAAAABJA/4-B9E-PwweMCbeENCVloD0KIAl16iVswACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/3717C3B9-8515-40B8-8DDC-6AD0DA5767E4.png" /></a></div><br /> So, the first part of my first FREE story on Wattpad is now available to read.<p></p><p>The plan is to release a new chapter/ part of the story each week and to feature several different pieces of flash fiction all linked together - inspired by both a post on an abandoned building group I follow on here and the V/H/S series of movies.</p><p>A group of teens decide to spend Halloween in an old, abandoned derelict building called The Tape House, full of old V/H/S and Betamax tapes, not realising what they are letting themselves in for…</p><p><br /></p><p>The idea is to make some of the stories interactive, so if there’s something you’d like me to feature in an upcoming story that might appear on one of the future tapes, feel free to make a suggestion. </p><p>The plan is to use writing prompts/ photos to come up with each of the stories as I write them, and the idea is that by offering readers something for free, it might whet their appetite for some of my paid work.</p><p><br /></p><p>So far, I’ve only written the first chapter to get the ball rolling, but the next instalment will be coming very soon…</p><p><br /></p><p>Here’s a link to the YouTube video of the house that inspired this story - <a href="https://youtu.be/CSAY8f06hcg">https://youtu.be/CSAY8f06hcg</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/275111564?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=link&utm_content=share_writing&wp_page=create&wp_uname=Sparkymarky1973&wp_originator=ulVm4Bjvh0MRzbJF8gtEaj65TW6R%2FBClqiYs1kOKjFbFh1zPzn%2BP32s0U4l9D8UUfev3EJAJVJJpDVRlselAolsOCiy1sbhIoSRnNrcnsKroQq1GA3cKRbna15B6YrfR">https://www.wattpad.com/story/275111564?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=link&utm_content=share_writing&wp_page=create&wp_uname=Sparkymarky1973&wp_originator=ulVm4Bjvh0MRzbJF8gtEaj65TW6R%2FBClqiYs1kOKjFbFh1zPzn%2BP32s0U4l9D8UUfev3EJAJVJJpDVRlselAolsOCiy1sbhIoSRnNrcnsKroQq1GA3cKRbna15B6YrfR</a></p>sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-68566755232861088452019-12-04T08:01:00.001+00:002019-12-04T08:01:04.623+00:00Nov-dec reads 2019<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Over the past few weeks, I’ve been catching up again with my reading and these are the most recent titles I have read. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Book 41 for this year is Gypsy Jem Mace, a book about one of the early pioneers of boxing who was born in the village of Beeston where I work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Beeston Ploughshare is a community run pub that was recently saved by the locals and now has become a thriving hub of the community. The pub actually has a whole wall devoted to the life of Jem Mace, so naturally when I saw this book on our shelves I decided to pick it up and find about the man given such pride of place in the pub in which I work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately however, this book pretty much only skims over his life and only really gives you the bare bones of what is a fascinating story. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Over the course of his life, Mace meets such famous people as Charles Dickens and a young Wyatt Earp, but this book glosses over those moments and instead, is as much if not more about the author’s journey researching his family’s ancestor as it is about the man himself, which really is a bit of a shame.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The book is good as an overview, but it left me wanting more and overall was something of a disappointment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">2 stars</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Likewise Stephen King’s Outsider promises much, but delivers something slightly less. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">When a prominent local baseball coach who trains young teens is arrested in connection with the grisly murder of one of his players, it seems like an open and shut case.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Except the coach has a watertight alibi, and allegedly was on the other side of the country when the murder happened.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As one Detective investigates further, he finds himself drawn into a curious mystery where all is not as it seems...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This was okay, but really not much more than that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One of the weakest moments comes when a character from King’s own Bill Hodges trilogy turns up in a surprising cameo and overall I wasn’t really impressed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I didn’t hate the book, but neither did I love it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">3 stars.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Finally for books 43, 44, and 45, we come to Chuck Wendig’s Star Wars:Aftermath trilogy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Set after Return of the Jedi, these books bridge the gap between the original trilogy and The Force Awakens and deal with the creation of The First Order in the wake of The Empire’s defeat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Using established characters such as Han Solo, Leia, and Wedge Antilles as side characters, the books introduce a new cast hunting down ex Imperials as the remnants of The Empire try to deal with and fill the void following the twin deaths of The Emperor and Darth Vader.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Though these books have got a lot of stick from Star Wars fans, who it seems are almost near impossible to please - worse than Doctor Who fans if that’s possible - I really enjoyed these books.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">They really do help address how The First Order came to be and do a good job of filling in the gaps between films.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One of the first sets of books to be included as part of Disney’s new canon, replacing all those books written before that now have been resigned to no more than fan fiction much to the chagrin of fans, these three interlinked stories do exactly what they say on the tin with lots of subtle and not so subtle nods to all three trilogies - the original, the prequels, and now J.J. Abrams conclusion to the Skywalker story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A very strong 4/5 stars </span></div>
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<br />sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-32354736359721925352019-11-19T23:15:00.001+00:002019-12-04T07:33:37.451+00:00You are what they eat...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 17.41px;">As unpleasant a book as you are ever likely to read, this book covers a wide variety of themes that includes, in no particular order, cannibalism, amputeeism, necrophilia, pedophillia and body dysmorphia.</span></span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">A young photographer falls in with a very mixed bag of freaks, following the death of his wife, who are all headed out to South America to commune with a cannibal tribe and hopefully allow them to eat some of the party.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">What follows is some of the sickest stuff you are ever likely to read.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">This is a nasty, nasty book and definitely not one for the faint hearted, but I was very surprised it didn’t repulse me more. This is probably largely due to the fact that the author has a very basic style that is easy to read without going heavy (thankfully) into too much detail. The way he describes each increasingly more horrible scene is so matter-of-fact that at times, he might as well be describing the weather, but this is no bad thing for if this was better written and DID go into more detail, I’m not sure I would have been able to finish it.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Comparing this to Shaun Hupp’s Maniacs with knives, that book DID make me cringe and flinch because of the expert way he described each scene and brought it to life in your mind. </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">This book doesn’t do that and often feels like substance over style.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">That said, it’s not a bad book, and I DID enjoy reading it (if enjoy is really the right word) in the same kind of way that I enjoy an occasional McDonald’s, but there is no real style or skill in this author’s writing other than that he succeeded in making me want to carry on reading right up until the bitter end, despite the all too often distasteful subject matter. </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">3\5 stars.</span></div>
sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-32114217350671177162019-11-18T22:33:00.002+00:002019-11-18T22:33:58.426+00:00A.D.Redden’s Penny Dreadful<span style="font-size: x-large;">Book 40 on my list is this collection of 13 pieces of flash fiction.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Redden’s selection of flash fiction, very short stories to those who don’t know, is a bit of a mixed bag of tales - each with a little twist at the end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">But though the stories in themselves are often entertaining, they lack a little in substance - as flash fiction tends to do - and so, often, the reader feels like they are only getting the bare bones of the story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">This may be okay for some, but for me the only advantage here is that these are all very quick reads.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">2/5</span></div>
sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-24509430695507700862019-11-12T19:34:00.003+00:002019-11-12T19:34:30.651+00:00Reflecting on the past...<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Aberration, also known as Evoke, by Danielle Simmons is my 39th read this year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Laney emerges from a two month coma with very little memory only to find she is the only survivor of a car crash that killed three of her friends. The only real friend she has left is Evan, with whom she has a romantic entanglement, but when Evan starts drawing away and keeping his distance, Laney finds herself examining the past in a bid to try and discover exactly what happened that fateful night that three of her friends lost their lives. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">This is one of those books I’m not sure quite why I downloaded - probably because it was free at the time I suppose - and really wasn’t my type of thing. It’s kind of a romantic, teen drama and to be honest, I found myself skimming over most of it as the constant flashbacks started to do my head in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">To be fair, I don’t think I’m really the target market this book is aimed at and so, for that reason, I’m giving this nil point.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Only about 774 books left on my kindle to go...</span><br />
<br />sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-2587184758537253112019-11-12T14:09:00.002+00:002019-11-12T14:11:06.513+00:00Sick, but not as sick as I expected...<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Octopus by Matt Shaw is my 38th book this year.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Described as his most extreme novel yet, and slated by a few of his readers who found this too disgusting to describe, I had high hopes for this book but, unfortunately, actually found this tamer than many of the previous novels I have read by Shaw.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was very well written, highly imaginative, and great fun to read, but I did think it wasn’t as bad as all the hype made it out to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">It takes a fair while before we get to the truly horrible bit, which I’m not going to spoil, but even then I wasn’t really all that shocked.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Maybe I’ve just been a little desensitised by reading Matt Shaw’s other work, but for me this only rated as an average example of his work and though fun, was not as good as some of his others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Shame, as I was kind of expecting a little bit more ‘extreme horror’ but I guess what he was going for here was quality over quantity as when the nastiness does come, I suppose it probably is a bit shocking for some.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Just not me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">But then maybe I’m just a sick bastard. (Did you see what I did there?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">All this makes it sound like I didn’t like it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">I did.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">I just didn’t think it as extreme as some other readers have made out.</span></div>
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sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-65589676475351238422019-11-11T19:28:00.001+00:002019-11-11T19:28:06.046+00:00When the past and the present combine...<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">In the late 1800’s, the whole population of the small town of Abandon up and disappear without leaving a single trace of where they might possibly have gone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Over 100 years later, a small group of tourists, including a couple of paranormal investigators, head to Abandon to try and decipher where the townspeople might have gone, but as the past and the present combine, the small party soon find themselves fighting for their lives as old secrets that have lain buried for decades are finally revealed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">This was a gripping novel and a highly accomplished thriller that quite literally I simply could not put down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The first book I have read by this author, one thing is for certain it won’t be the last.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">I loved how events in the past echoed events in the present and the way the two storylines ran alongside each other until coming together in the end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">A very well deserved 5/5!!!</span></div>
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sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-22672354763424291312019-11-10T23:46:00.002+00:002019-11-10T23:46:37.031+00:00A Time travel Xmas tale<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Book 36 for this year is actually a short story - Christmas Past by Owen Adams.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">One Christmas time, late in the 1800’s, a group of mysterious travellers arrive in a small village.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">By the time they leave, life in the village will never be the same again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">This is a quirky little tale that feels like it is part of a much bigger story. To this end, the reader is left a little in the dark as to exactly what is going on and that’s why I’m only giving this 2 stars out of 5.</span></div>
sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-39929846600225226072019-11-10T23:17:00.002+00:002019-11-10T23:17:50.162+00:00Surviving the apocalypse...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Recently, I’ve decided to go through my Kindle and delete anything that’s not up to par to try and clear out some of the dead wood. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">I have A LOT of books on there, and many I’ve never even read. These two were the first that I came across and both, like the majority of my books on there, were downloaded for free.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Book 34 for this year is Surviving the evacuation book one: London and tells the story of the zombie apocalypse, told from the viewpoint of a government aide, trapped in his apartment after breaking his leg.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The first half of this book is mostly his observations of how everything all went wrong, gathered from news footage and images sent to him by a secret government source, as he does his best to survive on his own, still believing that his best friend and the person he works for, Jen, will send someone to pick him up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Once he starts to realise this is never going to happen, our protagonist decides to leave his apartment and what follows is </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">his attempt to survive, and find refuge, against all odds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">To tell such a long story with only one character is, I think, a very brave move, but it’s one that kind of works. And though at times this book is not as action-packed as some other zombie thrillers I’ve read, nonetheless the author here does a very good job of keeping the story flowing and all in all this is a very well written piece that earns a very well deserved 3/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">If Surviving the evacuation is a good example of how to write a clever, original zombie novel, then book 35 for this year, Undead Nation, is the perfect example of how NOT to write one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">When an incident occurs not far from the school where Alex’s daughter goes to school, Alex heads off to rescue her only to discover that the whole world has started to go all to hell.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">After successfully bringing her back home, Alex and his wife and daughter hit the road in an attempt to get out of the city, but their problems are only just beginning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">First off, this book was in dire need of a good edit with typos such as too instead of to and a couple of really quite elemental mistakes that a good editor would hopefully pick up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">This in itself would be forgivable if the story itself was sound, but unfortunately I personally felt it too quickly resorted to cliche, and there were a couple of moments where I just felt I couldn’t really connect with the characters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">There are other grievous errors here too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">When the main characters reach Alex’s in-laws for example, there is one moment in particular where two new characters get name-dropped with no previous explanation of who they are as if we, the reader should just know. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Something else a good editor would hopefully pick up on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">I don’t give up on many books, but unfortunately I felt like I had to give up on this one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Whilst culling books on my kindle, I’m afraid I have to be ruthless and unfortunately this is the kind of rushed out book that gives self-pub a bad name.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">No stars, simply because I couldn’t even get past the half-way point and this book did absolutely nothing to suck me in.</span></div>
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<br />sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-8545880652137543262019-11-10T20:58:00.003+00:002019-11-10T20:58:32.082+00:00As sick a book as you are ever going to read...<div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Until I read this, my only experience of Shaun Hupp was following his memes on facebook. So when I saw this book for free, I decided to pick it up and see for myself just what he was all about.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Maniacs with knives is about as sick a book as you are ever going to read outside something by Matt Shaw. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Seriously, if you are at all sensitive, easily offended, or prone to triggers, this book is not for you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">In one scene, a young woman is sexually assaulted by two men and when one of them can’t get it up, he uses a baseball bat - and this is in one of the tamer scenes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Hupp’s writing feels, at times, heavily influenced by Laymon, but Hupp here goes far and beyond anything Laymon ever attempted and there were more than a few moments when even I was cringing and flinching and I have a really high threshold for such things.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">This really is Extreme horror at its finest and next pay day, I will definitely, definitely be paying for the sequel!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">A very well deserved 5 stars out of 5!</span></div>
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sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-45140164747334552312019-11-07T17:08:00.001+00:002019-11-07T17:08:49.541+00:00October-November books read <span style="font-size: x-large;">Book 30 this year is The Wolves of Winter by Tyrell Johnson.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Lynn McBride is a young girl living in a post-apocalyptic nuclear winter with her family, forced to become a hunter-gatherer in the small settlement they call home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">But her family has a secret. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Lynn has a secret.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">And when a stranger wanders into their camp bringing danger in his stead, suddenly all their lives take an unexpected turn.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">This was a really good read and by the end, I was very pleased to discover that a follow-up book is in the works. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">It’s a bit of a young-adult book aimed probably more at teenagers, but it is very well written and though, at times, it threatens to travel familiar ground, there are enough twists and turns, thrills and spills, here to keep this very entertaining!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">A very strong 4/ 5 stars.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Book 31 this year is The Maze Runner by James Dashner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">A young lad wakes up in an elevator, slowly winding its way up to the surface, only to find himself in unfamiliar surroundings with no idea of who he is or how he got there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">It soon becomes apparent that he is not alone; there are other kids like him who have likewise been abducted; that the others have been there for some time; and that they are all trapped there, on the outskirts of a vast maze, with no hope of escape and walls that move around at the end of each day just to complicate things even further.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Thomas becomes obsessed with solving the mystery of where they are and who put them there, but then another new arrival emerges from below, a girl this time, and suddenly everything is all thrown into chaos.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Another Y/A book, The Maze Runner was made into a film not so long ago and though I haven’t seen it, this book on which it is based is very good indeed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The action moves at a very fast pace, and there is enough mystery here to keep you wanting to read right up until the end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">This was another book I really enjoyed, despite it perhaps not being aimed at my age range, and I look forward to reading more in the series.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Another strong 4/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Finally, book 32 for this year is Stephen King’s latest, The Institute.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">In a small town in Maine, hidden away in the woods, there is a secret base where talented children are being experimented on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Luke is brought to this base, after being abducted, and soon joins a small group of other children who all possess minimal psychic ability, but right from the start he becomes determined to escape.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Meanwhile, a former cop takes a job in another small town, several hundred miles away, and soon becomes something of a local hero after helping to stop an armed robbery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Before long, their two lives will intersect and when they do, nothing will ever be the same.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">This is another great Stephen King book and again, I really enjoyed this. There are a few subtle nods back to his earlier works as usual, but overall this is a stand-alone story that is almost a spiritual successor to the likes of Firestarter with its sinister, government organisation that claims to be doing what it’s doing for ‘the greater good.’</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">If you’re a life-long Stephen King can, like me, this is right up there with some of his classics 4/5 stars </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-49673640692882963482019-10-03T10:26:00.000+01:002019-10-03T10:26:02.955+01:00October reads part two <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Book 28 of this year is This Mitchell and Webb book. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I should probably have learnt my lesson by now, but the sad fact is comedy books like this generally as a rule all seem to suffer from the same problem - namely that they’re just not that funny. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately this book is no exception.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Whilst I always quite enjoyed their sketch show when it was on, and kind of sort of always enjoyed Peep Show, this book just didn’t do it for me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I guess their humour just doesn’t translate as easily onto the written page. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Either that, or I’m getting old.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">0/5</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, book 29 is a Day of a Confession.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I remember quite enjoying The Day After Tomorrow (nothing to do with the film of the same name) and seem to remember picking this up at some stage as well. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately I didn’t really remember what this was about until I started re-reading it, but the more I read, the more it seemed familiar.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">An American lawyer flies out to Rome to pick up his brother’s body after an explosion on a bus, but soon finds himself embroiled in a massive conspiracy involving the Vatican.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It’s a decent enough thriller, but it’s a lengthy read and there were lots of places where I started to get bored and started to think there were parts of this that could easily have been cut to make it a tighter read.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I think I remember now why I don’t really remember reading this - overall the book was a bit underwhelming and it certainly isn’t something I would choose to read again.</span><br />
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sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-22008796904375261882019-09-30T23:42:00.001+01:002019-09-30T23:42:16.834+01:00October reads part one<span style="font-size: large;">My 27th book of the year, and the first for October, is Fever by Wayne Simmons; a UK horror author based in Wales.</span><div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Fever is the sequel to Flu apparently, though judging from what I read, can also be enjoyed as a stand-alone. </span><div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In a lab underground, experiments are being done on a new kind of flu virus, but when the virus escapes, panic and mass infection soon ensue. This book follows several small groups of survivors as they struggle to flee not just those infected, but also the army ordered to shoot on site.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This was an okay book but for me, many of the characters came across as a little 2-dimensional. I started to get bored and if I’m honest, kind of skipped to the end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There’s nothing here you won’t have seen before. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">2 stars </span></div>
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sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-58603497240053615872019-09-30T20:21:00.001+01:002019-09-30T20:21:56.617+01:00Time and time again...<span style="font-size: large;">I seem to be going through a bit of a Ben Elton phase just lately and books 24 & 25 on my list of books I’ve read this year are two more of his novels - Time and time again, which revisits the First World War that Elton previously wrote about in The First Casualty, and Dead Famous, his satirical look at reality tv written in the style of a whodunnit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dead Famous is one of Elton’s earlier novels and without being too unkind, it shows - lacking some of the depth of his later books - but that doesn’t mean it’s not a cracking read. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In Elton’s version of the Big Brother house, someone has been killed - live on television and in front of not just a camera crew but .millions of viewers. It should be an open and shut case, unfortunately the camera has somehow failed to capture the identity of the killer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">An ageing copper, old before his time, who finds the whole concept </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">of reality tv completely alien, is given the mammoth task of discovering who was responsible for one of the contestant’s deaths, but when the killer threatens to strike again, quickly he finds time running out as the show gets closer and closer to its final episode.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This was quite a clever book, and the themes covered here are just as </span><span style="font-size: large;">relevant today thanks to the likes of such shows as Love Island, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">but the writing style certainly felt a little rough in places when </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">compared to his later work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I did enjoy it, but Mr. Elton’s writing has definitely improved with age.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Time and time again is a much more accomplished read, and perhaps one of the best time travel thrillers that I have ever read.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Hugh Stanton is still grieving after the death of his wife and child </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">in a hit and run when he is asked to celebrate Christmas with one of his former professors. Once there, she asks him the question of when he would go, if he could go back in time, if he had the chance to change one thing the could affect the present.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After much discussion, the professor eventually tells him she is part of a group who intend to do exactly that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">They have discovered that in just a few weeks, a wormhole will open up that could potentially take someone back to the days and weeks just before the start of The First World War, and their intention is to change history for the better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And they want HIM to be the one to do it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Of course, as is often the case, things aren’t always as easy as they seem...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This is a really clever book with a couple of very neat twists towards the end that I, </span><span style="font-size: large;">for one, never saw coming. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">To say it is one of the best books by Elton that I have read so far is an understatement and this is a novel that comes highly recommended!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Finally, book 26 in my list of books read this far, is Killers Choice by Ed McBain - another in his popular 87th Precinct series.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A woman is killed in what appears to be an off-licence robbery gone wrong, but as the detectives examine the life of the victim, they soon discover that everyone who knew her had a very different opinion of her and there is no shortage of suspects as to who might have committed the crime.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This is another classic crime thriller from veteran crime writer, Ed McBain and once again, a real joy to read. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Havilland, the cop who in previous books has become known for being a bit quick with his fists, finally gets his comeuppance, </span><span style="font-size: large;">but the way he is written out does feel a bit underwhelming if I’m honest. Where this book is notable, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">however, </span><span style="font-size: large;">is for its introduction of Cotton Hawes who, as long time fans of this series will know, in later books will become one of the main cast of characters that frequent this series.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I’m really enjoying revisiting the 87th, and this is another great entry in the series.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Hopefully very soon, I will be able to pick up some more...</span></div>
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sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-71803984225848957682019-08-21T03:00:00.002+01:002019-08-21T03:00:44.647+01:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">The last book for me so far this month, and my 23rd of the year, is the sequel to Thomas Flower’s Island of the flesh eaters that I reviewed earlier this year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">City continues exactly where Island left off, detailing what was going on while the character from the first book, Mark, was off hunting for his sister.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Franco Hernandez, a dockhand, seemingly delirious and suffering from a fever after being attacked by the Captain of an otherwise abandoned ship, is rushed to a nearby hospital, but it isn’t long before he succumbs to his wounds and is declared officially dead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As his body is on its way down to the morgue however, Franco rises from the dead and proceeds to attack others in the hospital - infecting them in the process...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And just like that, so the zombie apocalypse begins...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Before long, the whole city of Houston is in danger of being overrun. A handful of survivors band together to try and seek out some kind of escape, but as the army of the dead continues to grow, so too do their odds of survival start to stack up against them...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">When there’s no more room in Hell, the dead shall walk the earth...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This was a great book, and a wonderful, nostalgic, short, sharp read that is the perfect follow-up to </span><span style="font-size: large;">Island of the flesh-eaters. Whilst that book could be described as ever so slightly derivative at times, City stands out on its own and is the perfect tribute to zombie movies of the early eighties when this book is set. With shows like Stranger Things all the rage at the moment, the eighties have never been more popular and Thomas Flowers here perfectly encapsulates that with this, his latest novel in his Flesh-eaters series.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">At the end of this book, that finishes on a real ‘wtf happens now’ moment, Flowers teases a third instalment, Empire of the flesh-eaters, and after reading this, I’m definitely looking forward to it and hope to see the characters from both these two first books finally meeting up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Even if they don’t, the way this book ends, Empire promises to be every bit as epic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, if you only read one zombie book this autumn, I for one recommend it be this one...</span></div>
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<br />sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-58728757522006994582019-08-21T02:27:00.001+01:002019-08-21T02:27:13.530+01:00Books read in August part 3<span style="font-size: large;">Continuing my list of books read in August, books 21 and 22 of the year for me are the latest books in the Jack Caffrey series by popular crime novelist, Mo Hayder. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">As </span><span style="font-size: large;">you can see, I’ve really been getting through a few books this month and making up for lost time, but these last two books were simply so addictive, I found them impossible to put down. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The last few Jack Caffrey novels for me, it is fair to say, have been a bit of a disappointment. Ever since Hayder moved her titular detective inspector from his own native London to Bristol, his new stomping ground, it has almost felt a bit to me like Hayder has struggled to find Caffrey’s voice, but books 6 and 7 of the series, Poppet and Wolf respectively, are actually the first of her books in a long time to actually feel like Jack Caffrey novels. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Both books are very cleverly written, with some neat twists and turns, and really do capture the feeling of the first couple of books - Birdman, and The Treatment. Poppet, in particular, is especially good - finally resolving something that has been hanging over the last three books a bit like a dark cloud, but Wolf is also a very good read.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I read both books in a couple of days each, and was really able to get my teeth back into the series with these last two entries. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Together, they have done something I’d never thought they’d do, and restored my faith in Mo Hayder’s ability to write not just a good book, but a gripping and compelling thriller.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Both books come highly recommended, and I look forward to more in the series...</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-90140265962282214792019-08-21T02:05:00.002+01:002019-08-21T02:05:28.062+01:00Books read in August part 2<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Next up for August, and book 18 of the year, is City of the lost by Kelley Armstrong. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Casey Duncan is a homicide detective with a secret that she has kept for most of her life, but when her past comes back to haunt her, she jumps at the chance to flee to a remote town, cut off from all other civilisation, with her best friend so that the pair of them can start afresh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But this new life comes at a price.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In this remote, isolated town, someone is attacking and murdering the residents and Casey’s price for staying is finding out who is responsible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This book started off okay, and was a good read for two thirds of the book, but for me, the third and final act of the book let me down. By its end, I felt a tad disappointed by what I had just read which is why I’m only giving this 3 out of 5 stars.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I’ve never been Armstrong’s biggest fan, but I loved the idea of this book and thought it had real potential.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately though, the last few chapters really didn’t pay out for me which is why I have rated this so low.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I always think the real test of a good book is whether or not I would keep it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This one, I ended up donating which I think about sums up what I thought of it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Book 19 of the year for me is Sharpes Tiger by Bernard Cornwell. The first book, chronologically, for Sharpe sees our erstwhile hero starting off his career in deepest, darkest India, fighting on behalf of the British colonies. A great insight into that particular period of time, the book was a really good read - the first Sharpe book I gave ever read - and certainly left me wanting to read more in the series.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My 20th read this year is The first casualty by Ben Elton. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Set during the First World War, a former police inspector who refuses to fight on the grounds he doesn’t believe the war is one anyone can win, finds himself first incarcerated for his beliefs, and then sent to the front line when a senior officer is murdered.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Amidst all of the blood, the mud, and the fighting, his only hope of redeeming himself is solving what at first looks like an impossible crime, but the further he investigates, the closer he starts to come to the truth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This was another great book that really sucks you in and takes you in really deep and dirty into what it must have been like for those brave men out on the front line. It’s also a great thriller and has certainly encouraged me to look out for more books by this former comedian who, in recent years, really seems to have done well for himself after starting out in stand-up over 20 years ago now at least.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This book reminded me a lot of a combination of Bernard Cornwell and Sebastian Faulk’s novel, Charlotte Gray, and I would definitely recommend it to those who enjoy their historical fiction. </span></div>
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sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-36209688456165782572019-08-21T01:37:00.001+01:002019-08-21T01:37:46.182+01:00Books read in August 2019<span style="font-size: large;">It’s been a while, and my life has been kind of hectic these past few months - which is why I’ve not really been reading - but now that things are finally starting to settle down, I’ve found myself picking up a few books again these past few weeks or so.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">First up, and book 16 of the year, is One Kick by Chelsea Cain.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Cain is best known for her series of novels featuring Archie Sheridan and Gretchen Lowell, so this is a bit of a departure for her, but I have to confess, without a doubt, that this is probably her best book to date. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Kick Lannigan is an abuse survivor who has tried, and to a large extent failed, to put her past behind her. When two children are abducted in and around the Portland area, Kick finds herself approached by a mysterious man, calling himself Bishop, who wants her to use her particular set of skills and experience to good use finding them. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">But the closer she delves into the case, the more she once again finds herself drawn back into her own terrifying past.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This is a very, very good book, but be prepared - may contain a few triggers for anyone who has suffered abuse in the past. The character of Kick is brilliantly imagined which makes this, at times, a very traumatic and emotional read as well as being a taut and very clever thriller but as I said at the beginning of this review, is probably the best thing Cain has ever written.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What a shame then, that Cain seems to have largely foregone her novel writing career recently in favour of writing comic books.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">One Kick comes highly recommended and really is a cracking read that I rate very highly for fans of her work.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">10/10</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next up, and number 17 on my list for this year, is A book of bones by John Connolly. As regular readers of this Blog will know, I am normally a big fan of his Charlie Parker series, but this one unfortunately left me feeling a bit cold. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A body is discovered on the moors of a NorthEast England, supposedly offered up as some sort of sacrifice to an ancient god, but it is not the first...nor is it to be the last. Still smarting from his last encounter with them, Parker attempts to hunt down Quale and Mors, but in doing so, his search takes him first to Amsterdam and then to London, England as they, in turn, search for the last few missing pages of </span><span style="font-size: large;">The Atlas - the book that may well just allow them to finally awaken the ancient god they follow from his eternal slumber.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And only Parker stands in their way...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This book was okay, but suffered from being overly long with just s few too many characters for my liking. Indeed, Parker almost feels like a bit character in his own novel at times, and although I enjoyed this, it definitely wasn’t on par with previous books in this series.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">4/5 stars only, I’m afraid.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-21364526406876546672019-03-12T20:24:00.001+00:002019-03-12T20:24:07.001+00:00Books read in March, part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">When a recovering alcoholic and former guitarist returns to play with his old band one last time after reading a mysterious book, he has no idea just what he has let himself in for.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After smashing up his car on the way home, whilst giving one of his former band mates a lift, the lead character soon finds himself caught up in a horrific nightmare from which he can’t seem to escape, as the author of the book subjects him to a night of personalised terror.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Will Haunt You is my14th read of the year, obtained through netgalley in exchange for a honest review, but though I was quite looking forward to reading this, which is why I requested it, I actually found myself starting to struggle somewhere around the half-way mark to the point where I almost, very nearly, considered just throwing in the towel and giving up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For me, personally, I found the whole thing a bit of a convoluted and confusing mess with several different plot points all attempting to converge into one, until I found myself struggling to even understand what the hell exactly was going on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Overall, for me at least, the whole thing just didn’t work and as such, is not something I can personally recommend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Much better is Edgar Cantero’s Meddling kids, a modern-day take on the old Scooby-Doo TV series that many of you reading this, like me, will have probably grown up with.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">A few years ago, someone made a short fan film of The Power Rangers that looked at how those characters might have fared as they moved into adulthood, and Cantero’s book here attempts to do something very similar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Years after solving their last and biggest mystery, a group of former crime-solving teens, and the descendant of the dog that was their canine companion, now each of them broken and maladjusted adults, return to the town that was their former holiday home to revisit the scene of their last case, convinced they left something unfinished.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But as they return to their old stomping ground and beginning their investigation anew, they soon discover that this time around the culprit is more than just yet another man in a mask in a thrilling adventure tale that is quite literally packed to the rafters with Lovecraftian undertones.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I really, really enjoyed this and can’t reccomend it enough. The book is lots of nostalgic fun, but more than that is also a bloody good read. What starts off as a pastiche of the old Scooby-Doo cartoons quickly develops into more of a homage, and is quite simply a cracking tribute that manages to do its source material proud.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">4* out of 5</span></div>
sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-47475230104341816162019-02-23T16:33:00.000+00:002019-02-23T16:34:43.470+00:00Ant Middleton and Lone Survivor.<span style="font-size: large;">Books 12 and 13 of 2019 are Ant Middleton’s autobiography, First man in, and Nikki Landis’ zombie novel, Lone Survivor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ant Middleton is best known for his role on S.A.S: Who Dares Wins where members of the general public are put through a gruelling set of S.A.S training lessons in a bid to see if they would be tough enough to make it right through to the end of the course, but he is also a man who has served this country not just in the Paras but also in the Special Boat Squad, an elite group of soldiers who quite literally are the best of the best.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Much of Ant’s time in the Special Boat Squad is still classified top secret, so anyone expecting to learn anything from those times is going to be sadly disappointed, but this is more about how he got to the point of where he is today, along with several life lessons he has learnt during his time in the armed forces that helped ground him and shape him into the man he is today.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It’s a highly enjoyable read, full of very helpful advice and coping strategies at the end of each chapter, and I can’t recommend this enough - 4 stars.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lone Survivor is the first in a new series by Nikki Landis and is what can only be described as a horror novel mixed with a heavy touch of romance, and as such is something of a very mixed bag. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Bailee is the last woman on earth, or so she thinks, and has learnt to adapt and survive in a world currently overrun by the undead for the last year on her own, but then she discovers she is no longer alone...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There are other survivors out there, attempting to rebuild some kind of society, and she might just be the key to it all...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I was given a copy of this as an Arc, an advanced readers copy, in exchange for an honest review and as such, really wanted to enjoy this but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was enjoyable enough for what it was, but for me it lacked any depth or originality to the point where I kept thinking I’d read this before somewhere because so much of the story seemed familiar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Zombie genre nowadays is quite literally flooded, the market arguably overly saturated, and so to stand out in this day and age you really need to try and bring something new to the table and this is where I think this book ultimately fails. In my own recent release, a collection of Zombie shorts entitled</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Fear of the Dead, I tried to do something different by telling each story from a perspective you might not have heard from before, but </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">with Nikki Landis’ book it just feels a little like there is nothing much here that long-time horror fans won’t have seen before.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The cause of the outbreak too, for me personally, felt overly more complicated than it needed to be and the title of the book, Lone Survivor, is something of a misnomer as the lead character is only alone for just a few short chapters before suddenly she is thrust into the midst of a new community, fighting hard to restore some kind of order. I would have liked them, personally, to have turned up a little later in the book as I think some of the strongest chapters come early on in the book when Bailee is still alone, but that’s just me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I really, really wanted to enjoy this, like I say, and I only wish I could be a little bit more positive about it, but the lack of originality and the constant feeling that I’d read all this before somewhere - or at the very least, seen the same situation play out before in too many other books before this - for me, meant the whole thing kind of just left me a little bored.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you’re fairly new to the genre, or a big fan of Nikki Landis’ writing, then this is probably for you but if, like me, you’ve been around the block a few times, chances are you too will have seen everything here all done before and for that reason alone, I’m afraid I can only give this 2 stars out of 5.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-67516628914016469502019-02-23T15:47:00.001+00:002019-02-23T15:47:05.666+00:00Sleeping Beauties <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sleeping Beauties is my eleventh read of the year and at just over 700 pages in hardback, is one of the reasons why it has been so long since the last time I posted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Written by Stephen King, alongside his son, Owen, the book tells the story of what happens when all of the world’s women slowly start falling asleep and one after the other, begin slipping into what can only be described as a coma from which, as it soon becomes apparent, it is dangerous to try and wake them from. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, in the small town of Dooley, a young woman mysteriously emerges from the woods, appearing as if from nowhere, leaving a trail of death and destruction in her wake. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Her name is Evie, Evie Black - or at least that is what she calls herself - and though the towns people of Dooley might not know it yet, she is the key to it all, everything that is currently happening, and whatever happens to her will go on to help decide the fate of the entire world....</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As some of you may know, I am a big fan of Stephen King and though much of his later and more recent work has its critics, there are plenty of his recent releases that I have still enjoyed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately, this isn’t one of them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">When I first picked this up, it was on loan from the library and I ended up returning it in the end both because I was struggling to get into it, and because I knew I would never in a million years get to finish it in time before it was due back.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Fast forward a few months, and when I saw this in a local charity shop, I decided to try and give it another go. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In hindsight, I really shouldn’t have bothered.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Discussing this book with others online, on social media, the general consensus of this book is that it’s 300 pages of character development and then another 400 or so pages of story where, let’s be frank, not really a hell of a lot happens. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And having read the book for myself, I can tell you they’re not far wrong.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The story in itself is okay, but that’s about it. For something that, in appearance, is not far off the size of something like The Stand, this book is nowhere near as epic or anywhere near as memorable. If I’m honest, it almost feels like a cash-grab and though I did not hate it, it really wasn’t something I think that I will bother to read again and as far as King books go, I’d probably rate it as being almost as disappointing, if not more so, than Doctor Sleep - the belated sequel to The Shining which similary failed to impress when I read it last year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I don’t know how much of this was written by King, and how much by his son, Owen, or whether King just gave his name to this book to help boost sales, but for me personally this was nowhere near as good as</span><span style="font-size: large;"> the work of his other son, Joe Hill who - with the exception of Horns which I really couldn’t get on with - has successfully managed to carve himself out his own reputation without feeling the need to hang onto his father’s coat tails.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you’re thinking of giving this a go, look at the length and the size of the book first. If, after that, you’re still willing to invest a lot of time and effort into what, ultimately, is a not very rewarding experience then fine, good luck to you, I wish you all the best, but this is one of those books where even I started to skim read towards the end in a bid to finally finish it off and that is something I very rarely do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">A weak 2/5 just because it’s King but really, I really wouldn’t bother with this if I were you because time is too short and there are plenty of other, better reads out there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-19063024882456947722019-01-21T20:13:00.002+00:002019-01-21T20:13:27.948+00:00A frosty reception...<span style="font-size: large;">My tenth read of the year so far is another Matthew Cash novella entitled Frosty - a spooky winters tale for long, dark nights that is sure to send shivers down your spine and put a chill in your heart.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Reg is a homeless person, down on his luck and a bit confused to the point where he can barely remember who he is anymore. One cold, dark night, he seeks refuge in an old, downed tree with the intention of trying to get at a few hours sleep, but little does he know he is not alone...</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Little Stevie hasn’t many friends and has never really seen real snow before, so when he wakes up to find his town blanketed in white, he persuades his step-dad to take him over the park so he can play...</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And it is there that he encounters what’s left of Reg...for Reg is no longer quite the man he used to be, as a group of bullies who like to pick on Stevie are just about to find out!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this as much as the previous book I read by Cash and found it a little harder to get into. It was still a good read, but lacked some of the depth and flair of the previous novella which is why I’m only giving it 3 * out of 5.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Don’t get me wrong, it was still good - just not as good as some of his other work - and I still stand by my earlier statement that Matthew Cash remains one of the most under-rated British writers around.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-71449985791945399062019-01-21T14:58:00.003+00:002019-01-21T14:59:37.542+00:00The cat came back...a review...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Darren Johnson is drunk, depressed, and pining over the loss of his girlfriend when, on the way home one night, he spots a small, grey stray cat out in the rain and in a moment of chivalry, decides to take pity on the little fella. Taking him in and giving him shelter for the night, Darren leaves the cat out in the hall while he passes out in his bedroom, but the very next morning, when he wakes up, he quickly finds very good reason to regret this decision...</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For while he has been asleep, the little cat has also been busy - defiling and destroying his whole apartment!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Fuming and absolutely furious, Darren takes the cat and throws him back out on the street...but then, the next night, mysteriously <i>the cat </i></span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>comes back...</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Darren awakes in the middle of the night to find the cat somehow <i>back in his apartment.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Once more, Darren ejects the cat - this time kindly donating him to an old man, who lives a few floors down, and who takes in and feeds abandoned waifs and strays, but once again, the next night, <i>the cat comes back.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">No matter what Darren tries to do, the cat always seems to want to return </span><span style="font-size: large;">to </span><span style="font-size: large;">him - until finally he is forced to resort to desperate measures to try and rid himself of this unwanted pet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>But even then, still the cat comes back!</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Matthew Cash is a true British talent and an author who is exceptionally gifted and talented at crafting very clever stories.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I have had the pleasure of reading a number of his efforts over the </span><span style="font-size: large;">last few years, and not once have any of them failed to impress. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This though, is by far, one of my favourites of all the stories yet I have had the pleasure of reading by him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">With this short, little novella, Matthew Cash has created a chilling and terrifying read that is sure to make you look at your own cat a little differently from now on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Be warned though, the book does contain a few scenes of animal violence and brutality so if that is something that doesn’t appeal, you might be best avoiding this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This book is ideal for fans who might like Matt Shaw, and if you have read and loved any of his books, I would really recommended you checking out Matthew Cash!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">A strong 4/5 and I look forward to reading more by this author soon.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1646865260239990029.post-23829116772975209762019-01-14T23:35:00.002+00:002019-01-14T23:36:19.529+00:00More book reviews for January, 2019<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Books 6, 7, and 8 of 2019 includes two awesome novels and, unfortunately, one not quite so.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As previously mentioned, Graham Masterton is one of those authors who sometimes can be a little bit hit and miss. Unfortunately, The Sleepless is an example of the latter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Sleepless is one of those rare Masterton books I had not encountered before, so when I saw it in a local honesty library (where you can either exchange books or alternatively simply pick one up for a small donation), I decided bravely to give it a go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately I just couldn’t get on with it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Following a promotion to the position of senior judge, one man and his family are involved in a helicopter crash en-route to his accepting his appointment. Somehow, by some sort of miracle, the man and his family all manage to survive the crash, but as they approached by a mysterious stranger they soon begin wishing they’d died on impact.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">When a former Insurance investigator suffering from PSTD is called back to his previous job to investigate the crash, after being made an offer he simply cannot refuse, he encounters a mystery he becomes determined to solve.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But at what cost?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately this book simply wasn’t for me. I found it hard to connect with the characters and despite a very grisly opening scene featuring the rather ironically named ‘Jaws of Life’ - ironic because of the way in which they are here out to use - I really just couldn’t get on with this book. Within only a few chapters, I found myself ‘skimming’ pages and one look at how many pages I had left (for it is not a small book) was enough to convince me not to continue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Fans of this Blog will know that I don’t like giving up on books but at the same time, I have long reached that point in my life where I am no longer willing to endure something I’m really not enjoying and unfortunately I’m afraid this was just one of those books I just couldn’t get on with.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sorry Graham if you’re reading this...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Thankfully, Elevation by Stephen King was a much quicker and more enjoyable read. More of a novella than a full novel, it returns us to King’s Castle Rock, the home of such works as Cujo , The Dead Zone, and Needful Things and on the surface is the story of a man apparently losing weight whilst on the outside remaining exactly the same.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But it is also much more than that and in the spirit of stories like The Green Mile, ends up being just as much about tolerance as it is anything else.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I really enjoyed this and thought it a nice little read and a good return to form for King. It also features a sneak peek at Gwendy’s Button Box, and this is another of his that I must pick up at some point..,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Finally, we reach Thomas.S. Flower’s Island of the Flesh eaters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> A playful homage to the ‘Video nasties’ of the eighties, The book looks and reads almost like a new imagining of the classic Zombie movie, Zombie Flesh-eaters - with one scene early on playing out almost exactly like it does in the movie! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Despite this though, and despite the book being more than a little predictable if you have seen the afore mentioned movie, Island of the Flesh-eaters is a highly enjoyable read as one young boy and a local reporter search for the boys missing sister on a holiday island resort, in a plot that could also be accused of borrowing heavily from the console game, Dead Island.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If all this makes the book sound highly derivative, then that’s because it is, but that’s not to say that the book isn’t good, because again, it is - it’s very well written and that is enough to almost make you forgive the author for borrowing so heavily from other source material. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I found the characters well written and easy to like, and this was a short, sharp read that doesn’t pull many punches.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Would I read something else by this author? That’s a question I often ask myself when reviewing a new book and here, the answer is a solid and resounding, yes. I would love to see what this author can do with more original material, and from this example he is certainly one to watch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you’re looking for something to really get your teeth into (pun intended) then this book probably isn’t for you. If however, you’re looking for something short and sweet that you don’t have to think too much about, then this probably IS for you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It’s a good, solid read despite its over-reliance on familiar tropes and definitely one of the better Zombie books out there and something I would have no problem reading again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A great little tribute to the eighties, 4 stars out of 5 - losing a star simply because I felt like it played out a little too closely to Fulci’s classic zombie movie for my liking despite being very well done. </span></div>
sparkymarky1973http://www.blogger.com/profile/00171679805033401906noreply@blogger.com0