REVIEW: The Sleeping and the Dead by Ann Cleeves

The Sleeping and the Dead by Ann Cleeves

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction

Read: 29th April 2016

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★★★ 3 stars

A standalone book, this is a little different to the Shetland and Vera series. Whilst remaking in the third person throughout, it does change perspective from the main characters. It starts off from the perspective of Peter Porteous and his Sgt. But then it switches to that of another central character Hannah so we don't see the story from behind the police scenes. That's ok I can deal with that...but as a result, the ending is seen from Hannah in one chapter, her daughter in the next, back to Hannah, then it results in the murders being solved and we missed the police procedural part of the story because we were given Hannah's instead. Despite this, it was a good book, but I was disappointed with the rush to ending where we missed seeing it come together. Maybe I'm used to seeing the puzzles fall into place to make the big picture that it clouds my judgment slightly...but it still is a good book. Great read, with a story that really gets you in.

REVIEW: Downton Tabby by Chris Kelly

Downton Tabby by Chris Kelly

Genre: Humour

Read: 23rd April 2016

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★★★★ 4 stars

For lovers of Downton Abbey or lovers of cats...or both! Doesn't matter which, for if you're a lover of one or the other you are bound to enjoy this delightful little read. Filled with anecdotes, tales (or is that tails?), humour and the "uninvited but necessary" witty cat quips from the Dowager Catness, Downton Tabby is a light and pleasurable read. The only drawback I found was that it was a shorter than short read - my Kindle app out it as 45 minute read. I would have liked to see it slightly longer and not finish so abruptly...which it did so, leaving me turning the page and thinking "is that it?" An ending to surpass all endings, it should have had. Nonetheless, I give it four stars for being such a delightful, if not short, read. The highlights being without a doubt, the Dowager Catness' uninvited but necessary quips...

REVIEW: Lambs to the Slaughter by Debi Marshall

Lambs to the Slaughter by Debi Marshall

Genre: True Crime

Read: 18th April, 2016

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★★★★★ 5 stars!

I started this book, couldn't put it down and read it in four days.
Although I've heard about these murders, reading about each victims carefree life before their horrible deaths and that of their families before and after their deaths humanises them more than them just being another statistic labelled as "the Wanda Beach murders" or "the abduction and murder in Warneet the day man landed on the moon" or "the Beaumont children". Seeing how each crime can and may be connected to Percy is interesting, whether or not he was responsible. One thing is for sure - he was a sick depraved individual who lacked the emotional connection from an early age from an absent father and a domineering mother. 

I find Percy's childhood somewhat sad. Do I feel sorry for him?For the adult Percy, no; but for the child Percy? Somewhat, yes. He very acutely displays signs of abuse somewhere in his childhood. Something so significant to rewrite his destiny in sick fantasies he craved, wrote in diaries and sought a private gratification from. Whatever lead Percy down this depraved emotionless path stemmed from somewhere subconsciously deep in his childhood that prevented him from making the transition from child to adolescent to adult. His sick and twisted fantasies were a monstrous albatross that prevented him from leaving curiosity behind and transitioning into adulthood. Instead he played on them, dwelled on them, lived and breathed them until he acted on them. In a time when mental health was not even an understood concept, the warning signs Percy very probably displayed would have either been laughed off or ignored. Had he received treatment for his "urges", how many crimes would have been prevented? We will never know. Derek Percy took those secrets, his secrets, to his grave on 23rd July 2013.

REVIEW: IT by Stephen King

IT by Stephen King

Genre: Thriller, Paranormal

Read: 8th Dec 2015 - 11th April 2016

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★★ 2 stars

Oh my god! Four months it took me to read this. So long and drawn out that half I ended up skipping as unnecessary subplot. It started out great, got sidetracked with a zillion subplots about each and every bloody character in Derry, got moderately interesting, sidetracked again...and again...to the point you wondered what was happening with a couple of the characters - namely Tom and Henry - because they weren't mentioned again until nearing the end, up to an ending that was really an anti climax - a bit like Bev and the boys underground in 1958. Seriously? They were 11! How is Bev whoring herself to all 6 boys in the tunnels going to get them back? Talk about way off track ridiculous. For a book that has been hailed a sensation I must say I was a little disappointed. I think the most consistently interesting of them all was Pennywise! And he was the bad guy...who ended up being a female IT!

I hope the movie is better because the book was just way too long and convoluted with unnecessary crap.