Books

All Book Reviews on M&C

Sunday 01 November 2009

• Book Review: Fade Out

  

  The human and vampire residents of Morganville, Texas are busy coming to terms with a more equal relationship then was possible under Bishop’s rule. Bishop, the former ruling vampire was evil personified and thought of humans as little more then playthings to be subjugated with...

• Book Review: Archenemy

  

  The third and final book of The Looking Glass Wars finds Queen Alyss on the throne after an intense confrontation with Redd, the former queen who relied on dark imagination to maintain control of the kingdom. As Alyss begins her reign, reestablishing Wonderland to its former glory, King Arch from a neighboring...

• Book Review: Boilerplate

  

  After the death of his brother-in-law Hugh in the 1871 Korean War, Professor Archibald Campion resolved to create a mechanical substitute for human solders so the senseless killing of war wouldn’t tear families apart. With the invention of a revolutionary new fuel cell, much experimentation and...

• Book Review: 9 Dragons

  

  LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch is back on the job in one Connelly’s best mysteries in a long time. Bosch and his partner were asked to investigate the murder of a convenience store owner located in tough neighborhood, the same storeowner who years earlier treated him with kindness. After assuring the owner’s son that he will...

• Book Review: What the Dog Saw

  

  This delightful body of work represents thirteen years of Gladwell’s favorite articles published by the New Yorker. Divided into three categories including obsessive or minor geniuses, theories and the predictions each of us make about other people, these thought provoking, often fun pieces poke into areas...

• Book Review: Morbid Curiosity

  

  People have long been fascinated by the rich and famous, even more so by their demises untimely and otherwise. Petrucelli’s lifelong obsession with dead celebrities dates back to childhood visits to his grandparent’s grave which, as fate would have it, was close to...

• Book Review: The Test

  

  Paul Parnell, patriarch of an extensive family including six grown children from three women plus a number of grandchildren, in-laws and assorted coattail relations spent most of his adult life amassing a fortune. When Paul died, his heirs lined up for the reading of the will on an estate worth billions...

Friday 23 October 2009

• Book Review: Locked In

  

  Going into her private investigating office one foggy evening, owner/director Sharon McCone fell victim to a gunman’s bullet that left her critically injured. When Shar regained consciousness, she was perfectly lucid but suffering what is call the locked-in syndrome, totally incapable of...

• Book Review: Tell Me Something True

  

  Pianist Gabriella Richards seems to have it made; she is talented, pretty and gets to spend time with her grandmother in Cali, Columbia every December. Gabriella’s parents deeply were deeply committed to each other until her mother...

• Book Review: Jane Wilson Horizons

  

  With a career spanning sixty years, Jane Wilson has amassed an enormous body of work ranging from abstracts to still lifes but it is her landscapes for which she is best known. Often the subject matter appears deceptively simple until the viewer begins taking in the subtle mastery of...

• Book Review: Chasing the Dragon

  

  Book four of the Quantum Gravity series picks up cyborg Lila Black’s topsy-turvy world shortly after her return home following Going Under. Although she has only been gone a few months inexplicitly, fifty years have passed her by on Otopian. An agent with the Otopian Secret Service...

• Book Review: Dracula the Un-Dead

  

  Not to be confused with Freda Warrington’s 1999 release of the same title, this collaborative sequel by Bram Stoker’s great-grandnephew Dacre and screenwriter Holt takes considerable artistic license with the original story. Changing the timeline allows dubious connections with...

Sunday 18 October 2009

• Book Review: Grave Secret

  

  A lightening strike left Harper Connelly with the unusual ability to connect with the bones of the dead. With the support of her stepbrother Tolliver, Harper turned that talent into a means of earning a living by locating bodies and catching glimpses of their final moments. As they traveled the country going from job to job...

• Book Review: Vampire Taxonomy

  

  With vampires appearing in every facet of the media and embedded throughout contemporary culture, it is important to be able to identify which kind you are dealing with and more importantly, how to protect yourself. That’s where this entertaining guide comes in as it explores the characteristics of the most common vampire strains including...

• Book Review: Tainted

  

  After her mother died and her father crawled into a bottle, Lily Carlyle did whatever it took to take care of her little sister Rose including stealing and lying. Lily’s promise to protect her sister wasn’t enough to keep Rose safe from a sick monster like Lucas Johnson. A desperate attempt to exact street justice cost Lily her life...

• Book Review: Vlad the Impaler

  

  With vampires increased popularity and box office appeal it seems only right that Vlad, the bloodthirsty ruler who inspired Stoker’s original tale receive his share of the limelight. Brilliantly illustrated with just enough history and geography to spark further reading, this gritty telling follows Prince Vlad from his imprisonment...

• Book Review: Searching for Whitopia

  

  Benjamin, a Stanford educated NPR journalist spent three months living in three communities identified as whitopia, those places where whites make up a larger segment of the population then seen in the rest of the nation. The author did not disclose the exact nature of...

Monday 12 October 2009

• Book Review: On the Edge

  

  Andrews’s deft world building introduces readers to an alternate Earth where a narrow band of land known as the Edge separates mirror worlds of the Weird and the Broken. The Weird is a land where blue-blooded aristocrats rule and magic is embraced by all while the Broken is the world as most of us know it...

• Book Review: Zombie Raccoons & Killer Bunnies

  

  Just in time for Halloween comes this entertaining collection of fifteen animal-based horror stories that may well change how you look at fuzzy bunnies, groundhogs and other diminutive forest critters. The stories range from hilarious to tragic and most include a delightfully twisted ending...

• Book Review: Gifted Hands

  

  Written to appeal to both the interested layperson and medical professional, Schwartz brings to light the often forgotten or overlooked role American doctors played in the development of surgical sciences. After touching briefly on medical practices of early...

• Book Review: Inca Knits

  

  Isager’s collection of Inca inspired sweaters and three hats include distinctive animal and geometric motifs along with some nice surprises as well. Although worked primarily with fine gauge yarn, many of the designs are worked using double strands so beginning knitters need not be intimidated...

• Book Review: Dawnbreaker

  

  Drake’s adequate but disappointing third Dark Days title continues Mira’s story. An ancient vampire known as a nightwalker, Mira’s ability to manipulate fire is unique among her race. Mira has established a home in Savannah and despite increased...

Tuesday 29 September 2009

• Book Review: Our Lady of Immaculate Deception

  Roxy Abruzzo has been working hard to keep her architectural salvage business more or less legitimate while maintaining her distance from distant relative and Pittsburg crime boss, Carmine. Still, when opportunity knocks Roxy cannot help but take advantage of the five-finger discount...

• Book Review: Friday Night Bites

  Turned against her will after a calculated attack by Celina, a power hungry vampire who left her for dead; Merit continues to adjust to her new life. Pledged to Cadogan House, one of three in Chicago, Merit was given the title and responsibilities of Sentinel. Despite having sworn oaths...

• Book Review: Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don't Float

  

  What do you get when you cross the latest social networking technology with authors and characters of classic literature? Well in Schmelling’s case, you get laugh-out-loud hilarity as figures like Jane Austen, Ernest Hemingway and Edgar Allen Poe bitch...

• Book Review: The Vampire Book

  Although there are several, more comprehensive vampire compendiums available, few are more entertaining then this light, delightfully illustrated collection geared toward younger readers. Included is a condensed history of vampires following their transformation from...

• Book Review: Hunting Memories

  

  The second Vampire Memories Novel continues Eleisha Clevon’s story shortly after she assisted Phillip in kicking Julian, a vampire serial killer out a twelfth story window. Eleisha has been secretly writing Rose, another vampire hiding from Julian in the San Francisco area and she’s come up with...

Saturday 19 September 2009

• Book Review: Walking Thunder

  

  In a breathtaking tribute to the intelligence, majesty and sheer size of the African elephant, photographers Christo and Wilkinson have compiled this amazing collection of duotone images and short essays. The evocative photos convey a sense of scale, the dusty haze that hangs over...

• Book Review: Trick of the Light

  

  First of a new, action packed urban fantasy series, Thurman introduces Trixa Iktomi, a Las Vegas bar owner and information vender on the seeder side of town who enjoys demon hunting with Zeke and Griffin. Recruited into Eden House, an ancient organization implemented to fight fallen...

• Book Review: The Angelic Way

  

  This thoughtful examination looks at the spiritual, philosophical and psychological role angels play in the human experience. Due to the prevalence of angels across culture, religion and race, Shapiro concludes there is a deep-seated need for these messengers between...

• Book Review: A Touch of Dead

  

  For the first time, all five Sookie Stackhouse short stories are collected in one volume for easy enjoyment while awaiting new installments to the Southern Vampire series. Beginning with “Fairy Dust”, Sookie is hired by fairies to do a bit of mental eavesdropping in order to discover a murderer’s identity...

Monday 14 September 2009

• Book Review: Rising Plague

  

  Meant as a serious wakeup call to professionals and laypersons alike, this is a well researched yet approachable examination of a frightening future as the adaptability of bacteria threatens to overtake humanity’s ability to create effective antibiotics. As drug companies continue to focus on the more lucrative markets of erectile dysfunction or overactive...

• Book Review: Rock, Water, Wild: An Alaskan Life

  

  This sweet collection of essays begins with a thoughtful, deeply personal look what led author Nancy Lord to pursue a career as a writer and move from the forty-eight to Alaska. While relating her experiences in the bush tromping through the...

• Book Review: The Murder of King Tut

  

  Based upon forensic evidence, on-site investigation and no small amount of conjecture, this enjoyable read tells of life in the Egyptian royal court starting just prior to the ill-fated Boy King’s rise to the throne. This early history is juxtaposed with the life of Howard Carter, a difficult...

• Book Review: The Storm Witch

  

  Members of the Mercenary Guild, Dhulyn Wolfshead and Parno Lionsmane who share the unbreakable bond of Partners, have returned to their Mercenary House to clear themselves from charges of murder and kidnapping. They will be declared outlaws should they fail to...

• Book Review: Top Producer

  

  Before a rather memorable party, Grove O’Rourke’s life as a stockbroker in the private investment group with a famous Wall Street investment firm revolved around money management and profit margins. All that began taking a back seat after his best friend was publicly murdered...

• Book Review: The Path of Razors

  

  Book five of the Vampire Babylon series finds the Los Angeles based team of vampire hunters led by Costin, a soul traveler now trapped in Jonah’s body, still in England trying to locate the illusive Underground. The story picks up immediately after A Drop of Red when the team attacked the Queenshill School. The schoolgirl vampires...

Wednesday 02 September 2009

• Book Review: Night's Cold Kiss

  

  As a Venator, Antoinette Petrescu is a highly trained Dreniac killer who enjoys her work and has racked up an impressive death count. That’s not surprising considering when Antoinette was six years old she witnessed her mother’s death at the hands of Dante Rubins, one of the Dreniac vampires...

• Book Review: Bending Toward the Sun

  

  A decade in the writing, this memoir explores the continuing impact of the Holocaust on survivors and their families. In 1942, Rita Lurie was five years old when her extended family moved into a farmer’s attic where they remained in hiding for two years. It was a traumatic time filled with fear of discovery, hunger and...

• Book Review: Spooner

  

  What would you get if you crossed the writing style of Mark Twain with Winston Groom, author of Forest Gump? You would get Dexter’s fun, hyperbolic yet touching tale about a man who seemed doomed to mediocrity from birth. Not only did his twin die at birth, Spooner’s mother made it a point to remind him...

• Book Review: The Red Tree

  

  After a falling out with and the subsequent death of her lover, successful author Sarah Crowe fled Atlanta, Georgia for the solitude of the Rhode Island countryside. She is hopelessly behind on her latest manuscript and already spent most...

• Book Review: Retribution

  

  Bounty hunter and recently turned vampire Anna Strong continues to struggle with finding a balance between her old human values and the reality of being part of the preternatural community. It’s not easy when Williams, her mentor continues to manipulate...

• Book Review: Intelligent Design

  

  Denise Little has taken on the controversial evolution versus creationism argument with this latest anthology of eleven new sci-fi short stories that covers a broad range of possibilities. It’s a timely subject as polls show that despite the preponderance of evidence backing evolutionists, a staggering...

Monday 24 August 2009

• Book Review: Evil at Heart

  

  After serial killer Gretchen Lowell finished “playing” her latest psychological and physical games with homicide detective Archie Sheridan there wasn’t much left of his former life. In addition to Gretchen costing him his family, job and mental stability, Archie must battle an addiction to painkillers thanks to a basement spleenectomy...

• Book Review: Barely Bewitched

  

  Despite being descended from a long line of witches, Tammy Jo Trask’s magic always seems to go wrong. She wants nothing more then to get back to work as a cook but her latest magical mishaps have attracted the attention of the World Association of Magic in the form of...

Monday 17 August 2009

• Book Review: Stalking the Dragon

  

  Resnick throws old style gumshoe detective John Mallory into an alternate Manhattan populated by every sort of paranormal creature imaginable in another amusing John Justin Mallory Mystery with a tip of the hat to Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes fans will surely recognize parallels to Silver Blaze when...

• Book Review: Lightbreaker

  

  Returning to Seattle late one night after visiting a friend, Markham runs into a renegade spirit jumping from host to host leaving a trail of burnt out bodies in its wake. Markham’s only chance of keeping the spirit from running loose through the Seattle populace is to catch it on the Bainbridge ferry before docking. A momentary...

• Book Review: Science Under Siege

  

  This collection of the best recent articles published by The Skeptical Inquirer is a refreshingly clear-eyed examination of several prevalent beliefs that are based upon misleading information, outdated convictions and pseudoscience. The essays are divided into three sections that include Science and Skeptical Inquiry...

• Book Review: Enigma

  

  Isolated from the rest of the universe for generations due in part to its remoteness, Harmony and its colony planets have been left alone to mind their own affairs. Laudae Sissy, Harmony’s High Priestess and her lover Confederated Star System Agent Jake realize its only a matter of time before...

• Book Review: The World in Six Songs

  Reader fortunate enough to have discovered Levitin’s previous book This is Your Brain on Music will be disappointed in this offering which promises to shed light on the way music has shaped human behavior. According to Levitin...

Thursday 13 August 2009

• Love is a Four Letter Word - Book Review

  

  Reading a succession of stories about break-ups, lost loves, romantic spurning, and flings-gone-wrong can do something weird to your brain.  If you’ve ever been in a failed relationship or many, reading about people’s botched affairs over and over again can induce episodes of the romantic equivalent of PTSD—at least, I found this to be the case with myself. 

Monday 10 August 2009

• Renegade – Book Review

  

  Brilliant - there is no other word for it.  This is one of the most riveting books I have read for a long time.  Best suited to older children and teenagers who have a taste for mystery and magic.

• Selina Penaluna – Book Review

  

  Perfect for teenagers, this is a story of love and loss across the years.  From the Rosewarnes with their lost children, to evacuees Ellen and Jack to the modern day story of Cassie and Scott, we see different ways of dealing with the same theme. 

• The Dragons of Ordinary Farm – Book Review

  

  Being packed off to stay with a long lost relation on a remote farm is not what Tyler and Lucinda had in mind for the summer holidays. Yet they quickly discover this is no ordinary farm - instead of cows and sheep there are dragons, unicorns and cockatrices.

• Death Ray – Book Review

  

  Anyone wanting to get boys reading should try this book.  For pure adventure, excitement and adrenalin Death Ray is the perfect answer. It is the third in a series of WW2 adventures dealing with Norwegian teenagers Finn, Loki and Freya. 

• The Runaway Troll – Book Review

  

  Troll-Son does not want to go and spend time at the home of the Betterer, the most evil troll in the forest.  Instead, Troll-son wants to go and see his favorite human, a boy named Samuel Blink. 

• Vanished – Book Review

  

  The first outing for Nick Heller, private investigator - and I look forward to more.  It is a riveting, compulsive read which grabs your attention from the very first page.  A night out with her husband does not turn out as expected for Lauren Heller - she is attacked and ends up in hospital, her husband missing. 

• Your Money: Use Less, Save More – Book Review

  

  Everyone wants to save money - which makes this little book extremely useful in these credit crunch times.  It is packed with useful tips, practical information and lots of ideas to make your money go just that little bit further.

• Oscar Wilde and the Ring of Death - Book Review

  

  The second in a series of Oscar Wilde murder mysteries.  London 1892 and Oscar Wilde is hosting a supper party at his club.  Guests include Bram Stoker and Arthur Conan Doyle.  A game is played among those present - Murder.

• The Darkening Glass – Book Review

  

  The third volume in Doherty's latest series starring Mathilde of Westminster.  It starts with Mathilde going over her memories of times past before settling into the events of 1312.  A divided England sees Edward II in conflict with his barons over royal favourite Gaveston. 

Sunday 09 August 2009

• Book Review: Sorrow Wood

  The close-knit community of Sand Valley, Alabama could be any small town in the country complete with nosey neighbors, assorted miscreants and good folk just trying to get by. Wendell Blackmon, Sand Valley’s local police officer has been feeling...

• Book Review: The View From the Bridge

  Equal parts biography and tell-all, Meyer reveals his struggles to become a successful screenwriter in the face of family indifference and his almost accidental involvement with the Star Trek phenomenon. Although he knew nothing about the popular series...

• Book Review: Weather's Greatest Mysteries Solved!

  

  Anyone with even a passing interest in meteorology will want get a copy of this absorbing work on the role weather has played and continues to play in earth’s rich history while learning how climate change works in general...

• Book Review: Destined for an Early Grave

  

  The result of an unusual mating, half-vampire half-human Cat Crawford and her vampire lover Bones have been enjoying some well deserved R & R. After revealing the nature of a particularly disturbing nightmare, Cat chooses to visit Paris where they are greeted by Bone’s former master's...

• Book Review: Daniel X

  

  Patterson and Rust’s second Daniel X title features a particularly nasty alien, known as Number 5, who enjoys few things more then creating programming popular throughout the galaxy at the expense of the hapless victims. After an ambush by Number 21...

• Book Review: Ice Land

  

  Told through the perspective of the different main characters, Freya a goddess of Asgard tells her story of receiving a special feather cloak from Odin that gives her the power of flight. After receiving a troubling warning, Freya decides to undertake finding and holding the Brisingamen...

Friday 31 July 2009

• Book Review: The Good Plain Cook

  

  Looking to move out of her sister’s house, young Kitty Allen responded to an advert looking for “good plain cook…broad outlook essential.” Thus during the summer of 1936, Kitty worked in rural Sussex England for Ellen Steinberg, an eccentric American...

• Book Review: Vanished

  

  After a near death experience left her as a Greywalker, Seattle based private investigator Harper Blaine’s life hasn’t been the same. Now she knows about vampires and less savory denizens of the paranormal yet even that knowledge didn’t prepare Harper for...

• Book Review: Urban Gothic

  

  A group of six best friends on the cusp of adulthood found themselves lost late one night deep in Philadelphia’s ghettos, then to make matters worse, their car broke down. When approached by a menacing looking gang, the kids run for the dubious...

• Book Review: The Anatomy of Evil

  

  Expanding upon his scale of evil made popular in the television show Most Evil, Dr. Stone broadens the definition of evil by placing it within the context of social, religious and psychological references. Using historic and current predators to...

• Book Review: Dead Men's Boots

  

  London based exorcist Felix Castor, better known as Fix, uses a tin whistle to send ghosts onward and battle a collection of paranormal creatures in this riveting follow-up to Vicious Circle. During the funeral of friend John Gittings, Fix helps Carla, the widow thwart a lawyer’s court order to...

Monday 20 July 2009

• Book Review: Skinwalker

  Jane Yellowrock, a vampire hunter for hire is a part Cherokee skinwalker, sharing her body with the spirit of a mountain lion she refers to as Beast. Her childhood is largely lost, only vague memories that sporadically resurface. Beast and Jane share an uneasy alliance as they periodically struggle...

• Book Review: Ravens

  

  Romeo Zderko and Shaw McBride were driving through Georgia on their way to Florida while on vacation from their dead-end tech support jobs when they pulled over at a gas station to check out the tire damage caused by hitting an animal. Shaw overhears a conversation about a South Carolina family who just won...

• Book Review: Smallpox the Death of a Disease

  

  After suffering the scourge of smallpox for over 3,000 years, humanity has finally all but eradicated the dread disease. During his tenor as director of the World Health Organization’s eradication campaign between 1966-1077, Dr. Henderson was...

• Book Review: Moon Flights

  

  This collection of fifteen short stories span nearly two decades of Moon’s writing career including a never before published tale set in Vatta’s War universe. Indeed, those familiar with Moon’s work will recognize and delight in...

• Book Review: The Awakening

  Emotionally and physically scarred from childhood, Clara Benning keeps busy as the primary veterinary surgeon at the Little Order of St. Francis clinic in a tiny English village. Reclusive by nature, Clara had little interaction with...

• Book Review: The Castaways

  

  In celebration of their upcoming anniversary, Greg and Tess MacAvoy drown while sailing to Martha’s Vineyard leaving more questions then answers. Set along Nantucket’s sandy beaches, three couples who refer to themselves as the Castaways come to terms with secrets of the heart after the MacAvoy's...

• Book Review: Sworn to Silence

  

  Painters Mill, Ohio’s new Police Chief Kate Burkholder left the Amish small town as a teenager and now, sixteen years later, she is viewed as an outsider by most of the community she serves. Kate’s closely guarded secret...

• Book Review: Last Known Address

  Walking home late one evening after drinks with friends, Holly Dutcher became the target of a serial rapist who encouraged her to fight him as he beat her up. Chicago sex crimes detective Sloan Pearson began her investigation with an interview at...

• Book Review: Hip Handbags

  

  This collection of forty bags based on seven basic designs, serves as a nice introduction to constructing and designing the perfect bag for any occasion. Beginning with selecting the right fabrics for the exterior and linings, Shrader then covers...

• Book Review: The Lie

  

  This rather dark coming of age story set in the 1950’s begins as Ramona Smollens notices Solomon Columbus, a swarthy, well dressed with fat fingers. The two soon marry and Ramona moves into her husband’s more affluent home. Damaged by her...

• Book Review: Tamed by a Laird

  

  Scott’s newest series set in 14th century Scotland features the beautiful young Lady Janet Easdale facing an unwanted marriage to Reid Douglas, the spoiled son-in-law of her uncle and guardian Lord Dunwythie. Desperate to have a small taste of...

• Book Review: Joey Comeau – Overqualified

  

Friday 17 July 2009

• Book Review: Ugly Man

  

  When you first open Dennis Cooper’s new collection of stories, Ugly Man, and begin reading the first entry, “Jerk,” you may think that you’re reading about a different world: a world where underage gay sex is tossed in alongside a propensity for filming oneself torture people to death, a world where rape and murder and drugs and pedophilia are treated as commonplace things in a mundane existence—a world where chewing on someone’s hemorrhoids like bubblegum is just a different kind of handshake.  And yet these mundane things are elevated, in several of the stories of this collection, to the level of art, are treated as the subject of art, and compel us as readers to question what art and beauty actually happens to be.

Friday 10 July 2009

• The Indigo King (Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica) – Book Review

  

  Every so often an author comes along who crosses boundaries.  The Indigo King is the third in the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Georgraphica.  Written originally as a children's book, it is much more than that.  It is a positively brilliant, thought provoking book which anyone who enjoys fantasy can thoroughly enjoy. 

• In the Garden with Jane Austen – Book Review

  

  Gardens played a big part in Jane Austen's life. Not surprisingly, they play a major role in all six of her novels including Mr Collin's parsonage garden in Pride & Prejudice.

• Among the Mad (Maisie Dobbs Novels) – Book Review

  

  Another in the Maisie Dobbs series of History mysteries.  It is now December 1931.  Unemployment is rising rapidly and more and more people findings themselves in terrible poverty. 

• Mission Survival: Sands of the Scorpion – Book Review

  

  Beck Granger is just hoping for a nice holiday in Africa - until things go badly wrong.  When his curiosity leads him to stumble onto a smuggling operation he ends up being forced to bail out of a plane over the Sahara Desert. 

• Emily Windsnap and the Siren’s Secret – Book Review

  

  An entertaining children's book about Emily Windsnap, half girl, half mermaid.  Along with her friends Shona and Aaron, Emily is sent back to Bridport. 

• The Food Manual: A Guide to Nutrition and Healthy Eating – Book Review

  

  This has to be one of the most authoritative books on nutrition currently available.  If you want to know how to make sense of food packaging labels, how to snack healthily, meal ideas, healthy eating when you are out and about, allergies, intolerances as well as the nuts and bolts of a healthy diet - this is the book for you. 

• The Spook's Sacrifice (Wardstone Chronicles) – Book Review

  

  The Spook's Sacrifice is a gripping tale, best appreciated by those who are already familiar with the books about the Spook's Apprentice.  The story positively pounds along, with almost non stop action. 

• Criminal Tendencies - Book Review

  

  Criminal Tendencies is a fantastic collection of 26 crime stories, many of which are totally new.  Authors include the well known such as Simon Brett, Peter Lovesey, Reginald Hill, Andrew Taylor, Barbara Nadel and relative newcomers to the genre like Sophie Hannah, Lesley Cookman, Caroline Shiach.

Friday 03 July 2009

• Book Review: California Screamin’: Murder at Monterey Pop

  Summers and outdoor music are a natural combination.  Most likely this pairing was first practiced in celebration of plentiful food and weather that wouldn’t kill you, and later became an entertainment. 

Thursday 02 July 2009

• Book Review: Darkness Calls

  

  By day, Maxine Kiss is covered by a protective layer of tattoos that are her demons alternate form, by night these demons peel from her body to assist in hunting zombies and other evil creatures. For generations beyond reckoning...

• Book Review: Must Love Hellhounds

  

  Penned by some of the top authors of the paranormal genre, this collection of four novellas features hellhounds as the uniting thread. Most fans will be familiar with Charlaine Harris’ work from her popular Southern Vampire series and here she takes a break from Sookie Stackhouse to create some...

• Book Review: Spanish Style

  

  Most people think of heavy, dark wood, often ornately carved with wrought iron grillwork and castings yet as revealed by this collection of five hundred photos, it is so much more. Author Kate Hill, accompanied by photographer Tim Clinch traveled the length of...

• Book Review: Predators and Child Molesters

  Unfortunately, child molesters can be anywhere and as with most threats, knowledge is power. Former LA County Deputy District Attorney Sax has provided parents and caregivers with the information they need to recognize potential predators and talk to their children about...

• Book Review: House of Suns

  

  After a number of disappointing novels that hinted at brilliance but never followed through, Reynolds’ tenth book delivers an outstanding space opera grounded in hard science and current sci-fi vision while still pushing the envelope. Set six million years in the future at the dawn of...

• Book Review: Hunting Ground

  Bran, leader of the North American werewolves finally agreed to allow his son Charles Cornick and new wife Anna, to act in his place at the upcoming Seattle summit meeting. The North American werewolves are preparing to reveal their presence to the general population, a move bitterly opposed by...

• Book Review: The Little Book

  

  Thirty years in the creating, this engaging, frequently confusing tale spanning three generations of the Burden family uses time travel as a means of exploring the changing political and social attitudes during the turn of the twentieth century. After a physical attack...

• Book Review: Blood of Ambrose

  

  Enge’s dark coming of age fantasy follows Lathmar, the twelve-year-old heir to the Empire of Ontil as he struggles against the machinations of his Protector and uncle, the ambitious Lord Urdhven. Trusting Lord Urdhven with his life and future is not...

Friday 19 June 2009

• Book Review: Anne's Ghost

  

  Growing up in a catholic suburb of Detroit during the 50’s and 60’s, Luxenberg absorbed his Jewish immigrant family’s determination to become assimilated into American society. His parents and grandparents never passed on stories of life in the Ukraine and turned a blind eye to any imperfections like asthma or a club foot. For years...

• Book Review: Shaped Beadwork

  

  Master bead worker Diane Fitzgerald takes beading to the next level in her latest book that showcases the sculptural possibilities and endless versatility of the peyote stitch. Rather then devoting a large portion of the book to covering the basics, this jumps straight to the good stuff beginning with two-dimensional...

• Book Review: The Sunlight Solution

  

  With so much emphasis on sun related skin cancers and the increased hours we spend indoors, it’s easy to forget the health benefits of adequate sun exposure. When several vague, undiagnosed health issues arose in her grandson, Carlson began researching the sun’s role in maintaining good health...

• Book Review: The Bone Factory

  

  Deep in the Canadian woods near the small town of Jackson, a deadly predator is at large. At first, his victims are largely wild animals but with the mutilation of a farmer and the disappearance of a young girl, Deputy Joe Thibideau began worrying about a serial killer...

• Book Review: Silksinger

  

  After an attack on her grandparents, young Whisper Silksinger is the last of her clan to take over the awesome responsibility of guarding Lord Azazel’s sleeping ember. Azazel was a Djinn, one of the fire elementals responsible for weaving the Tapestry of Creation and...

• Book Review: Skin Deep

  

  Working as a magic wielding druidess for the D.C. SWAT, Janice Crawford and the team she worked with were prepared for a typical drug lab takedown but bad Intel led to one death and her own, near fatal shooting. Between her superiors trying to pin the blame on her and another attempt on her life, Janice has reason to...

• Book Review: Burning Skies

  

  Williams’ sequel to The Mirrored Heavens returns to his dark space opera set in the 22nd century. Asteroids have become the focus of a high stakes power struggle between the Eurasian Coalition and the North American Empire. Both factions rely upon the enhanced capabilities of...

Monday 15 June 2009

• Book Review: Rose Petals on Muddy Footprints by Peter Beales

  Peter Beales has become a household name among gardeners, receiving an MBE for his services to horticulture especially roses. 

• Book Review: Dragon Orb: Shadow by Mark Robson

  

  Another instalment in the Dragon Orb chronicles. In this volume we meet Pell and his night dragon Shadow whose task is to find the dark orb.

• THE ROUGH GUIDE TO FOOD: HOW TO MAKE THE RIGHT FOOD CHOICES

  How much do you really know about your food and the impact it has on the environment? 

• Book Review: The Watcher by Brian Freemantle

  Writer Tish Verdure is researching a book about a decades old murder.  It is an investigation which scares someone with secrets to hide.

• Book Review: Dido by Adele Geras

  An emotive retelling of the story of Aeneas and Queen Dido of Carthage. Having wooed Dido, he leaves her in order to fulfil his destiny - to found the city of Rome.

• Book Review: The TV Time Travellers by Pete Johnson

  

  Reality TV have a brilliant idea for mass market viewing - send five modern day children to relive conditions in the Second World War as evacuees on a farm.

Sunday 14 June 2009

• Book Review: The Bible of Clay by Julia Navarro

  

  A story crossing major time periods  linking together the story of Abraham with Nazi Germany and modern day Iraq.

• Book Review: The Kiss of Death by Marcus Sedgwick

  

  The sequel to the book My Swordhand is singing - and it is every bit as good.  Peter has grown old while hunting for the Shadow Queen.

• Book Review: River of the Dead by Barbara Nadel

  Another instalment in the Inspector Cetin Ikmen series set in Turkey.

• Book Review: The Red Velvet Turnshoe by Cassandra Clark

  

  This is the second in the Abbess of Meaux series with an engaging female heroine intent on solving mysteries.

• Book Review: Secret Lament by Roz Southey

  

  A crime novel set across time slipping worlds. Eighteenth century musician Charles Patterson is a harpichordist who cannot resist solving mysteries. 

• Book Review: There were Three of Us in the Relationship: The Secret Letters of Marie Antoinette (vol I) by Margaret Anne MacLeod

  

  A fascinating glimpse into the world of Marie Antoinette. Margaret Macleod has been working on these long forgotten letters for many years. 

Saturday 13 June 2009

• Book Review: Building Norfolk by Matthew Rice

  

  An unusual but extremely interesting book illustrating the history of Norfolk's buildings to the present day. 

• Book Review: Lancaster The Biography: The last Witnesses By Squadron Leader Tony Iveson and Brian Milton

  A fascinating study of one of the most iconic aircraft ever to take to the skies.

• Book Review: The Poison Garden by Sarah Singleton

  A well crafted children's book, ideal for teenagers.

• Book Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Vintage) by Stieg Larsson

  

  A real doorstep of a book. This is not something you can read in an evening but it is compelling reading.

• Book Review: The Silver Bear: A Novel by Derek Haas

  

  Columbus is a hit man who never misses.

• Book Review: The Bright Idea Handbook ('Which?' Essential Guides) by Michael Gardner

  

  Essential reading for all would be inventors and innovators. 

Friday 05 June 2009

• Book Review: Strain

  

  First in a new trilogy coauthored by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, Strain is one of the best vampire horror reads to hit the market in a long time. Opening with the telling of an old folk tale meant to frighten children, the story moves to air...

• Book Review: Illumination

  

  This groundbreaking publication lives up to its title as it examines the work of four female artists whose collective bodies of work span the twentieth century. Although much has been written about the life and works of...

• Book Review: The Enchantment Emporium

  

  Tanya Huff introduces a new cast of characters in her latest quirky urban fantasy featuring the extended Gale family, complete with a full compliment of meddling Aunties with enough witchy powers to make their threats stick. Twenty four year old Alysha Catherine Gale had just moved back to...

• Book Review: Phantasm

  

  Zoë Martinique is in big trouble, formerly a Wraith capable of astral projection navigating the Abysmal plane; she realizes her abilities have been striped just when she needs them most. Her mother’s soul has gone missing, the body an empty shell and without...

• Book Review: Carpe Corpus

  

  Book six of the Morganville Vampire series picks up shortly after Bishop, an evil vampire master bent on gaining even more power from a book of secrets, has established his domination over the town of Morganville. The community has a long, unusual history of vampires and...

Tuesday 26 May 2009

• Book Review: Sandman Slim

  

  Victim of the unscrupulous leader of a small magic circle, Sandman Slim was traded to the denizens of hell in exchange for power. After eleven years in Hell as the property of one of Lucifer’s generals, Slim found his way to freedom and now its payback time...

• Book Review: Sir John Soane's Museum London

  

  The Sir John Soane Museum is home to one of the most varied architectural collections ever assembled by one person. An inventive architect, Sir John Soane’s works included remodeling the Bank of England, several homes and the Dulwich College Picture Gallery. Although Soane’s work fell...

• Book Review: Skin Trade

  

  Anita Blake, better known among the furry and fanged crowd as the Executioner, returns to her role as a U.S. Marshal on the trail of Vittorio, a powerful master vampire who sent her an unusual invitation to play in Las Vegas. News of Vittorio’s reappearance brings Anita’s old hunting companion Edward...

• Book Review: Undead and Unwelcome

  

  Shoe obsessed vampire queen Betsy Taylor must carry out the difficult task of returning Antonia’s body to Pack headquarters at Wyndham Manor on Cape Cod. Antonia, a werewolf, died protecting Betsy from an attack by a crazed cop. Betsy knows nothing about...

• Book Review: Jewelry with a Hook

  

  A little thread, a few beads and a crochet hook are all it takes to craft this contemporary collection of earrings, collars, broaches, bangles and more. Unlike most crochet jewelry books, this does not spend a great deal of time on lengthy introductions or basic stitches...

• Book Review: Darkborn

  Centuries ago the mage Imogene was defeated in an undisclosed battle and as a result, he cursed the land and its occupants so half the people were unable to tolerate sunlight, the other half incapable to surviving the dark. The Lightborn and Darkborn share an uneasy coexistence, neither fully...

Thursday 21 May 2009

• Book Review: The Prophet from Ephesus (The Roman Mysteries) by Caroline Lawrence

  

  Another instalment in the adventures of Caroline Lawrence's famed Roman mystery series. 

• Book Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Vintage) by Stieg Larsson

  

  A hefty doorstop of a book containing over 500 pages - but don't be off put by its size. 

• Book Review: When Perennials Bloom: An Almanac for Planning and Planting by Tomasz Anisko

  

  If you want to know how to achieve peak perennial bloom display, this is the book for you. 

Wednesday 20 May 2009

• Book Review: The Gardens of the Vatican by Kildare Dobbs (Author), Linda Kooluris Dobbs (Photographer)

  

  Spectacular is the only way you can describe this book. It offers a glimpse into a hitherto hidden garden, the refuge of Popes through the past eight centuries.

• Book Review: Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden by Lee Reich and Vicki Herzfeld Arlein

  

  Perfect for any gardener or allotment owner who wants to try something new. How do you grow a Paw paws, mulberry, kiwifruit, maypops, Persimmonsjujubes and many other unusual fruits? 

• Book Review: Go Wild! By Jo Schofield and Fiona Danke

  An answer to every bored teenager's cry - as well as that of parents desperate to ween kids off the computers and games machines.

• Book Review: The Thirteen Treasures by Michelle Harrison

  Tanya is not pleased to be deposited at her grandmothers house and left there while her mother is elsewhere.

• Book Review: Blood Safari by Deon Meyer

  

  Lemmer is an Invisible, a private bodyguard with a reputation for violence.

Wednesday 13 May 2009

• Book Review: Flood

  

  After years of being shuffled from place to place, four exhausted hostages were finally rescued from their extremist captors in a Barcelona church basement. Bound by their harsh existence, the four vow to stay in touch and watch over each other no matter what. During captivity...

• Book Review: The Scarecrow

  

  A victim of the L.A. Time’s latest round of workforce reductions, newspaper reporter Jack McEvoy decided to make his boss regret firing him by writing the best story of his life. After receiving a phone call, Jack begins looking into the seemingly routine murder bust of...

Tuesday 12 May 2009

• Book Review: Blackbringer

  

  Bumbling “mannies" (humans) looking to gain three wishes continue opening bottles that would be better left sealed. Due in large part to her unusual heritage Magpie Windwitch, a young sprout of a faerie hunts snags, those devils that are released...

• Book Review: City of Thieves

  

  Set during the 1941 siege of Leningrad, this surprisingly engaging coming of age story follows seventeen-year-old Lev Beniov in his daily struggles to survive. The only one caught looting the body of a dead Nazi, Lev was thrown into prison where...

• Book Review: Cave Paintings and the Human Spirit

  

  Few would argue the ancient paintings, engravings and sculptures found throughout the world and most notably in places like Chauvet Cave, in France are less then stunning pieces of art created by people with a genuine understanding of their subjects and materials. Yet the reasons for creating these...

• Book Review: Lover Avenged

  

  Fans of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series will rejoice at Ward’s latest title which focuses on Rehvenge, owner of the notorious nightspot ZeroSum, local drug czar and a vampire with deep secret. Rehv is a half-breed, both vampire and symphath and as such, must keep his symphath side...

• Book Review: Wit's End

  

  Shortly after her father’s death, Rima Lannisell moved from Ohio to Santa Cruz, California at her godmother’s invitation. A charming three-story home, Addison Early’s residence is filled with miniature dioramas that set the opening scenes of her popular mystery series. With the theft of a tiny...

• Book Review: Granny Squares Now

  

  The ubiquitous crochet granny square receives a makeover that will likely change your perceptions of this tried and true pattern. Using contemporary yarns in an assortment of textures and colors that, when combined with updated...

• Book Review: Passion Brands

  

  Ever wonder what drives those wildly successful products like Red Bull, iPods or Camels? Business strategist Kate Newlin examined the reasons for the passion evoked by those name brands that rose to become cultural icons and drew some interesting conclusions into...

• Book Review: The Blue Tattoo

  

  Pursuing dreams of gold and God, thirteen year old Olive Oatman’s family was one of many making the dangerous trek to California when they were ambushed by Yavapai Indians in the Arizona desert. Olive survived a year in slavery...

• Book Review: Terminator Salvation From the Ashes

  

  Skynet and the ragtag army of human Resistance fighters are engaged in an escalating game of hide and seek. While the Resistance takes down towers that effect Skynet’s ability to triangulate battle strategy, it comes with a steep price in lost lives. After Connor’s group is flushed out...

• Book Review: Dayhunter

  

  Second in the Dark Days series, this picks up immediately after Nightwalker with Mira, a six hundred year old vampire and master of fire having a minor identity crisis. Part of a triad responsible for preventing Naturi Rowe from gaining...

Sunday 03 May 2009

• Book Review: Santa Olivia

  In the wake of her engrossing Kushiel’s Legacy series, Jacqueline Carey produces another winner with this warm story of a small family struggling to survive in the post apocalyptic no mans land between Mexico and the United States. The story is quite timely as Carey tells of several waves of a devastating virus sweeping through the...

• Book Review: Spirit Horses

  

  Nationally renowned horse trainer Shane Carson together with his wife Jennifer have created their own little piece of heaven in the Tennessee hill country. Their young kids Jacob and Tina are doing well in school and are genuinely interested in...

• Book Review: Natural Garden Style

  

  Kingsbury, an internationally known author on plants and gardens, presents thoughtful insights and observations on the nature of planning, planting and maintaining eco-friendly sustainable gardens. In a refreshing departure from the frequently stilted...

• Book Review: Strange Angels

  

  Sixteen-year-old Dru, raised mostly by her witchy grandmother, lives with her father a hunter of creatures from the Real World. It’s hardly the life of a typical teenager as Dru and her father frequently move around the country, honing their skills while tracking nightmarish creatures. The nightmare strikes home when Dru is forced to...

• Book Review: Doc Wilde and the Frogs of Doom

  With word of their grandfather’s disappearance, twelve-year-old Brian Wilde and his ten-year-old sister Wren were off on another breakneck adventure with their gifted father and his two trusty sidekicks. Attacks by bizarre frogs and frogmen tie in with...

• Book Review: Magic in the Blood

  As a Hound, Allison Beckstrom knows better then most that magic does not come without a price tag, typically lost memories along with headaches or bruising. Still recovering from her near fatal collision with magic, Allie is unpleasantly surprised when the ghost of...

• Book Review: Dead If I Do

  

  Garnet Lacey was understandably nervous about introducing her straight-laced parents to Sebastian, her handsome vampire fiancé but things went from bad to worse with the arrival of Sebastian’s ex-wife Tereza. Because Sebastian gained vampiric powers through alchemy instead of blood...

• Book Review: Stitched Jewels

  

  If you are like most crafters you probably have carefully hoarded stashes of fabric pieces stuck away for no other reason then they are too pretty to throw out. With the help of a little easy wirework, embroidery, beads and machine stitching you can...

• Book Review: WWW: Wake

  

  Blind from birth, teenaged math whiz Caitlin Decter was thrilled at the offer of a surgical procedure that would implant a Japanese experimental processor allowing her to see. The implant has the unexpected effect of allowing Caitlin to “see” the...

Thursday 23 April 2009

• Book Review: American Quilts in the Modern Age

  

  Selected from the International Quilt Study Center & Museum’s extensive collection of over 2,300 quilts and growing, this stunning first volume focuses on pieces made in the United States between 1870 and 1940. Seven chapters examine block, log cabin, colonial revival...

• Book Review: Turn Coat

  

  With eleven titles in the series, one might think Butcher would be running out of ideas for his popular wizard Harry Dresden but thankfully, that is not the case. Harry is surprised one evening when his nemesis Morgan, a wizard on the Senior Council and his outspoken critic appeared...

• Book Review: European Design Since 1985

  Third in a series of contemporary design exhibitions organized by Craig Miller in the 1990’s, this volume highlights the work of over one hundred designers covering nine distinctive styles. Written by internationally respected design historians, Catherine McDermott, Penny Sparke and R. Craig Miller, meticulously researched and filled with...

• Book Review: Magic Strikes

  

  Third in the Kate Daniels series, this imaginative urban fantasy is set in a changed world where unpredictable waves of magic render most technology inoperative and there are plenty of beasties to go bump in the night. Kate Daniels is a mercenary struggling to...

• Book Review: Masters Beadweaving

  Filled with serious eye-candy, this is not a how to book but rather a source of inspiration for beaders looking to kick start their own creative juices. Well respected bead artist and author Carol Wilcox Wells acts as curator for the work of thirty-six...

• Book Review: Afraid

  

  The idyllic peace of remote Safe Haven, Wisconsin is brutally torn apart with the crash landing of a military helicopter just outside of town. This was no ordinary military mission, instead of regular solders the survivors were part of a Red-ops team; specially trained, enhanced and...

• Book Review: White Witch, Black Curse

  

  Witch detective Rachel Morgan has plenty of problems, not the least is her housemate Ivy, a living vampire who would love to carry their friendship to a different level. She is bound to a demon, her pixie business partner Jenks is struggling to cope with...

Tuesday 21 April 2009

• Book Review: Twister: Code Red by Chris Ryan

  

  On holiday in the Grand Cayman, Ben makes friends with another boy - Angelo, who is always accompanied by one or more bodyguards.

• Book Review: The Wild Man by Mark Barratt

  Another Joe Rat adventure. Set in Victorian London, it highlights the differing attitudes between middle class society and those at the very bottom.

• Book Review: Maze of Cadiz: A Peter Cotton Book by Aly Monroe

  

  It's 1944 and the war in Europe is coming to an end. As a result, the formerly neutral Spain is edging closer towards the Allies.

• Book Review: Home Before Dark by Charles Maclean

  

  When Ed Lister's art student daughter is brutally murdered in Florence, it leads him into a hunt which has its origins long ago. 

• Book Review: The Secret Ministry of Frost by Nick Lane

  Fantasy with a difference. Half Inuit, albino and a wealthy heiress Light has always stood out.

Monday 20 April 2009

• Book Review: The She-Apostle: The Extraordinary Life and Death of Luisa de Carvajal by Glyn Redworth

  

  The incredible story of a seventeenth century female missionary attempting to maintain Catholicism in England.

• Book Review: The Death Pictures by Simon Hall

  

  Gripping, memorable and a really good read is the only way to sum up this book.

• Book Review: If It Bleeds by Duncan Campbell

  Gangster Charlie Hook choose crime reporter Laurie Lane as his ghost writer
  to retell his life story.

• Book Review: The Kiss Murder by Mehmet Murat Somer

  

  Another volume in the Hop-çiki Yaya series starring a transvestite detective who is also a nightclub owner and computer expert based in Istanbul.

• Book Review: Old City Hall by Robert Rotenberg

  

  Seventy four year old Gurdial Singh enjoys his little job delivering newspapers within the luxury Holmes Tower in Central Toronto. 

Sunday 19 April 2009

• Chosen by Jerry Ibbotson - Book Review

  

  If you are a fan of urban fantasy written cinematically with a very human and real main protagonist, Chosen may be the right read for you.

Thursday 16 April 2009

• Book Review: The Trouble With Demons

  

  Bound to the Saghred, an immensely powerful soul-sucking rock, Raine Benares magical abilities were augmented to such an extent that she is feared, reviled and sought after by those who seek to use her or destroy her in order to control the stone. As for Raine, she wants nothing more then to...

• Book Review: Contemporary Loom Beading

  

  Loomed beading is an endlessly fascinating way of creating stable, versatile beadwork with the drape and strength of fabric as shown in this collection of thirty-four beginner appropriate designs. After a brief history, Bateman covers the basics including...

• Book Review: Burning Alive

  

  All her life, Helen Day has been plagued with the same disturbing dream of burning alive while a smiling man watches her burn, making no effort to help. As a result of these continuing nightmares, Helen is scared to death of fire and even more afraid of running into the smiling man. While taking...

• Book Review: Crouching Vampire, Hidden Fang

  

  MacAlister’s popular Dark Ones series revisits Pia Thomason, the plucky heroine from Zen and the Art of Vampires shortly after a European trip that saw her married to the ever distrustful yet incredibly handsome Kristoff. Adjusting to life with a Dark One is never easy and Pia is finding it even more difficult as...

Monday 06 April 2009

• Book Review: How to Cook a Tapir

  

  When the naive, newly married collage student Joan Fry agreed to a yearlong working honeymoon in what was then called British Honduras in 1962, she scarcely imagined what life in the rainforest would be like. An only child, Joan was raised in the New Jersey suburbs and at twenty years of age, was plunged headlong into...

• Book Review: Angel's Advocate

  

  Lawyer to the truly damned, Bree Beaufort gave in to her Aunt Cissy’s request to talk with seventeen-year-old Lindsey Chandler, an obviously troubled teenager caught robbing a cute girl scout on tape. While the media makes the most of this...

• Book Review: Dancing on the Head of a Pin

  

  After narrowly averting global disaster in A Kiss Before the Apocalypse, Remy Chandler is trying to build enough enthusiasm to return to work as a private investigator, a task made difficult by the recent death of his beloved wife Madeline. Remy is not your typical PI...

• Book Review: Breathers

  

  Browne’s debut offers a decidedly different take on zombies with Andy Warner’s first person account of his misadventures after waking up in the morgue and discovering he smells bad. With no rights, no job and no...

• Book Review: Some Girls Bite

  

  First in the Chicagoland Vampires series, Neill’s debut novel cashes in on the latest young adult vampire trend with this tale of love, hate and secret vendettas. University of Chicago grad student Merit barely survived one vampire attack only to be turned...

Saturday 14 March 2009

• Book Review: Blue Diablo

  

  Corine Solomon had an unusual gift, the result of a tragic and heroic act of sacrifice by her mother when she was just ten years old. As a handler, Corine was capable of holding an object and picking up exact images of events and people surrounding it. Her ex-boyfriend Chance, who was blessed with luck had taken...

• Book Review: Crimson

  

  In 1955 the tight knit community of Dunnville, Ontario was home to a crime so horrific; the house where it took place was unsellable. Twenty years later a single mom moved into the vacant residence with her ten-year-old son Johnathan, unaware of its history or the events they would inadvertently set into motion...

• Book Review: Death of a Witch

  

  Beaton’s popular Hamish Macbeth mystery series, now on its twenty-fourth title, continues to surprise and delight fans with gentle humor and the confirmed bachelor’s brushes with romance. Highland police constable Hamish returned from an unsatisfying vacation in Spain to find the quiet Scottish village of Lochdubh in an uproar over...

• Book Review: Beaded Chain Mail Jewelry

  

  Chain making and chain mail jewelry are hotter then ever and growing in popularity due in part to the many ways of working and embellishing wire. Including beads to variations of the European 4-in-1, oriental 6-in-1, Byzantine and other standard chain mail patterns add color and...

• Book Review: Deathwish

  

  Cal, half-human, half-Auphe and his older half-brother Niko struggle to regain some semblance of control over their lives as the last of the Auphe gather for a major showdown in Thurman’s rockin’ fourth installment of the Leandros series. In an effort to keep their...

• Book Review: The Killing Tree

  

  To the residents and fellow deacons of Crooked Top Mountain, Mercy Heron’s grandfather is viewed as something of a martyr. After all, everyone knows his wife Rutha is crazy and he was generous enough to raise Mercy after his daughter died in...

Friday 13 March 2009

• Book Review: Furnace: Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith

  

  Reading Furnace: Lockdown is like getting on a roller coaster with the safety off.  The novel is full of action, with a wronged hero (who in turn is not entirely innocent but he is likable), it is well told, it has engaging characters, an incredible and awful situation, a hellish location, complete with gang fights, lockdowns, a diabolic jail, a warden dug up from the bowels of hell, and an escape plan to rival The Shawshank Redemption.

• Book Review: The Genesis Secret by Tom Knox

  

  Tom Knox, pseudonym for Sean Thomas, journalist and all-round good guy, has pulled out all the stops in The Genesis Secret when it comes to action, entertainment, twists and turns.  The novel is a strong example of what makes action adventure worthwhile reading – like David Gibbons’ work, The Genesis Secret is not just well researched, but anchored very much in what is currently happening in archaeology at present. 

Friday 20 February 2009

• Book Review: Inhuman Remains (Primavera Blackstone Mystery series) by Quintin Jardine

  

  When Frank McGowan goes missing in Spain ; his mother Adrienne knows exactly who to contact - her niece Primavera Blackstone.

• Book Review: City of Spirits (Printers Devil Trilogy) by Paul Bajoria

  

  The final volume in the Printers Devil trilogy sees Mog and Nick traveling to Calcutta in search of the mysterious Winter diamond - all that stands between them and penury.

• Book Review: The Cosmic Connection

  

  In clear, concise language, Kanipe shows how life on our little planet owes an enormous debt of gratitude to a host of small but critical cosmic events that determined the entire course of evolution. From waxing poetic about glaciers, Kanipe goes on to...

• Book Review: Kidnapped

  

  Despite taking measures to protect himself from the rash of kidnappings taking place throughout Gaza, just sixteen days before he was scheduled to leave, journalist Alan Johnston was abducted at gunpoint and held hostage for...

• Book Review: Rupture

  

  After a heavy recruitment, Dr. Eli Branch joins the surgical staff at Gates Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee where he hopes to further his study and career. After getting called in on a surgical emergency, Dr. Eli finds his career hopes seriously eroded when...

• Book Review: The Seraph of Sorrow

  

  Fourth in the Jennifer Scales series, this uses an entirely different approach as the story is advanced through the perspective of several main characters, starting from when they were fifteen years old. This storytelling device fills in a great deal of background material at...

• Book Review: Believe Me

  

  Known for her quirky characters and sense of humor, Killham’s third title takes a different approach as it tells the story of Lucy, a confirmed atheist mother and her thirteen-year-old son Nicolas Copernicus, Nic for short. A brilliant astrophysicist...

• Book Review: How not to be a Domestic Goddess

  Martha Steward wantabes will want to avoid this like the plague, for the rest of us with lives, a sense of humor and no domestic staff or helpful partners, this book’s for you. Learn the fine art of domestic slovenliness from the “Queen of Idlers” who turns...

• Book Review: How to Live

  

  After it occurred to Alford that older people had a wealth of life experiences to draw on during any decision making process, he decided to gather some of those insights before they were lost forever. While conducting interviews and writing this book, Alford’s mother, in her late seventies, surprised the family by...

• Book Review: Lord of Misrule

  

  The Morganville Vampire series picks up the action immediately following the conclusion of Feast of Fools with vampires and humans lining up for a major battle royal between Amelie and Bishop, a particularly nasty...

Thursday 19 February 2009

• Book Review: The Crafter's Design Library Fairies by Sharon Bennett

  

  A brilliant collection of motifs and ideas which are perfect for crafters looking for images which encapsulate traditional images of fairyland.

• Book Review: Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale by Holly Black

  

  The world of faery created by Holly Black is not for the faint hearted.

• Book Review: Vampire Knight, by Matsuri Hino

  Cross Academy is attended by two different groups of students - the day class and the night class.

• Book Review: The Puppet Master (Charlie Small) by Charlie Small

  

  A light hearted, entertaining book ideal for reading at bedtime.

Wednesday 18 February 2009

• Book Review: The Polytunnel Handbook by Andy McKee and Mark Gatter

  

  If you want to know anything at all about using polytunnels in your garden or allotment - this is the book for you.

• Book Review: Spies of Sobeck (Amerotke 7) by Paul Doherty

  

  It was with great glee that I picked up this latest offering from Paul Doherty, knowing I was in for a really good read.

• Book Review: The Society of S: A Novel by Susan Hubbard

  

  Ariella's mother vanished when she was born, leaving the child to be raised by an extremely protective scientist father.

• Book Review: The Frist Stone by Elliot Hall

  An intriguing mixture of sci-fi and crime noir private detective thriller.

Tuesday 17 February 2009

• Book Review: The Man with the Lead Stomach (Nicolas Le Floch 2) by Jean-Francois Parot

  

  Newly promoted Commissioner Nicholas Le Floch has been ordered to attend a royal visit to the Opera.

• Book Review: Stonehenge (Wonders of the World) by Rosemary Hill

  

  Stonehenge has to be the most famous monument of all, possessing worldwide renown.

• Book Review: Wise Words and Country Ways for Cooks by Ruth Binney

  

  An entertaining collection of facts and country wisdom about cooking. This is a book for dipping into and browsing when you have just a few minutes to spare.

• Book Review: The Blood Pit (Wesley Peterson Crime Series) by Kate Ellis

  

  There are no shortage of suspects when Charles Marrick is found dead.

Friday 13 February 2009

• Book Review: One Hundred Summers: A Kiowa Calendar Record

  

  Esteemed Kiowa artist Silver Horn or Haungooah, born in 1860 was the last generation to maintain the winter mark calendars. These pictorial records documented years by representing two important events, one for summer and one for winter, that acted as...

• Book Review: Unfallen Dead

  

  After a confrontation with the villainous Bergin Vise, the once powerful druid Connor Grey found himself striped of his abilities and kicked out of the Fey Guild with a huge, unidentified dark mass in his skull. Now he works as a consultant with Boston Detective...

• Book Review: The Girl She Used to Be

  

  When Melody Grace McCartney was six years old, she pestered her parents into going to a particular restaurant where the proprietor treated her like a little princess. They walked in on an evisceration in progress...

• Book Review: The Intentional Spinner

  

  Spinners interested in learning more about fibers, their historic treatments and uses, composition, unique characteristics, origins and more will find this a veritable treasure trove of information. Yet for all the insights into how fibers are processed, measured and why they respond the way they do, this is no dry dissertation...

• Book Review: The Spare Wife

  Following her first successful novel Me Times Three, Witchel serves up a fairly mundane look at the rich, famous, vain and bored upper echelon of the Manhattan elite. The once knockout beauty Ponce Morris feels the opportunities of her youth have slipped...

Wednesday 11 February 2009

• American Rust: A Novel by Philipp Meyer - Book Review

  

  American Rust is a beautifully told mosaic of words that endlessly describes the landscape of a dying Pennsylvania steel town. The lush backdrop of words intertwines the lives of Grace, Billy Poe, Buddy Harris, Lee, and Isaac.

Thursday 05 February 2009

• Evil Ways by Justin Gustainis - Book Review

  

  Libby and Quincy are back – against their will, admittedly, but adventure waits for no man...or white witch.

Wednesday 04 February 2009

• Book Review: Kill For Me

  

  Sixteen-year-old Monica Cassidy was anxiously anticipating losing her virginity in a dingy hotel room as she awaited the arrival of a nice boy she met on an Internet chatroom. What she got was the stuff of nightmares when she was abducted, drugged, used and...

• Book Review: Crime Spells

  

  This collection of sixteen creative stories blends the element of magic with good old fashioned crime for interesting results as demonstrated by tales like Jay Lake’s “Witness to the Fall” in which a Truthsayer unravels...

• Book Review: Death's Daughter

  

  Calliope Reaper-Jones, better known as Callie was just another rat running the corporate maze as a personal assistant with no prospect of advancement until she bit into a bespelled chocolate cupcake. The spell reversed a Forgetting Charm...

• Book Review: Darwin's Angel

  

  Few topics are more controversial then religion and Cornwell’s bombastic rebuttal to Richard Dawkin’s The God Delusion is a classic illustration of circular arguments replacing critical thought. One of Cornwell’s biggest complaints against Dawkin’s work...

Monday 26 January 2009

• Book Review: Bone Crossed

  

  Book four of the Mercy Thompson series picks up her story where it left off in Iron Kissed with Mercy trying to put her capture and rape behind her, no easy task with everyone asking how she is doing. Determined not to let her rapist win...

Sunday 25 January 2009

• Book Review: Regenesis

  

  It has been twenty long years since Cyteen was first released and happily, the continuation Regenesis was worth the wait as it picks up the story of Ariane Emory PR, a clone of the original...

• Book Review: Nella Last's Peace

  

  Throughout World War II housewife Nella Last along with a host of others kept regular diaries collected and preserved by The Mass Observation Archive, an organization that documented the experiences of average...

• Book Review: A Drop of Red

  

  After the battle that saw the destruction of the Los Angeles vampire Underground, ex-stuntwoman Dawn Madison is mentally and physically exhausted. During the fight, Dawn was forced to make some difficult decisions with far reaching consequences...

• Book Review: Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me

  

  Co-creator and executive producer of The Colbert Report, Ben Karlin collected forty-six mini-essays from some of the funniest guys in show business that illustrate the differences in how men and women perceive...

Saturday 24 January 2009

• Book Review: More From Our Own Correspondent

  

  Editor Tony Grant culled thousands broadcasts from top BBC journalists who contributed to the popular From Our Own Correspondent series for this collection of ninety-four dispatches from around the globe...

• Book Review: In Shade and Shadow

  

  After a series of frightening adventures with Magiere, Leesil and Chap, Journeyor Wynn Hygeorht returned to the Guild of Sagecraft in Calm Seatt bearing a series of carefully selected ancient texts. Likely written by the Nobel Dead, they dated from...

• Book Review: Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand

  

  Already mated and alphas in the eyes of their werewolf pack, Kitty was determined to officially tie the knot with Ben in a human ceremony. Overwhelmed by the mounting details and well meaning meddling of her mom, Kitty came up the idea of...

• Book Review: The Isle of Dogs

  

  Jeremy Shepherd gave up an exciting and lucrative career as a successful magazine editor for a quiet life living with his aging parents, working as a civil servant. Inexplicably, Jeremy continued to turn down offers of advancement, choosing instead to...

• Book Review: When Good Thinking Goes Bad

  

  Using Clever Hans, the paranormal, global warming and the economy to name a few, Riniolo makes the case for informed critical thinking. At the heart of critical thinking is an evidence-demanding attitude that seeks accurate...

• Book Review: Piercing the Veil

  Anne’s father dreamt of the day she passed her exams and followed him into law practice, defending the innocent and doing what they could to right some of the many wrongs in the world. Nothing, not even death was going to deter...

Tuesday 13 January 2009

• Book Review: The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

  This is very much a boys book. Fifteen year old Daniel X is an alien hunter - as were his parents, who died when he was only 3 years old.

• Book Review: The Silver Donkey by Sonya Hartnett

  

  A gentle and very sympathetic book, ideal for reading aloud.
  

• Book Review: Outriders: Expedition to Pine Hollow by Ed Decter

  

  A highly imaginative and exciting mystery story which will certainly appeal to boys.

• Book Review: Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke

  

  A final return to the world of Inkheart. Meggie, and Mo have been drawn back into the Inkheart - a story which has taken on a life of its own.

• Book Review: Samurai Kids: Owl Ninja by Sandy Fussell

  Drumbeats call the mountain ryus to war.

• Book Review: White Crane: Samurai Kids by Sandy Fussell

  The Cockroach Ryu are not happy. They want to beat their arch rivals, the Dragon Ryu in the forthcoming Samurai Games.

• Book Review: INVENTIONS FROM THE DRAWINGS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI

  Stunning is the only word that can describe this book. Ideal for older children and teenagers who enjoy inventing, history or experimentation.

Monday 12 January 2009

• Book Review: Angel's Blood

  

  As a born hunter, Guild member Elena Deveraux possessed the ability to sniff out her quarry. Every vampire has their own particular scent which Elena could track with deadly precision. Elena’s reputation led to her latest job assignment, a hunt commissioned by...

• Book Review: The Jennifer Morgue

  

  With more then just a tip of the hat to Ian Fleming’s James Bond, Stross continues the misadventures of bumbling techno geek Bob Howard as he attempts to save the world from an ambitious billionaire. Employed by a secret...

• Book Review: Peacekeeper

  

  First in a trilogy, Reeve’s debut packs a sense of history and intertwined warring cultures as extremists holding a long-standing grudge threaten a pending treaty. Matt, controller of the prospecting ship Aether’s Touch, had reason to wonder what...

• Book Review: Hawg

  

  A chance encounter with a drug mule led to the escape of a creature that should have been kept securely under lock and key instead of hiding on a hog farm. Once loose, Hawg becomes a primal force terrorizing the...

• Book Review: Border Moonlight

  

  After Lady Sibylla Cavers left three grooms standing at the alter, her father swore he would no longer work at arranging a suitable match, a decision that suited her just fine. In service to Princess Isabel, Sibylla was on her own recovering from a prolonged illness when...

• Book Review: People Are Idiots and I Can Prove It!

  

  Motivational speaker and author of You’re Broke Because You Want to Be presents proof that not only are people are idiots, but by their actions (or inaction), are their own worst enemy...

• Book Review: Ralphina, the Roly-Poly

  

  Bright, colorful illustrations will capture youngster’s attention in this charming tale of a lonely garden insect named Ralphina. As a tiny roly-poly, Ralphina is too small to be noticed by the little boy living...

• Book Review: The Power of the Middle Ground

  

  An argument with his wife led psychotherapist Babits to the realization that his personal perspective was responsible for the anger felt when a “minor” request was denied. As he began looking at the situation from her perspective, it became...

• Book Review: London's Dead: A Guided Tour of the Graveyards of London by Ed Glinert

  

  London has an extremely gruesome history, being home to some of the most unusual deaths in history.

• Book Review: Jinx (Lady Grace Mysteries) by Grace Lady Cavendish

  When Spanish visitors request the company of the Maids of Honour to visit the legendary St Bartholomew's Fair; it turns out to be even greater excitement than expected.

• Book Review: Winter Song by Jean-Claude Mourlevat

  

  In a bleak world ruled by the brutal Phalage, young children in orphanages are suddenly moved to boarding schools which resemble prisons bereft of any light or joy.

• Book Review: Keys (Lady Grace Mysteries) by Grace Lady Cavendish

  Another entertaining story in the Lady Grace Mysteries.

• Book Review: The People's War by Felicity Goodall

  

  What was life like in Britain during the war?

Sunday 11 January 2009

• Book Review: Bone By Bone by Carol O'Connell

  

  Brilliant. A real page turner, it is so full of tension.

Saturday 03 January 2009

• Book Review: Giants

  

  This insightful examination of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass shows how they rose from humble beginnings to become key figures in American history. Born dirt poor, Lincoln spent less then a year in school while Douglass grew up as...

• Book Review: Beat the Reaper

  Internist Dr. Peter Brown works under brutal conditions at a chronically overloaded Manhattan hospital, relying on drugs and cunning to keep up with the steady stream of patients. Dr. Brown also has a secret identity threatened by...

• Book Review: Contagious

  

  Sigler’s sequel to Infected continues the story of an intricately designed yet chillingly simple alien invasion with the potential to destroy humanity. Newly inaugurated President John Gutierrez could not believe the former administration not only left...

• Book Review: Just Another Judgement Day

  Return to the Nightside, a dark corner of London where it is always 3 a.m. and virtually every sin is available, for a price. Private investigator John Taylor has become comfortable living and working in the Nightside even if he periodically gets...

• Book Review: Mean Streets

  

  These four new novellas by top urban noir authors will entertain while showing the seeder, darker side of town and human nature. The Warrior by Jim Butcher finds wizard Harry Dresden deeply concerned about his friend and retired warrior...

• Book Review: Creating Space for Happiness

  

  Personal life lessons and insights gained during his years as a clinical psychologist come together in this informal self help guide designed to provide readers with some basic tools to jettison useless baggage while creating lasting change. Despite most...

• Book Review: Cloth Dolls for Textile Artists

  

  Dolls provide a small-scale canvas for textile experimentation which can yield stunning results with relatively little expense. Close-up color photography augments the step-by-step instructions that challenge beginning doll makers to try...

Saturday 27 December 2008

• Book Review: Stormy Weather

  

  For Vonda Thayer’s fiftieth birthday her best friends gave her a red velvet cake, her husband shacked up with a little honey at a local hotel, her pregnant eldest daughter moved back home and the rest of her extended family continued dumping their problems on...

• Book Review: Deadly Decisions

  

  Beginning with the Titanic disaster, Burns compellingly argues that some of the worst “accidents” and mishaps in modern times can be directly attributed to misinformation or misinterpretation of the available data. Burns examines the foundations used in...

• Book Review: Black Cathedral

  

  Right from the start, Department 18 investigator Robert Carter knew there was something nasty in the modest home he and his assistant Sian were sent to investigate, he just didn’t realize how bad. With not even a DNA trace of...

• Book Review: Knitted Jackets

  

  From the author of Folk Vests and Folk Shawls comes this collection of folk inspired knit jacket designs. The largely simple, classic lines provide a nice backdrop for a variety of techniques including textured stitches, cables, stripes and...

• Book Review: Jake's Wake

  

  Although he preached a good line about love and everlasting life, televangelist pastor Jake Connaway got into religion for the money, the power was an unexpected secondary boon. Jake liked to get his jollies off by dominating...

• Book Review: Choosing To Be

  

  As anyone owned by a cat can attest to, felines are masters at the art of relaxation and living in the moment. After struggling with chronic fatigue syndrome, depression and contemplating suicide, Tansey began the steep road to recovery with the able assistance of...

• Book Review: Color Style

  

  Unlike others in the Style series, this latest addition exploring the possibilities of color falls flat. The seventeen patterns, some which were published elsewhere, focus more on slip stitches and Fair Isle designs then on innovative techniques or...

Sunday 21 December 2008

• Book Review: Skim by Mariko Tamaki (Author), Jillian Tamaki (Illustrator)

  

  Skim is a collaboration between writer Mariko Tamaki and artist Jillian Tamaki.

• Book Review: Future Bioethics

  

  As medicine and technology offer options undreamt of just fifty years ago, society is forced to grapple with difficult issues like stem cell research, genetically enhanced foods and new drug therapies. All too often, these cutting edge issues are addressed with contempt born of...

• Book Review: Stormy Weather

  

  For Vonda Thayer’s fiftieth birthday her best friends gave her a red velvet cake, her husband shacked up with a little honey at a local hotel, her pregnant eldest daughter moved back home and the rest of her extended family continued dumping their problems on...

• Book Review: The Death and Life of Gabriel Phillips

  

  Responding to what promised to be a routine domestic call in the wee hours of the morning; police officer Andy Meyers was shocked to discover a dead child lying in a pool of blood. Worse, Meyers knew Gabriel Phillips, the eight-year-old victim through his affair...

• Book Review: Knitted Lace of Estonia

  

  Estonia’s rich lace knitting heritage includes some of the oldest pieces found in northern Europe and is the focus of this collection of patterns gleaned primarily from the author’s visits to the coastal town of Haapsalu. A brief but illuminating look at...

• Book Review: Knit to Be Square

  Hoxbro follows her popular Domino Knitting book with this inventive collection of portable designs that simply begs knitters to dig into their stash of odds and ends. Using primarily the garter stitch and simple pick-up knitting from...

Friday 19 December 2008

• Book Review: Mugen Spiral by Mizuho Kusanagi

  Yayoi is a mystic with great power. Unfortunately, such power attracts those who want to steal it from her.

• Book Review: Flower Hunters by John Gribbin and Mary Gribbin

  

  Fascinating - trips to the garden centre will never be the same again. Most of us take for granted the plants we find in our gardens;

Thursday 18 December 2008

• Book Review: The Green Room: Readers Digest

  A fascinating compilation of practical ideas for eco-friendly living which are guaranteed to make you think twice about many hitherto normal practices.

• Book Review: Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo Volume 1 (Pet Shop of Horrors Tokyo) (v. 1) by Matsuri Akino

  

  Several years after the Chinese count known only as D left Los Angeles Chinatown; life has returned to normal and the nightmares ceased.

• Book Review: Hack//legend of the Twilight 2 by Tatsuya Hamazaki (Creator), Rei Idumi (Illustrator)

  Based on the hit PS2 video game, this is the story of PKK Haseo.

• Book Review: Mosaic Magic by Angie Batt

  

  Most mosaic books concentrate on items like tiles and mirrors - Angie takes a different slant showing mosaics can be used in many other ways around the home.

• Book Review: Kaimira: The Sky Village: Book One by Monk Ashland (Author), Nigel Ashland (Author)

  

  High over China an intricate web of hot air balloons supports a sky village with its own traditions, ideas and way of life.

Wednesday 17 December 2008

• Book Review: Girls are Best by Sandi Toksvig

  

  If you have ever wanted to have enough facts and figures at your fingertips to show why girls are better than boys - this book will provide them!

• Book Review: Helen M Stevens Embroiderer's Countryside (Helen Stevens' Masterclass Embroidery) by Helen M Stevens

  

  A perfect gift for any keen embroiderer.

• Book Review: 1941 by Oliver Stanley

  

  Certain to appeal to anyone who enjoys military history and fiction; this story is set around the confusing events of 1941 when Rudolf Hess made his surprising flight to Scotland.

• Book Review: Street Runners by Matt Wyman

  London will never seem the same again.

• Book Review: Timerunners by Justin Richards

  Jamie and Anna are Time Runners.

Tuesday 16 December 2008

• Book Review: Bravo Jubilee by Charlie Owen

  

  A gritty, hard nosed detective novel showing a police force at its best (and worst).

• Book Review: Aztec: The Goldsmith's Daughter by Tanya Landman

  

  Bad omens surround Itacate's birth. She is fated to bring ill fortune to all who come into contact with her.

• Book Review: Wolfhunt by Armand Cabasson

  Set in May 1809, Napoleon's Grande Armée is in Austria.

• Book Review: Dragon Orb: Firestorm: No. 1 by Mark Robson

  

  The first in a series of stories about dragons.

• Book Review: Trickery Treat (Charmed) by Diana G. Gallagher

  

  A lightweight, non challenging but very entertaining read, ideal for when you just want to relax.

Sunday 14 December 2008

• Book Review: The Stormcaller

  

  Designated by the gods to maintain order, white-eyes possessed faster reflexes and were bigger, stronger then normal men. As a result, they found themselves the subject of envy and hatred by those they were charged to protect. Isak was a white-eye, thus born...

• Book Review: Knit Two

  Jacobs sequel to The Friday Night Knitting Club returns to the busy Manhattan, Walker and Daughter knitting shop, now without Georgia Walker who succumbed to ovarian cancer nearly a year ago. Dakota, Georgia’s biracial daughter is a freshman at...

• Book Review: This One Is Mine

  On the surface Violet Parry appears to have it all, a rich husband and lovely daughter, a fabulous house in Bel Air complete with vegetable garden and more. Yet for all the material measures of wealth, Violet is deeply depressed. Her husband David barely...

• Book Review: Too Far Gone

  

  The sixth book of Melton’s popular Navy SEAL series has created a mother’s worst nightmare. Ellie Stuart, a divorced mom juggled a taxing schedule working, taking collage courses and raising her three young boys in whom their father had no...

• Book Review: Hitman

  

  Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006, pro wrestler Bret Hart provides an extensive, blow-by-blow chronicle of his rise to fame from family owned Stampede Wrestling to the big time. This popular Canadian wrestler...

Wednesday 10 December 2008

• The Lost Throne - Book Review

  

  Jonathan Payne and his colleague and good friend, David Jones, reprise their roles as adventurers (one time military men with Payne being the leader of an elite special forces team) in this non-stop action novel about missing treasure, where Chi does indeed mark the spot, eccentric historians, deadly warriors who cling to an ancient way of life, crazy Kafka drinking Finns, an Interpol agent and mysterious Greek Orthodox Monks.

Sunday 30 November 2008

• Book Reveiw: The Vampire of Ropraz

  

  Translated from its original text, this compelling tale based upon a true story, challenges the boundaries between horror and true crime. Set in 1905 deep in the Jura Mountains, superstition existed side by side with strict Protestantism. Isolation and poverty compounded by relentless...

• Book Review: Brass Verdict

  

  Connelly’s latest, action packed detective thriller pits defense attorney Mickey Haller against LAPD detective Harry Bosch as they both search for answers regarding a couple of murders. Haller inherited the practice of fellow defense lawyer Jerry Vincent, found murdered in a...

• Book Review: The Reach

  

  When psychology grad student Jess Chambers was tapped for a special assignment by the demanding but secretive Professor Shelly, she viewed connecting with ten-year-old Sarah as a reward and a challenge. Young Sarah has locked in one facility or another since she was barely a year old...

• Book Review: New Tricks

  

  Ex-practitioner enforcer Mason and his Ifrit companion Lou were looking forward to enjoying Halloween Eve in San Francisco’s downtown Castro district. It would be one of the few times he wouldn’t have to worry about paranormal creatures walking the streets, as everyone who was anyone, would be out in...

• Book Review: Dangerous Women

  

  Criminologists and laypersons alike cannot help but notice the increasing number of violent crimes committed by females. Most readers will remember the news coverage of tearful mothers shortly after being arrested for murdering their small children, schoolteachers convicted of having sex with their...

• Book Review: Operation Blue Light

  

  Supposedly a true story, this follows the life of author and psychic Chabot from childhood to his eventual interrogation by members of the CIA and FBI. Chabot grew up in Union City, Indiana uncertain whether it was an accident suffered as a seven year old that might have triggered...

• Book Review: Unusual Suspects

  

  This collection of twelve new mystery tales with a fantasy twist edited by Stabenow, one of the contributing authors, is an entertaining romp, prefect for Holiday traveling or a quick escape read. Charlaine Harris’s “Lucky” features Sookie Stackhouse and her witch...

• Book Review: The Witch's Trinity

  As a severe famine strikes the small village of Tierkenddorf, Germany in 1507, the superstitious townsfolk begin suspecting one another of witchcraft as the cause of their misfortune. The atmosphere turns ugly with the arrival of Friar Johannes Fuchs...

• Book Review: Our Longest Days

  

  In 1936 Tom Harrisson, an amateur anthropologist incensed at the London newspapers for presuming they knew what the British population thought about important issues of the day began what became known as Mass Observation Project. It was an organization established to...

• Book Review: Japan Through the Looking Glass

  

  Throughout history, travelers to Japan have felt a bit like Alice going through the looking glass as the country and culture baffle, beguile and sometimes frustrate visitors. With the assistance of two Japanese Professors and their families, Macfarlane sought to...

• Book Reviews: Dawnkeepers

  

  Anderson’s second installment of The Final Prophecy series focuses on Nate Blackhawk and Alexis Gray, both young Nightkeeper warriors in training. The Nightkeepers are the descendants of magic wielding warriors charged with keeping the demon hordes safely behind the...

Thursday 20 November 2008

• Book Review: Never Land: Cave of the Dark Wind by Dave Barry (Author), Ridley Pearson (Author)

  Another in the Neverland series revisting the world of Peter Pan.
  

• Book Review: The Time Traveller's Journal by Hermes Prospero (Author), Greg Becker (Illustrator)

  

  An entertaining look at history - and what might be in the future.
  

• Book Review: Wives of the Kings of England: From the Normans to the Stuarts by Mark Hichens

  Apart from Henry VIII's six wives, very few people know much about the various consorts over the centuries.

Wednesday 19 November 2008

• Book Review: Solar Gardening by by Leandre Poisson and Gretchen Vogel Poisson

  

  Any kitchen gardener looking for innovative ways to expand the growing period will find this book of interest.

• Book Review: The Rook Trilogy by by Paul Stewart (Author), Chris Riddell (Illustrator)

  

  A monster of a book with over 1,100 pages but for anyone who is a fan of the Edge Chronicles it is an absolute must.

• Book Review: Soul Murder by Andrew Nugent

  Returning from a midnight barbeque, a group of school boys are horrified to find their housemaster, Maurice Tyson dead on the floor of the dormitory with his thoat slit.

• Book Review: Castlecliff by Elizabeth Pulford

  

  Going on his mum's honeymoon is not Jamie's idea of a perfect holiday.

• Book Review: Hidden Children of the Holocaust by Suzanne Vromen

  

  Told here for the first time, this is the story of children who were hidden for their own safety during the Second World War.

• Book Review: The Gannet Has Landed by Peter Kerr

  

  A lighthearted novel dealing with the perils of the mass market holiday industry.

Monday 17 November 2008

• The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Book Review

  

  I have watched the excitement build up online over Carrie Ryan’s debut, The Forest of Hands and Teeth and couldn’t help but be swept up in the giddy atmosphere.

• Book Review: Eon: Dragoneye Reborn

  

  As a cripple, twelve-year-old Eon knows he has little chance at being chosen by the Rat Dragon during the upcoming ceremony yet if he is not; it will bring ruin to his master and most certainly send him to servitude in the salt mines. After suffering an ambush...

• Book Review: Magic to the Bone

  

  Serviced by a series of cisterns, magic is accessible to most of Portland, Oregon but the use of magic comes with a price. For Allison Beckstrom, daughter of a prominent businessman, that cost includes losing pieces of her memory, headaches and bruising. Some unscrupulous magic users seek to get around paying the price by...

• Book Review: Is It Just Me or Is Everything Shit?

  

  The authors take aim at a host of contemporary piss-me-offs with hilarious results in this A to Z guide to annoyances large and small. From the opening volley lambasting abstinence programs and the ludicrous adventure expeditions of the privileged, but brain dead...

• Book Review: Wild Horses

  

  With more wild horses living in captivity then running “free” on public lands, subject to removal using helicopters or trucks to round up several bands at once, the term “wild horses” is more a misnomer then reality. Charged by Congress to manage wild horses and burros, the Bureau of Land Management has entirely...

• Book Review: Insatiable Desire

  

  Half-demon, half-angel, FBI agent Vincent Valtrez knows all too well the lure of dark powers, what his demon father Zion called “bad blood.” As a ten year old, Vincent was forced to watch as Zion killed his mother, an angel of light in a black cavern in the Smokey Mountains not far from...

• Book Review: Gasoline

  

  Cult illustrator and musician Dame Darcy turns her considerable talents to a richly illustrated gothic novel of a post-apocalyptic world populated by nihilists, a fringe of humanity living on the ruined city outskirts and self-sustaining communes like that occupied by the Armbusters...

• Book Review: Kosher by Design Lightens Up

  

  Fishbein’s latest cookbook expands upon her popular Kosher by Design series with a collection of lighter, healthier recipes created to appeal to the entire family. A brief introduction to the kosher kitchen, supermarket savvy, a superfoods chart, entertaining ideas and assorted...

• Book Review: Eating for Energy

  

  As a former professional soccer player, registered holistic nutritionist and a coach for the University of Toronto men’s soccer program, Elkaim offers his insights into gaining more out of life through proper diet and exercise. If this sounds familiar, it should as...

• Book Review: Fast Ships, Black Sails

  

  Indulge your wild side with this swashbuckling anthology of pirate tales that encompass a broad range times, settings and genres. “Boojum” by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette is one of the more imaginative offerings with...

Friday 14 November 2008

• Book Review: The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

  

  Reynie, Kate, Sticky and Constance are somewhat unusual children. All four are orphans.

• Book Review: Michaelmas Tribute by Cora Harrison

  

  Sixteenth century Ireland. The independent kingdoms are constantly threatened by the presence of the English domains.

• Book Review: Riding Icarus by Lily Hyde

  

  A charming children's story, full of magic and mystery. Is it a dream or is it reality?

• Book Review: Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

  

  Fantastic - essential reading for anyone who has read the preceeding volumes, Eragon and Eldest.

Tuesday 11 November 2008

• The Fire by Katherine Neville - Review

  

  Twenty years ago, Katherine Neville's book, The Eight was published to great acclaim. It defied genre - it was a swashbuckling adventure, it had romance, the epic worldwide settings, intricate mysteries, strong female characters and sexy Russian chess masters.

Thursday 06 November 2008

• Book Review: Burn Out

  

  Sharon McCone’s latest adventure finds her holed up on husband Hy’s small family ranch located near the tiny high desert town of Vernon, CA. Supposedly, Sharon was there to decompress from the stresses of running her successful investigative agency, put the trauma of...

• Book Review: Mass Historia

  

  Emmy award winning comedy writer Chris Regan has turned his considerable talents to past events and come out with a winner in this uproarious look at 365 days in history. Embellishing facts with liberal doses of light humor, history has never been more entertaining...

• Book Review: The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters

  

  Four sisters named after their mother’s favorite movie stars, Bette Davis, Loretta Young, Rita Hayworth and Sophia Loren along with brother Cary Grant Gabaldon come of age in this multilayered story spanning two decades. After the premature death of their mother, the Gabaldon children grew up under the tutelage of...

• Book Review: The Catch

  

  After deputy sheriff Brian Sleuter was shot on a dark Vermont roadside during what should have been a routine speeding ticket, Joe Gunther, head of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation became immersed in an interstate investigation. With video tape evidence from Sleuter’s dash cam, it appears...

• Book Review: Life After Genius

  

  Theodore Mead Fegley should have had the world by the tail, he’s a genius who breezed through school and by fifteen was accepted into the University of Chicago. However, growing up different in a small town proved difficult, especially with a mother Mead nicknamed, the six-legged monster and...

• Book Review: The Adventures of Songha

  This is the charming tale of a most unusual cat. Half-African serval and half-domestic cat, Songha is a rare breed known as a savannah cat. With many of the distinctive markings and physical traits of a serval cat, Songha dreams of running free over...

• Book Review: Wrap, Stitch, Fold & Rivet

  

  Hettmansperger, author of Fabulous Woven Jewelry presents another collection to stimulate the creative juices while demonstrating new joining techniques. A comprehensive tools section covers everything from metal cutters to dapping blocks and jewelry makers are likely to...

Wednesday 05 November 2008

• Book Review: Paul of Dune

  

  Given the complexity of Frank Herbert’s Dune novels, any author attempting to build on them will run into problems with continuity and character development. Such is the case with the latest installment that seeks to fill in the decade long gap between Paul Muad’Dib’s defeat of...

• Book Review: Heirloom Embroidery

  

  This collection harkens back to a simpler age when women lovingly embroidered everyday items such as tablecloths and bed linens which were then proudly used by friends and family. The 25 projects are divided into five chapters include Hearts, Country Garden...

Tuesday 04 November 2008

• Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance - Book Review

  

  I have not read any of Ms. Chance’s books in the past, not due to anything else but the fact that the tottering TBR pile of books that were there before. However, Penguin UK took pity on me when I spotted this newest offering in their PR sheets and sent me a copy of Midnight’s Daughter to read and review and I have to say: I am thrilled that they did.

Wednesday 29 October 2008

• Book Review: Going Under

  

  Special Agent Lila Black is suffering an identity crisis, she’s not a demon although she is married to one and living in Demonia with Zal, her second husband, a demon elf. She also carries the spirit of a dead elfin necromancer in her heart...

• Book Review: Death: A Life

  Tired of being misrepresented, maligned and misunderstood, Death decided to come forward with his side of the story in this “tell-all” memoir that will leave you laughing. The progeny of Satan and Sin, Death went through his childhood, a misfit in hell with no idea what...

• Book Review: Testimony

  The quiet peace of Avery Academy located in upstate Vermont, was shattered with the appearance of a videocassette showing three teenaged boys and a younger, fourteen year old girl engaged in assorted sex acts. Headmaster Mike Bordwin was further shocked with...

• Book Review: Bet You Didn't Know

  

  Ever wonder what percentage of Americans plan to work in retirement, the average age fundamentalist Protestants lose their virginity or how many poor households own a color television? Look no further as author and demographer...

• Book Review: Wrapped in Crochet

  

  Crochet is making a comeback, not as doilies or granny squares but as trendy fashion accessories that compliment a modern woman’s wardrobe. Omdahl has compiled a well-rounded collection of crochet patterns that combine classic lines with...

• Book Review: A Pretty Face

  After a forgettable one-night stand that left Maria Eguibar in possession of some papers, she was met at her door by the two men who murdered her. Instead of moving on to wherever the dead go, Maria finds herself hanging around in Benito’s company. Benito is a grubby, one-eyed, nose picking...

• Book Review: The Flame and the Shadow

  

  First of the new Four-Sided Pentacle series introduces a galaxy of worlds ruled by Technomages who control the use of science and most everything else within their realm. As a result, entire civilizations are reduced to...

• Book Review: Defending Angels

  

  After her Uncle Franklin died in a small but intense fire, attorney Brianna Winston-Beaufort decided to move to Savannah, Georgia and start up her own practice using his old client list. Not only was this an excellent opportunity to strike out on her own...

Tuesday 28 October 2008

• Featured Book Review: Fast Ships, Black Sails

  

  As Ann and Jeff VanderMeer write in the introduction to their anthology Fast Ships, Black Sails, the fascination people have with pirates is largely due to pirates representing "freedom, frontiers, a yearning for adventure and a desire to explore exotic locations.

Sunday 19 October 2008

• Book Review: Murder by the Sea by Lesley Cookman

  

  War time facism, illegal immigrants and forced labour all rear their ugly heads in this mystery novel.

• Book Review: Blade: Playing Dead by Tim Bowler

  A children's book which arouses mixed feelings. I still cannot make up my mind whether I like it or not.

• Book Review: The Chatelet Apprentice by Jean-Francois Parot

  

  One of the best history/mysteries I have read for a long time. It really captures the spirit of the time, with a mystery that keeps you hanging on your seat wanting to know what happens next.

Saturday 18 October 2008

• Book Review: The Toymaker by Jeremy De Quidt

  

  A dark and haunting novel for older children. The toymaker wants to make toys that never wind down - that have real hearts transferred from living sparrows.

• Book Review: The Mark of Edain by by Pauline Chandler

  

  Dramatic with a real sense of history - this book is a winner, grabbing attention from the start.

• Book Review: Make! by Cath Kidston

   A fascinating and well written book ideal for anyone who loves making things.

Thursday 16 October 2008

• Book Review: George Tooker

  

  Tooker, born August 5, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York knew even as a seven year old that he would become an artist. After going through his formative years trying to live up to others expectations, Tooker began training with Reginald Marsh who introduced him to tempera...

• Book Review: The Chosen Sin

  

  Seven years ago, Daria Moran was personally and professionally devastated when Christopher Sante, a follow special forces agent for the Allied Bureau of Investigation betrayed her trust and murdered her friend. Sante was a vampire capable of hiding what he was and...

• Book Review: Wolfsbane and Mistletoe

  

  Indulge your wild side for the Holidays with this delightful collection of fifteen new werewolf tales by some of the bestselling authors of the genre. Charlaine Harris’s popular Sookie Stackhouse character is treated to a very special Christmas present thanks to a bit of meddling by her fairy prince of a...

• Book Review: The Smart One and The Pretty One

  

  LaZebnik has penned another winner in this examination of the complex bonds between two grown sisters. Although both are fairly equal in looks and intelligence, they have pretty much settled into the mindsets developed during childhood that cast...

• Book Review: Mixed Media Self Portraits

  

  Creating self-portraits can be an incredibly cathartic experience, when made from textiles and assorted odd bits, they can become fascinating three-dimensional explorations into a person’s heart and soul. After examining some of the more famous...

• Book Review: I Was Dora Suarez

  Raymond’s fourth in his Factory series is a dark, deeply disturbing horror centering upon a serial murderer and the detective investigating the gruesome deaths of Dora Suarez and her elderly friend Betty Carstairs...

• Book Review: Crewel Embroidery

  Drawing upon the work of decorative painters in the United States, Australia and Russia, Burr has created a garden of lovely, fully shaded flowers using a variety of embroidery threads. The projects are divided into three chapters based on...

• Book Review: Greeting Cards Galore

  

  Cards are used to celebrate special occasions such birthdays, weddings, holidays, etc. so why not make these moments truly special with a beautifully handcrafted little work of art. Filled with more then 45 projects including a combination Christmas card and tree ornament...

• Book Review: Recipe Scrapbook

  

  Take an armchair, culinary trip around the world with Brewester’s unusual combination of travel and food. Designed as a scrapbook with 16 handy pockets, some with postcards and letters filled with recipes, cooking hints and regional fare highlights, this becomes a...

• Book Review: The Quilting Arts Book

  

  So you’ve mastered pieced work, made a few quick strip quilt tops, appliquéd pillows and clothing and toyed with fabric dyeing, now put it all together and start creating art quilts. Beginning with finding inspiration in the world around you, keeping ideas in a sketchbook and...

• Book Review: The Book of Lies

  Meltzer has attempted an unusual melding of the Biblical tale of Cain and Abel with the Superman character in this slow moving who-done-it. After his father’s murder in 1932, son Jerry Siegel dreams of a man who gave rise to...

• Book Review: Simple Knits for Little Cherubs

  The title aptly states this collection of patterns for garments and accessories sized for the little people in your life. They use clean, simple lines accentuated by being worked in predominantly the stockinette stitch providing a palette for little...

• Book Review: Key to Redemption

  

  Book Three of the Gillian Key series casts the ex-marine and psychologist to the paranormal community in a different role. Gillian’s mentor Dr. Helmut Gerhardt has brought her a patient with a dark, lonely past who is in need of special...

• Book Review: The Iron Hunt: Hunter's Kiss, Book One

  

  From her hairline down, Maxine Kiss is covered in black tattoos that during the day, act as a shield against the hunter’s many enemies. At night, when the tattoos leave her skin to become lesser demons...

Sunday 12 October 2008

• Feature: The Alfred Hitchcock Story (and analysis)

  

  The Alfred Hitchcock Story, recently reissued by Titan books, was originally published in 1999. The book features write-ups by Ken Mogg on every feature film that Hitchcock directed.

Friday 10 October 2008

• Book Review: Once Were Cops

  

  Once again, Bruen proves his prowess as a contemporary noir author with this chilling look at how easy it could be for basically good cops to go bad and worse, what happens when a certifiable whacko carries a...

• Book Review: The Last Undercover

  

  With twenty-six years as an FBI agent and numerous undercover assignments under his belt, Hamer provides a compelling narrative into the seedy, sleazy world of drugs, stolen goods, gunrunners and more. The focus of the book revolves around Hamer’s last undercover assignment that...

• Book Review: Holidays on Ice

  

  Sedaris turns his considerable wit and slightly skewed outlook on the Holidays with six additional short stories, including one never before published that are guaranteed to bring a chuckle or three. Experience the dubious joys of being a Macy’s Christmas elf in the...

• Book Review: Chocolate-A Healthy Passion

  

  Chocoholics celebrated news that chocolate is actually good for you; now learn more about the benefits and history of the mighty cacao bean. If you thought you knew how to taste chocolate, guess again as the authors explain how to...

• Book Review: Arsnic Soup for Lovers

  At a mere two pages each, these wickedly delicious little treats can be savored while waiting in line for your morning coffee, riding the bus or before nodding off at bedtime. Relationship woes take very different twists in...

• Book Review: Weaving Without a Loom

  

  Artist and art educator Dr. Rainey updates her classic 1966 guide to off-loom weaving in this new release that includes plenty of new materials to stimulate the imagination of would-be weavers young and old...

• Book Review: Phony!

  

  Andrea Stanfield’s purgative narrative demonstrates how easy it was to create a false background that enabled her to land a better paying job and how difficult it turned out to be to continue living the lie. She begins with the discovery...

• Book Review: Schwalm Embroidery

  

  Originating in Germany, this whitework embroidery form incorporates a number of techniques including pulled fabric, needlelace, drawn thread and needleweaving combined with surface stitches. Keeping with traditional Tree of Life design elements...

• Book Review: The Lover's Knot

  

  Nell Fitzgerald was delighted with the lovingly stitched wedding quilt she received from her grandmother, Eleanor Cassidy. Nell’s joy evaporated when Ryan, her fiancé dropped the bombshell that he wasn’t...

Monday 06 October 2008

• Book Review: Vampire Beach Hunted by Alex Duval

  Good teenage reading material. Vampires live side by side with humans - but not everyone is happy about it.

• Book Review: Manga School wi Selena Lin Draw Your Own Manga by Lin Selena

  

   Manga is proving to be one of the most popular drawing styles currently in vogue.

• Book Review: Drawing from your Imagination by Ron Tiner

  

   A perfect gift for a budding artist who wants to know more about imaginative drawing.

• Book Review: The Vampire of Ropraz by Jacques Chessex and Donald Wilson

  

  Based on a true story, it highlights the fear and cruelty which humankind sometimes adopts towards those who are different,

• Book Review: Ice Cream Con by Jimmy Docherty

  This book is guaranteed to raise a smile what with mystery gangsters, exploding bubble gum, missing diamonds and an ice-cream van.

Sunday 05 October 2008

• Book Review: A Not So Perfect Crime by Teresa Solana and Peter Bush

  

  Twins Eduard and Borja are private detectives with a reputation for quietly helping the wealthy citizens of Barcelona hide their secrets.

• Book Review: Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker

  

  Market day in a quiet town in Southern France and the Inspectors from Brussels are on the warpath about health and hygiene.

• Book Review: The Murder Stone by Louise Penny

  Set in Canada, this is a tale of jealousy, family hatreds, of fortunes lost and won plus long awaited revenge.

• Book Review: The Night Villa by Carol Goodman

  

  An intelligent, engrossing mystery combining modern day cults with the worlds of Ancient Greece and Rome.

Saturday 04 October 2008

• Book Review: Firefight by K. Wild

  

  Freedom Smith is a gypsy boy possessing tremendous strength and agility, working for Phoenix - a special Police operation.

• Book Review: Wright 3 by by Blue Balliett

  

  For children who love reading mystery stories, there can be no better offering.

• Book Review: Tattoo by MANUEL VAZQUEZ MONTALBAN

  

  Pepe Carvalho is an ex-cop, now working as a private eye in Barcelona.

• Book Review: Evil Valley by Simon Hall

  

  A masked man breaks into women's homes to steal identity documents - and leave a trail of notes, giving hints as to identity and future plans.

Friday 03 October 2008

• Book Review: Exit Music

  

  Facing mandatory retirement, Detective Inspector John Rebus has a mere ten days to wrap up a number of loose ends before leaving the department forever. Rebus doesn’t relish the thought of retired life although his supervisors look forward to the prospect with...

• Book Review: Plush-O-Rama

  

  Welcome to the delightfully twisted world of plushies, not to be confused with cloyingly sweet stuffed toys, these fanciful creatures ooze personality. Let your wild side run loose with...

• Book Review: The Last Argument of Kings

  

  Book Three of The First Law series concludes Abercrombie’s dark tale of intrigue and treachery with a satisfyingly down and dirty cast of villains and seriously flawed heroes. Picking up the storyline immediately after Before They Are Hanged, the Union is besieged...

• Book Review: The Blessed

  

  Bergren’s Gifted trilogy winds up the exhaustive adventures of thirteen men, women and children who were endowed by God with special gifts and because of their gifts, are hunted by those aligned with...

• Book Review: When Will There Be Good News

  

  Atkinson's latest thriller begins one sunny afternoon with six-year-old Joanna Mason watching horrified as a strange man killed her mother, sister and baby brother with a butcher knife. Joanna survived by hiding in...

• Book Review: Wild Boy

  

  Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor paints an illuminating if frequently bland picture of the band’s inner workings that no surprise, includes plenty of drug abuse. Taylor focuses much of his attention on Nick Rhodes, showing him to be...

• Book Review: Gale Force

  

  Caine’s lackluster seventh book in the Weather Warden series will leave fans wondering if she has had enough of Jo, David, Cherise and their turbulent world as the story lurches from one unconnected...

Tuesday 30 September 2008

• Book Review: Sci-Phi: Philosophy from Socrates to Schwarzenegger by Mark Rowlands

  

  Just to give an idea of last month’s pick, readers can visit a review here that notes:

Friday 19 September 2008

• Book Review: Blood Memories

  

  Co-author of the Noble Dead saga Barb Hendee kicks off a new series with her first solo book of The Vampire Memories that focuses on Eleisha Clevon.  Nearly two hundred years old, Eleisha appears to be about seventeen, which compliments...

• Book Review: Found You

  

  Halloween is fast approaching, a fitting time for the release of SanGiovanni’s chiller/thriller sequel to The Hollower that saw the death of an entity from a different dimension. While a tear between dimensions was open, Dave Kohlar saw...

• Book Review: The Scourge of God

  Picking up the Novel of the Change series twenty-three years after the Change swept the world rendering electronics and explosives useless, Rudi heir to the High Priestess Juniper Mackenzie continues working his way across what was once the United States...

• Book Review: Small Crimes

  

  When ex-cop Joe Denton was released from county jail after serving a mere seven years for a string of crimes including maiming local D.A. Phil Oakley, he entertained hopes of reconnecting with his parents, his ex-wife and their two girls. What he got was...

• Book Review: Imaginary Friends

  

  Most of us had imaginary friends when we were little, someone special we could share our secrets with and then forgot as we grew up. This collection of thirteen original short stories examines the many forms an imaginary friend might take, some of which are quite inventive...

Sunday 14 September 2008

• Book Review: White Nights

  

  Shetland’s high latitude brings about very long summer days with no true nightfall, what the locals call “white nights”. It is a time when strange happenings can be expected so when a man bursts into tears at...

• Book Review: Isolation

  

  Thrasher uses an unusual combination of Christian faith and horror to create a satisfyingly dark chiller/thriller that will leave readers wanting more. Stephanie Miller is having serious problems with her sanity and husband Jim feels...

• Book Review: The Bell at Sealey Head

  

  For the inhabitants of the tiny fishing village of Sealey Head, the tolling of an unseen bell at sunset’s last lingering second was hardly worth notice, just another feature of the landscape. However, for the residents of Aislinn house...

• Book Review: Feather Man

  

  Growing up is seldom easy and that is certainly the case for Sooky, an only child coming of age in Brisbane, Australia. Sooky’s parents make it clear that the less they see or hear of her, the better which makes the molestation by...

• Book Review: Supreme Courtship

  

  President Vanderdamp is not only unpopular with the American public, but by vetoing a series of pork barrel projects, he has managed to alienate Congress as well. With believable pettiness, the senate, led by...

• Book Review: Death's Half Acre

  Maron’s 14th Deborah Knott novel finds her adjusting to married life with sheriff deputy Dwight Bryant, attempting to build a relationship with stepson Cal and deeply concerned about the changing social climate of rural North Carolina. Developers and land speculators have...

• Book Review: Last Call

  

  With a mentally handicapped daughter functioning at the level of an eight year old and a wife going into the downside of multiple sclerosis, Big Apple bar owner Jimmie Collins has been dealt a difficult hand. While it is not his nature to complain...

Thursday 04 September 2008

• Book Review: The Front Porch Prophet

  

  As southern as a slice of peach pie and nearly as sweet, this amusing yet piquant tale set in Sequoyah, Georgia revolves around the lifelong friendship of Eugene Purdue and Arthur John Longstreet. Buddies since a playground dustup against...

• Book Review: Moontown

  Earthling’s fourth addition to their popular Halloween Series features a suitably gruesome little tale about the power of childhood nightmares. Empathic Shelley Campbell has designed a study project aimed at assisting people in getting to the heart of their phobias...

• Book Review: Break of Dawn

  

  Book three of the Vampire Babylon series finds Dawn and Kiko of Limpet and Associates recovering from their latest battle with denizens of the L.A. Underground that saw the slaying of Breisi, a fellow hunter. Dawn’s mysterious boss...

• Book Review: Sweetheart

  Picking up the tale of obsession begun in her chilling debut Heartsick, Cain continues developing the relationship between serial killer Gretchen Lowell, aka the Beauty Killer and Portland Detective Archie Sheridan, the man who put her behind bars...

• Book Review: Legacy

  Bounty hunter Anna Strong didn’t want to become a vampire but thanks to a brutal attack, she now has no choice but to cope with the many changes wrought that fateful night. Not only is feeding a problem but Anna is coming under increasing pressure to...

• Book Review: Undiscovered Country

  

  In the crystalline cold of a small Minnesota town one November morning, seventeen year old Jesse Matson and his father Harold head off for a typical deer hunt. With the crack of a rifle shot, the hunting trip is anything but typical when...

• Book Review: Enchantment Place

  

  Enter a wondrous shopping mall for the magically inclined in this collection of 17 inventive, often amusing short stories that centers on the shopkeepers and clientele of Enchantment Place. Beginning with Mary Jo Putney’s creative Shining On...

• Book Review: The Woman's Heart

  

  For years, medical science ignored the physiological differences between men and women as can be seen in the majority of male based medical testing. One of the most important aspects of this gap is the persistent belief, even among the medical profession, that...

• Book Review: The Shadow Pavilion

  

  A crazy Bollywood starlet and a selfless act hold the keys to maintaining balance between the worlds in this fast-paced fantasy treat with the unusual addition of Chinese legends in Detective Inspector Chen’s fourth adventure...

• Book Review: Surface Design for Ceramics

  

  Whether you work in slab, coil, thrown or extruded clay, the wealth of surface treatments is limited only by one’s imagination as shown in this comprehensive guide to surface embellishment techniques. After an examination of what makes...

• Book Review: Native American Leather & Bead Crafting

  

  The balanced symmetry, color usage and spiritual aspects of Native American art have a timeless appeal that continues to draw the interest of beaders and leatherworkers alike. Beginning with a brief introduction to Native dress...

Tuesday 02 September 2008

• Featured Book Revew: The Lost Highway by David Adams Richards

  

  David Adams Richards, whose writing is regional in the best possible sense of the word, is routinely compared to William Faulkner, the Mississippi genius who chronicled the lives of the denizens of the semi-fictional Yoknapatawpha County.

Wednesday 20 August 2008

• Book Review: Marsbound

  

  When the Dula family won a lottery trip to Mars, nineteen-year-old Carmen knew the five years spent in the colony would likely change their lives but she couldn’t possibly have imagined how profound those changes would be. A year of pretrip training, testing and evaluation were a prelude to...

• Book Review: Ary Stillman from Impressionism to Abstract Expressionism

  

  This first major monograph devoted to Russian-American Ary Stillman is an unabashed celebration of his enormous body of work and evolution from impressionist to abstract artist. Seven authors including art historians and curators cover the scope of...

• Book Review: Beyond the Basics: Gourd Art

  

  Creating beautiful works of art from dried gourds is an ancient practice that is enjoying resurgence thanks in part to the wide variety of tools now available. After a brief overview of selecting, cleaning and cutting gourds...

• Book Review: Stalking the Vampire

  

  It’s All Hallows’ Eve, the biggest night of the year in Resnick’s alternate Manhattan populated by a host of goblins, ghosts and zombies and home to private eye John Mallory, a former resident of this dimension. When Mallory’s partner, Winnifred Carruthers drags...

• Book Review: Doomwyte

  

  Master storyteller Jacques returns to the small, magical world of Redwall with a tale of stolen treasure. Long ago, Gonff the Prince of Mousethieves crept into a dark cavern and discovered...

• Book Review: The Last Unicorn Special Anniversary Edition

  

  One of the all-time classic works of fantasy has been re-released in a special 40th Anniversary Edition of Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn including illustrations by Mel Grant. For those who have been living under a rock or new to the genre...

Monday 11 August 2008

• Book Review: Vicious Circle

  

  Felix Caster has an unusual job, with the aid of his trusty tin whistle, he performs exorcisms on London area ghosts. It’s a modest living supplemented by the occasional consulting job with the local, pain-in-the-butt police department which is why...

• Book Review: Dog Eats Dog

  

  Ex-con Philip Dixon knew the bank heist was doomed to failure from the start, that’s why he had a fallback plan, independent from his bungling associates. What he hadn’t counted on was getting shot, covered in gas and being spotted by...

• Book Review: The Sacred Book of the Werewolf

  

  A Hu-Li is an ancient creature known as a werefox, capable of mimicking human form as she struggles to make a living and find enlightenment in a changing world. Plying her wares as a Moscow sex worker allows A Hu-Li to feed off...

• Book Review: Vampyres of Hollywood

  

  Scream queen Adrienne Barbeau and Michael Scott have taken the frequently overtired, under imaginative vampire myth and added a delightfully fresh spin by casting several of the better known old actors as vampyres. What’s more, most of Hollywood is involved in...

• Book Review: Blue Ribbon Quilts

  

  This eye-popping collection of fourteen award winning quilts culled from assorted county fairs, shows and competitions are now easy to recreate for yourself. The techniques including traditional piecework, appliqué, foundation piecing and...

Sunday 03 August 2008

• Book Review: Underground

  

  Small time private investigator Harper Blaine hasn’t been the same since being dead for two minutes left her with the ability to navigate the fine dividing line between the living and paranormal worlds. Now that Harper is a Greywalker, her cases have become much more challenging...

• Book Review: Creative Beading Vol. 3

  

  Indulge your inner magpie with Bead & Button’s third addition to their Creative Beading series containing over 80 of their best projects culled from an entire year. These projects are divided into chapters that cover the scope of beading and...

• Book Review: Seeing Redd

  

  The Looking Glass Wars saga continues as Beddor takes the basic characters and setting from Lewis Carroll’s children’s classic, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and turns them into a dark adult fantasy filled with subterfuge, warfare, tyrants and...

• Book Review: The Dimension Next Door

  

  Step into thirteen alternate realities with this collection of vividly imagined, often ingenious tales of parallel places, times or people that delight and surprise. The diverse approaches include a coin that transports...

• Book Review: A Summer Affair

  

  Nantucket glass artist Claire Crispin is obsessed with trying to do it all, have it all and to her friends, that’s exactly what she does. She always steps up to the plate and lends a hand including chairing Nantucket’s Children Summer Gala, the social event of the year although...

• Book Review: Moon Pies and Movie Stars

  

  Ruby Kincaid keeps busy running her bowling alley, raising two grandkids and listening to the assorted tangents of sister Loralva or mother-in-law Imogene Davidson. She constantly wonders what happened to daughter Violet who...

• Book Review: Glitter Artistry

  

  If you think glitter is just that sparkly stuff you used on paper plates as a kid, think again. Thanks in large part to Trombley’s ongoing love affair, glitter has grown up and is now an elegant way of creating distinctive cards, tags and... 
  

Friday 25 July 2008

• Featured Book Review: Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind by Gary Marcus

  

  Perhaps for sake of utility, a notional separation of the corporal activities traditionally divided into mind and body has practical benefits. For instance, the distinction supports eschewing a podiatrist for treatment of your visceral fear of breakfast cereal.

Tuesday 22 July 2008

• Book Review: Try Darkness

  

  The once up and coming, high priced trial lawyer Ty Buchanan had his life destroyed when his fiancée was murdered, a crime he stood accused of committing. Although eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, Ty’s life remains in tatters, which is why he currently resides in a trailer on...

• Book Review: Heavier Than Air

  

  Readers can practically hear the crickets, smell the new mown alfalfa and feel the dust of a parched summer lane in this moving collection of ten short stories set America’s heartland. Caspers’s spare writing style makes the characters and subjects stand out with...

• Book Review: Old Devil Moon

  Award winning author Christopher Fowler is a prolific writer with a dark, twisted sense of humor as evidenced by this latest collection of twenty-two tales that delight and horrify. Fowler’s style takes contemporary headlines and adds...

• Book Review: 500 Plates & Chargers

  

  Lark Books continues their outstanding 500 series with this impressive ceramic collection juried by Linda Arbuckle, winner of several prestigious art awards and a tenured professor at the University of Florida School of Art. Although typically thought of as utilitarian, plates and chargers provide artists with...

• Book Review: Cry Wolf

  

  Expanding upon her popular Mercy Thompson series, Briggs introduces a strong new heroine with Anna Latham, a rare Omega werewolf rescued from the clutches of Chicago’s sadistic pack leader by Charles Cornick. Thanks to three years of hell in Leo’s pack, Anna has problems trusting...

• Book Review: Saturn's Children

  

  Set well into the future, after humanity went the way of the dodo bird, this romp through the solar system centers upon the adventures of former sexbot, Freya Nakamichi. Although humans are long extinct, the remaining robots...

• Book Review: Dragon Wytch

  The D’Artigo sisters continue to kick demon butt while getting kicked in return as they struggle against stiff odds in their ongoing battle with Shadow Wing, a demon lord bent upon destroying Earth and Otherworld in Galenorn’s fourth book of the Otherworld series...

• Book Review: Let's Talk Turkey

  

  Whether you throw in the towel, go cold turkey or live high on the hog, American’s have added plenty of colorful expressions to the English language that aren’t widely used outside the US borders. Now learn the origins of these and 150 more...

Tuesday 15 July 2008

• Book Review: Havana Gold

  

  As gritty as the Lenten winds that sweep across Cuba every spring, this detective story finds Police Lieutenant Mario Conde investigating the death of twenty-four year old Lissette Delgado. The teacher, apparently well liked by her students had been beaten, raped and...

• Book Review: Fall With Honor

  

  The saga of The Vampire Earth continue in book seven of the series, set in the year 2075 as it follows the trials of David Valentine, an officer in the Southern Command. Most of his life has been a struggle against the Kurian, an alien invader that took control of the earth...

• Book Review: 500 Pendants & Lockets

  

  From prehistory humans have used pendants as a form of personal expression, a practice that not only continues but flourishes as evidenced by this collection juried by the cofounders of San Francisco’s renowned Velvet da Vinci jewelry gallery. Exquisite color photography reveals...

• Book Review: Lord of Bones

  

  Jess, once a talented young painter striving for recognition began turning into something else entirely when her prophetic dreams led her to a war-angel trapped within Ramsey, a teenaged boy. Now Jess is a demon slayer about to begin her specially designed Trials...

• Book Review: My Name is Will

  

  Willie Shakespeare is a would-be writer struggling to sell the concept of his thesis project, demonstrating that William Shakespeare was a closet Catholic, to Dashka Demitra, his sexy thesis adviser. Fortunately, Dashka shares his taste for an assortment of street drugs so he succeeds...

• Book Review: Living Long and Loving It

  

  Dr. Korr, a long-time advocate for choosing an active lifestyle over succumbing to the lure of the couch and remote control, left copious notes in readiness for his last book before his death at the age of ninety-four. Coauthor Dr. McGovern made extensive use of these notes to...

• Book Review: Pretty Monsters

  

  Award winning author Kelly Link’s third collection of short stories due for release in October, will be her first major hardcover book. Although marketed for young adults, these twisted fantasy and spook tales will appeal to readers of all ages...

• Book Review: I'm With Stupid

  

  Kas has just found herself unceremoniously dumped by her two-timing boyfriend Richard, who apparently didn’t think it was important to mention he had a fiancée. As tempting as it is to lie around her New York apartment feeling sorry for herself...

Tuesday 01 July 2008

• Book Review: Rabbit Moon

  

  After long years of studying old manuscripts and numerous field trips, a doctor in China discovers the secret of human longevity. Realizing the potential for its misuse, Dr. Cheng buries the knowledge as...

• Book Review: Boy A

  

  This thoughtful, smoothly written story unfolds by alternating between present day and childhood events that led up to a heinous crime perpetrated by two alienated youth. Once known only by his court designation, Child A...

• Book Review: I Shall Not Want

  Drugs and illegal aliens combine for an absorbing tale in Spencer-Flemings sixth Clare Fergusson mystery set in the small town of Millers Kill, New York For those new to the series, Clare is an Episcopal priest and...

• Book Review: 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God

  

  As a journalist and travel writer, Harrison has traveled extensively and throughout his travels posed the same question “Why do you believe in your God or Gods”. He discovered that despite the many different religious beliefs, there was...

• Book Review: Deja Demon

  

  Kate Connor is one busy soccer mom, when she’s not busy being a wife and mom with a teenage daughter and a toddler son, she is also San Diablo’s resident demon hunter. Ever since her daughter caught her hunting one night, Kate has...

Tuesday 24 June 2008

• Book Review: The Monster of Florence

  

  In a classic case of truth being even stranger than fiction, Preston, author and co-author of a number of books including Relic and The Wheel of Darkness teamed up with Italian journalist Mario Spezi in an attempt to shed light on the killer known as the Monster of Florence...

• Book Review: When You Are Engulfed in Flames

  

  This intriguing collection of observations is rather like eavesdropping on someone’s inner dialog, it is at once fascinating and hilarious. Sedaris skips through childhood memories replete with the babysitter from hell...

• Book Review: Rebel Giants

  

  Several biographies about Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin have been written but this is the first time the lives of these two great men have been examined side by side. Both men were rebels as they turned...

• Book Review: Undead and Unworthy

  

  Book seven of the Undead series finds Betsy growing into her role as the reigning vampire Queen as she assumes some responsibility for the Fiends. Garrett was once a Fiend but thanks to Betsy’s blood, had sufficiently recovered enough to...

• Book Review: Basic Crochet Stitches

  

  Crochet is an ancient textile technique that requires only a hook, a ball of yarn and knowledge of four basic stitches. It is the combinations and variations of those four stitches that provide nearly endless pattern possibilities and that is where the venerable Harmony Guide comes in...

• Book Review: The First 30 Days

  

  Ever wonder why some folks seem able to take change, no matter how drastic, in stride while others respond with depression, anger or outright denial? Bonvoisin did and discovered that accepting change...

• Book Review: Future Americas

  

  Contemplating the future is a time honored sci-fi tradition and it is in this spirit that seventeen authors peer into the looking glass at what America might become. Brendan DuBois tells of a time when nickels could become...

Monday 23 June 2008

• Book Review: The Tiniest Tiger

  

  Charmingly simplistic watercolors illustrate this children’s book that seeks to enlighten young minds about the plight of the world’s endangered big cats as they follow the story of lost kitten searching for...

Tuesday 17 June 2008

• Book Review: Twilight Fall

  

  In book six of the Darkyn Series the crippled Darkyn Lord, Valentin Jaus finds himself drawn to Liling Harper the quiet, gentle gardener of Lighthouse, a rehabilitation hospital he owns. Liling knows Jaus is seriously out of her league but that doesn’t...

• Book Review: Kushiel's Mercy

  

  The third book of Imriel’s engrossing epic delivers some surprises as Kushiel’s scion struggles with the legacy of his traitorous mother and forbidden love for Princess Sidonie, heir to the Terre D’Ange throne. Sidonie’s mother, the reigning...

• Book Review: Crochet Stitch Motifs

  

  Harmony Guides have long been the stitch reference to reach for when searching for clarification or tracking down just the right textured knit or crochet stitch and happily, these are worthy additions to the family. Crisp color photography...

• Book Review: Valor's Trial

  

  Competent, tough and battle seasoned, Confederation Marine Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr has weathered more than her fair share of altercations. After the supposedly routine training mission on Crucible went terribly wrong, she needed...

• Book Review: The Caveman's Pregnancy Companion

  A wealth of material needed for the average guy to survive the trials of pregnancy is presented in one of the funniest guides you are likely to find. Cleverly disguised amidst all the humor is the latest...

• Book Review: Caveman's Guide to Baby's First Year

  

  This follow-up to The Caveman’s Pregnancy Companion, written by the same knowledgeable authors, is packed cover to cover with amusing illustrations, captivating humor and the latest information to assist the densest unibrow...

• Book Review: The Prefect

  

  Tight police work, subterfuge and a constant tension level combine for one fine space opera in Reynold’s latest Revelation Space series. In the aftermath of a brutal attack on the Ruskin-Sartorious Bubble that left nearly a thousand occupants dead...

• Book Review: Shining Moments

  In our youth obsessed society the myriad of issues that arise with death are all too frequently pushed aside or buried outright in a monumental act of denial. After learning of her father’s terminal cancer, Weithe was forced to...

Saturday 14 June 2008

• Featured Book Review: Inside Out Girl by Tish Cohen

  

  A few years ago, as a book store employee, I decided to have a look at the contents of a magazine called “The People’s Friend” which was popular with the old biddies who came in regularly to pick up their reserved copy.

Tuesday 10 June 2008

• Book Review: Dangerous Days of Daniel X

  

  At the tender age of three, Daniel watched the horrendous murder of his parents at the hands of an alien outlaw known as The Prayer. It was a fierce introduction to a life spent ever on the move, trying to blend in with humanity while dispatching...

• Book Review: Made in the U.S.A.

  A heart-stoppingly tragic yet ultimately uplifting tale of two children left to cope on their own after the sudden death of Floy Satterfield, their father’s ex-girlfriend. Fifteen-year-old Lutie McFee and her eleven-year-old brother Fate leave Spearfish, South Dakota in...

• Book Review: Zaida Ben-Yusuf

  

  At the turn of the twentieth century, women frequently encountered institutional, economic and personal obstacles as they pursued a career beyond that of wife and mother. Photographers of the era were struggling to have their work recognized as...

• Book Review: Deamons Are Forever

  

  After the destruction of The Heart, a sinister creature that gave the Drood family their power at a terrible cost, field agent Eddie Drood is now the family pariah as well as its new leader. Naturally, their enemies around the globe are looking to...

• Book Review: Top Secret

  

  Anyone seeking a balanced examination of the latest spiritual trends will certainly want to check out Price’s latest work as he weighs in on the pitfalls, shortcomings and strengths of today’s most popular mystic authors...

• Book Review: NASA: The Complete Illustrated History

  

  Packed cover to cover with color and black and white photography and forwarded by Buzz Aldrin, this is a comprehensive visual celebration of NASA’s 50th anniversary. From its roots in the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics with...

Wednesday 04 June 2008

• Book Review: Lover Enshrined

  

  The war between the honorable Black Dagger Brotherhood, sworn to protect the vampire race and their enemies, the Slayers better known as lessers escalates in book six of the series. Zsadist’s twin brother Phury has taken on the mantle of Primale of the Chosen, as such, it is his responsibility to...

• Book Review: Lamplighter

  

  Book two of the Monster of Blood Tattoo series picks up shortly after the Foundling with young Rossamund well into his prenticeship to be a lamplighter. The boredom and repetition leave him questioning his decision to enter into the training program. As a lantern-stick, Rossamund was out on a routine...

• Book Review: Jane Goodall: A Biography

  

  From early childhood Jane Goodall was fascinated by the natural world, a keen observer determined to figure out such mysteries as how chickens lay eggs, she spent countless hours with Rusty, a neighbor dog who showed her that animals have personalities and...

• Book Review: Spectre

  Private investigator Zoë Martinique was introduced to readers in Wraith, the first book of this urban noir series that saw her meet and receive a troubling mark from another walker. That adventure left Zoë without her voice, which makes it difficult to...

• Book Review: Distracted

  Between the iPod, Blackberry, iPhone, PDA along with a host of other wireless technological wonders, it is difficult to drive down the highway or walk a busy city street and spot someone who isn’t plugged in. With the growing stable of devices chiming for our attention it is hardly surprising...

• Book Review: Out of the Wild

  

  What if the land of fairy tales, also known as the Wild was real, alive and currently residing under your bed? Welcome to twelve-year-old Julie Marchen’s world where not only are fairy tales real but if you are very unlucky...

• Book Review: German Design for Modern Living

  

  Spare clean lines, effective color usage and function are hallmarks of German interior design elements as evidenced by this comprehensive design guide. A chronology of more then 170 classic designs begins with Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s park...

Monday 26 May 2008

• Featured Book Review: Mad, Bad and Sad: Women and the Mind Doctors by Lisa Appignanesi

  

  The catchy title of Mad, Bad, and Sad: Women and the Mind Doctors says it all. With actual text finishing just under 500 pages and an extensive list of source notes, Appignanesi has provided readers quite the thorough read. From the history of psychiatry and early mental health institutions, to both the artistic and non-artistic woman, she discusses many cases of individuals who, either due to their madness, badness, or sadness, have been a little emotionally off course - causing them to sometimes commit crimes, or just perpetuate their own cycle of madness, badness and sadness with more self-loathing and/or self-inflicted injury, emotional or otherwise.

Sunday 25 May 2008

• Book Review: Blood Noir

  

  Book sixteen of the Anita Blake series focuses on Jason, a werewolf stripper who works for Jean-Claude, the Master Vampire of St. Louis as he faces difficult family and childhood issues. Jason’s father, Frank is dying and his mother has asked him to come home to say goodbye. Returning home threatens to...

• Book Review: The World is Your Litter Box

  

  Anyone who has ever been owned by a cat will find their worst suspicions confirmed by this feline guide to manipulating their humans. Laugh-out-loud funny, this kitty manual was obviously written by a long-suffering...

• Book Review: Child 44

  

  The introduction is set in the 1933 Ukrainian village of Chervoy during a time of horrible famine that finds residents trapping and eating rodents, cooking their leather boots and picking through horse manure in search of a few pieces of grain. In such times...

• Book Review: Double Stitch: Designs for the Crochet Fashionista

  This is not your Grandmother’s crochet and in this case, that’s a good thing. Filled with 23 contemporary ideas from twin designers Erika and Monika, these fashions will freshen a stale wardrobe and likely change how you think about crochet garments...

• Book Review: Key to Conspiracy

  After Gryphon blasted into the paranormal/urban noir genre with Key to Conflict, readers could be excused for expecting good things from her second in the series. Sadly, they may well be disappointed. The story opens as Gillian leads...

Friday 23 May 2008

• Featured Book Review: A Painted Field by Robin Robertson

  

  A Painted Field, a collection of shorter lyrics and longer sequences, is Scottish writer / editor Robin Robertson's first book of poetry.

Monday 19 May 2008

• Featured Book Review: The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris

  

  Every human on the planet should at one time take a look at the human species from a detached point of view: consider them from the mind of some alien species and then question if you think we’re a bit odd, predictable, or whatever descriptive word you want to use. Desmond Morris’ 1967 classic The Naked Ape does just that. No, he is not pretending to be some alien species, but he is analyzing the human as an animal, from the view of a zoologist, rather than the more common means of a psychologist or sociologist.

Sunday 18 May 2008

• Book Review: The Host

  

  Humanity as we know it stands at the threshold, a parasitic alien species known as Souls have subjugated all but a few individuals as hosts. Once the Souls are inserted into the human body, they completely take over the mind, personality and...

• Book Review: The Shadow Isle

  

  Book Three of The Silver Wyrm series will not disappoint fans of this intricate, vividly imagined fantasy tale that spans generations as intertwined destinies play out on a grand scale. Inhabitants of the strange dweomer island of...

• Book Review: Big Eye Art

  

  First popularized in the 1950’s and ‘60’s by Margaret Keane’s waifs and Gig’s “pity kitties”, big-eye art has enjoyed a recent resurgence thanks in part to the emergence of a new generation of artists inspired by...

• Book Review: Sail

  

  Heart specialist Katherine Dunne knows her career has been hard on her three kids, a situation compounded by the death of Stuart, their father four years ago. Now happily remarried to hotshot lawyer Peter Carlyle, Katherine is determined to...

• Book Review: Chloe Anne: Force of Nature

  

  Curvaceous, adventurous and endearing, Chloe Anne is a longhaired, green-eyed feline with a delightful perspective on life. From her life-changing incarceration at the Humane Society where...

• Book Review: A Hollywood Ending

  

  Stressed by working with a sadistic leading man and facing the reality of a youth obsessed Hollywood film industry, Oscar winning actress Paige Carson feels her career has reached a crisis point and it is time to make a change. Against the advice of her agent...

• Book Review: Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict

  Self-confessed Jane Austen fan, Courtney Stone was nursing a broken heart after catching her fiancé making out with another woman and just as bad, her best friend Wes was covering up for him when her world suddenly spun out of sync...

Friday 16 May 2008

• The Liar's Review of James Frey's Bright Shiny Morning by Jason Sanford

  

  Only after selling millions of copies and being selected by Oprah Winfrey's book club was the memoir discovered to be a piece of crapola deposited by a lying sack of the same.
  
  
  

• Featured Book Review: Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse, edited by John Joseph Adams

  

  Literary reviewers don't normally like being the last person on earth to review a book. After all, in the throw-down, bone-breaking world of professional literary criticism, everyone wants to be the first to signal a book's greatness--or, likewise, to trumpet a book's sins to the multitudes. This enables said critics, upon being asked if they've heard of a new book, to sniff dramatically and say, "Heard of it? I'll have you know I panned that book months ago." 

Monday 12 May 2008

• Featured Book Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

  

  It is always frustrating to begin a book that has some potential but ultimately just doesn’t deliver. Such is the case with Mark Haddon’s debut novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It is not so much that this is a bad book, just one that could have been so much better than what it was. Allow me to explain.

• Book Review: The Water Garden

  

  Superb photography coupled with Geddes-Brown’s knowledgeable writing make for a dynamite combination in this visually stunning tour of some of the world’s most beautiful gardens. Distinctive water features is the unifying theme of...

• Book Review: The Indiana Jones Handbook

  Can’t get enough of the movie legend? Then dive into this delightful, partially tongue-in-cheek adventurer’s guide that councils, among other things, to be certain to pack plenty of toilet paper. Packed in with the film trivia, photos and...

• Book Review: Inspired to Knit

  

  What inspires you to knit or better yet, design a knit garment? Ever wondered where or how designers come up with their ideas? If you answered yes to any of these questions then take a close look at Orne’s new book. She includes four mini-workshops covering...

• Book Review: Armed & Magical

  

  Fans of Magic Lost, Trouble Found  will most certainly want to get their hands on Shearin’s second book of the Raine Benares series which picks up shortly after young sorceress lands on the Isle of Mid. Raine went there in order to learn how to...

Wednesday 07 May 2008

• Featured Book Review: Taken by Daphne Marlatt

  

  A difficult and brilliant novel of daring distortions, Daphne Marlatt's Taken is one of a select few true-blue modernist masterpieces.

Monday 05 May 2008

• Book Review: Willie Nelson: An Epic Life

  

  One needn’t be a fan of his music to appreciate this engrossing, meticulously researched chronicle of an American legend although Willie’s fans will certainly enjoy the insights and background behind his many...

• Book Review: Everyday Cat Excuses

  

  Enter the delightfully demented world of cat lover and cartoonist Molly Brandenburg as she explores the many reasons cats can’t be bothered to pay attention to their owners. Anyone who has ever been owned by a cat is well aware...

• Book Review: Blood Bank

  

  Fans of Tanya Huff’s popular Blood Ties series, either the books or the Lifetime channel renditions, will enjoy this collection of all the short stories based upon her three main characters. Vicki Nelson was...

• Book Review: The Whole Truth

  

  Multimillionaire Nickolas Creel, head of a defense conglomerate known as the Ares Corporation, is looking to create the impression that an armed conflict is imminent in order to further his own agenda. No one is better suited to the task then...

• Book Review: The Mother Factor

  

  Stymied in your personal or professional relationships? According to clinical psychologist Poulter, chances are you are suffering fallout from the Mother Factor. Although fathers play a significant role in a child’s well-being, the author argues...

• Featured Book Review: Everyman Library by Irene Nemirovsky

  

  Generally I find it a good rule of thumb that if one is searching for book reviews regarding a literary “classic” writer or even a “rediscovered classic” writer like Irene Nemirovsky, one can pretty much forget finding any reasonable criticism. Why? Because people have it so ingrained into their heads that if a writer lived a long time ago and has maintained his or her name in print, then the public just assumes that writer is great.

Thursday 01 May 2008

• Book Review: The Seventh Tower by Garth Nix

  

  Tal lives in a Dark World where sunlight is unknown. He is fortunate to be one of the Chosen, a potential keeper of the magical sunstones. His world changes when his father fails to return after a journey during which the family sunstone has been lost.

Wednesday 30 April 2008

• Book Review: The Templar, The Queen and Her Lover: A Knights Templar Mystery by Michael Jecks

  

  Queen Isabella has been sent to France to negotiate peace with the French king. 

• Book Review: The Adversary by Michael Walters

  

  A police procedural located in the unusual setting of Mongolia.

• Featured Book Review: Dubliners by James Joyce

  

  Many years ago I got into an argument with a drunken professor over James Joyce. My contention was that no scholars had ever looked into the role that Joyce’s syphilis had in the breakdown of his narrative abilities. Most have taken for granted that all of the dashing of Joyce’s style from Dubliners, his first published fiction, through Finnegans Wake, his last, was by choice.

Tuesday 29 April 2008

• Book Review: Panda by Heather Angel

  

  A wonderful, charming book guaranteed to capture the hearts of children, adults, wildlife lovers alike.

• Book Review: The Chicago Way by Michael Harvey

  

  An American Private Eye mystery in the traditional style. Michael Kelly is an ex cop who is asked to investigate a brutal rape attack which took place eight years earlier.

Monday 28 April 2008

• Featured Book Review: The Selected Gwendolyn MacEwen (edited by Meaghan Strimas)

  

  The publication of The Selected Gwendolyn MacEwen, compiled and collated by poet Meaghan Strimas, represents a signal event in North America's cultural efflorescence. Not only does it provide readers hungering for a resplendent feast with both sumptuous samplings as well as generous helpings of entries across the swath of genres with which the haunted wordsmith wrestled throughout her too-brief life, it also cements her reputation as the greatest poet of her generation. As such, this gorgeously produced objet d'art towers above the field while barely containing its contents under pressure.

• Book Review: Frida Kahlo: The Still Lifes

  

  Mexican painter Frida Kahlo’s vivid still lifes are the focus of this fascinating, in-depth look at an unusual, talented and tormented artist who lived from 1904-1954 and whose work remains hugely popular...

• Book Review: A Kiss Before the Apocalypse

  The first clue something was seriously amiss in the world came with a routine surveillance job to check on a husband’s fidelity. It turned ugly when the man in question shot his secretary in...

• Book Review: A Little Stranger

  

  Fran and Nick have been happily married for over twelve years, they weren’t rich by any means but were getting along just fine. Nick managed a trendy London restaurant and Fran enjoyed her job selling trendy...

• Book Review: Charles Fort: The Man Who Invented the Supernatural

  

  Fans of supernatural phenomenon owe a debt of gratitude to Charles Fort, a fascinating writer, also known as “the mad genius of the Bronx” who lived from 1874-1932. As this biography reveals, Charles endured a harsh upbringing with a strict disciplinarian father who...

• Book Review: The Gatherer

  

  The bizarre circumstances linking two murders sends Boston detective Mike Sams on a collision course with a demonic foe and unexpected love in Bayne’s first paranormal thriller. An archeological dig in Tivoli, Italy not far from the Vatican reveals...

• Book Review: God: The Failed Hypothesis

  Philosophy, physics and astronomy professor Victor Stenger takes the existence of God at face value by subjecting beliefs in His existence to the same set of scientific principles and arguments that are used to test any theory. Opening with a compelling...

Friday 25 April 2008

• Featured Book Review: Tin Lizard Tales: Reflections From A Train by Schuyler T. Wallace

  

  Upon reading this book, there are several ways in which it could be classified. On one hand, it is definitely travel writing, and yet it is also a compiled memoir broken down into separate essays—which discuss not only Wallace’s actual month long trip but a history of all the places he and his wife visited, the food that they ate, the people they encountered. So in other words, it is a little bit of everything.

Wednesday 23 April 2008

• Featured Book Review: Purdytion (Rooms for Rent in the Outer Planets) by Al Purdy

  

  For reasons I choose to cherish, Al Purdy and The PH Factor (a.k.a. The Goal) shine luminously in my mind, intermeshed miracles meant to last forever.

  It's 1972, first year of university, and it's hockey, hockey, glorious Canada-Russia hockey with Henderson's delirious goal one of the gaddawfullest greatest climaxes in the sport's history. (Yep, it was good for me, too <*BSEG*>.)

Tuesday 22 April 2008

• Book Review: We Will Be Heard

  

  From early strikes for better working conditions and unionization to the current erosion of civil liberties in the name of homeland security, the federal government continues its long history of intimidation and incarceration, ignoring...

• Book Review: Nebula Awards Showcase 2008

  

  Once again the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America have selected the best of the best short stories, poems, novellas and scripts for their Nebula Awards Showcase featuring the 2006 award winners. These are the sorts of creative, visionary stories that..

• Book Review: The Voice

  

  Music storeowner Charlie Madison’s quiet life is thrown into turmoil when his niece, with several men in hot pursuit, runs into his shop. Following her parents instructions, thirteen-year-old Jazmin Lutzer ran to...

• Book Review: Fat-It's Not What You Think

  

  Just when you figured you had a handle on cholesterol numbers and were sticking to a low-fat diet, along comes a book like this with a completely different take on the issue. After combing through piles of research...

• Book Review: The Triumph of Deborah

  

  Expanding upon historical accounts of the ancient conflict between the Israelites and Canaanites, Etzioni-Halevy has created a vivid, richly textured tale of feminine courage. In going against...

• Book Review: Lady and the Vamp

  

  In a cruel twist of fate, former vampire hunter Michael Quinn became the very thing he was carefully raised to hate. When Michael receives an old letter spelling out the location of The Eye, a long lost...

Wednesday 16 April 2008

• Featured Book Review: Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

  

  Why ruin a Vonnegut review with a plot summary? Could I possibly? For those who are wondering, Vonnegut is definitely an acquired taste. [“The use of the identical expression as the title for this book is not intended to indicate an association with or sponsorship by General Mills, nor is it intended to disparage their fine products”]. A taste that happens to soothe my buds just fine. Ok, I am being cheeky. Breakfast of Champions tells the story of sci-fi writer Kilgore Trout (many who have called this character Vonnegut’s “alter ego”) and Dwayne Hoover the auto dealer.

Monday 14 April 2008

• Book Review: Before They Are Hanged

  Dark, twisted and full of subplots, second of the First Law trilogy is a surprisingly strong follow-up to The Blade Itself. Where many of the characters in the first book seemed stiff and contrived, here they become dynamic...

• Book Review: Dragons Wild

  

  Fresh out of Michigan University, business degree in hand, Griffen McCandles is facing a life crisis as he realizes he is without a job and has no idea what to do with himself. Figuring to land a cushy job with his uncle...

• Book Review: Dirty Money

  

  The story picks up shortly after the armored car robbery in Nobody Runs Forever that saw Parker and his duo of criminals stashing their haul of 2.2 million dollars to elude capture. What they failed to realize...

• Book Review-The Raven

  

  Lawson continues his saga begun in Witch Ember by focusing on Sir Guiromélans, a Medianist Knight and a Raven of the Seven Kingdoms. The defeat he suffered at the hands of a witch has left him shaken...

Friday 11 April 2008

• Featured Book Review: Lorca: A Dream of Life by Leslie Stainton

  

  On 19 August 1936, at the age of 38, internationally revered poet, musician, dramatist, and all-round artistic renaissance man Federico García Lorca was assassinated before sunrise in Granada by anti-republican rebels (mostly falangists and fascists) during the Spanish Civil War.

Monday 07 April 2008

• Featured Book Review: Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth

  

  This is an odd book. Yet, highly entertaining is it as long as excessive sexual details don’t deter you. Honestly, this book was better than I thought it would be—it’s quite funny actually, and I found myself laughing out loud. Here’s the thing: I had read Philip Roth in the past, two novellas of his, and found them to be rather humorless and silly. Portnoy’s Complaint, however, is rather silly and full of humor. So that’s not so bad.

• Book Review: Infected

  

  Renowned podcasting author, Scott Sigler blasts into the hardcover book market with this riveting combination of cutting edge medical sleuthing, covert government agencies and a nasty infectious agent that makes dengue fever look like a walk through the park...

• Book Review: A World Too Near

  

  Book Two of The Entire and the Rose series focuses on the multilayered duel between pilot Titus Quinn as he struggles to save the earth’s universe by destroying the Ahnenhoon engine and Helice Maki, an ambitious scientist with...

• Book Review: The Alchemist's Code

  Duncan revisits his historical fantasy world introduced in The Alchemist’s Apprentice with another fast-paced romp through 16th century Venice as narrated by Maestro Nostradamus’s quick witted apprentice, Alfeo Zeno. After using his crystal ball to...

• Book Review: Jewelry Studio: Wire Wrapping

  

  With the aid of detailed, close-up photography, the authors have done an excellent job of demystifying the art of creating wire jewelry. From the essential tools of the trade to exactly how to hold a set of pliers to lessen...

• Book Review: The Secret Bride

  

  Since early childhood, King Henry VIII’s little sister Princess Mary Tudor has known it was her duty to king and country to cement alliances through an arranged marriage. First Mary’s father King Henry VII arranged a betrothal to...

• Book Review: Hollywood Crows

  

  Nate Weiss an officer with the LAPD’s Community Relations Office, dreams of making it big as an actor one day thus earning him the name, Hollywood Nate. As one of the Crows, Nate doesn’t ordinarily deal with simple...

• Book Review: Bead Romantique

  

  When approached to write this book, Lisa Kan wanted to impart a sense of femininity and romance, creating elegant yet wearable beadwork that paid tribute to historical jewelry designs. One can only say that Kan met her goal with this collection of seventeen projects...

Friday 04 April 2008

• Featured Book Review: The Bay of Love and Sorrows by David Adams Richards

  

  Imagine a flimsy dinghy tossed upon a Stygian river of rough love, cheap sex, and violent death in some New-Brunswick back-of-beyond and you begin to appreciate the cruel and carnal currents David Adams Richards navigates in The Bay of Love and Sorrows.

Tuesday 01 April 2008

• Featured Book Review Of Charlie LeDuff’s US Guys: The True And Twisted Mind Of The American Man

  

    If there is one thing more depressing than bad writers, it is bad critics, who are clueless as to what constitutes bad writing.

Monday 31 March 2008

• Featured Book Review: Mr. Potter: A Novel by Jamaica Kincaid

  

  And it may be foolish to speculate whether expat Antiguan Jamaica Kincaid's novel, Mr. Potter, might have worked better as a novella or longish short story; but there it is.

Sunday 30 March 2008

• Book Review: Fried! Fast Food, Slow Deaths

  

  Indulge your taste for the demented with this darkly delightful, no-cal romp through the fast food underbelly as told through 23 inventive short stories that puts a fresh spin on dining out. Bret Jordan serves up a unique entrée in “Veggie Burger” that features...

• Book Review: Magic Burns

  

  Mercenary Guild member Kate Daniels has her hands full, Curran’s ex-girlfriend wants her to ask the lord of the beasts permission to marry Kate’s former possible love interest, the Pack wants her to locate a cachet of missing maps and a strange bowman with the ability to teleport keeps popping in, grabbing her butt and...

• Book Review: Fifteen Minutes of Shame

  

  Relationship guru Lisa Daily follows the old rule “write what you know” in her debut novel featuring romance expert Darby Vaughn. Happily married three years to her publicist husband Will, Darby’s career was taking off with...

• Book Review: Shibori Knitted Felt

  

  Shibori is an ancient Japanese technique of adding resists to fabric before dyeing, typically by mechanical means such as binding with running stitches. Alison Crowther-Smith has applied this definition to felting with charming results as she...

• Book Review: Start Spinning

  

  Packed with excellent detailed photos and clear written instruction, this is the sort of instruction book I wish was available when I struggled to teach myself how to spin. Beginning with an overview of...

• Book Review: The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully

  

  Chittister, a Benedictine sister brings her wisdom and considerable insight to a topic that typically strikes fear in the hearts of youth obsessed Baby Boomers; growing old. Instead of viewing advancing years with...

• Book Review: Misspelled

  

  This collection of 17 short stores explores what can happen when magic spells go awry, creating some rather unusual situations for the would-be spell casters...

• Book Review: The Blue Star

  

  Readers were first introduced to ten-year-old Jim Glass in Earley’s first novel, Jim the Boy. Jim is now a high school senior at a crossroads in time, its 1941 and the world is poised to begin WWII. During this uncertain time...

• Book Review: Rolling Thunder

  

  Varley resumes his space opera tale of the Garcia-Strickland clan with the adventures of Lieutenant Patricia Kelly Elizabeth Podkayne Strickland-Garcia-Redmond, Podkayne for short. As a third generation Martian...

Friday 28 March 2008

• Featured Book Review: Christopher Marlowe: A Renaissance Life by Constance Brown Kuriyama

  

  Constance Brown Kuriyama's Christopher Marlowe:  A Renaissance Life may well become the definitive portrait of the quintessential Elizabethan "bad boy," despite the fact at least a dozen respectable Marlovian studies already exist.

Wednesday 26 March 2008

• Book Review: Dancing with Demons by Peter Tremayne

  

  Brilliant  - there is no other word to describe this history mystery.

• Book Review: Genie Us by Steve Cole and Linda Chapman

  What would you wish for if you were suddenly offered the opportunity to make your dreams come true?

Tuesday 25 March 2008

• Book Review: The Summoning by E.E. Richardson

  Justin has always been curious about his grandfather's fascination for magic even though he thinks it is a bit of a joke.

• Book Review: Bansi O'Hara and the Bloodline Prophecy by John Dougherty

  

  A good choice for an amusing story to read at  children's bedtime.

Monday 24 March 2008

• Book Review: The Bromeliad by Terry Pratchett

  

  Thousands of tiny nomes live under the floorboards of a department store.

• Book Review: A Small Part of History by Peggy Elliott

  It is 1845 and the Oregon Trail has been opened up.

• Featured Book Review: Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle

  

  In December 1994, French essayist, filmmaker, and counter-celebrity nonpareil Guy Debord helped himself out of this world with a bullet. It was a direct hit proving, if nothing else, that death's one hell of a great career move.

Saturday 22 March 2008

• Book Review: Clean Cut By Lynda La Plante

  DCI Anna Travis's relationship with colleague DCI James Langton is in trouble - and it is made worse when he is almost fatally injured.

Friday 21 March 2008

• Book Review: Soldier of Fortune By Edward Marston

  

  Historical adventure with a Sharpe like hero. Captain Daniel Rawson is a spy, ladies man and soldier. 

• Book Review: The Art Thief by Noah Charney

  

  Three masterpieces go missing resulting in three investigations in three countries.  Slowly the three begin to mesh.

• Featured Book Review: Fidel Castro: A Spoken Autobiography

  

  There are many different ways one could approach when reviewing this book. On one hand, it’s an excellent source when thinking of Fidel Castro. Not so much because of historical and objective accuracy, but one of Castro’s character. On the other hand, could one claim this a pleasant read? Unless you are just a die-hard Fidel fanatic, I think most readers would find this boring.

   

Thursday 20 March 2008

• Book Review: Dark Horse by John Francome

  When Mark Presley's wife dies in a hit and run accident, it seems that the wheel has come full circle for Mark has a guilty secret.

• Book Review: Special Operations: Dogfight by Craig Simpson

  

  Norway has just been taken over by the Germans. The Resistance is active and two teenage boys are keen to get involved.

• Featured Book Review: Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon

  If it takes all kinds to make a world, then American Thomas Pynchon has indeed created several magnificently realised fictional faites accomplis comprising all such sorts and sundry kinds (from Vineland, V, and The Crying of Lot 49 to the novel generally considered his masterpiece, Gravity's Rainbow).
  

Wednesday 19 March 2008

• Book Review: The Templar by Paul Doherty

  

  The setting is 1097 and Pope Urban II has called for a crusade against the Infidel occupying the Holy Land.