Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Description from Goodreads:

"DAY ONE

The Georgia Flu explodes over the surface of the earth like a neutron bomb.

News reports put the mortality rate at over 99%.

WEEK TWO

Civilization has crumbled.

YEAR TWENTY

A band of actors and musicians called the Travelling Symphony move through their territories performing concerts and Shakespeare to the settlements that have grown up there. Twenty years after the pandemic, life feels relatively safe.

But now a new danger looms, and he threatens the hopeful world every survivor has tried to rebuild.

STATION ELEVEN

Moving backwards and forwards in time, from the glittering years just before the collapse to the strange and altered world that exists twenty years after, Station Eleven charts the unexpected twists of fate that connect six people: famous actor Arthur Leander; Jeevan - warned about the flu just in time; Arthur's first wife Miranda; Arthur's oldest friend Clark; Kirsten, a young actress with the Travelling Symphony; and the mysterious and self-proclaimed 'prophet'.

Thrilling, unique and deeply moving, this is a beautiful novel that asks questions about art and fame and about the relationships that sustain us through anything - even the end of the world."

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I was really looking forward to reading this. I have heard and read rave reviews about how fantastic it is so was chuffed to bits when I was provided with a copy from Netgalley via the publisher, Picador, and I settled down to read.

What can I say? Is there something wrong with me? I just didn't get it. I don’t know why but it just didn't grab me at all and, I'm sorry to say, I found it boring so much so that I skim read parts just to get it over with a bit quicker. I recognise when I am not enjoying a book because I find myself subconsciously finding other things to do rather than read and I did this quite a lot whilst trudging through this book.

The characters, although well written were just not that interesting and I found myself not caring what happened or happens to them. I found the whole thing a mix of different stories which was confusing and just didn't seem cohesive.  Maybe it was partly because it was told from different points of view with no central character. Maybe it was the Shakespeare - I'm not a huge fan.  Maybe it was a bit too “deep” for me … I'm a simple person who reads purely for enjoyment and I don’t want to have to think too hard to find complex meaning … my job is taxing enough on my brain, I don’t want it to be overworked!

This book received so much hype that I think it raised my expectations and I was just left feeling flat and unconvinced and actually rather sad. I even left it a few days before writing this review because sometimes if I give it a few days to reflect on what I've read, it sometimes helps but unfortunately not in this case - it just didn't do it for me at all.

I realise that I am in a minority here and there are loads of people who love this book so I suggest you give it a go and make your own mind up.

The Final Minute by Simon Kernick

Description from Goodreads:

Featuring Simon Kernick's maverick detective, TINA BOYD, this is the gripping new race-against-time thriller by the best-selling author of Relentless, The Last 10 Seconds and Stay Alive.

"‘It’s night, and I’m in a strange house.

The lights are on, and and I’m standing outside a half-open door.

Feeling a terrible sense of forboding, I walk slowly inside.

And then I see her.

A woman lying sprawled across a huge double bed.

She’s dead. There’s blood everywhere.

And the most terrifying thing of all is that I think her killer might be me …’

A traumatic car-crash. A man with no memory, haunted by nightmares.

When the past comes calling in the most terrifying way imaginable, Matt Barron is forced to turn to the one person who can help.

Ex Met cop, turned private detective, Tina Boyd.

Soon they are both on the run .…."

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I must confess to being a huge Simon Kernick fan and his character, Tina Boyd, has to be one of my all time favourites so I was thrilled to receive a copy of this eBook from Netgalley and the publisher, Randomhouse UK Cornerstone, in return for an unbiased review and I wasn't disappointed. From the start right up to the finish, this was fast-paced, non-stop action which had me hooked from page 1.

The main character, Matt, struggles to remember anything about his life after having a car accident but realises that something is not quite right and goes from one hair-raising situation to another in his pursuit of deciphering who he is and what is real and how he reconciles what he is told, what he finds out about his past and how he sees himself in the present. The way the mystery of Matt's predicament develops and how we are drip fed information throughout makes this a book that is hard to stop reading because you want to know what’s going on as much as Matt does. His confusion and doubt about whether he is a good guy or not is transferred onto the reader and you start to wonder whether you should be backing him or not.

The other main character, Tina, starts off on what she thinks is a run-of-the-mill missing persons case but when she meets up with Matt, things quickly go sour and she is drawn into his nightmare. As I have already said, I love this character. She is feisty, brave, irresponsible at times but not afraid of following her gut instincts and going against the “establishment” to uncover the truth sometimes with dire outcomes … she’s not known as “The Black Widow” for nothing!

The supporting cast of characters are all equally interesting with Pen being a particular enigma and although she is a little cliché, with the provision of a back-story she becomes more of a real person. I think this is one of Simon Kernick’s strengths when writing, he provides just enough information about his characters to enable you to understand them and their motivations which give them authenticity and realism without it becoming boring or disrupting the flow of the story.

The book is written mainly from the perspectives of Matt and Tina but it also includes sections from other characters which provided differing points of view that further enhanced the story for me.

I have read the majority of Simon’s books and I can honestly say that I have not been disappointed by any of them and I will continue to be excited and chomping at the bit when the next one comes out. You don't necessarily have to have read previous novels that contain some of the recurring characters but I would recommend it as that knowledge certainly enhances the whole reading experience and you will enjoy the ride.

Normal by Graeme Cameron

                        

Description from Goodreads:

"He lives on your street, in a nice house with a tidy garden.

He shops at your local supermarket. He drives beside you, waving to let you into the lane ahead of him.

He also has an elaborate cage in a secret basement under his garage.

The food he’s carefully shopping for is to feed a young woman he’s holding there against her will – one in a string of many, unaware of the fate that awaits her.

This is how it’s been for a long time. It’s normal…and it works. Perfectly.

But this time it’s different…"

Publish dates:  Hardcover - 31st March 2015 / Paperback & Kindle - 9th April 2015

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This book messed with my head!

The story is written from the point of view of a serial killer and takes the reader on a chilling journey. Not being a serial killer myself, I am not sure how accurate the narration is but it seemed to be quite believable to me - it is cold, devoid of empathy or guilt and terrifying in its detachment from the horror that he is inflicting.

The main character remains nameless throughout - there isn't even a good enough description where you can envisage what he looks like. I found this quite disconcerting as my thoughts on what he looked like changed throughout the story depending on what was happening at the time but I still didn't have a clear picture by the end. I have a sneaky suspicion that this was intentional by the author. There were also times when you start to feel something for the guy (not quite sympathy but hope possibly?) but then he does or thinks something that makes you remember what he is and what he has done and those feelings go out the window. I suspect though that this was the author’s objective. History has shown us that serial killers can go about their normal lives and have normal relationships whilst carrying out the most unspeakable acts against fellow human beings … you just have to look at Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy for example. This is how serial killers become serial killers - they are skilful at outwardly appearing “normal”.

I didn't expect the killer to behave normally - how could you when he is what he is - but I was surprised by some of the other characters. I can’t go into much detail as I don’t want to give anything away but what the hell happened to Erica? For those who have read this book, you will know what I mean, for those who haven’t … be prepared she doesn't react as you expect. The police are portrayed as totally inept however, again, history has shown us that the art of being a serial killer is manipulation and the ability to evade capture; they hide in plain sight and sometimes it is just a gut feeling and determination from the police that ends in their capture.

I liked the pace of the book and writing style and I particularly enjoyed the snippets of dark humour that made me laugh out loud at times. However, I do think that to make this a 5 star book there needed to me more about why he did what he did and what made him become what he became. You get glimpses of his past but nothing which explains or sheds much light on this but as I type, I am left wondering if again this was the author’s intention? Could the ending point to another book which could explore this more? Hmmm … I wonder … if that is the case, then I would very much like to read it.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, Harlequin (UK) Ltd., for sending me an e-book advance copy in return for an honest review.

No Place to Die by Clare Donoghue

Description from Goodreads:

"Jane Bennett, senior Detective Sergeant for the murder squad at her London police precinct, is having a terrible day. Her boss, Detective Inspector Mike Lockyer, has just returned to work after two weeks on "leave," though Jane knows it was really more like a suspension. He’s still shaken by the loss of a victim in their last murder case, and Jane is still stung that Lockyer didn’t trust her enough to confide in her about the case before it was too late.

But neither of them has the luxury of time to dwell on past grievances. Jane has just received a phone call from a good friend saying that her husband Mark Leech, a retired policeman, has disappeared. When Jane finds dramatic blood splatters in the laundry room, she knows Mark is seriously injured at best, and they don’t have any time to waste. And then the body of a young girl is discovered in a tomb under a London greenway, and police resources are stretched even thinner…until it starts to look like the two cases might be related.

No Place to Die is another spine-tingling mystery with complex, three-dimensional characters from suspense master Clare Donoghue."

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This is the second book in the Mike Lockyer series. I haven't read the first book and although the author did an excellent job on character development and included some of the history, I did feel that I was at a disadvantage and would definitely recommend reading the first novel if you want to know the whole back story and how Lockyer and Bennett got to where they are. Having said that, I still enjoyed this book very much.

It felt realistic to me with believable characters and portrayal of police work from the forensic to the tedious but essential leg-work down to the interrogation of suspects. I must admit to losing it a bit in the middle though when it seemed to get overly procedural but that didn’t last long at all.

The majority of the book is told from DS Bennett’s point of view and I particularly enjoyed the parts devoted to her family life and the struggles she goes through juggling trying to solve murder and spending enough time with her autistic son; this made her more than a one-dimensional character and I really felt for her as she was pulled in different directions.

The snippets from the point of view of a victim and her sense of total terror were expertly transferred to me, the reader, and left me feeling chilled especially as being buried alive is a real fear of mine and one of the reasons why I am going to be cremated!

The whole story was written with good pace which kept my interest from start to finish with the last few chapters being particularly exciting and, cliché I know, edge-of-the-seat reading. I have read a lot of thrillers, mystery, crime, etc., books and can usually guess “whodunnit” quite quickly but must admit that I didn’t guess right this time and I just love it when that happens.

This is more than just a run-of-the-mill police procedural crime thriller and I would recommend it to anyone who are fans of this genre or even those who aren’t but who enjoy a great story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Pan Macmillan, for my copy in return for an honest review.

A new home

I have decided to move my blog from its old home to this new one.  All the content has been moved over and it looks virtually the same but under a new name .... I much prefer this one ... so if you followed my old blog Hazes Reading Addiction, please change over to this one as the old one won't be updated any more and will be deleted in a few weeks or so.

Thank you.
Haze
xx

The Orphan Factory by James and Lance Morcan

Description from Goodreads:

"An epic, atmospheric story that begins with twenty three genetically superior orphans being groomed to become elite spies in Chicago's Pedemont Orphanage and concludes with a political assassination deep in the Amazon jungle.

The Orphan Factory, a coming-of-age spy thriller novel, is book two in The Orphan Trilogy and a prequel to The Ninth Orphan. Go on another frenetic journey with the ninth-born orphan as he busts out of the clandestine orphanage he knew as home and goes on the run across America.

In the late 1970's, in Chicago, Illinois, the secretive Omega Agency initiates the Pedemont Project - a radical experiment utilizing genetic engineering technologies - to create twenty three orphan babies with the plan to turn them into the world's most effective assassins.

One of the prodigies will rebel: meet Number Nine, an orphan with a mind of his own.

In 1998, when Nine reaches adulthood and graduates with honors from the Pedemont Orphanage, he is already an adept of the deadly espionage arts. Ordered by his Omega masters to assassinate a survivor of the Jonestown tragedy in Guyana's Amazon rainforest, Nine is forced to draw upon all of his advanced training just to stay alive."

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This is the second book in the trilogy, the second that has had me thoroughly engrossed and entertained and the second that I have been fortunate to have been sent to me by the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.

I won’t go into the ins and outs of the story as it is covered in the description but what I will say is that, like The Ninth Orphan, it is excellent. The plot is well thought out, well paced, exciting and thrilling as well as being different to anything else I have read before. I really enjoyed getting to know more about the beginnings of “Nine” and his fellow orphans - the authors provided small glimpses in the first book but this one put the flesh on the bones.

The characters are believable and interesting, some more likeable than others, but overall well developed from start to finish.

I would most definitely recommend this to lovers of espionage, conspiracy theorists or just people who enjoy a flippin’ good read and I look forward to reading the third in the series.