The Brambles by Leah Erickson

The Brambles is part supernatural, part mystery/thriller and goes beyond the boundaries of death to solve a murder.

Elizabeth and her mom Annabel were always considered a little strange. Neither really socialised and nothing much was known about them. When Elizabeth was younger, she had three close friends: Vanessa, Lillian and Mack; but as with kids, they drifted apart as they got older. Elizabeth is found hanging by her neck from a tree, apparently a victim of suicide. As the police look deeper into the case, they find no birth certificate, no education record and no social security number for her.

Each of the childhood friends is dealing with their own issues. Mack has a brother damaged by war, a father who will only focus on the brother and a mother who is too dependent on him. Lillian is overwhelmed by the universe. She feels too much and too deeply and is battling to find her place in it all. Vanessa is very intelligent but feels that no matter what she accomplishes in life is not enough and is constantly looking for more. As Elizabeth starts appearing to them in different ways, they realise she is trying to tell them something. Her clues lead them to The Brambles; a sprawling mansion just round the corner from Elizabeth’s house through the forest where Milton Cooper, a dying film star, has a house filled with vagrants and partygoers looking for a good time. As the kids meet a motorcycle gang, a dodgy doctor and Mitch’s fanatically religious caretaker John, they become sucked into a world they might not be able to handle. Will Elizabeth get the retribution she seeks?

As the book began, I liked the idea of Elizabeth sending clues to her friends to try to hint that her death and indeed her life may not have been as it seemed. As the story continued, however, I felt it became incredibly drawn out. There was so much info given about the kids’ backgrounds and John’s journey and feelings yet not much offered as to why the clues were as “subtle” as they were or how Elizabeth knew of the location or contents of the secret place. While the main idea for the story was interesting, there were just too many holes to be able to pick at and because of the amount of info offered, scenes felt stretched to fit the story. Some characters also did things that didn’t correspond to previous actions or went against their personality traits described before. Yes, the friends wanted to help Elizabeth, but they put themselves in physical danger in situations where it would have been easy for them to be killed or had no problem taking unknown drugs to fit in with the people around them. These are high school kids; not paid private detectives or the cast of Pretty Little Liars.

The writing and editing were very good which did help the story along, but I felt let down that the elements didn’t gel together and the reality segments were far-fetched. The end ties up too neatly and I was left feeling something was missing. I don’t like closing a book and feeling just “meh” about something, but that’s I guess that’s why we all have different tastes! 

The Indestructibles by Matthew Phillion

The Indestructibles is a YA action novel that brings together a band of unlikely superheroes.

Doc Silence knows that the time has come once more. Evil has reared its head again, and he needs to unlock the powers in a group of kids who must fight together to bring an end to the evil experimentation that is taking place. The kids need to not only learn to use their powers but learn to work together, and as anyone knows, stick a bunch of teenagers together and that’s not always an easy task. Can a werewolf, a dancer, solar-girl, a flying boy and gravity-defying Emily stop arguing with each other long enough to defeat a destructive storm as well as other humans that have been turned into experiments? The world had better hope so.

I really had fun with this book. The characters showed a lot of the human side of superheroes and how they can doubt their decisions or miss their families. The experimentation done on the children was horrific as the uncontrollable evil powers that were thrust on them was hardly fair. Especially as many were not given the choice. I liked how the superheroes knew intrinsically they had these powers but learning about them and controlling them was a give and take fight. Doc’s history and the extent of his powers were fascinating, and I’m keen to see what will happen with him and the Lady.

There were a few editing mistakes like there and their being mixed up and capitals appearing in the middle of a sentence for no reason but nothing to slow the flow of reading drastically.

I definitely recommend this book that even adults can enjoy and am interested to see where the story is heading.

Inside the Whispers by AJ Waines

Inside the Whispers is a psychological thriller and the first in a series which tells the tale of one so motivated by selfish gain that they are willing to ruin lives to do it.

Samantha is a post-traumatic stress specialist who is seeing a disturbing trend in some of her patients. They have come in claiming to have been in the London Underground fire that happened recently. What is strange though, is that they all mention crowds and chaos and people dying and the guilt they are experiencing by not helping others out, yet there was nowhere near this type of mayhem or injuries reported. Then one by one these patients commit suicide. Added to this awful situation is Samantha’s schizophrenic sister who has trouble adapting to a normal world and has moved in with her and her manipulative actor boyfriend who is suddenly having the same memories of the fire. There are only a few people she can turn to for help, and now she might not be able to trust any of them.

I rather enjoyed this book. Yes, the ending was a bit stretched for me but the idea behind it and the central theme of memories, whether real or buried deep, made for an interesting thriller. Conn was really the most awful boyfriend and why she put up with his actions, I do not know. Her sister’s behaviour was so bizarre and when you thought she couldn’t get any worse, truths come out and you forgive her for a lot of reactions. I thought Samantha was a bit of a soft character who needed to learn to say NO more. But considering what she had gone through and that this is a fictional story we can cut her some slack.

The editing and flow of reading were good with enough questions to keep you going back for one more chapter. The chapters that were written from an unknown POV made for an interesting addition as you could attribute them to a number of different people and when the person is made known the true depth of selfishness is revealed.

A good story, well-written and definitely recommended.

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.