Saturday 23 March 2024

Nutshell by Ian McEwan

 
From Goodreads

Trudy has betrayed her husband, John. She's still in the marital home – a dilapidated, priceless London townhouse – but not with John. Instead, she's with his brother, the profoundly banal Claude, and the two of them have a plan. But there is a witness to their plot: the inquisitive, nine-month-old resident of Trudy's womb.

Told from a perspective unlike any other, Nutshell is a classic tale of murder and deceit from one of the world’s master storytellers.

My thoughts

I recently read this as one of my local Library reading group reads.

I have read quite a few books by Ian McEwan over the years, but this was unusual in the way that it was told to us.  The narrator of the story is an unborn child, who narrates from inside the womb. 

This is a modern contemporary retelling of Hamlet by William Shakespeare, so if you know the outcome of that play then you will have a fair good idea of what happens in this one.

I quite enjoyed the way the story was related to the reader and if you ever come across it, then it's worth a gander at.

 

Friday 15 March 2024

Silo Submerged (The Runner, The Diver, The Watcher) by W.J. Davies









From Goodreads

In the depths of Silo 35, water is pouring in at an unstoppable rate. Ace and a team of Divers are doing the best they can to avert this disaster, but it may not be enough.

When Ace proposes another, more drastic way of saving the silo's population, he is banished for his sin of toxic words. What happens during and after his cleaning is unprecedented and will greatly affect the future of the silos.

Originally published in three parts (The Runner, The Diver, and The Watcher), Silo Submerged is a 75,000 word novel that takes the reader on a very personal journey through the vivid world Hugh Howey created with his Silo Saga (WOOL, SHIFT and DUST). This series was published with the full support of Mr. Howey and has gone on to sell over 15,000 copies.

My thoughts

I grabbed a copy of this via Kindle Unlimited.  This is a series of three short dystopian stories in a trilogy all in one book.  This trilogy is very similar in ways to the world that Hugh Howey created in his Silo series and was published with the full support of him.

I read this book back in 2023, but my life didn't allow me to write the review of it at the time.  I found this a thought provoking series of stories and it was right up my street as the dystopian genre is one that I do enjoy.  It was a good edition to the dystopian genre set around the world that Hugh Howey created.

Can Ace and his team of Divers save the future of Silo 35 as it is beginning to fill with water and the disaster that this may cause will possibly see the end of the inhabitants of the Silo or will they fail at every turn?  Ace has some ideas that may help, but can he be believed and allowed to do what he proposes.  Not everyone will be behind him and may have other ideas themselves that may put his life at risk.

The End is Now (The Apocalypse Triptych #2) by Various Authors

 

From Goodreads

Famine. Death. War. Pestilence. These are the harbingers of the biblical apocalypse, of the End of the World. In science fiction, the end is triggered by less figurative means: nuclear holocaust, biological warfare/pandemic, ecological disaster, or cosmological cataclysm.

But before any catastrophe, there are people who see it coming. During, there are heroes who fight against it. And after, there are the survivors who persevere and try to rebuild.

THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH will tell their stories.

Edited by acclaimed anthologist John Joseph Adams and bestselling author Hugh Howey, The Apocalypse Triptych is a series of three anthologies of apocalyptic fiction. THE END IS NIGH focuses on life before the apocalypse. THE END IS NOW turns its attention to life during the apocalypse. And THE END HAS COME explores life after the apocalypse.

THE END IS NIGH is about the match. THE END HAS COME is about what will rise from the ashes. THE END IS NOW is about the conflagration.
My thoughts
I grabbed a copy of this via Kindle Unlimited.  This is the second in a trilogy of books that are a compilation of short stories all set around a dystopian time.
In this edition of the trilogy it is as the end of the World is happening and what the impact of that occurrence has on the characters and the environment that they live in.  Some of the short stories follow on from stories that appeared in the End is Nigh and others are standalone stories.  ]
I enjoyed this edition of the trilogy as I am quite a fan of stories that are of a dystopian nature.  Like all short stories sometimes you feel that they are not quite long enough to draw you in, but they try their best.  
Grab a copy and see for yourself what your views of them are.




Thursday 14 March 2024

The Shell Collector by Hugh Howey













From Goodreads

The ocean is dying. The sea is growing warmer and is gradually rising. Seashells have become so rare that collecting them is now a national obsession. Flawless specimens sell like priceless works of art. Families hunt the tideline in the dark of night with flashlights. Crowds gather on beaches at the lowest of tides, hoping to get lucky.


Supreme among these collectors is Ness Wilde, CEO of Ocean Oil. Ness owns many of the best beaches, and he keeps them to himself. It's his fault the world turned out this way. And I aim to destroy him.

My name is Maya Walsh. You might be familiar with my shelling column in the Times. I was working on a series of pieces about Mr. Wilde, when out of the blue, he called. He says he wants to talk. But I don't think he's going to like what I have to say. 


My thoughts

I enjoyed the Silo series by Hugh Howey and decided to read some of his other work.  I was pleasantly surprised by this one.  Whilst it has some of his usual dystopian themes, it also has a romantic theme running through it.

I have read some reviews that have slated the romance side of it, saying that it's a little 'predictable' BUT a lot of romances can be classed that way. I enjoyed this read as I do enjoy romances as they help take us away from our everyday lives, I don't mind the predictability of them at all and I am more than glad that I grabbed a copy of this book to read.  I immersed myself in the lives of Maya and Ness, enjoying where Howey took us as he related their story to us.

More like this please.

Thursday 25 January 2024

Outback (DS Walker #1) by Patricia Wolf








From Goodreads

Two missing backpackers. One vast outback.

DS Lucas Walker is on leave in his hometown, Caloodie, looking after his dying grandmother. When two young German backpackers vanish from the area on their way to a ranch, he finds himself unofficially on the case. But why all the interest from the Federal Police, when they have probably just ditched the heat and dust of the outback for the coast?

As the number of days the couple are missing climbs, DS Walker is joined by the girl's sister. A detective herself from Berlin, she is desperate to find her before it's too late.

Walker remains convinced there is more at play. Working in the organised crime unit has opened his eyes to the growing drug trade in Australia's remote interior. Could this be connected?

As temperatures soar, the search intensifies to a thrilling crescendo against the unforgiving backdrop of the scorching Australian summer.

My thoughts

I grabbed a copy of this via Kindle Unlimited and I am so glad that I did.  

As a backpacking couple disappear without trace, is this a random event or is there something more sinister happening in the area?  As DS Walker finds himself unofficially involved on the case of a missing pair of German backpackers, he is joined by the sister of the female missing backpacker.  She is a detective herself back in Germany.  Can the pair work together to find out what has happened to the missing backpackers?  More importantly though, why are the Federal Police involved in the case?  Is there more to this than at first meets the eye? 

This was a great read that had me on the edge of my seat at times wanting to know what was happening.  The author has a way of drawing you in and engaging you in the action, making you feel that you are in amongst it all and hoping that things will work out well..

This is the first book that I have read by this Author and it won't be the last.  She has written a second one in this series and it is already patiently sat waiting to be read on my ever increasing TBR (TO BE READ) pile.

The outback in Australia is a vast area and so much of it is uninhabited.  One can only imagine the vastness of it, as it takes hours to fly across it let alone travel across it by road, if that's possible at all.

This book is well worth reading, grab a copy and be transported to the Outback.


Wednesday 24 January 2024

The End is Nigh (The Apocalypse Triptych #1) by Various Authors










From Goodreads

Famine. Death. War. Pestilence. These are the harbingers of the biblical apocalypse, of the End of the World. In science fiction, the end is triggered by less figurative means: nuclear holocaust, biological warfare/pandemic, ecological disaster, or cosmological cataclysm.

But before any catastrophe, there are people who see it coming. During, there are heroes who fight against it. And after, there are the survivors who persevere and try to rebuild. THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH will tell their stories.

Edited by acclaimed anthologist John Joseph Adams and bestselling author Hugh Howey, THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH is a series of three anthologies of apocalyptic fiction. THE END IS NIGH focuses on life before the apocalypse. THE END IS NOW turns its attention to life during the apocalypse. And THE END HAS COME focuses on life after the apocalypse.

THE END IS NIGH features all-new, never-before-published works by Hugh Howey, Paolo Bacigalupi, Jamie Ford, Seanan McGuire, Tananarive Due, Jonathan Maberry, Robin Wasserman, Nancy Kress, Charlie Jane Anders, Ken Liu, and many others.

My thoughts

I have for some time now been a fan of dystopian stories that take us away from our day to day life and into alternative worlds, that are not always make believe but can often be set around our normal life and existence. 

I grabbed a copy of this book from Kindle Unlimited.  This is the first in a trilogy of three themed books of short stories, set around the end of the world and what may happen.  Some of the Authors are well known and others have had work published but not to such great acclaim as the well known authors.    

Excerpt from Wedding Day by Jake Kerr.

'I am filled with more happiness than I knew was possible as the love of my life will be safe and this wonderful amazing person who has filled my life with such joy will not have her light go out due to the cruelty of the heavens or fate or whatever has decreed that life is now nothing more than a lottery she will she will live she will live.'

In my eyes life has always been a lottery, it's the luck of the draw what happens to us on our journey on this Earth.   Some of what happens to us we can plan for and other things happen that we may never have expected to happen to us.  Just keep an eye on that lottery ticket that you get and make the most of life every day as you never know when that lottery ticket may fail.  

I really enjoyed reading this collection of short stories, the subject of the stories varies greatly from gentle romances to horror themes.  Some will remain with me for a while as they made me think about the issues that they were dealing with and how I may have dealt with things if I had been the character that the story was centred on .  

I am looking forward to reading the next in this Apocalypse Triptych series The End is Now.

Saturday 20 January 2024

The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor

 

From Goodreads

An unconventional vicar moves to a remote corner of the English countryside, only to discover a community haunted by death and disappearances both past and present--and intent on keeping its dark secrets--in this explosive, unsettling thriller from acclaimed author C. J. Tudor.

Welcome to Chapel Croft. Five hundred years ago, eight protestant martyrs were burned at the stake here. Thirty years ago, two teenage girls disappeared without a trace. And two months ago, the vicar of the local parish killed himself.

Reverend Jack Brooks, a single parent with a fourteen-year-old daughter and a heavy conscience, arrives in the village hoping to make a fresh start and find some peace. Instead, Jack finds a town mired in secrecy and a strange welcome package: an old exorcism kit and a note quoting scripture. "But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known."

The more Jack and her daughter Flo get acquainted with the town and its strange denizens, the deeper they are drawn into their rifts, mysteries, and suspicions. And when Flo is troubled by strange sightings in the old chapel, it becomes apparent that there are ghosts here that refuse to be laid to rest.

But uncovering the truth can be deadly in a village where everyone has something to protect, everyone has links with the village's bloody past, and no one trusts an outsider.

My thoughts

My thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.  Sadly, I only got round to reading this towards the end of 2023.  I was prompted into grabbing this as the series based on the book aired on TV last October and I was keen to read it before the series started.

Telling the story of Rev. Jack Brooks and her daughter as they arrive in a village.  Like a lot of us Jack has a past, the village that she is sent to has a past and is surrounded by secrets that many would prefer remained in the past.  As the two collide how will Jack deal  with what is about to happen to her and her daughter Flo?

With a mix of thriller, horror and supernatural themes this book is the sort of read that we have come to expect from this author.   I enjoyed the read and always look forward to seeing where C.J. takes us in her journey through her warped mind as she translates it to the pages of her books.

Keep them coming and long may your mind continue to be warped.