Book Review: Silly Doggy by Adam Stower

Lilly wakes up one morning to discover there is something wonderful in the garden. It's big, brown and hairy with four legs, a tail and a big, wet nose, and Lilly has always wanted one.

Unfortunately, Lilly's mum is not so enthusiastic so Lilly must try and return 'Doggy' to his home. She designs a poster trying to describe Doggy, but secretly she hopes no one will claim him. They do, of course, and Lilly is sad until she looks out of the window next morning and discovers... ...well I'll let you find out for yourselves!

My five year old daughter has just got this book out from the library and she read it to me for her bedtime reading. Absolutely wonderful! She spent the whole time tutting at Lilly for thinking it was a doggy when it was obviously a bear, and laughing at Doggy's exploits.

I liked the fact that Silly Doggy didn't have too many words to a page so a reasonably confident reader can feel a sense of accomplishment at reading the whole book in one sitting. The illustrations are beatifully done and open the possibility of lots of question and answer sessions between parent and child.

The endpapers were also quite entertaining: they look like articles from a newspaper being read at the breakfast table and expand on the story. The front endpaper has a clipping explaining about the escape of animals from the local safari park, while the rear endpaper hints Doggy's return to the safari park, oh, and the results of a local cat show.

Altogether a well told story, beautifully illustrated and presented in a well designed book.

Vampire Fiction Reviews from LoveVampires.com

Laurell K. Hamilton

I have been a big fan of the vampire novels of both Charlaine Harris and Laurell K. Hamilton for quite some time, ever since I discovered Laurell K. Hamilton's books when I was a book dealer.

I was browsing in a charity shop for new stock and I came across the first few books in the Anita Blake series. I must confess (with apologies to Ms. Hamilton) that I though they would just be trashy horror books; however trashy horror books sold so I bought them.

Before putting them in the shop I decided to read them and was blown away by how different they were from other vampire books I had read.

Needless to say they never ended up on the shelves and, over the next few years I collected them all. Eventually I did have to sell my collection as I was running a business. Nevertheless, she has remained a firm favourite of mine ever since.

Charlaine Harris was a different story: Like many people I watched True Blood on TV and really enjoyed it, so my wife bought me a boxed set of the books for Christmas. Since then I have bought, or borrowed, each new book as it has been published, and remained a big fan of her writing.

There seems to have been something of an explosion in the number of vampire novels published over the last few years. Some of them are good and some less so. How do you tell the two apart?

Well I recently came across the LoveVampires website, which offers a review of the latest offerings in the genre. The site doesn't only look at the latest book releases but also reviews old vampire fiction as well. There are also interviews with authors as well as competitions and give aways.

So, if you are a big fan of vampire novels and are wondering what to read next, LoveVampires might be worth checking out.


The photograph of Laurell K. Hamilton was taken by theNerdPatrol and placed on flickr. It is used here under the creative commons license.

Book Review: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book begins with a knife in the dark and the wholesale murder of a family; only the youngest member of the family, a toddler, escapes. Unaware that the murderer, a man called Jack, is pursuing him, the toddler finds his way to the local graveyard where the ghosts make the decision to look after him and name him Nobody Owens, or ‘Bod’ for short.

In his postscript to the book, Neil Gaiman points out that the debt he owes to Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Jungle Book’. Once I read this, the influence became obvious, but instead of animals raising a human child it is, in a macabre twist, the dead. Just as Mowgli learns important lessons about life and growing up from the jungle animals so Bod is taught, in a rather haphazard way, by the graveyard inhabitants.

Some of the chapters are set a number of years apart, and almost form separate stories within the main narrative. Again, reading the author’s postscript, one almost gets the feeling that this was how it was written and my memory of the Jungle Book is that it had a similar feel. However, Gaiman sets the scene in the opening chapters and draws the narrative together in the closing chapters so that overall the individual pericopae form a satisfying cohesive whole.

With each chapter Bod encounters something, or someone new, and slowly he grows to adulthood. In marked contrast, the characters in the graveyard remain the same: ghostly children he played with as a child remain ghostly children. Then, just as Mowgli leaves the jungle to take his place with his own kind, so Bod must leave the graveyard to rejoin the living.

I found some of the individual chapters more enjoyable than others, but I think this was down to my personal preferences rather than any fault in the writing. The book is filled with both pathos and humour and, overall, I found it highly enjoyable story. It isn’t a long novel and, if I have one criticism, it is that it didn’t take me long to read and there is part of me that wished it had been longer. Nevertheless, I think this is a very minor criticism and I would still recommend this book.

If you would like to read The Graveyard Book, you can purchase a copy at Amazon
Alternatively, if you have a Kindle you can download a copy here

Book Review: Heritage of Shadows by Madeleine Brent

I have said before how much I used to enjoy reading my mum's Madeleine Brentbooks when I was younger. This has set me of on a nostaligic journey through some literary 'old friends'. However, chancing on A Heritage of Shadows on my mum's bookshelves, I realised that I had never read this story before.

In Heritage of Shadows our heroine is Hannah Mcleod, a young English girl who, because of a harsh series of events in her early years, has ended up working as a poor waitress in Montmartre. Nevertheless, she appears to be happy; working in the cafe and living in a garrett along side her neighbour, struggling artist Toby Kent.

One night she chances upon an American tourist who has fallen foul of the local thugs. She rescues him but finds herself accused of being involved in the crime. Fearing imprisonment in a Paris goal she accepts the offer of a mysterious Englishman to return England and join the household of Mr Sebastian Ryder.

Hannah is engaged as French tutor to Mr. Ryder’s two children and settles happily into the household; her duties are light and the family are friendly. However, when she encounters her old friend Toby Kent, now a successful artist, he warns her that things are not what they seem.

She is soon to discover that Mr. Ryder knows a lot more about her than she realised when he reveals the closely guarded secret of her childhood in a very public fashion. The revelation also sets in motion a train of events which sees Hannah’s life put in danger.

With the help of her loyal friends, and with the strength of character she developed in the adversity of her early years, Hannah is able to overcome all her trials. Finally, she returns to Paris to try and pick up the pieces of her former life and makes the greatest discovery of all.

In a previous post I wrote:

Brent's books always seem to start in an exotic location where a plucky female heroine lives. Always on the edge of society, the heroine both belongs and yet is an outsider. Usually a mysterious stranger enters her life and she must leave the familiar surroundings of her present life for the half remembered world of Victorian England. Mystery, intrigue and romance follow until, at last, she must return to the scene of her former life to solve the puzzle and discover her true love. The books then end happily ever after.

This book is no exception and, for the most part, follows this familiar pattern. However, I would say this is part of the joy of Brent's books: you know what to expect; it is the journey that makes the novels exciting.

However, a word of warning!

The secret of Hannah Mcleod's childhood is truly shocking. This is not a criticism of either the book or of the author: in many ways it made me appreciate Brent’s skill as an author even more. I would go on to argue that this is one of the author’s most powerful novels. As always the historical research that lies behind the book appears impecable, and all without the benefit of the Internet! Nevertheless, some readers may find parts of the book distasteful, particularly if they view the author as something of a cosy writer of romances.

Book Review: The Fort by Bernard Cornwell

I am quite a fan of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe Seriesso, when I came across a copy of The Fort in my local library I thought I would give it a go. While the Sharpe books are set during the Napoleonic Wars, The Fort is set earlier, during the American War of Independence. At first I thought it might be a sequel to his Redcoatnovel, however, this is not the case. The book is a fictional account of a little known historical campaign, which took place in the third year of the revolutionary war.

In 1779 a small force of Scottish soldiers land on the coast of what is now Maine (then part of Massachusetts). Backed by three small Royal Navy vessels, the British army under General Francis McClean, has orders to establish a garrison and naval base at Penobscot Bay in order to provide a refuge for American loyalists and control the New England seaboard.

The State of Massachusetts, however, is determined to expel the invaders and nearly a thousand State militia, under General Solomon Lovell, are dispatched to carry out the task. With the backing of a fleet of some forty ships led by Commodore Dudley Saltonstall, the American forces should easily be able to destroy the British. The Fort explores the events through the eyes of a number of participants on both sides of the conflict.

I am fairly knowledgeable about the Napoleonic wars and, for me, part of the pleasure in reading the Sharpe series is seeing how the author fits his eponymous hero into the historical events. In contrast I know very little about the American War of Independence, and certainly hadn't heard of the Penobscot expedition, so I was unsure what to expect or what the outcome was going to be; this added to my enjoyment of this book. 

For the same reason, I also enjoyed the historical notes at the end where the author explains the decisions he made regarding the historical events and characters. What comes across is a thoughtful and well researched novel which brings to life a hitherto little known conflict.

The action is described in the author's usual style, familiar to readers of his other works. However, as this novel is based on a historical event the action isn't as frequent as in, for example, the Sharpe books. Instead there is a lot more emphasis on the interaction between the various characters, and particularly the frequent 'councils of war' which seemed to be such a feature of the American execution of the campaign.

While some readers may find this disappointing, I would argue that such an emphasis is entirely appropriate. Having read the historical notes I would suggest that the contrasting leadership styles of the opposing commanders had more of a baring on the outcome of the campaign than any particular skirmish.

If I have any criticism it was that the novel was little slow to start and, at first, I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy it. With hindsight I suspect that the author wanted to explore the background to some of the characters so that the motivation for their later actions could be more easily understood. Certainly, once the drama began to unfold I quickly became engrossed.

If you would like to read The Fort, you can purchase a copy at Amazon.
Alternatively, if you have a Kindle you can download a copy here.

Book Review: Sweet and Deadly by Charlaine Harris

Visiting the library the other day I came across a lady I knew from Church. She was just returning a load of books and one of them was Sweet and Deadlyby Charlaine Harris. Being a big fan of the Sookie Stackhousenovels, I took the book out myself.

This is not a vampire novel, or any other kind of supernatural story, but a straight murder mystery. Catherine Linton returns to her hometown of Lowfield, Mississippi, and takes a job as a reporter on the local newspaper. It is only six months after the death of her parents in a car crash and Catherine is still coming to terms with her grief.

When she stumbles on the body of her father's old nurse she begins to wonder if the deaths are connected. Her father had been the town doctor in this cosy, close knit community and it is hard to imagine why anyone would want him dead. Nevertheless, it quickly becomes clear that beneath the veneer of Southern gentility there lies a hotbed of secrets and deceits.

Something of a loner, Catherine is viewed with a mixture of suspicion and concern by the other residents of Lowfield: is she the murderer, or the next victim? She, in turn, starts wondering which of her neighbours has a secret worth killing for. As the clues build up she is led to the one piece of evidence that reveals the killer and, as a result, finds her own life in danger.

Sweet and Deadly was Ms. Harris' first book originally published in 1981. There are a number of ideas and themes which the author develops in her later books and, in some ways, I would argue that the character of Catherine Linton is a sort of proto-Sookie. So, for example, both Catherine and Sookie tend to react to major traumas by completing chores. However, this contrast between the extraordinary and mundane does help build up the tension: there is a sense of people trying to hang on to their normal lives while the shadow of death hangs over them.

At first I wasn't sure about the book, but it quickly seduced me and I found myself getting involved in Catherine's world. Unfortunately, this sense of enjoyment lasted until I came to the final chapter. For me, the climax felt rushed, and I was left with a real sense of disappointment. While I think the author did a good job of the actual murder mystery part; explaining the motives and reasons for the murders; I could have done with an epilogue that tied up all the loose ends.

Book Review: Modesty Blaise by Peter O'Donnell

In my last review I discovered that Madeleine Brent was the pseudonym of writer Peter O'Donnell. Since I enjoyed Brent's novels I thought I would try one of O'Donnell's Modesty Blaisebooks. Curiously, a trip to the library revealed a number of graphic novels but no books so, in the end, I decided to order a copy of the first Modesty Blaise bookfrom Amazon.I must confess I didn't know whether I would enjoy the book or not so it was a bit a of a risk, however, in the end it was a risk worth taking as I enjoyed it immensely.

Modesty Blaise is a former child refugee who took over a small criminal gang and, with the help of her friend and comrade in arms, Willie Garvin, built it up into a powerful criminal organisation called The Network. They were such a successful criminals that Modesty was able to retire in her mid twenties as a very wealthy woman, and Willie was able to buy the pub of his dreams. However, the former criminals find time weighing heavily on their hands; and now Willie is in trouble.

Sir Gerald Tarrant, the head of British Intelligence, uses Willie's situation to try and recruit Modesty for a particular operation involving the security of a £10,000,000 consignment of diamonds. The diamonds are being used to buy oil concessions for Britain from Sheik Abu-Tahir, the ruler of a small middle eastern country, and Sir Gerald fears that there may be a plot to steal them.

There is indeed a plot, one formulated by the evil Gabriel, a criminal mastermind, and his gang of villains; the Scot, McWhirter;  Borg, who strangles his victims with piano wire; and the rather unpleasant Mrs. Fothergill. Unfortunately, the agents Tarrant sent to investigate Gabriel have died and Sir Gerald believes that only Modesty's talents will uncover the plot and protect the shipment.

What follows is a whirlwind adventure that starts in the south of France, where Modesty and Willie meet some old friends, then on to Egypt where the pair finally track down Gabriel's gang. Finally there is a showdown at Gabriel's hideout on a small island in the Mediterranean.

The book is well written with a lot of visual imagery, possibly as a result of Modesty Blaise first appearing as a comic strip character (which also might explain the number of graphic novels). The other reason might be that the book was based on the author's original screenplay for the 1966 movie. Sadly O'Donnell's screenplay was substantially rewritten and YouTube clips of the resultant film make it look like a second rate version of an Austen Powers movie.

One aspect of the book which I thought was excellent was the way the author weaves Modesty's and Willie's backstories into the book. This is done so well that it doesn't intrude on the main story but rather adds and enhances it. Even at the end there are surprising insights into Modesty and her relationship to Willie. The effect of this is to create two very likeable characters that the reader cares about.

The Modesty Blaise book has a very different feel from those written under the author's nom-de-plume of Madeleine Brent. This may be partly due to the fact that the Madeleine Brent books are always written in the first person, while the Modesty Blaise series is written in the third person. Nevertheless, there are a number of similarities too; a strong action driven plot with a number of twists and turns; and a strong independent female heroine.

If I have any criticism it is that the adventure was a little too fast paced, and the story was over before I was ready. Also, occasionally, some of the technical descriptions were a little too technical and I found myself bleeping over them. Nevertheless, neither of these criticisms marred my enjoyment of the book and I am looking forward to reading the next one.

Book Review: Moonraker's Bride by Madeleine Brent

When I was a teenager my mum belonged to a book club and, as I loved reading, I would quite often pick up her books. Because of this I was introduced to the writing of Madeleine Brent.  I loved them even though they were, as far as I could tell, fairly formulaic.

Brent's books always seem to start in an exotic location where a plucky female heroine lives. Always on the edge of society, the heroine both belongs and yet is an outsider. Usually a mysterious stranger enters her life and she must leave the familiar surroundings of her present life for the half remembered world of Victorian England. Mystery, intrigue and romance follow until, at last, she must return to the scene of her former life to solve the puzzle and discover her true love. The books then end happily ever after.

It may seem that I am making fun of Brent's work but that is not the case. I also must confess that I haven't read all the author's works so I may be doing them an injustice. Nevertheless, as a youth I read them because I knew what to expect and enjoyed them. The writing itself never failed to grip me with a strong action driven plot, despite the fact that these were, as far as I was aware, romantic fiction. Brent always seemed to have done some excellent historical research for the background to the books, and the heroines were always strong characters.

In the case of Moonraker's Bride the plucky heroine is Lucy Waring. Daughter of missionary parents, she was orphaned due to disease and, as she grows up, she is left to run the Chinese orphanage where she was raised, and look after the elderly and ailing Miss Prothero. The only reminder of her old life is a sketch of a splendid English house; Moonraker's. One day an English stranger comes into her little village with a riddle and a warning but leaves as quickly as he arrives.

With no money, and little food, to feed the orphans, Lucy resolves to go into town and steal something. She gets caught and thrown into the grim prison of Chengfu, where she meets another English man. This is, in fact, the very man she was warned about earlier, and he asks her the same riddle as the other Englishman. He is, however, due to be executed. Lucy agrees to marry him and in return he gives her enough money to bribe her way out of jail and feed the orphans.

Returning to the orphanage she discovers that Miss Prothero has died but new missionaries have arrived. They pack Lucy off to England where she discovers the real Moonraker's, but also finds she is involved in a bitter feud between two families. The key to that feud is the riddle she heard in China. Danger and intrigue follow her and, eventually, she finds she must return to the orphanage to solve the puzzle. However, China is being torn apart by the Boxer Rebellion and it is a dangerous time to be a foreigner. Nevertheless, in the time of greatest danger she discovers the man she truely loves.

Browsing my mother's bookshelves as an adult I found this book again and reread it. Just as in my youth I found it an excellent read. The twists in the plot kept on coming and, despite having read it before, I still found it engrossing. The author manages to keep the reader guessing which of the men in Lucy's life is the villain and which the hero until nearly the end when all is revealed. Yes, the stories are formulaic, but it does mean I know I'll enjoy any of Brent's books I come across.

I discovered while writing this that Madeleine Brent was the female pseudonym of writer Peter O'Donnell, famous for his Modesty Blaiseseries.

Book Review: The Hangman's Daughter

My wife downloaded The Hangman's Daughter for her new Kindle and, after reading it, spent ages convincing me that I would enjoy this book.

The story is set in the small Bavarian town of Schongau in 1660. The body of a young boy is pulled from the river with a strange mark on his shoulder and immediately the cry of 'witchcraft' goes up. Remembering the witch hunt of seventy years earlier, which decimated the town's female population, the town elders are keen to stop a repeat of that terrible event.

Martha Stechlin, the local midwife, is quickly accused of being a witch and imprisoned. She is charged with the murder of the boy but insists on her innocence. Jacob Kuisl, the town Hangman, is ordered to extract a confession from Martha by torturing her.

However Kuisl is unwilling to carry out his duties as he is convinced of the midwife's innocence. With the help of his daughter and Simon Fronweiser, the son of the town physician, he sets out to solve the mystery surrounding the young boy.

As more children start turning up dead with the same strange mark on their bodies, the hysteria in the town increases, and there are even reports that the Devil has been sighted. Kuisl, his daughter, Magdalene, and Fronweiser find themselves engaged in a race against time to solve the puzzle before the town erupts into violence.

It is clear that the midwife is innocent from quite early on, despite the occasional red herring that suggesting otherwise. What kept me engrossed was that it became apparent that even if Kuisl provided clear evidence that she was innocent it might not be enough to save her. She has been chosen as the scapegoat by the town elders and her guilt or innocence is irrelevant. The only thing that can save her is for Kuisl to unmask the real villains.

One criticism that some people have had of the book is that Magdalena, the hangman's daughter of the title, is not actually a major character in the book.  She and the physician's son are part of a romantic subplot, but she herself does not make her presence felt until the last few chapters. Although this is a justified criticism it is a very minor point.

This is a very entertaining historical novel and my wife was right, I really did enjoy it. The historical background is described in enough detail to maintain interest and Jacob Kuisl is a complex and interesting hero who is treated with sympathy by the author, despite his trade. Unsurprising when you learn that the Kuisl family really existed and form part of the author's family tree.

Overall, I would recommend this book, especially if you are keen on historical fiction. It is not a murder mystery in the mold of The Name Of The Rose and aficionados of the genre might be disappointed, nevertheless, I found it an enjoyable read.

If you would like to read The Hangman's Daughter, you can purchase a copy at Amazon alternatively, if you have a Kindle you can download a copy here.