**spoiler alert** Oooo, ummmm, where to start........
This is the first free Kindle book I have "bought". I read a lot of positi...more**spoiler alert** Oooo, ummmm, where to start........
This is the first free Kindle book I have "bought". I read a lot of positive reviews on the UK Amazon Kindle Forum on Goodreads, so I thought it would be worth a go despite wondering whether a free book would actually be much cop.
The amazon description implies that this is the story of a man who accidentally goes back in time and has to find a way back to the present so I listed it under the "supernatural" category on my Kindle. WRONG!!
It is difficult to write a review without a spoiler. Unfortunately I read another review before reading the book which said what was happening with the main character Simon before it is revealed about halfway through the book. I don't know if reading it with this knowledge ruined the revelation or not. So if you don't want to know, don't read any further!!!
So Simon is an unemployed fifty year old heavy drinker with a wife and son he hasn't seen for over 20 years. Living in a small village he spends time getting drunk in the pub or at home and one evening decides to commit suicide by drowning himself in the salt marshes. When he comes round he is in the village square but it is now 1836. He meets all manner of strange characters and doesn't know which ones actually want to help him or not. He doesn't really seem to want to know how he got there or how to get home, until he meets a group of children who tell him fables and poems and he realises he wants his old life back and to see his son again.
It transpires that Simon has not time travelled at all but is a schizophrenic who has not been taking his medication and all the time he has been in 1836 he is actually in a psychiatric ward in a manic state. So this is a book about mental health issues, not time travel at all.
There are some moral issues raised about what is "real" life and is it right to drug people who are living with mental illness. I also felt there was almost an element of "self help" in part of the book as Simon starts to become more lucid and decide what he wants and how he will achieve it.
If the book description had mentioned that this was a book dealing with mental illness I would probably not have read it, but I am glad I did because it is very well written for a first novel. And the fact that it was free has absolutely no bearing on the quality. I have given it 4 stars because there were quite a few typos and the line break between each paragraph kept making me think it was a scene change when it wasn't. But those are just editing issues.
This was a nice light crime novel set on salt marshes in Norfolk. Nothing too complicated and a quick read. It flowed really well and the characters...moreThis was a nice light crime novel set on salt marshes in Norfolk. Nothing too complicated and a quick read. It flowed really well and the characters were a good mixture. The background of the salt marsh made for some atmosphere especially in the night time scenes. It wasn't too difficult to work out who the real baddie was but there were little red herrings along the way to try to distract the reader. I'll try another by this author when I'm wanting a bit of crime but nothing too gritty.(less)
Die Booth is a friend of a friend who I have met on a few occasions. I had previously looked at her website but had only really taken the time to rea...moreDie Booth is a friend of a friend who I have met on a few occasions. I had previously looked at her website but had only really taken the time to read one of the stories there. I like supernatural stories so when she brought out this anthology I asked my friend to get me a copy. You can read about the project which resulted in this book here. http://diebooth.wordpress.com/re-vamp/ There are several authors featured in the collection but this works very well because they all have a similar writing style. The stories could all have been written by the same author, so there was a good flow from one story to the next. They are divided into sections featuring vampires, ghosts, werewolves, zombies and serial killers, but not in the glamourous Hollywood way. There are no sparkly vampires or angst ridden teenage girls here. These are quite old fashioned type horror stories but set in modern times. I read the whole book in a couple of days and some of the stories did make me feel a little unsettled. Perhaps I should have taken longer and just read a couple a day. The book is self-published but it is available on amazon and there is also a Kindle edition. If you like scary stories, give it a go.
The third book of the trilogy begins minutes after the end of the previous book. Lisbeth Salander is in hospital with a bullet in her head, while a c...moreThe third book of the trilogy begins minutes after the end of the previous book. Lisbeth Salander is in hospital with a bullet in her head, while a couple of doors down the corridor is the man she tried to kill. She is also accused of 3 other murders. While she spends most of the book in isolation in a hospital bed, various conspiracies and investigations are going on elsewhere. These involve the Secret Police, Millennium magazine, Milton Securities and a load of other dodgy characters. During the course of the book we learn a lot more about Lisbeth's father, and what she went through in her teens. There is a huge cover up involving a Russian defector, and a court trial at the end. I did enjoy the book once I really got into it, but I found I had to concentrate quite a lot due to the vast number of characters and their Swedish names. But it is very well written and a great story.(less)
This was a short novella, and took me a couple of sessions to read. It features Lucas, Paige & Savannah in one of their investigations into supernatu...moreThis was a short novella, and took me a couple of sessions to read. It features Lucas, Paige & Savannah in one of their investigations into supernatural goings-on. Can't really say much more about it, but if you are a Kelley Armstrong fan you will enjoy it.(less)
Again this is a novella but based on characters from the Women of the Otherworld series. And it features my favourite characters, the werewolves. Cl...moreAgain this is a novella but based on characters from the Women of the Otherworld series. And it features my favourite characters, the werewolves. Clay and Elena have taken their four year old twins on a winter break for Christmas. But of course they run into a "mutt" and have to investigate a possible murder. At the same time Elena is trying to decide when the right time would be to tell the children what they are. The story is good, a couple of good twists, but for regular readers and Pack fans, it is the ending that really gets you!! I'll say no more!!(less)
A very short story based on one of the characters from James Rollin's novels. There wasn't really enough of it to get your teeth into but it apparent...moreA very short story based on one of the characters from James Rollin's novels. There wasn't really enough of it to get your teeth into but it apparently carries on in the book The Devil Colony. (less)
I chose to read this book as it was suggested that it was similar to Matthew Reilly or James Rollins, both of whom I really like. I'm afraid his wasn...moreI chose to read this book as it was suggested that it was similar to Matthew Reilly or James Rollins, both of whom I really like. I'm afraid his wasn't a patch on them. Several times throughout this book I almost decided to give up on it. At first it seemed that a character was introduced and about twenty pages later would be killed off. I started to wonder if there would be anyone left by page 50. There was no real detail to the characters, or the scenes. The main character's name got on my nerves it was used so often. And for some reason there was a pre-occupation with sexual assault on the female characters which I felt was totally unnecessary. The premise of the story was ok, but there wasn't enough motivation for the "baddies" to do what they did. I'm afraid I won't be bothering with this author in the future.(less)
This is the first book I have read on the Kindle which I received for Christmas. So this is part review of the book, part review of the Kindle. ...moreThis is the first book I have read on the Kindle which I received for Christmas. So this is part review of the book, part review of the Kindle.
The book is very much in the vein of The Da Vinci Code with a mysterious religious sect, an unknown artifact, an alternative organisation seeking the truth etc etc. But it is fast-moving and has a good story. None of the places or organisations in the book are real but it is written in a way that you could imagine that they are. The descriptions of the Citadel bring it to life. There is a conclusion to this book but there is also a sequel due out in 2012 so the ending is open to this.
As for the Kindle - I didn't think I wanted one, because I love books so much. I can't pass a book shop, new or secondhand/charity shop without either going in or yearning to if I don't have time! I have full bookshelves at home of read books and I also have about 100 books on my chest of drawers yet to be read. I love starting a new book, but am just as happy to read a secondhand book. But.......I was deliberating over a Kindle because I like technology, and it was one of those gadgets that I wanted to have just to have one. But I didn't really. Do you know what I mean? Anyway the decision was taken out of my hands when my husband surprised me on Christmas day. Pros - I like it. It is easy to use, and the facility for changing the font size is great because I am now finding that some paperbacks do have very small print. I used about 50% of the battery life on this book, turning it off completely overnight despite it having a sleep mode which kicks in after 15 minutes of inactivity and uses no power. That was just under a week so a full charge should last almost two weeks at the rate I was reading. It is small, lightweight and easy to pop in a handbag. Cons - far too easy to buy books on! I also got a gift voucher for £20 and as the books I have bought so far have been £1.99 or 99p I have already bought 4 books despite the unread pile beside the bed! The display is not backlit so you do need a light source in the same conditions as you would a normal book. There are cases available with integral lights but I already had a book light which works just as well, but I did buy a cover (without a light) just for protection if I am taking the Kindle out and about in my bag. Finally it just isn't a book - pressing a button to scroll back isn't the same as flicking back through the pages. There is no colourful glossy cover. And although it has a % indicating how far through the book you are it just isn't the same as looking at where your bookmark is in a book and seeing that you only have so many pages to go.
Having said that I am already agonising over whether to buy Kindle editions of some of my unread books (seems a bit silly to buy them again though) and I can see that it will get used a lot.
Much as I love Noel Fielding, I didn't really like this book. Sorry Noel.
Some of the artwork is pretty good but the text gets increasingly anno...moreMuch as I love Noel Fielding, I didn't really like this book. Sorry Noel.
Some of the artwork is pretty good but the text gets increasingly annoying as you go through. There isn't a lot of it but if you read the book in one sitting, by about half way through it is just drivel.
I do love The Mighty Boosh and the silly sayings that are in that but a book full of sentences made up of random words is a bit tedious.
I am looking forward to Noel's new TV series on E4 in the New Year though. It will be interesting to see how different it is without Julian.(less)