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.

REVIEW: Goodnight, Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian

Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian

Genre: Historical Fiction, Children/Young Adult

Read: 7th December 2015

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★★★★★ 5 stars!

A truly magnificent story! I'd heard my dad always talk about the movie with John Thaw as Mr Tom, and draw comparisons to life during the war and to that of an evacuee, as he himself had been. He recommended both the movie and the book to me and I always prefer to read the book first, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, staying up late into the night or early hours just to finish the "last 200 pages"! lol. It was sad in parts. The life Willie had known in London and the life he came to know with Mr Tom. Will grew to learn more about life, and death, and the strange emotions he found himself experiencing. But, I'm glad to see Sammy survived! As an animal lover, I hate stories where the dog dies...but Sammy doesn't. A truly wonderful story. Will definitely read it again someday...

REVIEW: The Magpies by Mark Edwards

The Magpies by Mark Edwards

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Read: 31st August 2015

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★★★★★ 5 stars!

I started this book around 11pm and finished it at 5am. I really hadn't intended to read through the night in one sitting - and I'll pay dearly for it tomorrow (or rather, later today) - but I really couldn't put it down. It was easy to read and didn't drivel on about useless shite but stuck with the story. It was psychological without being cerebral. It was brilliant! I loved it. Though I was saddened by the outcome of the major players, after all they'd been through together. But I still shake my head at a man's need to be a man and get bitten on the arse for his troubles. He should've gotten out while he could instead of trying to "fix things". Still I enjoyed the book and couldn't put it down. Maybe now that I have finished it, I can put my head down and sleep before I need to get up...lol

REVIEW: The Cleansing by Bill Rogers

The Cleansing by Bill Rogers

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Read: 23rd August 2015
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★★★ 3 stars

** spoiler alert **

It's hard to rate a book you've enjoyed but still found difficult to get through. The original synopsis for the book was a little misleading in saying someone dressed as a clown was killing in Manchester, or words to that effect. Yes, he was dressed as a clown - but for the first murder only. When the second one came around you would expect him to don the clown costume again and leave his mark once again. But he did not. Especially disappointing since a whole rigmarole was spent in investigations that lead to a delivery of a clown costume, making it seem a significant part of the story. But it didn't amount to anything more than that. That aside, however, my biggest problem with the book was the fact that it was far too wordy. The author went into too much description about things where I felt fewer words were needed. When they visited Soaper's apartment I had to wonder if Caton was in the market for an investment property, the way every room and its furnishings were described. It was redundant. Dialogue and character thoughts trump furnishings. I'm reading a murder mystery, not a prospectus for inner city living.

But in all having said that, I did enjoy the book. I merely skimmed over the "too wordy" areas and concentrated on what I felt was more in line with the story. I did enjoy the relationship between Caton and Kate, and was pleased that there no descriptive focus on the bedroom. Again, this is a murder mystery not a Mills and Boon, so I was pleased on that score. They had good chemistry and flirting, but it wasn't overdone. 

Three stars I think is fair, though I would lean towards three and a half, but not enough for four. There are many more books I've read and enjoyed a whole lot more worthy of a four, so three is fair.