Book Review: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'd heard that this book was amazing when it came out. That it was groundbreaking, and shocked all of it's readers. So I went into The Murder of Roger Ackroyd with excitement and anticipation.
Don't get me wrong, I love Agatha Christie and the characters she creates. I love Hercule Poirot although I always picture David Suchet in my head, and I love how the plot unravels bit by bit.
Poirot sees so much that other people miss, and it's clever how information is deduced.
My only complain, and it's my fault as opposed to the author's, and that's I worked out the ending. I like being held in suspense until the last minute, so for me I was disappointed. But, for it's time The Murder of Roger Ackroyd would have been shocking and an ending nobody saw coming. Unfortunately this isn't the 1930's. I look forward to my next Christie novel!

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Book Review: The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney

The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I haven't been able to go to A Book And A Beer Club in aaaaages because of my shift pattern. But now that my shift has changed I still can't go. But I've started reading the books to catch up and get back in to the swing of things.
I'd never heard of Stef Penney or her other books so I had no expectations going into this book. The Invisible Ones follows a private investigator called Ray and a fourteen year old boy called JJ as Ray investigates the disappearance of a woman named Rose Janko.
Following both narratives keeps it interesting, and it helps the reader understand more about this community of people. I also liked the glossary of words at the beginning of the book.
Overall, this is a different kind of missing persons case. I found it interesting, and as I was reading I felt myself getting sucked in without even realising it.
Although I've heard this is different to Stef Penney's other work, I am looking forward to reading it.


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Book Review: Caught by Harlan Coben

Caught by Harlan Coben
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first Harlan Coben book I read took me less than twenty four hours. I read it solid, couldn't put it down. Since then I have been a massive fan of his. I prefer the stand alone novels to the Myron Bolitar series and one or two of the books I found a little predictable or I guessed the ending, (which I don't like to do!) but this wasn't one of them.
We first meet Dan Mercer, the coach for a hockey team of foster and orphan children. He's going to see a girl named Chynna who needs his help. As soon as he arrives he gets jumped on by a camera crew led by reporter Wendy Tynes, who picks up the narrative from then on.
I like the way Coben writes Dan Mercer, you feel like you're in his head and that you understand the man. From the off I got a judgement of him and I never doubted him. I won't say too much because I'll give away the story.
Wendy Tynes is a decent female lead, and strong, which I particularly admire, but can be a little annoying at times. Her sense of humour is great, and she gets sarcastic quickly which I relate to. Her faith in the other characters is also interesting.
The only thing that I didn't really like about this story is the American High School stuff, and I know, seeing as it's set in America and about a missing school girl, it has to be, but I find it all a bit cringey. The couples are all high school sweethearts and I doubt that's the case in real life.
The ending also fell a bit flat for me. I had my sneaking suspicions all along that it had to be one of a few people, so I wasn't shocked at the ending, not as much as I like to be at the end of a Harlan Coben thriller!

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Book Review: Dying Fall by Ruth Galloway

Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've always been a fan of Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway books. To me they are the perfect combination of murder mystery with a sprinkling of lovey-dovey stuff. I think the characters play a large part in this as by and large, I love Ruth Galloway. I think she's funny, clever, brave, and I love the fact that she doesn't see it. Sometimes, she can bang on about her weight too much, but I'll overlook that for such a strong female lead.
Cathbad and Nelson are also great characters. I love the spiritual side of Elly Griffiths' books, it stops them from becoming bog standard police procedural. Cathbad's actions in this book made him one of the central characters and it's nice to see his view on the world.
Nelson is still as stoic as ever. Spending a week with his family provides a lot of the comedy, and the tension as Ruth, Kate and Cathbad come to dinner.
It was nice to have a change of scenery and head to Blackpool and Lytham, although I did miss Cloughie. But I think the new location improved the story line. Nelson wasn't the one running the police investigation so we got to see him and Ruth in a new light.
I also enjoyed the fact that, in quite a traditional way, there were only a few suspects and each new piece of evidence sent you to one, or another. I didn't guess the murderer, but then, the Ruth Galloway books are different for me. I enjoy the ride rather than race to finish. Talking of endings, the last books have always had the same ending, Ruth gets herself in trouble, someone (normally Nelson), saves the day. It was good to have a different ending and I'm not a parent, but the way Griffiths' describes Ruth's emotions was incredible.
Without giving too much away, the archaeology aspects of this case are also really interesting too for any history buff.
Overall, the only thing I had a major problem with is the title. It kind of gave away the ending a bit and wasn't really linked to anything else. I think 'The Unquiet Grave' would have been much better!

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Book Review: Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought it best that my first foray into the written word of James Bond be Casino Royale, seeing as it's the first and one of the books for World Book Night 2013. I've seen the recent film version starring Daniel Craig (not the David Niven spoof) so I had a vague idea of the plot and certain characters.
The character of James Bond isn't always what you expect. He views women as sex objects, or something that 'gets in the way' which the film has used but softened to a degree. Bond has also put a deposit down on a Morris Minor, which is so un-Bond-like that I had a bit of a giggle at that.
Ian Fleming is a great writer. By the end of the novel I felt like I knew the characters, and he explains the card game very well. I had no problem following the game and the tension as Bond and Le Chiffre played was brilliant. I felt myself clenching my hands as the stakes grew.
Overall, a brilliant read and I can't believe it took me so long to read it! I can't wait to get onto the next.

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Book Review: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Okay, deep breath everybody, because I have been saving up this rant for quite a while now.
I love vampire stories, I watched every single episode of Buffy and Angel and have read copious amounts of vampire fiction (however I feel I should mention that I have not read and have no desire to read the Twilight series).
There are some proper die hard fans of the Sookie Stackhouse series, and I'd seen trailers for True Blood and thought it looked good. Maybe I shouldn't have had any expectations going into this, but I was expecting an edgy, gory book, filled with sexy vampires, lots of action and tension. What I got was a massive let down.
For a start, Sookie, although nice must have some kind of personality disorder (on top of her little gift) because she can't make up her mind and her reactions and emotions are all over the place. One minute she's in love with Bill, the next minute she hates him. There seems to be no flow of thoughts through her head that are connected. It's more off again, on again than Ross and Rachel and at least both of those characters were likable. She also gets angry at her friends without good reason. For example, Andrea wants her to babysit the kids, but doesn't want the vampire there. Having been to 'Fangtasia' (awful name by the way), she must understand why Andrea thinks vampires are horrible and instead of storming off in a huff, she should have talked to her.
The conglomeration of other vampires we meet vary in style and substance. We meet Viking Eric, with his long blonde hair (I liked the fact that vampires couldn't change their hair once they'd been turned) who seems a bit unrealistic, but hey, he's a vampire and Long Shadow, a Native American vampire. I thought that was a fantastic idea, maybe he should have his own prequel.
The actual plot running alongside all the vampire goingson is that girls are getting murdered for being associated with vampires. The murder mystery side is good and to be honest that was the thing that kept me going to the end of the book. In fact, I added a star back on when I found out who it was because I didn't see it coming.
I also have an issue with the style of writing as a whole, it seemed so clunky and disorganised, and did we really have to know what Sookie was wearing all the time? In fact, most of the residents of Bon Temps seemed to have a fashion issue.
I told you this would be a rant! On the subject of fashion (sort of), my one rule when reading vampire fiction is that no matter how good the vampire is, he still has to be sexy (which is why I refuse to read Twilight, vampires don't glitter). I get that Bill is a good vampire and doesn't kill people anymore. I'm not expecting to walk around in leather, but there was one line that made me laugh out loud and I don't think it was supposed to. Bill and Sookie were just about to 'get it on' and he 'toed off his sandals'! Haha! I mean seriously men wearing sandals is never a good thing, ever, and vampires should definitely not be wearing them!
So as I was reaching a third of the way through I wondered why people wanted to read this book, why they kept coming back, why on earth it was a bestseller. I thought, it must be the sex. Having read some reviews of the series True Blood I know that it features a lot and gathered that they had adapted that from the book. So, the first sex scene arrived and it was dreadful, as Sookie would say 'gosh darn awful'. There was no fizzle, no excitement, no chemistry between the two. And they seem to have sex at the most awkward of times. One moment their chatting, or arguing, or she's crying and then they're at it. At one point Sookie says something about Bill's 'personality' and I wonder if she's actually met him because he doesn't seem to have any.
Another reviewer said that Dead Until Dark is like a supernatural soap opera, and I definitely agree with that. Everything seems overly heightened, characters and dialogue are over the top and they even have the names to match. It's quite ironic that the vampires (who are called Bill, Liam, Eric, Pam...) seem to have the most boring names, yet they're supposed to be the interesting people.
Overall, this book started out a guilty pleasure and just turned guilty as I read on. I may read another, but I think I'll check out the series as I've heard it's good and much better than the books!


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Book Review: Nineteen Eighty by David Peace

Nineteen Eighty by David Peace
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm a massive fan of David Peace, I love his writing style, the rush. I always feel like I am completely absorbed in the story and the characters when I'm reading it.
I'd read both of the preceding books and I'd seen all of the superb Channel 4 TV series, so I had a good idea of what would happen. Maybe this was my downfall, because there was less anticipation, I knew what to expect and generally where the story would be going.
I love how David Peace writes, like you're in the character's head, hearing their thoughts. The tension is impeccable and the dialogue zips along a break neck speed.
I can't wait for the fourth and final installment!

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