Three Men on their Bikes by Richard Mapes

Three Men on their Bikes is a standalone novel (with previously published characters) in the general fiction genre and tells a tale of new discoveries, the test of friendship and the battle for supremacy.

Ian, George and Harry have been friends for 15 years. It’s a strange friendship and seems to be more of convenience than deep. Ian is a writer who achieved a degree of fame and is struggling to recreate the stroke of brilliance he once had. George works in an accounting department and is worried that: 1) with Ian being engaged he will bow out of the friendship and 2) that he will never find someone to spend the rest of his life with. Harry is new to the management level after previously being in sales and is struggling to adapt. He has an opinion on just about everything and everyone else’s opinions are just wrong. The three of them decide to go on a 3-day cycling holiday as a way of finding themselves. The problem is that George is the only one who has ever cycled frequently before – and that was only to and from work. So the three set off across the English countryside where they meet other cyclists; some on the same trip and some on their own journeys. Harry’s competitive side comes out when he challenges one of the other cyclists to a race. All Ian wants to do is stop at attractions and collect info for an article while George just wants to meet women. What could possibly go wrong?

The story starts out predominantly as a tale of a bicycle journey but becomes one of a journey of choices, of realisations and self-discovery. It’s as though each character has an epiphany about a decision which has been weighing them down for a while. The story itself is very simple, and I think it’s what the reader parallels in their own lives that is meant to be taken away from the reading experience.

There were a few editing mistakes but nothing too serious. I wish more could have been explained about the attractions as I feel there were definitely missed opportunities to showcase the countryside the book had to offer. Harry was an awful character and why the others stayed friends with him was beyond me. George’s character was not delved into very deeply, but with Ian being the narrator you get to share a fair few of his emotions. The story would be fine as a once off holiday read but it didn’t catch me enough to make me want to reread it. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing that really stood out for me.

Thanks though to Thistle Publishing for the opportunity to review the book.

Crater's Edge by Lucy Andrews

Crater’s Edge by Lucy Andrews is a sci-fi thriller that takes place in a futuristic world where the ever increasing birth rate has been managed in a very interesting way.

Earth is colonising other planets, and cities are being built that have a unique twist. Cities like the domed city Central where the population is divided into the Early Zone and the Unity Zone. The people in the zones share work areas and public places but sleep and eat on their own side. This means that work on the colony can continue around the clock as each team works in shifts. Every member of society thus has a Duplicate that they never meet. Work on a new area of Three-Craters is causing concern as machines are breaking down or turning on for no reason, miners are getting ill at an alarming rate, accidents are occurring regularly and construction is being delayed. Kalen Trinneer is a Senior Engineer in the Colonisation Division of the Ea-Zone and is sent to investigate the strange happenings. Kalen’s investigations start turning up some bizarre revelations, and he is reluctant to recommend that mining recommences until the incidents are resolved. Kalen’s recommendations, however, seem to be ignored as his superior back in Early (who is also his girlfriend), is urging him to drop his suspicions and sign off on the safety of construction. He starts to doubt his worries as he is afraid that his ideas have been influenced by the painkiller Narquum he has been addicted to since the cave in at Area 9 that he believed he caused.

Kalen needs to take the investigation deeper, and with the help of Sera, Jorge (the mining captain) and a number of other trusted miners he leads the investigation to levels in the construction site that very few have seen. Soon he realises that his life is on the line and that he needs to contact his Duplicate in Unity to see how much information is being falsified. Staying alive is more important than silly rules about Duplicates right? What Kalen stumbles across will make him question every decision he has ever made and every assumption he has had about his life. Is his realisation that he may have been a pawn in a bigger game too late?

The concept behind the book was an interesting one, and the idea that in the future this might have to happen to control the population’s space was thought-provoking. A lot of vivid imagery takes place which helps the reader imagine the world extremely well, especially in the encounter in the garden and the feeling of claustrophobia so deep underground. Kalen’s struggle with his decisions definitely came through, and the introduction of the God-force and its ramifications put a new spin on things. The author has sprinkled in a good dose of heroes and villains, and you can feel your blood pressure rising when a villain gets away with something. The book has a deeper meaning than at first glance, and if you read into it, you can see parallels with influences in the world right now.

The book was well edited with only a few mistakes creeping through. The writing style was pretty consistent, but lost its pace in some areas like this where repetition occurred throughout dialogue:

“When will you be able to give an opinion?” he asked, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. “After I’ve done a full analysis.” Perhaps she would have a view once she had done her analysis.

This cropped up a couple of times and the repetition of words or ideas was unnecessary. I also felt a little irritated when Kalen arrived at the area he was to investigate and before he met the geologist Sera, kept commenting on how he thought she would be big, or ugly or unsociable. He said this a number of times and it seemed a needless thing to keep thinking about. The biggest bugbear, for me, was the ending. There was a lot of action and events leading to it and as the build-up gets going, the words THE END pop up. Unless this is the start of a series, that is an extremely abrupt ending. The author would have done well to just let the reader know more is coming as I can see this being a reviewer’s negative comment.

The book will make you thankful for some of the freedoms we take for granted right now, and have you wondering what would happen if the world went that way in the future.

Celebrity Chef Zombie Apocalypse by Jack D McLean

Celebrity Chef Zombie Apocalypse is the first in a zombie series and starts us off on the tale of how zombies (both humans and animals alike) plan on taking over the world.

Robert Turner is in real danger of being fired if he can’t figure out how to get FRTV headed in the right direction again. He needs something big, and quick. Someone who has been on TV and been a celebrity. His inventive uncle claims to have created a machine that brings the dead back to life, and after witnessing the neighbour’s cat Henderson being brought back (don’t ask how he died), he is keen to try it out on Floyd Rampant, a celebrity chef who died 15 years previously. Surprise surprise – it worked! Only Floyd and Henderson are now sex-crazed, starving zombies. Floyd decides to “recruit” other celebrity chefs to the cause and soon there is a wave of zombies ready to take over the world. Dave, a former employee of one of the turned, is trying to warn the world, but no one will listen. Eventually, as the murders become more obvious and public, it falls to the Prime Minister to invoke drastic measure to save the day. But seeing as this is the first book in the series...

I actually read the second book Zomcats first, and now I see how Henderson was changed and the world infected by zombies. Makes more sense when you know more of the back story. This is a good giggle, full of dark humour, body parts and political satire. It’s a snarky twist on a good old-fashioned zombie gore fest. A quick, crazy read with only a few editing mistakes that won’t really put you off the flow of reading.    

Hair in all the Wrong places #3 by Andrew Buckley

Hair in all the Wrong Places #3 (The ‘Things that go Bump in the Night’ Squad) is the third in a series aimed at middle school children about how Colin Strauss became a werewolf and the crazy adventures he has been through since then in order to keep the town of Elkswood and its interesting inhabitants safe. It can be read as a standalone novel.

Colin and the Night Watch are after a hellcat. A nasty critter that seems to have no fear since it’s really hard to destroy. During this hunt, they come across members of the Order of Kane and rescue a girl who was kidnapped by them. All pretty routine, right? But Colin’s recurring nightmares of fire and death and Charles the Demon’s warning that “she will betray you” has him on edge. Add to this his newfound ability to speak to wolves, their latest English teacher who seems a little off, three kidnappings, and a problem with his girlfriend Becca, and you have all the elements of something crazy about to happen. Luckily Colin has backup in the form of the Night Watch team or will he have to go even deeper and use evil to fight evil?

Another brilliant book in the series! Even though the novels are aimed at middle school children, they have a maturity and cleverness about them that even adults would enjoy. The writing is seamless and comfortable to read and the layout of the parts of the story fit well together. I like the way that the characters are used between books and that you are not bombarded with new ones each time. As more and more back stories come through, you can start to see the pieces of the bigger picture come together. The author does a great job of letting you feel Colin’s emotions without being bogged down with too many feelings. There isn’t a cliffhanger as such at the end of the book, but a clever lead into the next one. Mr Buckley does tease you a bit at the end when he ALMOST tells you what Jeremy is (harrumph we have been waiting for three books now, hint hint) and then doesn’t let us in on the secret. Guess I’ll have to wait for the next book!

A very well-written book with a story that keeps you involved from start to finish. I highly recommend this.

Stone and Spark #1 in the Raleigh Harmon prequel by Sibella Giorello

Stone and Spark tells the first part of Raleigh’s story and gives you an insight as to what she experienced as a youngster which influenced her career decisions later on. The prequel series is YA based, leading to a more adult series as she joins the FBI.

Raleigh’s best friend Drew is missing. Yes, she has run away once before but this is different. For one thing, her bike is still at the school, and the lock holding it in place has been looped incorrectly and not reset to zero. Anyone who knows Drew knows this is not right. Drew is smart; super-smart, and is a stickler for statistics and things in their right places. When Drew doesn’t pitch up for her lunch meeting with Raleigh at Titus’s burger place, Raleigh knows something is wrong. But the more she tries to convince the adults around her, the more they don’t believe her. Her dad has enough on his plate, being a judge by day and her mother’s keeper the rest of the time. Drew’s mom lives in a bottle and Drew’s dad doesn’t care. Raleigh decides to play detective and is helped by her Geology teacher to look for clues beyond the obvious. To find signs where there should be none. So with just a rock hammer, a decent knowledge of the law, and a can-do attitude, Raleigh is determined to find Drew. The odds are against her – but when has that ever stopped her?

Having downloaded this as a free book and never read any of the Raleigh Harmon series, I was pleasantly surprised. While not featured a lot in the book, I loved Drew’s smarty pants character and the fact that no matter what others thought of her, that she was true to herself. Raleigh was a very interesting character. The number of times she snuck out of the house or did something she was told not to do was astounding. It served her well later, but I’m sure her dad was pushed to the limit. Her mother’s mental health issues and the effects that her medication had on her must have been very scary for Raleigh. To be constantly accused of not being her daughter, to not knowing which side of her mom was out must really have taken a toll. I liked the way that baseball played an integral part in the story, and how it weaved the burger place (with its side story) to the quarry to the character of DeMott. I would like to have known a lot more about DeMott but I guess that is brought up in other stories. Bar the Geology teacher; the staff in her school were awful – so disrespectful and condescending. About halfway through you start to figure out where the story is going, only to find out you were completely wrong. I really liked the twists and turns.

A very well-written and easy to read book with interesting characters and an exciting story. The bonus was that I learnt a heck of a lot about geology too! Definitely recommended. 

Last Breath (Sam Archer#8) by Tom Barber

Last Breath is the 8^th book in the Sam Archer series but can be read as a standalone novel. It is a fast-paced thriller that combines deceitful security agencies, riots, friendships and the desire for profit that overrides morality.

Sam Archer is an NYPD cop and has taken some time off to see his niece for her birthday. Why else would he be in a cop station having been brought in after a skirmish with a football player on a train far away from home? That is the least of the problems in the city though, three people have been killed; by a cop. And the neighbourhood gangs are having a field day by joining the protests and causing mayhem. Then Sam learns the identity of the cop. It’s someone he knows, someone he is close to. Something seems off. As Sam makes a promise not to get involved in any more action and to just enjoy the time with his family, he knows he is lying. He needs to find out exactly what is going on. As he gets deeper and deeper into the network of lies and finds layers of conspiracies, he also finds out something he never wanted to know. That purple is the last colour you see before you die...

This is definitely a fast ride with a lot going on. Yes, maybe the weaponry is not actually able to do what is claimed in the book, or some characters survive more shootings and stabbings than most, but hey – it’s fiction and it’s there as a break from reality. The plot may have stretched belief a little, but I enjoyed the way it was linked together and even when you are convinced you know who is involved a twist comes along. The writing style was easy to read, and I found myself saying just one more chapter, one more chapter. I liked that some backstory was explained without going into too much detail so that more about Sam’s character was revealed but that you weren’t left in the dark if you hadn’t read the previous books.

An action-packed thriller that gets you caught up in the mayhem and exhausted when it’s all over. Definitely recommended.    

The Game you Played by Anni Taylor

The Game you Played is a standalone psychological thriller and will keep you guessing until the end.

A two-year-old child is missing. Any parent’s nightmare. Especially if it’s your own. Phoebe took her eyes off Tommy for two seconds in the park and when she looked up he was gone. Six months down the line and the police still have no leads. Phoebe is a shadow of her former self, and her husband Luke has thrown himself into his real estate business and no longer feels connected to her. In fact, he has found himself a much more sympathetic ear. A note arrives in their mailbox that makes reference to Tommy. Is it a sick joke or does someone actually have some knowledge about Tommy? As Phoebe’s mental state spirals, she starts relying more and more on the sleeping tablets she has been prescribed. However, now she is waking up in strange places and has no idea how she got there. Plus, the bizarre dreams she is having seem to be trying to tell her something. Luckily she has the support of her close group of friends who have been with her since she was young. As her desperation brings her closer to the edge, the author of the notes is uncovered. Let the chaos commence...

I really enjoyed this thriller. It is a little confusing to try to tie in the dreams but once you see where they are headed it becomes a race to finish the book to find out what, when, where, and how. The author portrays the turmoil Phoebe is going through very powerfully and the raw emotions are sometimes hard to handle. There is a fine line between drawing the reader in just enough and overburdening them with emotion and sometimes I felt as though the author could have reined it in just a little as too much repetition tends to lose its effectiveness. But that was a small gripe. What was not said between the couple was an indication of many relationships today – each person crying out for the other but not communicating effectively enough for the other to understand. There were definitely clues sprinkled throughout the story to point you in the wrong and right direction, and while I thought the ending may have been a little OTT it was still a fantastic read.

I definitely recommend this for a good, solid thriller with some clever writing.