Review: A White Hot Plan

Posted on by tuesdaylatte

No spoilers. This is a great read. It’s a great story. It moves fast. It twists. It turns. Then it twists again. And then there is just one more twist. The narrative jumps between characters and its really effective. The body count starts to increase. The tension ratchets up. It builds and builds until the end.

I liked the way the narrative jumped around and moved about, and I got really invested in the different stories. I really believed in the characters. There was depth and reality to the more prominent characters.

I thought the place itself was really well drawn, believable and real. And as it got nearer the end, the pace picked up and rollicked forward to the climax. The final action scenes are well drawn and easy to follow and understand (lets face it sometimes action pieces aren’t, nothing worse than having to interrupt the narrative to read it again).

Ideally if I’d had time I would have consumed it in one session. Its readable and believable. It has some depth and some prescient ideas. But reading it was a bit like eating a fabulous dessert. You nibble at the edges, testing the different sides. You like it. You eat your way towards the middle and then before you know it your dipping your spoon into some luscious melt in your mouth delight that you hadn’t expected. When its done, you think, wow that was great.

Although I would temper that by saying that the material here has a dark side and a point to make and that is not lost in the various narratives or in the pace, tone and context of the story.  It did make me think about its themes.

But you should read it, and then treat yourself to a second dessert.

I was given a free copy of this to review.

Wolf Weather Miles Watson

Posted on by tuesdaylatte

Ooh, this was a fun, fab scary story. I loved it. Its nicely structured, and builds. The pace is good, not too fast, not too slow. I liked the concept and the central character.

It’s kind of what you want in a scary story, not so implausible that you can’t believe it, just plausible enough that when you think about it you can see it might be a thing. I like wolves and snow and animal stuff and this had just the right amount of tension to keep me going to the end.

It’s a short story, so you need it to keep moving. I liked the descriptions and the suspense kept ratcheting up. It has a deeper concept behind it, but I confess I didn’t overthink it. I just sat back and enjoyed it for what it is, a really fast paced, fab piece of work.

A bit like taking a sports car out for a spin on the last sunny day, wind in your hair, touch those brakes before the bend and forget those speed cameras. You know underneath that motor is humming and the noise is getting inside your head and it all means something, and winter is coming but you’ll think about that later on.

It’s a deep, dark, snowy tale, full of animal instinct and primal power. I read it all in one sitting. Indulge yourself and afterwards go out into the garden and howl at the moon.

I was given a free copy of this to review.

Review: Empire’s Daughter

Posted on by tuesdaylatte

I really enjoyed this book. The narrative is well paced and whilst it’s part of a wider series, it stands on its own as a story. The tension builds nicely in the first part, with more emotional resolution in the second. I liked the main character, and you get a real sense of the physicality of the lifestyle in the early parts of the book.

The scene setting is really good, just real enough that you can picture it in your head, but not too overdone. The writing is sparse in some ways but it fits the mood of the book. Its well drawn, engaging and absorbing. At its centre is an idea that has its roots in a reality that we rarely hear about, there were small women only settlements for various reasons.  I warmed to the central characters, and the dilemmas she faced. It felt real and plausible as a basis for a story.

I liked that that it was real about what a proper defence would have to look like, and that the character arc followed a generous and well thought-out narrative. I especially liked that the expectation around how relationships might work out changed as the story went on, it was intricate and delicate the way that this was done and it didn’t feel forced, like a whodunit, but with clues around how expectations might change. I thoroughly enjoyed it, highly recommended.

I was given a free copy of this book to review.

Review: Sailing by Orion’s Star (Katie Crabb)

Posted on by tuesdaylatte

A bit of swashbuckling glamour, a touch of democracy and some really good characterisation. I really enjoyed this book.

It’s a bold attempt to give life to ideas we think of as modern but which have existed through time. People have always loved in different ways. This book gives life to those ideas in a different setting but without preaching about it.

This was a great tale about pirates,  power, family with just a smidgen of democracy.  It attempts some bold questions, how did good people survive in a time that was definitely less good. How do people survive in systems they don’t believe in?

 I like the structure, it was inventive, the movement between the narratives, felt natural. The characters seemed real and you brought into their struggle.

At its heart this book, for all its swashbuckling glamour, is about family and friendship, how it can be built and how it can fall apart. It examines relationships and how society compresses and corrupts them to its own ends. It’s a moving tale of a child growing up and making his own decisions about what is wrong and what is right. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was offered this book for free for an honest review.

Book Review: Colony (Benjamin Cross)

Posted on by tuesdaylatte

Home | Benjamin Cross (benjamin-cross.com)

My rating: 4 out of 5

Firstly I really enjoyed this book. It was great. The setting was remote but spacious, so not so confined as to remind you of where we might currently be.  Secondly, oddly in this time of lockdowns in various places, it’s the perfect book for a long haul flight. It kind of made me want to curl up in a plane seat and devour it somewhere over the Indian Ocean. But given where we are, it’s a great book to curl up in bed with in the middle of winter. Actually it’s a fantastic book for that. I was lucky, it was snowing when I read it which added some external atmosphere. (Not saying you couldn’t read it on the beach in the summer.) He creates real atmosphere, you get a sense of the island, the remoteness, the danger. The characters work and he really knows his technical stuff (I think, because I probably don’t). Its full of action. It drew me in and kept me interested. I devoured it in two sittings, it would have been one but the device needed a recharge. There’s a plot and a sub plot and a little romance, as well as a bit of a message. Its nicely paced and well-written. The odd stereotype might creep in but overall it works really, really well. I recommend it as a fast paced thriller, believable and readable. Indulge. Perfect for a weekend at home snuggled on the sofa. Just grab your hot chocolate, curl up and lose yourself. Read it, enjoy it. Being honest, it is the kind of book where you would stay at home to finish it even if you weren’t in a lockdown. Highly recommended. 

Book Review

Posted on by tuesdaylatte

Shamus Dust: Hard Winter. Cold War. Cool Murder.Shamus Dust: Hard Winter. Cold War. Cool Murder. by Janet Roger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

No spoilers.
I loved the sense of 1940s London that this book invokes. I loved the smoky, sultry atmosphere the author created as she delved into the seedier side of a bombed out London. There are plot twists and unseen connections that surprise and keep you guessing. I really enjoyed this, I liked the detailed description of the surroundings and the closed in feeling of the environment that the author created. I didn’t guess the ending and I really liked the central character. The other characters are tightly drawn and the narrative is pacey and keeps you hooked. It has some meticulously written scenes, I loved the little scene setting details. The central character is believable and likeable and there is just a hint of romance, which never goes astray. It is slightly outside of the genre I normally read but it pulled me in and kept me reading. I really think its a 4.5 stars rather than a 4 star but can’t do that here. Highly recommended.

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