David Staniforth

This is a real departure from David Staniforth's usual genre of Fantasy.  It's dark, tense and there's a creeping sense of the sinister while the reader sides with an inept young man.

Imperfect Strangers

Amazon.com Imperfect Strangers

My review - 

Keith is a gauche and socially inept young man who works as a night security guard and is generally held in contempt by the rest of the company’s employees. He is attracted to Sally, a fellow worker there, but she isn’t interested in him and is in the process of falling out with her previously live-in man. Keith tries so hard, reading books on body-language to help him to empathise with others. His late mother’s influence on his upbringing is still strong. In hoping to attract Sally he is trying to rid himself of those memories.

This is an amazing story and it’s hard not to cheer Keith on. It’s written from both his and Sally’s points of view and we see gradually how their ideas on the progress of this relationship diverge. Its ending is extremely tense and exciting. This is a total change from the author’s previous genre of Fantasy and it proved that he is more than capable in a variety of genres.

Karen Lowe

Another story about Bronwen and her thirst for answers!

Motif for Murder

Amazon.com Motif for Murder

My review -

Bronwen Jones, quilter and fibre artist, is organising an exhibition of traditional Welsh quilts. A girl from a local farm appears to be a hit and run victim and Bronwen discovers that another young girl disappeared a couple of years ago from the same farm where Bron finds half of a wedding quilt. She can't resist a mystery and that brings her into contact with some very dodgy characters and vulnerable girls. Her own love life seems to have stalled meanwhile.

The story reads very well and Brown is such an appealing character. She's feisty, nosy and seriously partial to chocolate cake. You've got to love her! The only reservations I have about her are that someone would be bold enough to march up to other people and involve herself in their lives the way she does. However, it might be a better world if we did! We’ve met Bronwen in a previous book but you can perfectly well read this as a stand-alone. This is a delightful read from a good writer and knowledgeable quilter.

Seb Kirby

Third in a great thriller trilogy.

Forgive No More

Amazon.com Forgive No More

My review - 

This is the final book in Seb Kirby's 'No More' trilogy and it's as internationally wide-ranging and exciting as the previous two. James and Julia Blake and their three week old baby are separated while James, in Italy and Germany and his brother Miles in South America, follow the Lando family's fortunes. This is a huge story arc touching on drugs, art, mythology and even the early history of the Nazis.

Seb Kirby manages to keep the excitement cranked up in so many locations and on so many levels. Because of the scope of this book, the only problem I had was remembering who was who though that could well be down to my age. If you love a good thriller with plenty of action and intrigue, this is the series for you.

Carl Ashmore

Fourth in a series but it's not growing stale!

The Time Hunters - Sword of Ages

Amazon.com The Time Hunters - Sword of Ages
My review - 

Our friends Becky, Joe, Uncle Percy and Will are on the hunt for another Eden Relic, the Sword of Ages. Natural their arch enemy Emerson Drake and his henchman Otto Krueger are looking for it too, for the power is confers. As always with Carl Ashmore’s books, there’s plenty of action and excitement but there’s always more under the surface. The children’s characters are so wonderfully real and I can hear their conversations in my head – they ring very true! We learn a great deal more about the past of some of the characters including Joe. There are hidden depths in this story and it’s a nail-biting read.

Fans of The Time Hunters are going to snap this up and they aren’t going to be disappointed. I read it in just a couple of days and it took me from laughter to being a little choked up. You mustn’t miss this!