Playing Dirty by Andrew R Williams

 Playing Dirty is part of a series of books, but I read it as a standalone.

The blurb says:

"Honey Pursamon has a brief - and the file of names is huge!

Set the honey trap! Lure the opposition into bed, get lurid photos and destroy them, one by one!

The Slash and Byrne Progressive Party want to take over the House of Commons, starting with a sleazy sex scandal code-named Operation Trouser Snake. Slash & Byrne also organise a gas attack on Parliament. Who will survive?

Using Ambronootrop to make their members more intelligent and to move along the evolution of the human race, S&B will stoop to new depths."

I actually really enjoyed it. It's very gripping, and very easy to read. Initially I found it a little tricky to keep all the characters straight in my head, but that sorted itself out swiftly enough. I liked all the intricacy and duplicity in the plot. 

Given the prologue, I would have liked Angela to get some kind of revenge/see the downfall of S&B party, but I'm guessing that will be in later books. I didn't feel lost because I hadn't read Superior.  However, I would recommend reading Jim's Revenge and then Superior before reading this one, as the context helps.

Overall, my only disappointment is that the rest of the series hasn't been written yet, and I want to know what happens next!

My Books of 2022

 Happy New Year!

And thank you for letting me have the last year off blogging.  I'll update you all with everything eventually, but for now lets concentrate on the most important things: Books!

I actually read 52 books (1 isn't currently on goodreads), though there were two books that I confess that I didn't finish.  I decided that life it soo short to persevere with books that are either too slow or too boring, when there is so much more out there that I want to read!

I should also say, that though I am going to separate out all the books that I have read this year below, the links won't work until I have written up the reviews.  And I know that some of you are still waiting for the reviews of the books that I read in 2021.  Hopefully, now that I have a bit more time (she says, on the first bank holiday of the year), I'll get around to catching up and filling those in too.

You will notice that some of these books are from my recent A-Z Challenge but that I haven't finished this list.  That's because, when my daughter was going in for her heart surgery, I made sure to download a load of free boxsets.  As they are currently on my kindle, these are what I have been going through more recently.  And I have recently joined my local book club, so I'll be reading two 'random' books each month too.  The first meeting I'm attending is tomorrow, so wish me luck!

So here is the list of books that I read in 2022, though I may have the order slightly wrong in some places. 
For those who prefer visuals, there is a picture below.

Fiction:

• Exodus by Andreas Christensen
• Aurora by Andreas Christensen
• Genesis by Andreas Christensen
• When the Smoke Clears by Lynette Eason
• When a Heart Stops by Lynette Eason
• When a Secret Kills by Lynette Eason
• American Gods by Neil Gaiman
• Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
• The Monarch of the Glen by Neil Gaiman
• Black Dog by Neil Gaiman
• The Last Safe Place by Ninie Hammon
• The Crown of Thorns by Ian C P Irvine
• Hidden byt Megg Jensen
• The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
• A Single Step by Georgia Rose
• Reckoning by Megg Jensen
• Hunted by Megg Jensen
• Before The Dawn by Georgia Rose
• The Wedding Pact Boxset by Denise Grover Swank
• Wicked Words by M J Scott
• Patterns in the Dark by Lindsay Buroker
• Pale-Eyed Mage by Jennifer Ealey
• Torn by O M Faure
• Untied by O M Faure
• Chosen by O M Faure
• Thicker than Water by Georgia Rose
• Soul Blade by Lindsay Buroker
• Dragon Blood 1-3 Boxsetby Lindsay Buroker
• Shattered Past by Lindsay Buroker
• Oaths by Lindsay Buroker
• Raptor by Lindsay Buroker
• The Fowl Proposal by Lindsay Buroker
• Heritage of Power Boxset by Lindsay Buroker
• Playing Dirty by Andrew R Williams
• The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
• Falling by T J Newman
• Jim's Revenge by Andrew R Williams
• Superior by Andrew R Williams
• Andalusia by David Harvey
• The Dark Insite by Solomon Carter
• The Singapore Grip by J G Ferrell

Non-Fiction:

• English Legal System by Emily Finch and Stefan Fafinski
• Legal Profession - Is it for you? by V Charles Ward
• Watching Neighbours Twice a Day by Josh Widdicombe
• Helping your Child with a Physical Health Condition
• Older and Wider by Jenny Eclair
• Parsnips: Buttered by Joe Lycett
• Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Christian Inspirational:

• The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian D McLaren
• Jesus Feminist by Sarah Bessey
• The Message: New Testament by Eugene H Peterson

My books of 2021

 

Last year, I set myself the target of reading 50 books, which I hit.  I think I've actually read a couple more than 52, as I still (sorry!) have some reviews to write up, and I don't always add them to Goodreads if I haven't done the review.  If you are a Goodreads user, feel free to click this link to follow me there too.

This next year, I've set myself the even more modest target of 24 books in a year.  This is because I barely wait whilst the girls are dancing anymore, so I have less time to read actually structured into my week.  I also (before last week) hadn't read anything since about October.  I had less free time, and in December you have to watch as many made-for-TV crappy Christmas movies as you can.  It's the law.

Here's a pictorial summary of all the reading I did last year, and I'll give a link to each review below.

Fiction

• The Dark Side of the Sun by Terry Pratchett
  
• Red White and Blues by Rysa Walker
  
• Ember by Jessica Sorensen
  
• Forgotten by Don and Stephanie Prichard
  
• Genesis Code by Eliza Green
  
• Happiness is a Smoking Gun by Alaine Allister
  
• I Spy, I Saw Her Die by Ian C. P. Irvine
  
• Juliette and the Monday ManDates by Becky Doughty
  
• Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
  
• Catriona by Robert Louis Stevenson
  
• The Legacy of the Key by S L Morgan
  
• Mouse Tails by Sonny Collins
  
• Nocturne by Kat Ross (The Fourth Talisman Series)
  
• Out of a Dream by Rosemary Hines
  
• Pancakes and Corpses by Agatha Frost
  
• Quantum by Patricia Cornwell
• Rift by Andreas Christensen
  
• Season of Hope by Dayo Benson
  
• Taste by Mary E Twomey
  
• Ugly Girl by Mary E Twomey
  
• The Vine Witch by Luanne G Smith
  
• The Wave at Hanging Rock by Gregg Dunnett
  
• Yesterday by Amanda Tru
  
• Meadowlark by Melanie Abrams
• Brainrush by Richard Bard

Non-Fiction

• Trim Healthy Mama Plan by Barrett and Allison
  
• I Can Make You Thin by Paul McKenna
  
• The Diet Trap Solution by Beck & Beck
  
• The Obesity Code by Jason Fung
  

Christian Inspirational

• Women Rising by Meghan Tschanz
  
• Finding Intimacy With Jesus Made Simple by Matthew Robert Payne
  

Yesterday by Amanda Tru

This is the last book in my A-Z Challenge (yes, I'm aware it is only Y, but I'm trying not to buy more books until I have finished all the ones I already have, lol).

The blurb says: 

Her yesterday was five years ago. What will her tomorrow bring?

When HANNAH KRAEGER saves a family injured in a car accident, she has no idea she has changed events in the past. Waking the next morning, Hannah discovers her yesterday was really five years ago.

Each trip Hannah takes through time changes the timeline and her own life. With help from DR. SETH MCALLISTER, Hannah must unravel the mystery of why she time travels and who she actually is before the strange ability costs her future, the man she loves, and even her life.

What I found interesting about this time travel book is that the time travel is not instantaneous.  What I mean, is that when Hannah finds herself back in time, the timeline she left continues so to those around her it looks like she has run away or left.  It also means that she ages at the correct rate for her personal timeline, rather than living life in the past, coming back to the present/future and have aged for no reason to her friends and family.

This book is a sweet romance with a time travel twist. I'm not sure whether to class it as Fantasy or SciFi since the time travel is not because of a machine but because of divine intervention - so I've labelled it as both on the side. >>>

I did enjoy this book.  I liked trying to work out how the stories of the different characters interacted.  I liked seeing whether the romance between Hannah and Seth would blossom and how it was impacted due to her changing things in the past.  It's a nice book.

The Wave at Hanging Rock by Gregg Dunnett

 

The Wave at Hanging Rock is my W in my A-Z Challenge.

The blurb says:

Natalie, a young doctor, sees her perfect life shattered when her husband is lost at sea. Everyone believes it’s a tragic accident. But a mysterious phone call prompts her to think otherwise. She sets out on a search for the truth.

Jesse, a schoolboy, is moved half way around the world when his father is blown up in a science experiment gone wrong. 

Two seemingly unconnected tales. But how they come together will have you turning the pages late into the night. And the twist at the end will leave you reeling.

This is a really good book.  It is a bit of a slow burner to begin with, and you randomly flip between each story, but there is enough going on in each of the separate stories to keep you wanting to know what will happen next. 

It is a psychological drama and a mystery and is very cleverly written.  I enjoy it when I'm reading a book, and I think a character is particularly clever (as opposed to having a lot of qualifications, if that difference makes sense?).  I'm keeping this review shorter than usual because I don't want to give anything away.

Definitely recommend it.

Taste by Mary E Twomey

Another book by Mary E Twomey, and another series that I got hooked on - this time I read all 9 books in under a week!

Taste follows the life of October Grace.  She works as a nurse in a prison, lives with OCD and an obsession with cleaning, and has a dysfunctional relationship with her hoarding mother.  Out of the blue, her mother announces her engagement to an English gentleman, Ezra, and October and her brother Ollie prepare to meet the man willing to take on their mother.  In Ezra's house, October cannot cope with her mother's charade, and runs to the bathroom to wash her hands again.  Whilst there, October accidentally overhears Ezra's family talking about her, specifically whether she is the one they've been looking for...

The blurb says:

Just when correctional nurse October Grace has a handle on her stressful job and taking care of her mentally ill mother, a shifter king and a potential vampire mate plunge her into a foreign land that’s on the brink of starvation. Now, with a ticking clock and a target on her back, October takes up the mantle of becoming one of the rare Omens who can bring hope to a dying world.

Mason and Von remain by her side to shield the national treasure while she sacrifices herself to reap the souls that will feed the nations of Terraway. As the death toll rises daily, October finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat world where fairytale creatures run wild… and every day is a new bloody battle.

Given that I bought and read the whole series, it's obviously I liked it, so I'll start this review by saying what I didn't like: the chapter titles.  Such a small thing, I know, but I found they gave away what was about to happen, so I had to train myself to not read them as I was going through this book.

This book as a fantasy, so there are many fantastical creatures in addition to the humans: vampires, shape-shifters, mermen, Goblins, and reverse centaurs amongst them.  It is set between Terraway and Earth (or Topside), and only a few people from each Terraway country can port between the two.  Unfortunately, Terraway is in the grip of the evil Sama, who despite being banished to an undisclosed island, still manages to cause terror in the nations through starvation and famine.  Terraway needs to stop its scorching suns, so that their food can grow, but because a magical stone has been hidden Topside, the only way to keep the heat of the suns in check is for Omens to reap a soul for Topside for each nation, every day.  Until now, only Ezra's daughter Mariang has been able to reap souls, but fortunately for Terraway, October is about to be awakened...

It is YA.  There is copious amounts of kissing and snogging between October and almost all the male characters, but no sex scenes.  The closest to a sex scene is the occasional spicy dream that October has, but even these would be suitable for a teen to read. In the later books there is reference to rape (though the specifics are not described) and as has been hinted, October is polyamorous.  

I like the way Mary E Twomey writes about the psychological side of October's personality, the impact of her neglectful mother, the impact of growing up not knowing her father, and essentially being parented by her older brother and sister.  Despite all the trauma and underprivilege of growing up in a trailer park, October has made it on her own two feet. And because some of the characters are English, I liked how Twomey includes English dialect (though to me, they are just normal words, lol) - who doesn't use 'hence' in a sentence?? The only minor criticism here is the use of "mates" and "knickers".  Whilst an English person would call someone "mate" or refer to their "mates", you wouldn't actually say to a group of friends "hey mates", rather in this circumstance you'd say "hey guys" (where guy refers to male and female friends).  Similarly, "knickers" are specifically female underwear, a bloke would wear "pants" (though I do understand the confusion with Americans calling trousers, pants) or depending on the type of pants, you'd call them Boxers or Y-Fronts. 

Taste was T in my A-Z of Fiction Titles.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) for me, my U is also by Mary E Twomey (Ugly Girl) and is also the start of a series.  I am forcing myself to take at least a week's break from reading so I can bet back to the real world a bit and do all the stuff I've been neglecting, before I dive headfirst into yet another absorbing word.

Rift by Andreas Christensen

 

As I read a lot of free kindle books, many are self-published, and many are the result of writing competitions.  When that happens, I find it interesting to see how common starting points can result in totally differing books.  Now, I don't know if that has happened with Rift, but there are definite initial similarities to The Hunger Games: Once a year a group of newly graduated (from High School) students get selected for Service to the State.  The students don't get a choice in where they serve, or whether they serve, but get taken from their home towns and villages for the greater good.

The blurb says:

In the ruins of what was once North America lays the Covenant, a nation forged by the iron will of the Moon people, who descended from their dusty refuge on the Moon after the Fall. The Moon people are wealthy, ruled by a strong government who protects its citizens from the dangers from outside their borders. Their greatest achievement is having learned the secret of immortality, and every citizen has the opportunity to live nearly forever if they choose to, a life of riches and abundance.

The English are the descendants of the original inhabitants of this place, and they live very different lives from that of the Moon people. They only live to serve the greater good, and citizenship is something few have the opportunity to earn. At the age of fifty all non-citizens are subjected to mandatory euthanasia. In order to maintain a sustainable society, they are told.

Every year a number of girls and boys at the age of eighteen are selected for Service to the State. The brightest and most talented are sent to become Students. The strong, the fighters and the athletes become Janissaries, a band of soldiers protecting the northern border from the enemies of the Covenant. The Wardens, a secretive organization known to operate far to the west, near the Rift, which makes up the border to the wastelands, sometimes choses one or two initiates, but nobody knows what becomes of them. And then there is the Corpus, where the whip rules and backs are bent.

Those who complete their Service, may become citizens. And although they will never be equal to the Moon people, they will have access to all the riches and opportunities granted by the Covenant leadership to its citizens.

As Sue is nearing Selection Day, she secretly hopes to be chosen, despite having to leave her mother and brother behind. She doesn't crave glory or wealth though. A man or woman with citizen status can do a lot of good, and although few return to their home towns, Sue hopes to return to give her family a better life on the other side of Service.

But the Covenant is rotten to the core, and as she begins to learn its secrets, Sue must question everything she has always taken for granted. Soon she will find herself in dire peril, for she has seen the truth and there will be no turning back after that...

This science fiction dystopian trilogy is set more than two centuries after the events of Exodus, in a future dystopian society forged from the ashes of global disaster.

Yeah yeah, I know that my two favourite genres are SciFi and dystopia, so when I come across a book that starts a series I will get absorbed and buy the whole series.  I know that it will be of no surprise to you to discover that has happened again, and I ended up buying and reading Covenant and Legacy too, but it had to be done - honest!!

So, Rift follows the story of Sue.  She is well educated and wants to go into Service so she can eventually become a Citizen and help her family have a better life.  She becomes an initiate to the Janissaries - military service designed to keep the English and the Moon people safe from the French and other outsiders, thankful to have avoided service to the Corpus - chain gangs used to mine the earth for raw materials often resulting in illness and death.

During her time with the Janissaries, Sue becomes captured by the French and is treated humanely in a hospital - nothing like the monsters and imagery that she has been fed with.  She discovers more corruption and starts to question everything to do with the Covenant and the Moon people - the saviours and masters of the English.

An amazing series.  The author is really good at conveying the emotion, thrilling, cliff-hangers and menace as you get your head around this future dystopia for Earth. Loved it.

I hadn't actually realised that this series is a sequel to The Exodus Trilogy, and not having the previous knowledge, did not distract from this series at all.  I have added the previous series to my wishlist.

 

Quantum by Patricia Cornwell

 Q in my A-Z of Fiction Titles is Quantum.  

The blurb says:

On the eve of a top secret space mission, Captain Calli Chase detects a tripped alarm in the tunnels deep below a NASA research center. A NASA pilot, quantum physicist, and cybercrime investigator, Calli knows that a looming blizzard and government shutdown could provide the perfect cover for sabotage, with deadly consequences.

As it turns out, the danger is worse than she thought. A spatter of dried blood, a missing security badge, a suspicious suicide—a series of disturbing clues point to Calli’s twin sister, Carme, who’s been MIA for days.

Desperate to halt the countdown to disaster and to clear her sister’s name, Captain Chase digs deep into her vast cyber security knowledge and her painful past, probing for answers to her twin’s erratic conduct. As time is running out, she realizes that failure means catastrophe—not just for the space program but for the safety of the whole nation.

 I don't think I've read any of Patricia Cornwell's books before, though I'm well aware she is a prolific and well-revered author.

The thriller side of this book I enjoyed.  Trying to work out what is going on with Carme as well as finding out why there was a suicide and the mystery of the tripped alarm.  However, I didn't see the point of the NASA background, the rocket launch and all that side of thing.  I get that it's just the backing for the story, yet it seemed so irrelevant, that the story could have been situated elsewhere and nothing much would be lost.

There is also no ending to the book.  I understand the idea of ending on a cliff-hanger, but I much rather books that have some sort of ending, with an epilogue/final chapter that introduces the cliff-hanger.  This book, however, simply doesn't end.

Overall, I'm just disappointed by this book.  Reading other reviews however, have shown me that even Cornwell fans didn't like this book, so that gives me hope should I ever decide to read one of her other series.

I've put the next book on my wishlist, just because I want to know how the story ends, but there are a load of books on my wishlist that I will be buying before the next one. 
(For new readers to my blog - hello, and welcome!  After discovering I had nearly 1000 unread books on my kindle [I love a freebie!], I'm now working through them, refusing to buy any more books until these are read and down to a decent level.  I'm getting there, with only 660 still to go, lol.  The only exception to my no-buying rule, is if a book is so amazing, then I do tend to buy the rest of the series and live in that world for a week or two...)

Nocturne by Kat Ross (The Fourth Talisman Series)

 Nocturne by Kat Ross is N in my A-Z Challenge of Fiction Titles.

This is part of The Fourth Talisman series, which is a sequel to The Fourth Element Series, so as a quick recap, I reread the review I had written previously.

The blurb of Nocturne says:

As the net slowly tightens, something ancient and vengeful begins to stir in the arid death zone called the Kiln. A dashing daeva named Darius is pursuing Nazafareen, but so are a multitude of enemies. War is brewing again. Can she stay alive long enough to stop it?

Nocturne, a wilderness of eternal night.
Solis, a wasteland of endless day.

Nazafareen is a Breaker, a mortal who has the rare ability to shatter spell magic—although her power carries a high price. With the memories of her former self erased and nowhere else to turn, she comes to Nocturne hoping to start a new life under the triple moons of the darklands.

But when an assassin forces Nazafareen to flee to the sunlit mortal city of Delphi, she finds herself embroiled in a deeper mystery whose origins lie far in the past. Why was the continent sundered into light and dark a thousand years before? And what really happened to the elegant but ruthless creatures who nearly reduced the world to ashes? The new Oracle might know, but she’s outlawed magic and executes anyone caught practicing it. Nazafareen must hide her powers and find a way out of the city—before it’s too late.

The book starts with Nazafareen being held in Nocturne after she has lost all her memories.  She has been advised not to travel without being accompanied, but she is aware there is more going on than meets the eye, convinced that if she could regain her memories everything would fall into place.  After stowing away aboard an air-ship, Nazafareen discovers the other lands are not all they seem. 

As with the previous series by Kat Ross, I couldn't put these books down, and ended up buying the rest of the series: Solis, Monstrum, Nemesis, and Inferno.  
I don't want to give away too much of the plot of these books, but it is another epic adventure mixing magic, religion, revenge, power, love and action.  

Highly recommended.

Book Organisation

Ok, so I have gone through all my past Book Reviews and tried to classify them, so that if you wanted to find a certain type of book that would be easy to do now.  All you have to do is look at the Word Cloud on the right, squint a bit, and then choose the genre you're looking for.

If you have read something based on my recommendation and think that I have missed a classification (from the list below), please comment and I will add it.  Depending where you read, there are 7 or 8 main classifications of genre (I have made sure I covered them all) but there are also 150+ subgenres and classifications that I can't always see the difference between.  As such, some things you'll have to give me artistic license for, such as grouping Paranormal under Fantasy, rather than giving it its own classification.  And I'm surprised to see that despite reading a load of Stephen King and James Herbert as a teen, I haven't got any Horror listed.  That's probably the only addition that I would make.

And, you will notice that some of the links give more than just books listed, especially in the non-fiction list, but you'll just have to cope with scrolling down to find the books for those.

So here is the list of classifications, so that if you did want to find something quickly, you can either click the link below, or the word cloud.

Fiction:
Adventure
Chick-Lit
Childrens
Classic
Cosy
Dystopia
Fantasy
Horror (No link yet, as there are no books yet)
Mystery
Romance
Sci-Fi
Thriller
YA

Non-Fiction:
Bible
Childrens
Christianity
Feminism
Non-Fiction
Real Life
Recipe
Weightloss

I Spy, I Saw Her Die by Ian C. P. Irvine

I have read a few of Ian C. P. Irvine's books before, and this one didn't disappoint.  In fact, though I only had the first book, I had to immediately buy the second and read it all, so I could get to the conclusion of this gripping story.

I Spy, I Saw Her Die is a book about cyber crime and how a man's life is turned upside down when he remotely sees something he shouldn't have done.  Her death could bring down the British government and he finds himself on the run from the secret service with nowhere to hide.

The blurb says:

When Ray Luck - a top cyber security expert - accidentally stumbles upon a devastating secret while surfing the web, the lives of girlfriend and himself are immediately put under threat!

Forced into hiding, and given only three days to live, Ray is a man with not one, but several missions: to save the life of his girlfriend who has been kidnapped by the security services; to prevent a terrorist cyber-attack destroying London; and to bring one of the most powerful men in the world to justice for the savage killing of an apparently innocent woman - a murder powerful people in the British Government are determined to cover up at all costs!

Only Ray can stop them all.

But as the clock starts to tick, he discovers that nothing is as it seems. Who is the real enemy? And who can he trust? Unless he finds out soon, will Ray’s luck finally run out?

I could not put this book down.  I read books 1&2 over a weekend and it was time wisely spent.  This thriller, not only makes you think about whether what you see is real or not, it also makes you think about the government and whether they are indeed the ones who hold the power in this country.  Finally, I like the open-ended question as to whether Ray Luck was intentionally shown what he saw???

If you like books that are thrillers, and are about crime, cyber crime, politics, secret service, secret membership... this is the book for you.

Genesis Code by Eliza Green

Genesis Code is G in my series of A-Z of Fiction Titles. It's a story that focusses on 3 different locations: Earth, Exilon 5 and beneath the surface of Exilon 5.

The blurb says:

Investigator Bill Taggart will stop at nothing to find his missing wife. But standing between him and the truth is a secretive alien species on a distant planet. When his government pushes him to observe the species ahead of plans to relocate Earth’s population, Bill veers off course and straight into the path of one alien.

The surprising confrontation forces Bill to question whether the investigation into the savage species is needed. But when official government intel disagrees with the cold hard facts, he worries there might be another reason for the relocation plans.

A snap government order leaves the investigator in limbo and facing off against a new enemy that is more dangerous than the first. Worse, this enemy appears to live close to home.

A devastating set of plans is soon revealed that will destroy the lives on two worlds. And Bill is caught in the middle. Can he stop chasing ghosts long enough to save humanity from the real enemy?

I really enjoyed this book, and the next in the series is already on my wishlist.  It is set in the future when pollution on Earth has got so bad, that the human race has no choice but to relocate.  After searching the skies, Exilon 5 is a planet that would be perfect after a bit of terraforming.  Unfortunately, there is already a species that lives there, who are then forced underground.  The Indigenes want to know why people have taken over their planet and what they can do to stop themselves being wiped out.

Forgotten by Don and Stephanie Prichard

 

This book is F in my A-Z of Fiction Titles.  

What I found most interesting in this book, is that a helluva lot happens in quick succession, and yet it doesn't feel rushed.  Similarly, there are periods when time moves on, and it doesn't feel like the authors had ran out of things to say so jumped to the next bit of action.  It's very well written.

Forgotten starts with Eve waking up in a hospital, having been in some kind of accident. Outside waking for her are Jake, Betty and Crystal, who survived a whole year with Eve on a jungle island.  Jake then gets taken to one side and informed that Eve has been arrested for murder.  It's not long, however, before the tables have turned and it is Jake that gets imprisoned and the only person who can save him has lost her memory of the entire year.

The Blurb says:

It’s frightening to lose your memory. Even scarier is to forget what’s at stake.

Federal prosecutor Eve Eriksson disappears under mysterious circumstances and shows up a year later in a coma. What happened, and where has she been? She can’t remember, and her life is in jeopardy. Four people are hunting her down. Three claim to have been stranded on an island with her. The fourth is her old nemesis, Chicago drug lord Danny Romero, who still wants her dead.

Jake Chalmers is shocked to discover his fiancé is a federal prosecutor. Why did she hide this from him on the island, and who is going to such great lengths to prevent their reunion? If she doesn’t regain her memory, he’ll be thrown into prison for murder.

I really liked this book, and couldn't put it down.  There is such a lot going on (and it spans several years), but as I said before, it does not feel rushed, rather the passage of time is natural.  The topics within this book include survival, murder, human trafficking, spies, revenge, justice, forgiveness, love and probably more too.  It is packed. 

Definitely one to read if you have a few hours spare!

Red White and Blues by Rysa Walker

This is the sequel to the prequel series of the Chronos Books.  I read and reviewed Now, Then and Every When last September, and loved the book so much that I pre-ordered the next in the Chronos Origins series.  It was finally finished and delivered to my Kindle, so I just had to read it, even though it's not part of my A-Z challenge.

This book is as good as the first!

The blurb says:

The United States’ past is hijacked in a time-warping adventure of future interdimensional, high-risk games by the bestselling author of the CHRONOS series.

History is turned inside out when off-world travelers challenge Tyson Reyes and Madi Grace to a real-life game of Temporal Dilemma. Three rounds from the opponents and Hitler takes Europe, Pearl Harbor never happens, a fascist cloud hangs over the postwar United States, and CHRONOS itself is erased from existence.

Now Tyson, Madi, and a team of seasoned players must make their moves—in 1930s New York. Jazz and the blues waft from Village clubs. The World’s Fair draws assassins. Madison Square Garden hosts Nazis. And the Manhattan Project never gets off the ground.

Tyson and Madi have only three days to undo the strategy that changed the tides of war and the fate of the world. A surprise survivor from CHRONOS could be their best hope for flipping the timeline. If he’s on their side. But can they risk trusting him when the past, the future, and the lives of millions hang in the balance?

I really don't want to say too much about this book, for fear of giving away spoilers, but it is mind-bending, and incredibly well-written.  If you haven't read the first book, read that first, just so you can jump right into this one without too much hesitancy.  I have not yet read any of the Chronos Files series, but have added them to my wishlist, as I know once I start reading them, I won't be able to put them down.

 

Chosen by D G Swank and the rest of the series

 I have read books by D G Swank before and I love her, so I was very excited to read Chosen. 

This book did not disappoint.  It follows the story of Emma and her son Jake who live a life on the run from mysterious armed men who are hunting to kill, and appear to get help from a stranger, Will.

The blurb says:

Everything Emma Thompson owns fits in a suitcase she moves from one roach infested motel to another. She and Jake, her five year old son who can see the future, are running from the men intent on taking him. Emma will do anything to protect him even when it means accepting the help of a stranger named Will. Jake insists she needs Will, but Emma’s never needed help before. And even though she’s learned to trust her son, it doesn’t mean she trusts Will.

Mercenary Will Davenport lives in the moment. Hauling Emma to South Dakota should have been an easy job, but his employer neglected to tell him about Emma’s freaky son and the gunmen hot on her trail. Instinct tells him this job is trouble, but nothing can prepare him for Jake’s proclamation that Will is The Chosen One, who must protect Emma from the men hunting her power. A power she doesn't know she has.

Will protects Emma and Jake on a cross-country chase from the men pursuing them, while struggling with memories from his past, his apprehension of Jake, and his growing attraction to Emma. Will’s overwhelming urge to protect Emma surprises him, especially since it has nothing to do with his paycheck and possibly everything to do with the tattoo Jake branded on his arm. Rich and powerful men are desperate to capture Emma, and Will must discover why before it's too late.

This book is supernatural/fantasy, but full of a mother's love for her son.  A mother who will do anything to protect him, even giving up her old life to live in hotels from a suitcase.  When I chose this book, it was based on the title alone, for my A to Z challenge, so I didn't know what it was going to be about in advance.  As I was reading through, I thought that the child, Jake, was the Chosen one, since he is the one with supernatural powers, but it turned out not to be the case.

I couldn't put this book down.  It is very well written and kept me wanting more.  So much so, that I had to find out what happened next, and next, and next.  Not only that, the kindle books have been updated to contain short stories, that give further information about each of the characters, so I had to read those too: Chosen, (short story Emergence), Hunted, (short story Homecoming), Sacrifice, (short story Middle Ground), and Redemption.

Very good, I highly recommend this series.

After Days: Affliction or America Falls: Hell Week by Scott Medbury

I read Affliction (After Days Book 1) as my A in my new A-Z challenge; however, when coming to write this review, I have discovered this series has been rebranded.  What was one book, Affliction, has now been split into two books in the America Falls series: Hell Week and On The Run, as such you can not read Affliction anymore, so I won't link to that.

This book is very timely and apt, though with some differences! It follows Isaac, a teenager, as he learns to adapt to the new world.  After a sudden outbreak of a deadly virus in Korea, the virus was contained before being discovered on American soil.  Unfortunately, it wasn't too long before it was obvious that the virus was a biological weapon, and only people of Chinese heritage or who hadn't finished growing (ie children) we safe from death - though arguably they may have a worse fate having survived.  Isaac meets other children on his travels, and becomes the natural leader of the group as they struggle to get to a safe haven in the Drake Mountains.

The blurb of Hell Week says:

Infection. Invasion. Chaos. A weaponized virus ravages the U.S. somehow leaving children and young adults unscathed. As hundreds of millions die, for those left, surviving the virus is only the beginning…

Isaac Race thought he'd found a new family and home. A new Life. He had, but it's all about to be snatched away. When an ambitious enemy launches a sneak attack on the USA, his peaceful life is shattered and Isaac, by his very nature a loner, must band together with a ragtag group of survivors to make their way to a sanctuary, three states away in the depths of a vicious east coast winter.

It won’t be easy, the invaders aren't the only dangers unleashed in a world suddenly turned upside down, and if they're going to survive, they'll need to be resourceful and ruthless and rely on others in a world where trust has been shattered.

I loved this book.  It is really gripping; I just hope that splitting it into two hasn't diluted it too much.  It has been written in a very clever way, in that it alludes to some horrific and gruesome things, but doesn't elaborate, so it is up to you what you imagine (and such, could be suitable for younger readers).  When I was looking for this book on Amazon, and initially couldn't find it, I was disappointed, as I would like to finish the rest of the series; so I am glad that the series is still there under an alternative name (even though I think there should be some reference to the change on at least Hell Week's write-up).
A good book.

Forged In Rage by Sean Young

Forged in Rage by Sean Young is my penultimate book in my alphabet challenge I set myself.  I chose it because the title and book cover looked interesting; I hadn't realised that is was historical fiction.

The blurb says:

For generations, the copper scroll has remained buried, concealing the treasure it protects and the prophecy it contains. Now that secret is about to be unleashed. In the right hands, the scroll could bring about Israel's freedom from Roman occupation, but used improperly, it could destroy her.

Barabbas, a warrior zealot and sworn protector of the scroll, has vowed to overthrow his Roman oppressors. He has raged against an empire and lashed out at its military might. But his greatest enemy remains the pain within.

His quest for vengeance and Roman blood, his love for a peace loving woman, and his commitment to the mysterious scroll pull him in vastly different directions. Death and betrayal loom around every corner as Barabbas searches for a truth that he has yet to fully understand-the force that drives him forward and ultimately requests the ultimate sacrifice to be made by a man.

As a Christian, the name Barabbas is well known as the murderer who was released instead of Jesus at the crucifixion. This novel is an interesting take on who Barabbas was, what he stood for, how he earned the reputation of being a murderer, and the suffering he endured.  Whilst being set in the time period 29-33AD, it is not centred around Jesus at all, but Barabbas and the search for the copper scroll.

This book is full of action.  Barabbas has to pit his wits against Gaius, a Roman Centurion, as they try and outsmart each other and capture/evade capture whilst finding the truth about the scroll.

The chapters in this book are fairly long (~20min/chapter) which meant I only read the book when I had time to read a whole chapter, but it is really good.  It kept me on the edge of my seat, as I was wondering whether the zealots would manage to escape, whether Barabbas could rescue his friends, and throughout the torture, death and loss of family and friends.

In fact, my main disappointment with this book is that Book 2 in the Violent Sands series, When Shadows Scream, isn't available yet!  A good read!

Now, Then and Every When by Rysa Walker

This was my W in my alphabetical list, and I guessed by the title it would be about time travel.
I wasn't wrong.

This book follows the story of Madi, who is living in her grandfather's home in the year 2136.  He was a prolific writer, though there is mystery surrounding his works as some people don't believe he actually was the author of everything he wrote, due to differing styles and topics. One day, she finds something emitting a light in the back garden - she digs it up, and it's a medallion.  She can see it is emitting a light, but other people can only see a dull piece of metal.  Madi realises this medallion is a CHRONOS key and she can use it to travel through time and space.

I'm not going to go through too much of the plot, because I don't want to give it away - not least for those of you who realise that this series is a prequel, so already know some of the characters.  I didn't realise it was a prequel, so read this in it's own right.

The blurb says:

When two time-traveling historians cross paths during one of the most tumultuous decades of the twentieth century, history goes helter-skelter. But which one broke the timeline?

In 2136 Madison Grace uncovers a key to the origins of CHRONOS, a time-travel agency with ties to her family’s mysterious past. Just as she is starting to jump through history, she returns to her timeline to find millions of lives erased—and only the people inside her house realize anything has changed.

In 2304 CHRONOS historian Tyson Reyes is assigned to observe the crucial events that played out in America’s civil rights movement. But a massive time shift occurs while he’s in 1965, and suddenly the history he sees isn’t the history he knows.

As Madi’s and Tyson’s journeys collide, they must prevent the past from being erased forever. But strange forces are at work. Are Madi and Tyson in control or merely pawns in someone else’s game?

The beginning is slightly complicated in its style, as it flips between three time zones (2100s, 2300s and the 1960s), inter-spaced between the chapters are quotes from various historical documents, which hint towards a Genetics War, a company called CHRONOS, and a "virtual reality" game called Temporal Dilemma.  However, once you get used to this, the story is really gripping. 

I loved it.  There is so much going on, and I'm sure if you were aware of the original series it would be even better, but as a standalone, it was great.  There is so much going on, and it is interesting to read about things in the past, and seeing things in the future written-as-past, as well as things in the far-future.  

In fact, my main annoyance with this book is that this series is a prequel and Book 2 of this series isn't out until JANUARY 2021!! I have already pre-ordered it, but it's ages until January!  Additionally, because I know there a series that comes after this one, I don't want to start reading those, because I'd like to finish reading the prequels, beforehand.

Gah! Life is hard when authors don't write fast enough! 😉😆

Plague 99 by Jean Ure

As I didn't have a U in my alphabet list, Plague 99 by Jean Ure was recommended to me by friends.

It is aimed at teens/YA and is about a plague that has appeared and affects the UK... timely!

It is about a young 13yo (I think) girl called Fran, who goes off on a youth camp for the summer, and returns to a deserted London.  Away at camp, nobody had any idea what was going on in the rest of the world, and Fran has to come to terms with the impact the virus has had on her family as she struggles to survive.

The blurb says:

Almost overnight a plague has wiped out the population of England. The only survivors seem to be three very different teenagers. Together they must come to terms with the man-made devastation around them. Fran, Harriet and Shahid have the power to rebuild society, but do they have the courage?

As the book starts, I think it is very obviously written for teens, however, don't let this put you off reading it.  The plot progresses, and you become drawn into their world, and it is interesting to see things from the view point of a teen.  Surviving is not easy for Fran or anybody else who remains.  She meets a boy from her class at school and with her best friend Harry, they try to make sense of everything around them, and determine what they need to do and where they need to go to for food and shelter.

Despite the beginnings, I really enjoyed this book.  So much so, that I was going to buy and read the second book in the trilogy immediately - the only thing that stopped me was that it no longer focuses on Fran, and I was desperate to find out what happened next in her story.  I have added the subsequent books to my wishlist, and I have recommended this book to DD1 (12yo).  I really enjoyed it.
 

Ties That Bind by Anne Patrick

I could not put this down.  Ties That Bind is a thriller that stars Jo McDaniels, an FBI profiler with 10 years experience.  After years of study, training and a wealth of cases under her belt, Jo is called to use her special talent to investigate a serial killer back in her hometown of Claremont.  However, Jo is estranged from her family so going back isn't as easy as it may seem.

The blurb says:

FBI agent Jo McDaniels has been called to her hometown of Claremont, Oregon, to help on a grisly serial murder case. As with most profilers, she is able to take the evidence, background of the victims, and crime scene photos, and reenact in her mind what took place between the killer and the victim. But what if there are no crime scenes and the victims have been decapitated in order to hide their identity? This is where Jo's unusual gift comes into play. Unlike other profilers in her field, she is able to sense what the victim felt prior to death. She not only feels their emotions, she feels their pain.

Sheriff Austin Garrett doesn't quite know what to think of the beautiful and sassy profiler with a unique gift that defies all reason. He's willing to try anything, though, to stop the monster plaguing his community.

But can Jo and Austin find the killer before he makes it even more personal?

I chose this book as my P in the alphabet of author's names that I haven't read yet, and I am very glad that I did.  It is full of suspense, and whilst the murders are horrible, there is no excessive gore or mutilation that can be found in other books.  

What I particularly liked about this book is that despite there being two more obvious suspects, the evidence keeps swinging one way and then the other, so you cannot be sure in your predictions.  The author keeps you on the edge of your seat as each bit of the plot unfolds as we move towards the climax of the story.  Really enjoyable and well written.  I have added the sequel, Malice, to my wishlist and will read that soon as I've finished going through the alphabet.