Review of Intensity by Dean Koontz

Past midnight, Chyna Shepard, 26 years old, she gazes out of a moonlit window when she is unable to sleep on her first night in the Napa Valley - the home of her best friend’s family. Instinct proves to be valuable for her survival. The murderous sociopath Egler Foreman Vess, has forcefully entered the house, intent on killing all of the occupants inside. Being a self-proclaimed “homicidal adventurer” Vess lives only to satisfy all of his appetites as they arise, to immerse himself into the sensation, to live without fear, remorse or limits, to live with “Intensity”. Chyna is trapped in his deadly orbit with no way to escape.

Chyna is a survivor, who is toughened by a long life of struggle for safety and self-respect. Now she will be tested as never before. To beggining with her sole aim is focused on getting out of the situation alive - until by chance, she learns the identity of Vess’s next intended victim, a faraway innocent who only she is able to find and save. Driven by the newly discovered thirst for meaning beyond mere self-preservation, Chyna musters every piece of inner strength and resource that she has to save the endangered girl. All the while, minute by minute, the terrifying threat of Egler Foreman Vess is building and the danger is intensifying.

Well, what can i say, this book had me terrified from page one. I felt like I was with Chyna every step of the way and taking every dangerous term that she takes. From hiding under the bed in the guest room, hiding in Vess’s Mobile home and then the tentative steps in his house. Vess has some many qualities of an evil from my past and actually had me relive my own experience and this made me enjoy it even more. Yes, I know this is not my normal choice of genre, however I did actually enjoy the thrill of the chase and watching how Chyna outsmarts her opponent during this battle. During the first couple of chapters I sat down and got myself into the story and then BANG the story hit me smack in the face. I have to say that this book is one of the best horror titles that i have read and I don’t think I will be dabbling into this genre very often.

For your copy please follow this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dean-Koontz-Intensity

Review of Tokyo Deon't Love Us Anymore by Ray Larigo

 

This is the disturbing and exhilarating novel in which the anonymous protagonist, a dealer offering a range of the latest chemicals designed to make the consumers forget everything.This finds his past and present, along with his own identity, disintegrate under the effects of these 'drugs of oblivion'. Set in the very near future, this novel is very much in the style of dystopia like Orwell's 1984, while also evoking the bewildering visual universe of Blade Runner.

The protagonist moves through a world of cynical consumerism, whether in Arizona, South East Asia or Europe. Under the constant scrutiny of the Company in whose products he deals in. The alienating urban environment that surrounds him intensifies the feelings that he does not belong to any one country or place. His own life is spent in a transient nature on the deserted motorways, in crowded airports or anonymous hotel rooms which are punctuated by business contacts with similar nameless customers and the random and meaningless sexual encounters. There is no place for guilt or any personal responsibility in the society in which one's acts are easily forgotten thanks to the drug which has been designed to erase the memories from the users mind.

The protagonist speaks with a very disarming humour which is born from his detachment from life, personal relationships and the very consequences for his actions. What makes the subject in this novel so alarming is the fact that bother the observations and the conclusions are completely believable.

I did not enjoy this book for the reason that there was no character information which would allow you to have an internal dialogue with them. I found that this was very disengaging and made me instantly not enjoy the what should have been an interesting story, This is something which is a subject which is at the forefront of everyone's world and it is clear to see how things can jump to this type of designer drug. I don't think that i would recommend this to anyone to read as it was not my type of novel.

Review of The Age of Witches by Louisa Morgan

 

A MAGICAL TALE OF FAMILY, AMBITION AND LOVE SET IN A GILDED AGE NEW YORK AND LONDON

Harriet Bishop, descended from a long line of witches, uses her magic to help women in need. Not just the ordinary women but also those who have powers of their own. Harriet finds that she must intervene when one of her distant cousins starts to wield the darker and dangerous side of magic to change the lives of two unsuspecting young people ....one of whom might just be a witch herself.

Frances Allington has used her feminine wiles and witchcraft to claw her way out of her poverty stricken life and into the spectacular marriage with one of New York's most wealthiest business tycoons. Frances is determined to secure the Alligntons position amongst the city's elite Four Hundred Families by any means possible. Even if this means that she has to hatch a scheme to make a glorious match for her headstrong and very independent step-daughter Annis - to do this she will yield her power with the same methods that she snared Annis's father.  To be able to save Annis from the dangerous effects of the dark magic, Harriet must reveal to Annis the misuse of Francis's power. To do this though she will have to share with her cousin the birthright that she has and then help Annis kindle her new and untrained powers. Together, Harriet and Annis must both resist her stepmothers agenda and also the life of the dashing you lord that she thinks that she will be able to come to love. But doing this may mean that the all lose their freedom and a possibility of also losing their lives - thats how dangerous this is.

Admittedly this is not my normal type of book however i got this in my mystery date with a book box that i received and have managed to read the whole book in one day. The story is set in the New York and London in 1692 and starts with one of the Bishop's witches quote of 'It was a cruel day to leave the world' and this quote kept cropping in some form throughout the book. Another of my favourite quotes is: 'Witch should be a beautiful word, signifying wisdom and knowledge and discipline, but it isn't used that way. It has been made an insult, implying evil causing fear'. As i have said before i am a sucker for the happy ending but this took until about chapter 30 to start to come into the story and that what grabbed me .... the will they wont they scenario. The majority of the story is built around Annis and James and the manipulation that they are put through and this is one of the reason i will add this to my list of all time favourite books.

To get you copy of the book, follow this link:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Age-Witches

Review of Queen of Hearts (Queen of Hearts Saga #1) by Colleen Oakes

EVIL IS RISING IN WONDERLAND

This is not the story of wonderland which we have been told about before. Alice has not had her fall down the rabbit hole yet and the kingdom is very different. There is no all-knowing Cheshire cat with a taunting smile, this is the wonderland where beneath each smile lies a secret, each jam tart comes with its own demand and the only prisoners are the only ones who tell the truth.

Dinah is the crown princess who will one day be ruler of the Kingdom of Wonderland. At her young age she has not yet seen the darkest depths of the kingdom - she always and only longs for her fathers approval and the future with the boy that has stolen her heart. However it is her father who betrays her and breaks her heart into a million pieces and threatens her right tot he throne. She is forced into Wonderlands dangerous political game which starts when she is introduced to the illegitimate child of her father. Dinah must try and stay one step ahead of her cunning enemies or she will lose not only her right to the crown but also her head.

Evil is brewing in wonderland and maybe - most frighteningly - in her own character. This is the story which does not have a happy ever after and is the story of how the Queen of Hearts become who she was when we were introduced to Alice.

I loved this story as we were finally able to get some of the history about the Queen and how she turned out the way she is - what was so horrible that she turned evil. Well it is all in this story. The first thing that you see if that Dinah is a lonely child and she has the most tyrannicidal father, who announces to the whole of his court that he has a illegitimate child - who you would think would become a friend for her - and she is being put before her in the path to the throne. There is elements of out favourite wonderland characters in some of the courtiers but you can help but see the differences from them.  I have found that this story is the one story that fills in the blanks and explains the cultures and history behind the foundations of the stories we know. This shows how the character development has been done and the thought which has been put into the story line. I would recommend this book to anyone who have and does love the tradition Alice in Wonderland story.

For you copy of this thrilling story, follow the attached link :https://www.amazon.co.uk/Queen-Hearts-Book
 

Review of The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

 

This Novel is from the author who brought you Me Before You, she has set this novel in the Depression-era of America. We are told a breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and tells of their remarkable journeys though the mountains of Kentucky and beyond.

Alice wright is married to the handsome American Bennett Van Cleve and is hoping to escape her stifling life in England. However the small-town Kentucky quickly becomes equally claustrophobic, especially when she is living alongside her over-bearing father-in-law. So when she receives the call for a team of women to deliver books as per as Roosevelt's newest travelling library, Alice immediately joins the group as a way to expand her world.

The leader of this group, and soon Alice's greatest ally, is Margery - a very smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who's never asked a man's permission for anything. The dynamic duo will be joined by three other singular women who become known as the Packhouse Librarians for the town Kentucky. 

This story is if what happens to them - and the significant others - becomes unforgettable drama of loyalty, justice, humanity and passion. This group of heroic women, will refuse to be cowed by men or by the conventions of the small town life. Even though they face all kind of danger in the landscape that it is at times breathtakingly beautiful - at others brutal - they are committed to doing their job; bringing books to the people who have never had the chance of having any, arming the people with the facts that will change their lives.

Based on the true story which is rooted in America's past, this is a unparalleled in it scope and epic storytelling. Moyes gives us a funny, heartbreaking, enthralling and has been destined to become a modern classic. This is a novel which shows us a rich and rewarding novel of women's friendship, of true love and what happens when we reach beyond our grasp for the great beyond.

I am a sucker for a historical story which show and empowers women, giving them the tools to succeed and enrich their lives. Moyes has a way of developing her characters and gives us a very description of them and there natures and hopes for the future. I did however struggle to get into this book however once i was in to the story i devoured it in a couple of days. I love the way that Moyes has used a quote from a classic at the beginning of each chapter which draws the reader in. I love how a love of books and community have been entwined with the stories of each of these women, Moyes also links in the ultimate classic of Little Women by Lousia May Alcott. Even though this is not my first choice of novel, I would recommend this to someone who loves historical fiction.

For you copy of this novel, please click the following link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Giver-Stars

Review of The Girl Who Lived Twice by David Lagercrantz

 

Neither Lisbeth nor Camille will give up until one of them is lying dead.

The girl with the dragon tattoo is finally ready to confront her arch-nemesis, the only woman who is evidently and in may ways her ultimate match. Salanda will not wait for herself to be hunted. When she launches her strike against her it will be a double blow, vengeance for the recent atrocities and the settling of lifelong scores which have been brewing for many years. 

For many months now Salander has been closing in on her target and she has moved from Stockholm, changed her newly styled her and removed all of her trademark piercings. She could pass for any one of the many businesswoman who make their way around the city however not all business woman have a Beretta Cheetah beneath their suit jacket. They also do not process the lethal power of being the infamous hacker who carries scars and tattoos to help remind her of the things which she has survived and things that would have broken many others.

In this new episode of the acclaimed internationally continuation of the Larsson's Dragon tattoo series which is a wholly thrilling ride that scales the heights of Everest and plunges to the depths of the Russian troll factories. At the start of the story it begins with the discovery of Blomkvists number at the Millennuim magazine in the pocket of an unidentified homeless man who has died with the name of a government minister on his lips. Blomkvist, at an extreme personal risk, tracks down his old friend and will protect her as far as he can and finds that he is powerless to crush her enemies on his own. For Lisbeth Salander, the personal is always seen as the political and even more deadly.

I have enjoyed this episode of the series, i have found that this could have been a standalone novel as this pulls on all of the major characters histories and gives us more insight into them. I have found that the novel has helped fortify my love of Lisbeth and forge it in my mind that she is my favourite character of the whole series closely followed by the loner Blomkvist. I have found that in this novel the family aspect of the two major characters built on, for example Blomkvist has a fatherly like link to her and this helps to me to see why they are ultimately link forever no matter what the story flings at them. I love the character development in this novel and it touches on the element of sexuality and how fleeting this can be and that it is important not to judge a book by its cover. When reading some of the paragraphs writing about Lisbeth, it make me feel like th author is assassinating her character and does not want her to succeed and this is just why she does. I have found the 400+ pages of the novel of fast paced and engaging writing which had me gripped from page on through to page 424. I would recommend this book to any one who loves the original trilogy.

To get your copy of this book, click the following link : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-Who-Lived-Twice

Review of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

 

Cath is the ultimate Simon Snow Fan.

Okay, lets clarify this, the while world is a Simon Snow Fan.

But for Cath, being a fan is not enough, being Simon Snows Fan is her whole life ... and what makes sense is that she is really good at it. Cath and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the world of Simon Snow series when they were small and it was the single things which got them both through their mother leaving. Reading and rereading the series. They then began to hang out is the Simon Snow forum, writing Snow fan fiction and dressing up as the characters when there was a movie premiere.

Cath's sister however has mostly grown away from the fandom, for Cath though she is not able to let go and she doesn't want to.

Now that they are both going of to college, Wren has told Cather that she doesn't want to be roommates. For the first time Cather is completely on her own and thrust out of her comfort zone. When she arrives at college she finds that she has a surly roommate who has a charming and always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks that fan fiction is the end of the civilised world and a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words. During this unsettling time, she is not able to stop herself from worrying about her dad, who is a loving and fragile individual who has never really been alone.

For Cath, the biggest question is - Can She Do This? Can she make it without her sister holding her hand. Is she ready living her own life? Can she write her own stories? And if she does this is she able to leave Simon Snow behind is she is going to move on. 

Well what can i say ... I have read this book at least 4 times and I love the characters more and more every time that I read it. I love this book and the way that it shows how important it is to read and to voice your own stories especially when you are going through troubling times. It helps to show how to expect the unexpected when put out of your comfort zone, to do this Rowell uses descriptive scenes which show how the human brain working through these situations and growing up in a new world after the loss of a parent. This is one of those stories which show that Cath and Wren come from a broken family and they Simon Snow was the catalyst for them to start healing and gives them an outlet for pouring their feelings into and work through the thoughts which would have led them down a very different path. I love how this book is structured and by this i mean that you have a chapter which is around Cath and her life and then the next chapter is an exert from the Simon Snow books. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good love story which has been racked with pain in their history.

To get your copy of the book, please click the following link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fangirl