Review: Blood's Game by Angus Donald

Synopsis: London, Winter 1670. Holcroft Blood has entered the employ of the Duke of Buckingham, one of the most powerful men in the kingdom after the king. It is here that his education really begins. With a gift for numbers and decoding ciphers, Holcroft soon proves invaluable to the Duke, but when he's pushed into a betrayal he risks everything for revenge. 

His father, Colonel Thomas Blood, has fallen on hard times. A man used to fighting, he lives by his wits and survives by whatever means necessary. When he's asked to commit treason by stealing the crown jewels, he puts himself and his family in a dangerous situation - one that may end at the gallows. As the machinations of powerful men plot to secure the country's future, both father and son must learn what it is to survive in a more dangerous battlefield than war - the court of King Charles II.

~ ~ ~

I adore the character of Colonel Thomas Blood - so who could not reciprocate with his offspring!

A riotous adventure at the time of the Restoration of King Charles II (c.1670s). It is the story of both Colonel Thom Blood and his offspring, Holcroft Blood.  Angus Donald's narrative is fresh, exciting and always action-packed; his characters walk on the wild-side of life, and can be both detestable and likeable at the same time.

This is a period I am delving more into as a reader, and one that I am enjoying immensely. This will not be my last foray and I am looking forward to further exploits in the upcoming books - "Blood' s Revolution and Blood's Campaign.

Note: I read and reviewed this for both Goodreads and NetGalley back in 2020 and since then, have added all three books to my own personal library.

Benjamin Wallace - Duck & Cover Series

Even a mushroom cloud has a silver lining.

Join the Librarian and his mastiff as he does his best to make the post-apocalyptic world a better place by protecting the weak,fighting injustice, squaring off against a group of former renaissance fair workers who have established a kingdom in the Rocky Mountains, and so on. 

Can one man make a difference in the face of such murderous cannibals and super smart bears? Probably not.

Visit Benjamin's website for more on this series.

Dirk Cussler - reflections 50 years on

From an article posted in CrimeReads:

In 1973, a paperback thriller was published by Pyramid Press, written by an aspiring writer from Southern California. The book opened with an antiquated World War I German Albatross biplane strafing Brady Air Force Base on the Greek island of Thásos, destroying its fleet of F-105 jet fighters. The attack is disrupted by the arrival of a lumbering PBY Catalina flying boat, whose pilot engages in an unlikely dogfight with the Albatross and somehow prevails. The Mediterranean Caper was the debut novel by my father Clive Cussler, and introduced the indomitable character of Dirk Pitt at the controls of the Catalina, along with his fictional employer, the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA).

Read full article here @ CrimeReads

My first introduction to both Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt was through his third novel, "Raise The Titanic". I needed to do a book report for school, and was definitely not into romance, having been raised with a healthy dose of murder and action adventure. This book still occupies a small corner of my mind even to this day.

Raise The Titanic: The President's secret task force develops the ultimate defensive weapon. At its core: byzanium, a radioactive element so rare sufficient quantities have never been found. But a frozen American corpse on a desolate Soviet mountainside, a bizarre mining accident in Colorado, and a madman's dying message lead DlRK PITT~ to a secret cache of byzanium. Now he begins his most thrilling, daunting mission -- to raise from its watery grave the shipwreck of the century!

The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie

Synopsis: When Thomas Lang, a hired gunman with a soft heart, is contracted to assassinate an American industrialist, he opts instead to warn the intended victim - a good deed that doesn't go unpunished. Within hours Lang is butting heads with a Buddha statue, matching wits with evil billionaires, and putting his life (among other things) in the hands of a bevy of femmes fatales, whilst trying to save a beautiful lady ...and prevent an international bloodbath to boot.

~ ~ ~

Why has it taken me so long to find this tome???

Another one for that genre of "bad guy hero" narrative - this time from actor and comedian Hugh Laurie. Told in first person narrative by the man in the title - gun seller / assassin for hire Thomas Lang - we are taken on a non-stop, oft tongue-in-cheek adventure as Lang tries to right a wrong, save the life of the man he was hired to kill and the life of the damsel in distress, whilst at the same time saving the world under the guise of terrorist from evil villains (ie: businessmen) who are hoping to start WWIII in order to drum up sales.

As Lang laments.... " ... all I was doing - all I'd ever been doing since the whole thing started - was selling guns ..."

It is witty, humourous (in a dry, sartirical sort of way), it is action packed - with action and fabulous one-liners a-plenty - and has a hero intent on doing good under (and in) extreme circumstances - does he get the girl in the end, read on and find out!

Loved every minute of reading this!

Review: The Recruiter by Gregg Podolski

Synopsis: An action-packed debut from Gregg Podolski, The Recruiter is a thrilling and unique adventure through the European underworld.  When bad guys need good help, they call Rick Carter.

He’s a criminal recruiter, searching for contract killers, cyber hackers, gun smugglers, and any other assorted villains-for-hire a European crime boss might need. But, when the family he left behind in New Jersey is caught up in a client’s plot to monopolize the black market, Rick has to save them from two of his own top candidates: deadly assassins known only as Ghost and The Persian.

Fixing his own mess will require a set of skills he doesn’t have—not a problem, as finding qualified help is where he excels. But stepping into action, becoming the hero his family needs, that’s new territory. For a man who’s spent the last ten years being the best at helping the worst, this may be his last chance to do something right.

~ ~ ~

Barely a quarter of the way in, I gave this four stars. It deserves five - what a roller-coaster ride through the murky underworld and the shady world of espionage. The bad guy is the good guy and the villains are suitably bad.

Rick Carter is a recruiter - he lines up "staff" for those who are willing to pay big bucks for a job to be done - no questions asked. However, things go a little awry (understatement) when a new client comes on the scene and makes Rick an offer he cannot refuse. Now Rick must use his skills and contacts to ensure that this new client does not achieve their end game - and it will come at a personal cost.

It is so easy to become invested in Rick's narrative as the tale rockets along - sometimes a break-neck speed - to an inevitable outcome, which is not a a tidy affair at all. The body count is high, the violence oft times gratuitous, the humour suitable dark, the undertones noirish, the action non-stop. For a first novel, the reader could not ask for anything more. Except more!

A couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to read a number of books of a similar genre (Truhen, Milford, Johnson, Holmen, Hamdy, and McDonnell). Podolski is in good company and I look forward to reading more.

Review: The Lawless Land by Boyd & Beth Morrison

Synopsis: Canterbury, 1351. Excommunicated knight Gerard Fox is a battle-hardened warrior whose ancestral home was unjustly taken from him. Now, he roams across the known world of Europe looking for work as a man-at-arms. Equipped with only his Damascus-steel sword and war bow, Fox takes out tyrannical and dishonorable men in a land still blighted by the Black Death.

In his ongoing crusade to deliver justice, Fox comes to the aid of Lady Isabel, who is fleeing from her brutal betrothed. But she hasn't told him the whole story. Isabel is guarding a priceless holy relic. One many men would kill for.

Fox and Isabel soon find they are being chased across the continent and try to evade those who seek the relic. But as more assassins close in, Fox realizes they will stop at nothing to possess the sacred treasure that Isabel has sworn to protect...

The premise: a Knight Templar, a damsel in distress, a priceless relic, a pursuit, a villain, redemption. All of which make for an entertaining read.

It is the late 14th century - France and England are in the midst of what is referred to as The Hundred Years War; the deathly spectre of plague walks the land; and no-one is safe from landless marauders returning from the war. Into this we find Gerard Fox on his own personal mission, when confronted by a runaway carriage, being hotly pursued - should he interfere or not. Well, of course he does!

From this point onward, Gerard's own mission takes a back seat as he puts all his energy into ensuring this luckless lady achieves her end by placing a priceless relic, kept safe through a long female custodial chain, in the hands of one of the links. Along the way, Gerard and the lady are pursued by a shady French Cardinal and his agent, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the relic, whilst the lady's erstwhile and rather dangerous, jilted fiance is also in hot pursuit with his own agenda. Gerard enlists the aid of old friends as the Templar and lady make their way from England over to France. There are captures and escapes aplenty, tournaments, disguises, deceptions and impersonations, which culminates in a trial by combat between hunter and hunted.

The tension builds as we travel ever closer to our destination, and the narrative takes the reader along for a most exciting ride. A well researched story that captures and holds the imagination and attention of the reader. A series ...... one is left wondering.

Review: No Light Without Shadow by Luke Gracias

Synopsis: On 06/06/06, the world’s population crossed 6.66 billion. Any further increase could only occur at the cost of other species and future generations.

This triggered the Devil’s Game. A Treasure Hunt for the twelve missing pages of the Devil’s Bible, which hold the Devil’s Prayer. A game designed for Jess Russo, the daughter of the Devil, to unleash Armageddon. Each page Jess finds encourages people to be selfish. To hoard for themselves and theirs, wiping out every chance future generations and all other species have of survival. Only her elder sister Siobhan can stop her, by finding the pages of the Devil’s Prayer hidden across the globe before Jess does.

When the bells of Amalfi Cathedral toll twelve repeatedly one night, Inspector Luca Reginalli races to find four ancient frescoes and a note in a jade sarcophagus. The cryptic note offering the Twelfth Page of the Devil’s Prayer in exchange for Siobhan goes viral. The treasure hunter Siobhan becomes the hunted.

From the Templars of Tomar to the Doomsday Chest in London, from the Tomb of Amir Temur to the Shadowless Pagoda of Wuhan, Siobhan and Reginalli follow the trail of carnage left by each page of the Devil’s Prayer.

Can they save the world from its own destruction?

Firstly please read The Devil's Prayer first and foremost as this is the sequel and makes numerous references to the first.

This is essentially the story of the survival - the survival of mankind, of the environment, of faith, of life on earth in all its form. And it preempted by a game - a battle of wits - between good and evil, light and dark, the emissaries of God and the Devil in the form of two sisters (Siobhan and Jess) and the respective mysterious religious factions that support them in their quest.

Codex Gigas

Their quest: find the twelve missing pages of the Devil's Bible - the Codex Gigas - that make up the Devils Prayer which will either save or destroy mankind, depending on who is holding the majority of the pages. The sisters' quest will take them from their hometown in Australia throughout Europe and Asia ... the path to the pages of the Devil's Prayer was littered by a trail of dead bodies ... such was the determination of each faction to take possession.

There is an abundance of research that went into the narrative, which I always appreciate when historical and religious overtones merge and meld with modern fiction. It will provoke thought and discussion and argument but ultimately the message is quite clear - the earth is the only thing we all have in common.

Review: The Wolf Hunt by Tim Hodkinson

Synopsis: When you can't protect everyone, who will you save?

AD 935. Einar Unnsson is destined to be great. He has already defeated the men sent to kill him by his father, Jarl Thorfinn, the 'Skull Cleaver'. Einar has a gift that makes him lethal in battle, a gift he needs now more than ever.

Jarl Thorfinn is set on vengeance. Einar's mother, Unn, was once Thorfinn's favourite bedslave and when she escaped, it was a humiliation he never forgot. Whilst he attempts to supplant the Irish throne, Thorfinn sends his Galdr Man to Iceland on an assassination mission.

Unaware that his mother's life is on the line, Einar spends his exile with the Wolf Coats, a band of fearsome, bloodthirsty warriors. Convinced the fates have turned against them, the Wolf Coats embark on a wild journey, desperate to lift the curse. Yet no amount of Wolf Coats, curse remedies or even Einar's special gifts will help, if Einar can't use them to save Unn's life...

OMG!  "A fast-paced, action-packed historical fiction novel" is an under-statement!  This is yet another page-turning adventure featuring our rag-tag bunch of warriors as they constantly jump out of the frying pan and into the oven before making a final last stand worthy of "The Magnificent Seven" or "Zulu".

Úlfhéðnar

Author, Tim Hodkinson weaves his spell so intricately that you are drawn in before you know it - and pages and hours have passed in no time at all. The story is so compelling that the reader finds themselves as part of this warband as they traverse 10th century Norway on their quest for revenge and redemption. 

Norway is under the reign of Eirik Bloodaxe, whose brothers are intent on raising rebellion - it is a bloody power struggle where the prize is the throne. Add to this, the battle for religious supremacy between the prevailing pagansim of the Vikings and the new religion - Christianity.

This third chapter must be read following the other two - Odin's Game and The Raven Banner -in order - as many of the characters and events referenced will flow more easily for the reader. I do hope that Tim will continue this saga of his own as this is a series worth investing in!

I would suggest tacking down the existing Sagas - they make for fascinating reading! A good starting point is the Viking Society for Northern Research.

January Book Bargains - Part II

So another book sale just happened to be on this weekend, so I did a drive by and stopped in.

Managed to pick up these offerings:

I also managed to pick up a 1944 paperback copy of Graham Greene's "A Gun For Sale" - it was in okay condition - a little bit of damage to the cover but otherwise in good nick for its age - I couldn't resist anyway - my cover looks like this one below - and had a price tag of 1'6.

Review: Black 13 by Adam Hamdy

Synopsis: Black 13 is the brilliant first novel in the Scott Pearce series from Adam Hamdy. 

In this addictive and fast-paced thriller, ex-MI6 officer Pearce is about to show us that in a world where there is no loyalty to the nation state; where governments, the military and intelligence agencies are being outmanoeuvred at every step; it’s time to burn the espionage rule book. Watch Pearce light the fire!

Pre-review (posted 23.12.19 - barely halfway through): I haven't even finished this - and HOLY CRAP ... what a roller-coaster ride this is already! One of the best action thrillers I have read in a long while and I'm only half way through! 

Well, now I have finished it (24.12.19), and what can I say but what a read! My thoughts above, when only halfway through, are still applicable - even more so. The characters, the story, the descriptiveness, the action sequences (and there are plenty of those) - I felt every heartbeat, sat there breathless through every nail-biting escapade, winced at every punch thrown and every bullet spent. 

We already know this is going to be a series so no spoiler alert there - but for a while you wonder .... is this man made of kevlar ... by the end of it, I can hear the words ... "we can rebuild him" ... 

Now for a spoiler alert: this is no fairy tale; there is violence and a lot of it; so if you are easily offended, turn away now. If you want one of the best thrillers around, read on!

Manuscript 512 - Rick Chesler

For centuries, would-be explorers have examined a document written in 1753 rumored to hold the key to locating the so-called Lost City of Z, a fortified settlement containing many treasures and built entirely of gold. Thought to be buried somewhere within the Mato Grosso region of the Amazon rainforest, the lure of the vanished riches has long proven deadly to treasure-seekers who brave the forbidding wilderness and mysterious creatures in search of it.

Disgraced historian Dr. Hunter Winslow, fired from a lucrative professorship for stealing rare documents in order to gain a competitive edge over his colleagues, thinks the key to Manuscript 512 lies not in its words, but in its paper itself. The only problem is that to confirm his hypothesis means to destroy the document, something the Brazil National Library in Rio de Janeiro will never allow. But old habits die hard, and Hunter knows his way around a Special Collections room. After a brazen theft that triggers an international manhunt, the rogue historian is able to reveal the document’s secrets in a way no one else can, or ever will be able to again—by using its physical properties to reveal missing sections that had supposedly been irreversibly damaged.

Armed with this new information, Hunter embarks on an expedition to the deepest Amazon to put to rest the mystery of the lost city once and for all. But while Hunter is looking for the fabled treasure, the long arm of the law is looking for him. Will they catch up to him before he can locate the treasure of a thousand lifetimes, or will he become as lost as the city he seeks?

The Greatest Good by Craig N Hooper

“I lied to the police and was arrested at ten minutes to eight on an otherwise fine and sunny Southern California morning.”

Special Agent Garrison Chase is having a bad morning.  It is supposed to be his first day back on the job – protecting Stanley Tuchek, the California Governor’s son, no less – after a year’s suspension. But, instead, his house has been broken into, and he has been hauled in by the Long Beach police department for questioning. When he finally catches up with the governor’s son, the boy gets shot, and Chase starts to suspect this might all have something to do with his own murky black-ops past. 

When the shooter strikes again, and then even Stanley’s safe house is compromised, Chase realises that things are much more serious than they first appeared. It must be an inside job. He has to keep Stanley safe, and work out what’s going on. But who can he trust? For Chase, the stakes are as high as they can get. He has a custody hearing for his three-year-old son in a few days, and if he can’t figure this case out, he might never see his boy again.

Told in the first person narrative, this is a page-turner full of crooks, cops, corruption and high-octane action.  You'll be gripped from the very first sentence of this blockbuster thriller - I was.

Review - Slave Queen by HB Moore

This is my first Omar Zagouri book (though the third in the series).

The premise: a long forgotten Ottoman bloodline is seeking to re-establish itself in modern day Turkey. We have all the elements of a good mystery / thriller - archaeological mystery; black market smugglers; mysterious villain bankrolling the whole affair; a love interest; a conspiracy; the nemesis.

Current descendants of one branch are seeking to eliminate any of those that would be rivals. The links go back to the 16th Century Constantinople - the time of Suleyman the Magnificent and his queen Roxelana. This actual period in Ottoman history was wrought with internal intrigue as a mere concubine rose up in the harem to become the most influential woman at court. But Roxelana's rise was not an easy one and many enemies were made along the way, including the offspring of his usurped wife and concubines.  Here fact is certainly just as interesting as the fiction!

The action takes place - as mentioned - in both modern-day Turkey, and in the historical past, as one by one, rivals are eliminated. The coup de grace in the final chapters reveals all when the modern day players are brought together.

See all titles in Omar Zagouri series here @ Goodreads and @ HB Moore's blog

Review: The Price You Pay by Aidan Truhen

" ... I guess everyone's the morally conflicted hero of their own narrative am I right? .."

Jack Price is a cocaine dealer, targetted by an international syndicate of killers - the Seven Demons - and Jack's out for revenge - that's "... the price you pay ...".

The story is sassy, descriptive, mouthy, fast paced, punchy. Jack Price is a thoroughly despicable character - self- involved, egotistical, sociopathic, infallable, sardonic; creative and enterprising. There are just too many good one-liners in this story, to many LOl moments (I literally had tears) that you just have to read this. 

Not everyone is going to appreciate Truhen eloquent use of language or his lack to traditional punctuation (I myself have lamented this of other writers) - yet it works here - and works really well.

" ... coffee is the judge of a person .." - I love coffee, Jack loves coffee - Truhen nails it!