2018
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Exile
Reviewed on 15th December 2018
Marc Dane’s second adventure begins with the blacklisted ex-spy-support-staffer working in a European backwater, as an analyst on loan to a grumpy boss who has no interest in following up on any of the interesting leads he finds, despite the world-changing implications.
Poirot's Early Cases
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Reviewed on 15th December 2018
As I approach the end of my decade-long read-through of the Hercule Poirot series, I come to this collection of short stories. The stories are all from early in Poirot’s career, before he was an internationally renowned detective, and were originally published relatively early in Christie’s career, although not collected like this until the end.
Early Riser
Reviewed on 15th December 2018
Jasper Fforde’s new novel, seemingly a stand-alone tale, explores the question “What if humans hibernated?” through an exploration of a complex world from the point of view of a young novice who is enlisted to remain awake through the winter to help look after society during the frozen months.
Snapshot
Reviewed on 15th December 2018
This standalone novella from Brandon Sanderson has a similar feel to his Reckoners series, despite the content being very different. It’s an incredibly complex short tale, focussing on two police officers who investigate crimes in Snapshot - a way of seeing back in time, enabling them to investigate crimes before or as they are happening - with some caveats.
A Foreign Country
Reviewed on 15th December 2018
I’m not entirely sure where I picked up this, the first novel by Charles Cumming that I’ve read, but I’m very glad I did.
Unlocked
Reviewed on 15th December 2018
This is a fascinating work of fiction. Set in the world of Scalzi’s novel Locked In (and subsequent sequel Head On), this book gives a lot of the background to the illness which prompts the main plots.
The Midnight Front
Reviewed on 15th December 2018
David Mack is a prolific and well-regarded author of tie-in fiction, particularly in the Star Trek universe, which is where I have previously encountered him, so I was intrigued when I learned that he was writing an original novel.
Home
Reviewed on 31st July 2018
The latest Myron Bollitar adventure is, in some ways, a return to the relaxed but violent writing style of the earlier novels in the series. On the other hand though, it brings with it some new 21st Century attitudes and the additional characters introduced in its young adult spinoff trilogy.
The Atrocity Archives
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Reviewed on 31st July 2018
This book, the first in the Laundry Files series, has been sitting on my shelf for some time, and I’ve been eyeing the series up in bookshops for even longer. I was attracted by the bright covers, interesting descriptions, and quotes on the covers from authors I like.
S. N. U. F. F.
Reviewed on 31st July 2018
I picked up SNUFF cheap on the basis that the cover stood out a bit. I think I’ve seen it in shops before, but low cost books tend to lead to greater bravery. This time however it wasn’t a winner for me - I set it aside after 50 pages and didn’t feel any urge to go back.
Fear Itself
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Reviewed on 31st July 2018
The third novel set in the time of Star Trek: Discovery, the latest television series in the Trek universe. In this story James Swallow writes about Saru during his time serving on the USS Shenzhou patrolling the Tholian border.
Secret Army
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Reviewed on 29th July 2018
The third book in the Henderson’s Boys series (which itself served as a prequel to the author’s modern-day Cherub series), and the one where the story catches up to where I had expected it to start two books earlier. Having successfully escaped France with the aid of a group of children, Charles Henderson has set up a training camp to bring the children up to the level of full spies so that they can join the country’s efforts to win WW2.
The Furthest Station
Reviewed on 29th July 2018
A novella in the Rivers of London series, this book follows pretty much the same pattern as the full-length novels, just in abbreviated form. I almost wonder if it was conceived as a possible idea for a full novel, but turned out to not quite have the legs. All for the best really if so, as it makes an excellent novella.
Fleshmarket Close
Reviewed on 29th July 2018
It’s hard to believe I’m fifteen books into the Rebus series - however by this point he and his stories have become like old friends. It’s so easy to dip back in and continue to follow the lives of Rebus and his colleagues as they go about solving the crimes of Edinburgh.
Forever and a Day
Reviewed on 29th July 2018
I enjoyed Anthony Horiwitz’s first James Bond novel - and his Bond-esque Alex Rider series for younger readers - so was glad to see him back to write another. This time it’s a close prequel, dealing with Bond’s first mission as a 00 agent, with some elements taken from unpublished Ian Fleming story ideas.
Especially Jennings
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Reviewed on 29th July 2018
The fifteenth Jennings story sees the foundation of the Jennings Membership Club - along with a variety of other mishaps that leave Jennings and his friends in various quantities of trouble with the school staff. It’s one of the stories that I read as a child but not one with a plot that particularly well stuck in my memory, so it was a delight to re-read.
Holding
Reviewed on 29th July 2018
This is the first Graham Norton novel that I’ve read, after years of seeing him on the telly, and it was lent to me by a friend after she finished reading it.
Proven Guilty
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Reviewed on 25th July 2018
I find myself with an interesting relationship with the Dresden Files. I put off reading this one, concerned that as I wasn’t feeling excited at the prospect of picking it up that I’d gone off the series. But actually once I did lift it from the shelf and get stuck in I found myself really enjoying it.
Elephants Can Remember
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Reviewed on 25th July 2018
Nearing the end of the Poirot canon, this story follows the elderly detective as he’s asked to investigate a very cold case - as the mother-in-law-to-be of a young woman digs to find out what really happened to her parents.
Off the Rails
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Reviewed on 7th July 2018
Bryant & May’s eighth adventure takes an interesting twist on the series, being the first novel that is a direct sequel to the preceding one. The continuing case of The Fox, who having escaped custody appears to have begun a new killing spree, and the detectives are once again given an absurdly short deadline to complete the case or be shut down.
Restless
Reviewed on 7th July 2018
Restless is my third William Boyd novel, and continues the trend of being a period spy story - this time with two parallel storylines set some 40 years apart, one the daughter in the 1970s, the other her mother in the 1930s and ‘40s. In a surprise revelation, the mother announces she isn’t who her daughter always thought, and piece by piece explains her true backstory.
Head On
Reviewed on 7th July 2018
The sequel to Lock In, this novel continues the adventures of FBI agent Chris, a ‘Hayden’, who is one of many people with locked in syndrome who carry out their daily lives by controlling Android-like avatars over the Internet.
Macbeth
Reviewed on 26th May 2018
I bought this book under the false belief that it was a new story in the Harry Hole series. It certainly is not. Having discovered that it is actually a relatively-modern retelling of the Shakespeare classic, I thought that sounded interesting, and proceeded to read.
Architects of Infinity
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Reviewed on 26th May 2018
The latest in Kirsten Beyer’s continuation novels for Star Trek: Voyager is a little more of a stand-alone story, as the crews of the Full Circle fleet discover a new planet, and a new element, and decide to take some shore leave. As is typical with Starfleet shore leave, it’s not as relaxing as might have been hoped.
The Core
Reviewed on 26th May 2018
The grand finale of the Demon Cycle brings us back to a world infested by demons who rise from the ground each night to terrorise the human population.
The Hanging in the Hotel
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Reviewed on 26th May 2018
The fifth Fethering Mystery finds amateur sleuths Carole and Jude embroiled in a hotel-based death during an ego-trip event by a group of local do-gooders.
Found
Reviewed on 26th May 2018
The third (and so far final) novel in the Mickey Bollitar series continues the adventures of the young nephew of the author’s adult thriller star Myron. Like with the previous novel, a lot of what’s going on is a continuation of the ongoing story, but there is a self-contained element to the narrative as well.
Holy Cow
Reviewed on 29th April 2018
David Duchovny, best known for acting in a 90s sci-fi TV series, tells the tale of a cow who discovers the truth about her existence, and sets out to decide her own fate.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Reviewed on 29th April 2018
This is the fourth Neil Gaiman novel I’m read, and I’m slightly surprised that I bothered after struggling to get into two of the earlier ones. This novel tells the tale of a recollected childhood incident stepping into a fantasy world.
Russian Roulette
Reviewed on 29th April 2018
The ‘final’ novel in the Alex Rider series (because it turns out that another book has now been published) is one I’ve been looking for for some time. It’s an interesting twist on the series, which typically focuses on the titular teenager recruited into MI6 - instead this novel telling the surprisingly parallel story of his arch nemesis, a freelance assassin.
The Hanging Tree
Reviewed on 25th March 2018
The sixth Rivers of London novel continues the adventures of magical policeman Peter Grant, investigating slightly paranormal crimes in contemporary London. This time when a teenager dies of an apparent overdose, he’s summoned by his girlfriend’s sister to keep her daughter out of the investigation, which as can be expected doesn’t turn out to be straightforward.
Drastic Measures
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Reviewed on 25th March 2018
The second novel based on the new Star Trek television series, Discovery, is set some ten years before the series and gives an insight into the backstory of two of the secondary character - Philippa Georgiou and Gabriel Lorca. Serving in Starfleet as Commander and Lt. Commander respectively, the two officers’ paths cross when a (later infamous) famine breaks out on a distant colony world after crops are infected by a deadly fungus.
The Midnight Line
Reviewed on 25th March 2018
The twenty-second novel in the Jack Reacher series continues the loosely flowing narrative of the last few ‘modern day’ novels, though only briefly, around a new plot triggered when Reacher happens upon a West Point ring in a pawn shop.
The Rooster Bar
Reviewed on 23rd March 2018
Somehow, John Grisham has come up with a new twist on the Legal Thriller - following a friend's suicide, three law students decide to give up college and just practice without licences. And then their adventures really begins.
Places in the Darkness
Reviewed on 23rd March 2018
Christopher Brookmyre, known for earlier comedic and latterly serious crime novels takes a second step into science fiction with this tale of a future space station, its new head of law enforcement and a local cop who knows the place like the back of her hand.
The Rogue
Reviewed on 23rd March 2018
The second book in the second trilogy set around the Magician's Guild continues the adventures of Sonea, hunting a rogue magician in the streets of her city, and her son, a pseudo-prisoner in a far off land.
Brigands M.C.
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Reviewed on 28th January 2018
Book 11 in the Cherub series kicks off with an introduction to a new character, Dante Scott, who we meet as a young child when his family are murdered by a gang of bikers. This sentence should be sufficient to make it clear this book is intended to be read by an audience who are capable of processing this sort of scene.
Guards! Guards!
Reviewed on 21st January 2018
The first of the City Watch stories in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series introduces readers to Ankh-Morpork's police force led by Captain Vimes. This is the first time that I've re-read a Discworld novel, and so I wasn’t sure how I'd feel. My memories of the early Watch stories are patchy, mainly because of when in my life I first read them, so I couldn't remember in any great detail what was going to happen.
Fortune of War
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Reviewed on 20th January 2018
After a two year gap, this new stand-alone Star Trek: Titan novel follows the crew as they investigate some recently discovered Husnock technology which is in great demand from a number of different civilisations in the alpha quadrant.
The Essential Drucker
Reviewed on 20th January 2018
The Essential Drucker is a heavily edited version of the highlights from all of Drucker's works. Peter Drucker is described in the opening 'appreciation' as the inventor of management, and seems to have spent a career ranging from the 1920s to the 1990s studying management and providing advice. This book was created by editing together all his books into one central repository of all his best output - first by a Japanese editor into three volumes, then again by an American editor into a single volume.
A Question of Blood
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Reviewed on 20th January 2018
Deep into the Rebus series, we see the eponymous detective face a novel crime - two schoolboys murdered and another wounded - which hits close to home when he discovers one of the victims is a long lost relative.
I, The Constable
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Reviewed on 2nd January 2018
A third e-novella from veteran Trek experts Block & Erdmann, continuing the Ferengi theme, as Quark returns to Ferenginar following the news that his uncle has died - but when he fails to return Odo follows to investigate.
The Way of Kings (part two)
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Reviewed on 2nd January 2018
The second half of The Way of Kings, the opening book of Brandon Sanderson’s epic series, feels very much like the second half of a book (which of course it is). This means that it's fast-paced, with a lot going on, and next to no introduction. It's like getting to the unputdownable part of a book from page one.