Book Chick City Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge 2011

When I began this blog in August I honestly thought I'd spend a lot more time on it.  I had just graduated and was seeking work placements; I imagined I would have quite a bit of time available. To my pleasant surprise, I have been a lot busier than expected, but the down-side has been not participating in blogging as much as I'd like. However, I have decided that 2011 will be different, and I am determined to dedicate far more time to blog activities. What better way to do that, than with a blogger's reading challenge? And what better challenge than Book Chick City's Mystery and Suspense Reading Challenge.

The challenge consists of reading at least 12 mystery and suspense novels during 2011. There is even a list of subgenres provided, too, making it easier to select suitable novels. Brilliant! I absolutely adore mystery and suspense novels, I love them, and I’d be quite ashamed if I did not manage to read at least twelve next year. I won’t make the mistake of thinking I’ve got this challenge sorted, but it is certainly nice that my first challenge is one that I really feel I| can achieve. I am totally in my element here.

It gets better though. The challenge is sponsored by Simon and Schuster, who I absolutely adore as a company, and who have incredible books, some of which they will be offering as prizes. Yippee! The first book on offer as a potential prize is The Survivor by Sean Slater, with ARCs up for grabs, and which I hear is pretty incredible! I guess I cannot hide that knowing that Simon and Schuster are backing this challenge and offering prizes certainly did not hurt my decision to take part.

So here I am, about to start my new blogging year with a new blogger’s challenge. I am absolutely looking forward to this, I’m sure it will be a lot of fun, and Book Chick City has an incredible blog with great followers, so it will be the perfect opportunity to connect with other bloggers.

Thank you Book Chick City and Simon and Schuster. Now, bring it on!!!

Review: The Terror of Living By Urban Waite - Literary Thriller of 2011

The Terror of Living
By Urban Waite

Simon and Schuster UK
Published February 2011

My last review was about the first thriller I read before becoming an addict of the genre. The incredible novel I am about to present to you now is my most recent thriller read. Let us begin with a synopsis:

Hunt, an ex-convict, has spent the past twenty years on a small ranch with his wife, supplementing his income with the odd drug smuggling job.

Drake, a deputy sheriff, is newly married and has almost escaped the shadow of his father, who was also a sheriff - and no stranger to the drug trade himself...

Drake is on Hunt's trail when a big drug deal in the mountains goes awry and so begins a terrifying race against time. Although Hunt evades Drake's attempts at capture the traffickers soon unleash a merciless hired killer to reclaim what's theirs. As the chase closes in and loyalties are tested, Drake's quest for justice contends with a hitman's quest for blood, and Hunt must face a terrible choice...

The Terror of Living is Urban Waite’s debut novel, and judging by the standard of this novel, the first of many more brilliant novels to come. There is so much I like about this novel that it is difficult to know where to begin.

Review: Day of Confession by Allan Folsom

Day of Confession 

By Allan Folsom 

Warner Books 1998 

"From the very first page, Day of Confession defies the reader to look away for a moment and resonates with the confidence and effortless expertise of an author who knows we will not" The Express

"Grippingly conceived and recounted" Sunday Times 

The book I am about to review is very dear to my heart as is its author. I read it a good few years ago, so my memory of it is not perfect, but I am writing about it because both this book and its author are very important to me; they form my introduction to the conspiracy/crime thriller genre and I still believe that Allan Folsom is one of the best authors in this field. It pains me that he is not more widely known amongst my bookish buddies, and for this reason I write the following review. As always, I begin with a synopsis:

In Italy the Cardinal Vicar of Rome is assassinated during a celebration of the Pope’s birthday.

In Los Angeles Harry Addison, a highly successful entertainment lawyer, finds a desperate message on his telephone answering machine from his long-estranged brother, Daniel, a priest in the Vatican.

Hours later a tourist bus on which Father Daniel is travelling explodes on the road to Assisi.

Arriving in Italy to claim his brother’s body, Harry is abruptly plunged into a Kafka-esque nightmare of deception and terror. Learning that Daniel is the prime suspect  in the assassination of the Cardinal Vicar, he soon suspects that his brother may have survived the bus explosion and still be alive, but before he can confirm his suspicions he is himself framed for the murder of an Italian policeman.

On the run from the authorities and desperately searching for Father Daniel, Harry discovers someone else is looking for his brother as well – the infamous international terrorist and maniacal killer, Thomas Kind. Pursued and alone, Harry finds himself at the centre of a monstrous conspiracy spun from the very heart of the Vatican, where men of God are using the Devil’s hand to establish a new Holy Roman Empire...

Inheritance by Tara Palmer-Tomkinson

Inheritance 

By Tara Palmer-Tomkinson
 Pan Books 1st October 2010
 ISBN 9780330513265

Glamorous lives, family ties and wicked lies...

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first saw Inheritance by Tara Palmer-Tomkinson. I am not much into celebrities and far too often find that their book sales have very little to do with content. I was lucky enough to read the press release and blurb and became curious to know more. After reading the Prologue I knew I’d read it all, and glad that I had not chosen to judge this book by its cover. Here is the blurb for you:

Notorious party-loving ‘It Girl’ Lyric Charlton has it all – the lineage, the looks and the lifestyle. A moneyed upbringing at the heart of one of the upper class’s most well-connected families, a finishing school education and an address book bursting with the world’s most powerful and high-profile people has crowned her the glamorous poster girl for the aristocratic glitterati.

But when her doomed relationship with suave boy-about-town Ralph Conway means she takes the good times too far, she is packed off to rehab by her worried parents, and the public shame and private humiliation that follow means Lyric’s only option seems to be to retreat into sober obscurity.

But what no one can predict is the dramatic chain of events her exile sets in motion. For Lyric’s treatment is the start of much more than a life as an ex-addict. It’s the catalyst that exposes a complex web of deceit and betrayal – and leads Lyric on an increasingly dangerous quest to find the final missing piece of the jigsaw of her life…

Review: Scarlett Dedd by Cathy Brett

Scarlett Dedd

By Cathy Brett

Headline Publishers

• ISBN: 9780755347872
• Publication date: 02 September 2010

Scarlett Dedd is one of the first books that I have read in my rediscovery of YA literature, and it was certainly a treat. It is a funny, intelligent, teenage story that is well written, well presented and has an authentic teenage voice in the person of Scarlett.

I have written a little synopsis for you:

 Scarlett is your typical teenager in so many ways, yet she is also quite different, unique. Like any typical teenager she is unhappy with her family life, though she is sure she has more reasons to be than most, not least due to her surname which has been cause of much ridicule for all her life. You see, Scarlett is a Dedd, and if the name wasn’t doomed enough, that also meant frightfully pale skin that never tanned, lifeless hair and gloomy eyes. That, along with the family’s poverty, which meant second hand clothes and a horrid diet, was enough to test the patience of any teenage girl.

So when Scarlett finds out that she has to go on a seven day school-trip to Northern France as part of her History classes she decides to draw the line and take matters into her own hands. One way or another, she was getting out of her trip. However, Scarlett’s super-plan goes mortifyingly wrong, not just for her, but for her family too, and soon she discovers a whole new meaning to being part of the Dedd family.

As if being a teenager was not hard enough, Scarlett has to learn a whole new existence, and in the process learns the true meaning and value of family and friendship.

Review: A Bear Called Euston By Keillor Robertson

A Bear Called Euston, The Evil Twin
by Keillor Robertson

Prion Books

First published 3rd September 2009 Hardback ISBN 9781853756903 This paperback edition published 2010 ISBN 9781853757952

I am not quite sure how to go about reviewing this book, because it is either totally awful or absolutely brilliant... I certainly lean towards the absolutely brilliant side. It has been a while since a book made me laugh out loud in public. I mean at home is one thing, but on a packed bus of nervy, irritated people dying to get home, well that is another story altogether. But that is what happened as I read A Bear Called Euston. Let’s begin with a synopsis:

Once upon a time there were two bears. One was polite, cuddly and cute. The other one hated his guts...If you were to come across a small, cute, defenseless, cuddly little bear at a railway station who was both courteous and utterly endearing...it wouldn't be this one. This bear was foul-mouthed, obnoxious, violent and utterly filthy not only in terms of his personal hygiene but also in every thought and most of his deeds. That didn't bother the Wood family. They adopted him and took him home with them. They may have had their own reasons for doing so, but the little bear certainly had other plans. When he first arrived from darkest Colombia, the little bear didn't know anyone in London. That was all soon to change.

Mr Wood looked like a very respectable man...Sometimes looks can be deceiving. Euston looked like a foul, disgusting, vicious, scheming little piece of crap. Sometimes looks can be spot on. Settling in to a very comfortable lifestyle with the Woods, Euston causes no end of chaos for the family, and when he finds that his most hated rival, his sworn enemy, his closest relative is living just round the corner, Euston begins plotting a despicable campaign that will satisfy his lust for revenge.

Book Machine Meet-Up

As a relative newbie to the world of publishing, there is nothing that I desire more than to meet up with other publishing types. Until now I have managed to ‘connect’ with a good number of publishing people through social network sites, and as a result of my work experience, but nothing compares to meeting people face-to-face in a relaxed environment where you can be yourself, no expectations. So, considering that formal networking isn’t quite appropriate for me at these early stages of my career (what would I have to talk about, the importance of work experience?), the Book Machine Meet Up was the perfect choice.

I first got to know about the Book Machine through Twitter. Laura Austin, one of the organisers, was very welcoming, encouraging me to come along. Luckily, at this most recent meeting on Thursday evening (2^nd December) I was only two minutes away from our meeting point at the Hachette building, so despite having another arrangement, I was able to attend for a while and got there nice and early.  Bit by bit more people began to join us, and before long there was a nice group of publishing peeps just socialising, chatting and having a laugh. I got talking to a few people; there were many people from Hachette there, some I’d met, many I hadn’t, and also some people that I had seen before and/ or knew through Twitter, but had not connected them as one and the same person until that evening! Despite not staying  the whole evening I enjoyed myself; there was a nice, relaxed, friendly  vibe that removed the anxiety one can feel when you are still working your way up and have yet to land your first permanent role. The relaxed feel of the evening also meant that I spoke to people I had met before, only in a lot more detail, and I discovered that one of the girls from the Hachette office is actually my neighbour (not next door, but near enough), imagine that!