The Naked Cookbook-Tess Ward

This is a stunning cookbook which advocates not just good recipes, but a way of life and a sustained way of eating.

An absolute plethora of recipes await you, from the basics of infused oils, sauces, broths and stocks, to breads, mains, desserts and even cocktails. And not a processed ingredient in sight! Each recipe has easy to follow instructions with a clear set of ingredients and beautiful glossy colour photos to accompany them. The beet and cherry smoothie and the almond and pine nut oat bars are definitely on my to-be-made list! I liked the section that gave you an idea of what to keep in your pantry in order to make the delicious recipes. An insightful forward allows you to understand where and why the author had this inspiration, and to me the book has a great natural progression and is well thought out and superbly presented.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to review the book.

Takers by Ann Swann

This is a sci-fi/fantasy novel (and the first in a series), and due to the violence probably best suited for adults.

Jack is a young teen helping to set up the hall for a school dance. Coincidentally Jack's crush is there too. When he is sent to the basement to fetch the last of the decorations, he doesn't realise that this act will save his life. An alarming broadcast by a TV scientist on a laptop left by a friend in the basement, tells of Purgatory existing in the world next to Jack's and threatening to push through. As the broadcast is about to end a deafening crack brings the planet to its knees as rips appear in the sky and beings rush through. Jack hurries back upstairs to find that he is the only one that has survived. These beings that have words pulsating under their skins are busy feeding off any living human; as though trying to suck the souls out of them. Jack has landed up in a nightmare that is now his reality. He needs to find other survivors and somehow get rid of these "takers". And can someone please explain the musical lyrics constantly pumping through his head?

This was definitely a different take on the apocalyptic aspect. To imagine the takers fleeing from Purgatory to eat souls and finding that something else follows them from Purgatory to kill them was a very interesting idea. For a youngster Jack is very mature and able to cope with so much. The religious angle and the clever correlation with the music was interspersed in a thoughtful way. I liked the twist that wasn't a twist and the violence, though graphic, had my imagination working overtime. One or two tiny editing mistakes but nothing troubling. Great novel, well written and a good beginning to a series.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to review the book. 

Some Degree of Murder by Frank Zafiro and Colin Conway

This is a detective thriller suitable for adults due to graphic violence and an adult theme.

Detective John Tower is called in to investigate another murder. Another young lady seemingly involved in the seedier side of life. The similarities of the murders seem to indicate a serial killer, but John doesn't want to jump the gun too quickly. Virgil Kelley is muscle for hire and has no problem dealing with issues in a very violent way. He has been asked to track down the killer of the first murdered girl. Things are personal however, as the girl was his daughter. John and Virgil, in trying to find the killer, become aware of each other, and now it becomes a race to find the killer first. One will leave him alive and the other won't. In a race of vengeance, do the rules really matter?

I really enjoyed this book. Each chapter is written either from John or Virgil's POV and it allows you to get deep into their mindset. The climactic ending has the chapters becoming shorter and the POV swopping so quickly it's an adrenalin rush keeping up between the two. The decision John has to make is an interesting moral dilemma; can the justice system be trusted to get the punishment right or will a nudge help? Intense scenes interspersed with caring found in unexpected places. Great characters, full of intensity written with a compelling style. Highly recommended.

The Eighth Day by Joseph John

This is a technological sci-fi thriller suitable for young adults and up.

A stranger approaches Shawn Jaffe and tells him that he is not who he thinks he is and that nothing about his life is true. Just after making this statement the stranger is killed. A detective named Sam Harrington is called in to work the case. Sam is considered old-school, he works with pen and paper and without so many of the gadgets that control life. When Sam starts looking closely into the murder he almost meets with an "unfortunate accident" but is saved by Shawn's superhuman strength and speed. Where did that come from? As more clues are unearthed, the more things don't add up. Has technology finally crossed the moral line?

I found this book a cross between Total Recall and the idea behind Universal Soldier. It was very well written with great editing. As Shawn (or is it Shawn?) starts having visions and memories that are his and yet not, you can see them in your head as he describes them; the imagery is very vivid. The sci-fi aspect is very interesting as technology can be taken too far in the name of world peace. A good quick read (and by that I mean you don't put it down until the end) that keeps the momentum up all the way through. Thoroughly entertaining and highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to review the book.

Tick by Allison Rose

This is a sci-fi fantasy novel set in a dystopian future, suitable for young adults and up.

The world is highly regulated and people are constantly being scanned for any brain anomalies. The fear is that any anomaly could be a precursor of a terrorist, so surgery is performed immediately to rid the person of the abnormality. However a major side effect of the surgery is that it robs the person of their creativity and unique spirit. This is why Jo, an avid painter, is constantly on the lookout for drones and authority in general. Jo comes from a family with proven mental illness and has been having visions since she was small. Violent visions of her harming others. This tick is so serious that she often battles to distinguish the vision from reality. When anarchists hack into the mainframe of the controlling company, life gets turned on its head and Jo's visions threaten the lives of everyone around her. Who can stop the chaos?

I really enjoyed this book. Jo is a strong character and yet very flawed. I liked the way that a lot of things are not tied up neatly and that chaos does sometimes win. The violence in the visions and the jail was just crazy enough to be believable. It was a very interesting take on a possible future; where people are so ruled by fear that they would give up individual personalities and live like robots. Jo is the hero and the anti-hero. Even with her flaws her desire to help those she cares about is monumental. The editing and formatting were great so no headaches there. Great character and world building and an adrenalin Mad Max: Fury ending. I can't wait for the next one in the series.