Sea Sick by Iain Rob Wright

Description from Goodreads:

"IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE RELAXING…

Police Officer Jack Wardsley’s life ended the moment his partner died, stabbed to death by a deranged druggie. Now, years later, Jack is a changed man, with a head full of secrets driving him insane. His recent record of police brutality and a reputation for not following the rules has prompted his seniors to give him an ultimatum: take a few weeks off, relax, and find some way to let go of all the anger – or else find another job.

That’s why Jack is about to board The Spirit of Kirkpatrick, a cruise liner built for relaxation and fun. Pretty soon, however, Jack realises that a little R&R is the last thing he’s ever going to get aboard the cursed ship. There’s a virus onboard, making people insane and bleeding from the eyes. The whole ship is overrun with blood and death, and there is nowhere to escape. 

Just when Jack thinks his number is up and his life is over, he wakes up. The day is exactly the same. In fact, everything is the same. Jack is forced to witness the viral outbreak again and again as it ravages the ship and its passengers over and over, day after day. Jack finds himself trapped in a repeating hell. 

It won’t be long before Jack realises there are others onboard just like him – and that some of them know more than they’re letting on."

******************************

To be totally honest, I was expecting a cheesy zombie novel especially as it was a free download from Amazon but I was pleasantly surprised; it kept me entertained from start to finish.

I don't need to go into detail about the story itself as it's clearly described in the blurb above but what I will say is that I found it different to the usual zombie books that are around in that it's not just about blood, guts and gore which, I'm not going to lie, there is some graphic scenes of death but this is not the main focus of the book.

The main character, Jack, is an interesting one.  He did take time to grow on me because I felt like he was wasting time rather than trying to figure out what the heck was going on but once he did, his police instinct kicked in and that determination to get to the bottom of the dire situation in which he finds himself in came to the fore.

Written at great pace, this is an easy book to read.  There are a few grammatical errors but it didn't distract me from enjoying it and I will certainly be reading more by this author.

******************************

Author website:  Iain Rob Wright

Author twitter:  @IanRobWright

******************************

Other books I've read and reviewed by this author:

Click here for my review

Life of Crime by Kimberley Chambers

Description taken from Goodreads:

"If you could get away with the perfect crime - would you?

HEAVEN HAS NO RAGE, LIKE LOVE TO HATRED TURNED.

NOR HELL A FURY, LIKE A WOMAN SCORNED."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What a saga!

What a story!

Fantastic characters, cracking and clever plot, excellent twists, perfect pace ... this had it in bucket loads and had me totally absorbed from the start.

The story follows the life of Jason Rampling and the various capers and general dodgy dealings he uses and gets involved in in order to get away from his and his daughter's crappy life living with his alcoholic mother on a dire council estate.

Jason is an Arthur Daley or Del Boy kind of a character - you could call him a bit of a rogue - but I really warmed to him; yes he's not the kind of man I would want my daughter to bring home but there was something about him that I was drawn to and although I certainly didn't agree with everything he did, I did find myself having some sympathy for him despite the scrapes he got into being mostly of his own doing.  Melissa, another of the main characters, is another story ... oh my goodness, she is one character that had me going round in circles ... do I like her or don't I? and don't even get me started on Tracey!!!!  There are several other characters that I could mention but I would be going on for ages such is the ability of the author to bring these people to life and make them feel authentic and memorable.

This is a compelling and gripping take on the consequences of living a life of crime and I would most definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys a cracking read with not too much violence.

My thanks must go to the publisher, HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction, via Netgalley for my copy in return for an unbiased review.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author Website:  Kimberley Chambers Official Website

Author Twitter:  @kimbochambers

Author Facebook:  Kimberley Chambers

Publisher:  HarperCollins UK