James Enjoys a Good Tumble

There are only a handful of authors who, when their books are published, I stop whatever I’m reading and crack open their new novel. Steve Cavanagh is one of those authors. When I found out earlier this year that the newest Eddie Flynn courtroom thriller was on the way, I preordered it immediately. The moment it hit my Kindle, I was all in, boots and all. I wrote an overview of the series before…

Who’s Watching Who? During my extended hiatus from blogging, one thing I didn’t stop doing was reading. I read a lot from about mid-February onwards (the reasons for doing so I laid out in the previous blog). While many of the books I’ve read in the last couple of years have been science fiction, fantasy, or other forms of dark fiction, one genre has been notably absent from my reading pile: spy…

It’s been a while, right? Regular visitors and subscribers may be wondering where I’ve been since the beginning of the year. Certainly those writers and publishers for whom I’ve promised reviews may have been tapping their fingers impatiently, saying to themselves that was a waste of time and energy. In fairness, I did let some of them know that I was taking some downtime. Some, but not all, and…

There is an old Chinese saying (some say it’s a curse): May you live in interesting times. No doubt about it, we absolutely do; it all depends on how you define ‘interesting’. Putting aside the pandemic for the moment, global politics is at its nadir presently. We have national and international corruption and coups going on right now. We have countries firing missiles into the sea for the sheer…

It’s possible I picked the wrong book to start 2022, but with the way the world is right now, it’s also possible I picked the most apt. Hermetica, a science fiction novella by Alan Lea, is remarkable in that it starts to tell one story and then, at the midway point, takes the reader in a completely different direction. You may think you know where it’s going, but trust me, once you’ve finished…

I start this review with an apology to the author. Gary McAvoy sent me an ARC of his new novel, The Opus Dictum, some time ago. I promised him a review in good time, but circumstances and other commitments got the better of me and so I was not able to review it in time for its publication on New Year’s Day. I hope he forgives me. I discovered McAvoy’s books early last year via Kindle Unlimited…

As we come to the end of an unprecedented (God, I’m beginning to hate this word) year, I never fail to remind myself of the comfort I got from reading. I’ve read a lot this year: close to 60 books of various lengths and genres. On the whole, none of them have let me down. I left each one feeling better about life upon reading it. The Amber Crane, from Italian born but well-travelled author Malve…

Many of the books that have given me the most pleasure this year have been in the genre of speculative fiction, science fiction, and fantasy. Before 2021 is out, I will write a blog about some of my favourites. However, a series of books deserves a blog all to itself. Embers of War is a space-opera trilogy from British author Gareth L. Powell. Last year I read books one to eight of James S.A.…

Picture the scene, if you will, of a book reviewer hooked up to a dialysis machine for three hours reading a book with a modicum of privacy (a curtain just about pulled over–not all the way, because the nurses like to see their patients to make sure nothing is going wrong. Imagine said reviewer reading a book that grows more intense with every passing chapter; so intense, in fact, that my blood…

There’s something about space stations that turn me on, in a literal sense of course. For me, some of the best science fiction shows have been set on space stations. Deep Space 9 stands out, of course, but in my opinion the Daddy of them all is Babylon 5, an amazing and for its time, ahead of the posse when it came to CGI, boasting an interstellar cast which told a complex and human and alien…

When I think of India right now, I think of the ruinous and dangerous politics of Narenda Modi’s government, its mishandling of their handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the ruthless segregation and dehumanising of the country’s Muslim population leading to the deadly Delhi Riots of last year. But I also think of a country whose people love to enjoy life and their favourite sport, cricket. I’m…

Covid-19. Ugh. We’re all sick and tired of it right now. It’s been a part of our lives for close to two years now, and yet it feels like a lot longer. God only knows when the threat will recede long enough for us to return to any sort of a normal life. Human nature being what it is, I fear we will be living with this virus for some time to come. While I have spent much of my time since March 2020…

Nothing excites me more than seeing an already dysfunctional family fall even further into the abyss. I mean this in a fictional sense of course, because in an ideal world, families fix each other and seek outside help when they can’t do it themselves. But in the world of fiction, happy families don’t tend to feature too much in crime fiction and other dramatic productions; and if they do, they…

One genre of literary fiction that has never gone out of fashion is the good old spy novel. From Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent to the late John Le Carre’s posthumously published final book, Silverview, the genre has captivated readers for well over a century (I would argue longer than that, too). With No Time To Die finally in cinemas, delighting and dividing James Bond fans in equal measure,…

Image courtesy of whatsonreading.com Anyone who knows me would know that I’m a massive fan of Anthony Horowitz. Whether as a screenwriter, a creator and producer of quality television show, or one of most consistently entertaining and prolific writers in recent years. Horowitz doesn’t know the meaning of resting on one’s laurels. Once one project is finished or near completion, he’s away working…

Let’s start with getting the soundbite out of the way. Mark Richardson’s Hunt For The Troll is, for me, the most compelling story narrated by a character whose name remains unknown throughout the book since Daphne du Maurier published Rebecca way back in 1938. Most authors wouldn’t get away with such a concept nowadays for fear of being accused of either being weird or offering style over…

A friend of mine once told me that the very best stories being told nowadays are from the Young Adult (YA) genre. I remember one such book specifically: Codename Verity, a young adult historical fiction novel by Elizabeth Wein. It’s an amazing book, one for every adult, no matter their age. Please read it. And while I have you, please read this novella, too. Petrichor is written by Australian…