Calling Book Bloggers & Aspiring Writers

I am very blessed to be doing the thing I love most in the world - working with books and literature, in a company that shares my vision and ethos. At Jacaranda Books I am currently managing my own list (I know, so exciting!) which affords me two great privileges: 1. to share the books I love with all you wonderful readers and 2. to provide opportunities to great writers.

So first, to the readers. This month will see us publish The Colour Black by Maia Walczak and I am seeking bloggers and book reviewers to interview, write about and hold competitions and giveaways.

A unique take on the American road novel, The Colour Black is the story of a talented, colour-blind, feisty young woman Silvia Cruz. Silvia lives a quiet but comfortable existence in San Diego as an artist, drawing abstracts and nudes. Then  comes Jack; free-spirited, athletic and a lawyer with a love for wild swimming, he is different from her other models, and though resistant to love or meaningful relationships, Silvia soon finds herself drawn to him.

Guest Post: Department 19 by Will Hill + Competition

Possibly one of the biggest fans of Will Hill and Department 19, KamzKool is a young school-aged blogger and motoring fanatic. Will Hill's novel instantly captured him, and his super-fan-status was sealed when he was able to attend the secret event to celebrate the second book in the series, The Rising.  KamzKool has been kind enough to share on EBT a few words on his favourite book and the event he loved so much. Also there's a competition at the end to WIN YOUR OWN COPY!

Review: Feeling Sorry for Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty + Giveaway

Feeling Sorry for Celia
Author: Jaclyn Moriarty
Published by Macmillan Children's Books, Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9780330397254 (2010 Paperback Edition)

Visit Jaclyn Moriarty's Website
Feeling Sorry for Celia on the Pan Macmillan website

"Dear Ms Clarry,
It has come to our attention that you are incredibly bad at being a teenager.
Yours sincerely,
The Association of Teenagers"


It isn't just the story, but also is the pleasure of reading this book due to how it was written, that makes this book wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that I want to share it with you and have included a giveaway at the end of this review.

Feeling Sorry for Celia is a beautiful story about being a teenager, looking at friendship, family, love and school life. It is fun to read, for the most part non-judgemental, and most of all it shows that real life and real people are just not perfect. It was a real pleasure to read: funny, heart-warming and very honest. I think many people will recognise some part of their teenage self in this book and its characters.

Review: Dr Yes by Colin Bateman

Dr. Yes
by ' Bateman
Published by Headline
ISBN 9780755378616 (Paperback)

Buy Dr. Yes from Headline
Buy Dr. Yes from Amazon
Buy Dr. Yes from The Book Depository

Visit Bateman's website
Follow Bateman on Twitter

Dr Yes is the first novel that I have read by Bateman, and I cannot believe that I had not read one of his novels before, because it is pure genius! Seriously, it is so good, so witty, and different to other crime fiction books I have read. Here is the blurb:

You don't say no to Dr. Yes, the charismatic plastic surgeon on the fast track to fame and fortune. But when the wife of obscure and paranoid crime writer Augustine Wogan disappears shortly after entering his exclusive clinic, the Small Bookseller with No Name is persuaded to investigate. As fatherhood approaches, our intrepid hero is interested only in a quick buck and the chance to exploit a neglected writer, but he soon finds himself up to his neck in murder, make-up and madness - and face to face with the most gruesome serial killer since the last one.

I could tell you what I love about this book in a single word: everything. However, that would make for a really dull and lazy review, so I will pick out a few elements that really stand out.

Review: Pariah by David Jackson

Pariah
by David Jackson
Published by Macmillan, March 2011
ISBN 9780330530569


Buy Pariah from Pan Macmillan
Buy Pariah from The Book Depository
Buy Pariah from Amazon

Visit David Jackson's website
Follow David Jackson on Twitter

Pariah is the debut novel from David Jackson. It is written like a Hollywood movie whilst combining the overall feel and structure of hit US crime dramas like CSI, Criminal Minds or Law and Order. So, if you like a good action movie or crime drama, you'll want to give this book a try.


Here is the blurb:

It’s a bad enough day for NYPD detective Callum Doyle when his cop partner is murdered. It’s about to get a hell of a lot worse . . .


When the dead man’s replacement is also brutally killed, suspicion falls on Doyle himself. Then he receives an anonymous message. This is just the beginning, it says. Anyone he gets close to will die – and that includes Doyle’s own family. The only way to keep them alive is to stay away. For good.


Doyle is desperate to find out who is responsible, but when his every move puts others in danger he is forced to back off. With the investigation getting nowhere and his isolation deepening, Doyle has to ask himself an uncomfortable question: just how low is he prepared to sink in order to get his life back?

Review: Random by Craig Robertson

Random
by Craig Roberston
Published by Simon and Schuster UK, February 2011
ISBN: 9781847398819

Buy Random from Amazon

Buy Random from The Book Depository

Buy Random as an eBook

Generally speaking I do tend to avoid books written from the viewpoint of the criminal, especially when it relates to cold-blooded murder. This is because I generally have no real desire to put myself in the shoes of the murderer or sympathise with them. It is the kind of moral dilemma I aim to avoid.

However, I am glad that I read Random by Craig Robertson. It was so well-written, so believable and ultimately, so tragic that I could not help but fall in love with it. And every so often forcing yourself to face your own sense of moral judgement is probably good for the soul.

Here is the synopsis:

Glasgow is being terrorised by a murderer the media have nicknamed ‘The Cutter’. But how do you catch a serial killer when even he doesn’t know who’s next?...


Telling the story in his own words, The Cutter reveals the method, and motives, that drive him to kill again and again, in an escalating spree that leaves DS Rachel Narey and her team mystified.

Review - Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson

Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson

Doubleday (Transworld Books) 28^th April 2011

ISBN-13: 978-0857520173

Hardback 368 pages

£12.99

I have been raving about this book for so long that it is long overdue for me to write this review. Sometimes you can just sense that you will like something or someone. That is what happened when I first encountered S. J. Watson on Twitter last year and heard about his debut novel. In what I can only call fate, our paths would continue to cross in various ways.  However, the most remarkable event of all would be when I finally got my hands on a gorgeous proof of his novel, Before I Go To Sleep; the book did not meet my expectations, it surpassed them by far. Here is a brief synopsis:

As the result of a tragic accident, Christine Lucas suffers a rare form of amnesia; not only has she lost all her memory, but she is unable to hold new memories for any longer than 24 hours. Every time Christine falls asleep at night, she forgets all over again. Her husband, Ben, is her only source of information, and it is through him that she discovers who she is and what has become of her life.

However, when a Dr Nash calls around and gives Christine a journal which she has apparently been keeping, Christine realises that there are things about her life that Ben has been hiding from her. But why? Is Ben sparing her, and himself, the pain of relating all the things she has lost, and forgotten, everyday of both their lives? Or is there something more sinister at hand?

Review: The Decision Book by Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschäppeler

The Decision Book

Fifty Models for Strategic Thinking

ISBN 1846683955

ISBN 13 9781846683954

Profile Books Ltd January 2011

Price £9.99

Hardback, 176 pp.

When I first got a copy of The Decision Book on Friday afternoon, I had intended to read just a few specific sections. I had no real intention of doing a full review and no obligation to do so. So I absolutely surprised myself when I realised I would be able to read the entire book cover to cover in a single sitting! This is not really the type of book that you are supposed to read through, it is more designed to be used and applied when needed, carrying out exercises and activities, but I found the models and theories in it so interesting that I just could not resist. So, on account of it surprising me in this way, I thought it only right that I do review it.

The Decision Book is a mini-workbook containing approximately fifty decision-making models that we can apply to our everyday lives to help guide our thought processes and actions. It looks at both classic and modern theories and strategies taken from some of the world’s greatest theorists, leaders, businessmen, organisations and free-thinkers. What is better though, is that these incredible theories and ideas are explained in concise form, most not more than a page long, meaning that you get all this incredible knowledge in less than 200 pages. And as if that was not good enough, each model is nicely presented in a diagram, one that you can copy and use yourself, applying these decision-making models to your own situations. It is so simple and yet so beneficial.

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...

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.

Review - King of Tuzla by Arnold Jansen op de Haar

King of Tuzla, by Arnold Jansen op de Haar, is the tale of Tijmen Klein Gildekamp, a soldier with the UN sent on an aide mission to Bosnia. It describes Tijmen’s physical and psychological journey through the former Yugoslavia, as well as showing snippets of the lives of others who Tijmen and his comrades pass along the way. It is told with the silent, humble authority of an author who has firsthand knowledge and experience of the scenes he has chosen to describe.

The novel is divided into five sections. The first three sections have Tijmen as an active soldier, awaiting and then partaking in his duties. The final two serve as a reflection of his final months in Bosnia after his return to his homeland in the Netherlands.

In the first section Tijmen is with a reconnaissance team in Bosnia awaiting a definitive mission, and we are intriduced to the sitation on Bosnia. Not only are the feelings of frustration and concern of the soldiers displayed, but also we are given glimpses of the civilians of both sides of the conflicts, of how their lives have changed, in the first of what I have coined the digressions. In various points throughout the novel the author jumps from the main characters, Tijmen and the soldiers, to other characters, to the inhabitants affected by the war. Starting with Galib Prolaz the Yugoslav, throughout the novel we briefly glimpse the lives of Lucia, Jasmina, Vlado Duric, Lazar Zekic, Ejup Delalic, and Hadija Ibrahimovic, real people on both sides of the conflict; real experiences that are not sensationalised nor glorified. We are allowed a glimpse into how it felt to be a soldier and a civilian in that war.