Category: Reviews

  • HUMOUR: John Sharpe: No. 1,348 (Underworld) by Riley J Froud

    HUMOUR: John Sharpe: No. 1,348 (Underworld) by Riley J Froud

    Every once in a while you get to read something special and this is what John Sharpe: No. 1,348 by Riley J Froud is – something very special. To be honest, I had always intended to read this, but I guess the title was strange enough to make me move it down the to be…

  • A review of ‘Behind the Scenes at the Museum’ by Kate Atkinson

    A review of ‘Behind the Scenes at the Museum’ by Kate Atkinson

    Can you keep a secret? Most authors can, often the plots of novels depend on them. A writer polishing her first book told me that in her next novel nobody would have secrets from anybody; it was too stressful remembering what each character knew and who they were keeping secrets from. I have just finished…

  • From My Bookshelf: Will Ferguson

    From My Bookshelf: Will Ferguson

    By Lynn Willoughby Road Trip Rwanda: A Journey into the New Heart of Africa   Will Ferguson I knew this book of non-fiction would not be an easy read, but I like Ferguson’s style of writing so wanted to get into his newest book.  He can take a very dark subject – Rawanda,  and while…

  • CANADIAN HISTORICAL FICTION: Kinmel Revisted by Robert James Bridge

    CANADIAN HISTORICAL FICTION: Kinmel Revisted by Robert James Bridge

    This is an interesting little book based on the infamous Kinmel Riot, at the end of the First World War, in a repatriation camp for Canadian Soldiers in Wales. It is called Canadian Historical Fiction, which I guess I have to take at face value, although it read more like an actual report based on…

  • From My Bookshelf: Elizabeth George

    From My Bookshelf: Elizabeth George

    By Lynn Willoughby A Banquet of Consequences    Elizabeth George This author of the Inspector Lynley crime novels has been around for 2 decades.   I have read many of her books and always enjoy the working relationship  and its problems between Lynley and Barbara Havers, his partner.  So I was disappointed in this book…

  • SHORT STORY REVIEW: The Magic of Grandfather Time by Rose English

    SHORT STORY REVIEW: The Magic of Grandfather Time by Rose English

    Just before Christmas, I took part in an author event run by a friend of mine. Whilst the games that we played were enjoyable, and the two authors involved (Rose English and Maria Gibbs) were fantastic fun, I didn’t really expect to win anything. Imagine my surprise then, when Rose English herself messaged me to…

  • From My Bookshelf: Featuring Stephen King

    From My Bookshelf: Featuring Stephen King

    By Lynn Willoughby The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King This is a book of short stories by one of my favourite authors.  What is especially interesting is the preface of each novella, of very personal glimpses of King, and how and why he came to write each story.  Also at the conclusion of…

  • SCI/FI: No Dogs in Philly: A Lovecraftian Cyberpunk Noir (Special Sin) (Volume 1) by Andy Futuro

    SCI/FI: No Dogs in Philly: A Lovecraftian Cyberpunk Noir (Special Sin) (Volume 1) by Andy Futuro

    Let me just say, in prefacing this review, that this particular book is so, so, far out of my reading comfort zone, that the three stars I allocated ut indicates a good read. I’m not denigrating the style or genre in any way, it is just so not what I would normally read, however, that…

  • From My Bookshelf: Callan Wink

    From My Bookshelf: Callan Wink

    By Lynn Willoughby [break] Dog Run Moon: Stories ~ Callan Wink [break] This new author has been compared to Annie Proulx – one of my personal favourites. So when his book of short stories came out I was first in line, and it doesn’t disappoint. [break] While the various characters find themselves in situations that…

  • My review of Wings of Shadow: Book 2 of the Immortal Sorrows

    My review of Wings of Shadow: Book 2 of the Immortal Sorrows

    I started this book with trepidation. I loved book one in the series, and there is always the fear that book two won’t live up to your expectations or that it will be more of the same and even though you enjoyed it before doesn’t mean you want to read the same thing over again.…

  • From My Bookshelf: Noah Hawley

    From My Bookshelf: Noah Hawley

    By Lynn Willoughby [break] Before the Fall ~ Noah Hawley [break] This novel had so much potential. It is well written, full of well rounded characters with interesting lives, including flaws. [break] It begins with a family of four leaving Martha’s Vineyard on their private jet. They invite another couple to return to New York…

  • HOLIDAYS: Sun, Sea and Secrets: A novel set in Greece by May J Panayi

    HOLIDAYS: Sun, Sea and Secrets: A novel set in Greece by May J Panayi

    I could best describe Sun, Sea and Secrets with one word – sumptuous. In this novel, Panayi has adopted a writing style that draws the reader in and caresses them with the warm breezes of the Greek Islands. This is not the first book of Panayi’s that I have read and what amazes me about…