Julie McLaren

This is a real work of intrigue! I enjoyed it a great deal.

Deceiving Ellie

Amazon.com Deceiving Ellie

My review - 

Ellie is a creative writing student who falls for the enigmatic Adam. He sometimes seems cold or distant and occasionally disappears off home and out of touch. To her delight he invites her to stay for a week with him in a caravan in the wilds of Shropshire but things don't go as she's imagined them.

This story had me intrigued all the way through. Whenever I felt I was on top of the story it shifted in a subtle way and I was back wondering again. Even in the last few percent I was thrown off-course a couple more times. I really enjoyed this unusual story.

Jamie Sinclair

This is a sequel and a worthy successor to the 24 Hour Jazz Cafe.

Ballrooms, Bars and Seawater Baths

Amazon.com Ballrooms, Bars and Seawater baths

My review - 

This book is the sequel to The 24 Hour Jazz Café and again features Mitch and Rupert, the two childhood friends who now own the café. Mitch has some psychic abilities and is called in to help the local police, specifically Jane Harper, in her search for the murderer of a local man. Mitch, however, is out of contact. Even his best friends Rupert can't get in touch. This story weaves gang rivalries and family feuds into a gripping plot. The main characters become real; Mitch the larger than life and slightly off-the-wall man affected by his childhood and his unusual abilities and Rupert, the man still grieving eighteen months after the death of his beloved Emily, the woman they both loved. A great sequel!

Lynda Wilcox

This is the first in a new series and features twin girl private detectives.  It's ace!

The Lockington Legacy

Amazon .com The Lockington Legacy

My review - 

The Lockington Legacy is a very valuable diamond necklace which is stolen during a private house party attended by a wonderful selection of self-obsessed characters. The newly formed Gemini Detective Agency investigates. The idea of twin girl investigators is an inspired one. One twin is logical and analytical and the other intuitive. What a team! The case becomes more involved and soon the girls are investigating a murder. Lynda Wilcox has a warm and comfortable story-telling voice which is always easy reading but full of humour. I very much enjoy her style of mystery stories which are so far removed from the gritty crime and police drama category. There is most definitely room for both. This is a very enjoyable read and I hope to see more of the Geminis before too long.

Simon Jenner

This is the third in the Ethan Justice series - and they get better!

Ethan Justice: Incendiary

Amazon.com Ethan Justice: Incendiary

My review - 

I would imagine if you are reading this you have read the two previous Ethan Justice stories. This one would still be a good read if you haven’t but I think pre-knowledge of the characters adds so much to this book. It’s full of action of course, and there’s another evil baddie with big ambitions and no conscience. The two main protagonists are involved in helping to keep Ethan’s sister safe so this time, it’s personal. 

The writing is clear, accessible and exciting. I love the fact that the characters aren’t the usual cardboard cut-outs but have quirky foibles and interesting backstories. It’s all too easy for this kind of ‘special agent and international skulduggery’ story to become repetitive and boring but this never happens in a Simon Jenner book. Another excellent read!

Mark R Faulkner

This novella is a real horror if your an arachnophobe! I loved the writing in this one.

Infested

Amazon.com Infested

My Review - 

This book begins with an idyllic canoeing holiday starting in the early morning when the world is yours alone. The writing here is observant, beautiful, and the reader floats along with it. The reason the man is there comes as a shock. The world comes to its knees and it appears very few humans survive an incursion from space. We watch Michael's struggle to reach London, then the coast, hoping to find he isn't the only survivor.

This book is to all intents a classic apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic story but it differs in that it is concerned with an individual and not the whole of humanity. I found it beautifully written and I enjoyed it very much.

Tim Arnot

This is another 'novelette' form the author of Wanted, first in a post-apocalyptic trilogy. It's funny, wry and a great little read!

Socko's First Day

Amazon. com Socko's First Day

My review - 

Socko Garrett is old enough for The Choosing, where all 15 year olds are taken on as apprentices at an annual fair. Nobody chooses him so he ends up in the watch - the police. He's later discovered, headhunted we'd say these days, by the Kingsmen, the elite militia answerable only to the monarch. They choose him because, unlike most of the local watch, he has a brain. This is one of Tim Arnot's short stories set in his post-apocalyptic world. Some of the characters are common to these short stories and the full length novel, ‘Wanted’ but the novelettes stand well as stories in their own right. There’s a wry humour in these tales which I greatly enjoy. They're very good indeed.

Darren Humphries

This is the latest Agent Ward adventure.  It's dark! 

The Man from UNDEAD Who Went out in the Cold

Amazon .com UNDEAD 5 - Out in the Cold

My review - 

Ward's latest adventure takes him to various countries in the company of a glamorous read-headed lady cat-burglar. She's no ordinary thief though and her latest 'theft' is no ordinary item. Ward finds who she's working for and is helped in his quest by a fire-elemental. The gang at the heart of this story are out to engineer a situation from which they can step in and save the world, giving them immense power. At least, that's the plan.

The usually laid-back Ward, now dismissed from the agency, has some hard battles and heavy losses to face in this story. It's got greater depths than some of the earlier works. One not to miss.