Thanks to ,m,mm,m, for sending me a copy of the graphic novel Cree by the author Una for reviewing. This work of fiction is designed to convey a powerful message about how to appreciate the people and places in your life using an informal style of annotated illustration. "In the everyday struggle, when beauty fades from view, slow down, pause a moment, look, listen. You might find things brighter than clearer than they seemed – even when your heart, broken, still beating, beats ill, beats low." I have browsed through this book already and a review will appear here once I have had time to fu ..read more

Prolific author Daniel Easterman starts this novel with a very unusual and intriguing premise of a whole village of people being replaced by a mysterious group of counterparts a short time before the visit of the President of The United States of America. A dramatic and bloody shootout follows in which the President is kidnapped along with his wife and a young girl in their care whose father is the main literary focus while he attempts to rescue the kidnappers victims. This exciting and original beginning then develops into a typical story of pursuit which takes the protagonists around the ..read more

In The Sound of Falling author Scott D. Brillon takes the reader into the world of high-school student Bayard Bitter during a particularly difficult time in his and his friend's lives. Bayard is forced into dealing with the persistent bullying of his best friend and the downward spiral of drug abuse and lack of self-respect by the girl he has feelings for he gets into a series of fights and loses his way in his studies. An inappropriate girlfriend and being witness to a liaison between a teacher and student make matters worse and as the situation spirals out of control his friend confides in ..read more

Thanks to L Penn for providing me with a copy of her book Missing Him for reviewing. This is a work of fiction which is told through a series of flashbacks as a conflicted woman goes through therapy revealing secrets from her love life eventually leading to shocking result. "While in therapy, the flawed and contradictory Emery Pearson struggles to explain her character with therapist Susan James. And in order to secure her release from troubling situations, she must prove she is no longer a threat to anyone she could possibly fall in love with... Ever again." I am looking forward to reading ..read more

Author David Gibbins begins this novel with an archaeological discovery  in an ancient Egyptian tomb which sets the characters along the road of discovery in the quest of the lost city of Atlantis. Although this is very much a work of fiction, it contains a lot of factual information surrounding the legend of Atlantis to give it the feeling that it could be true. A series of follow-up discoveries lead a team, led by Jack Howard, to the Black Sea where the investigation of underwater ruins is complicated by an abandoned nuclear submarine and a well-equipped organization of piratical treas ..read more

Anyone who knows the British comedian and author of this book, Alexei Sayle, will know that he has a reputation for the bizarre and here he provides a short novel with one of the most unusual stories that readers are likely to come across. Set in an expat community in Spain a boy with an irresponsible mother discovers an incredible machine which originates from another planet that gives him the ability to masquerade as a powerful, but mute, adult: Mister Roberts. This is a short novel with a simple plot but one which is so boldly preposterous that it is instantly fascinating and makes the r ..read more

I Spy With My Little Eye is a non-fiction publication which reflects on a wide variety of modern behaviour and lifestyle choices. Author Linnea Mills examines subjects such as social media use, short-termism is politics and daily life, sexual attitudes, consumerism and celebrity culture among other themes and asks serious questions about the morality of modern society in Britain. The author uses chapters that are defined by the seven deadly sins and seven heavenly virtues to categorize and dissect the subject matter. That, though, is not to say this is a religious book, it most certainly is ..read more

The Lazarus Club is a fictional society of great Victorian minds, which include Brunel, Babbage & Stephenson, formed to share and bring together progressive and revolutionary ideas in their respective fields; an innocent and stuffy sounding group but one that has secret aims and rivalries that lead to murder. In author Tony Pollard's first work of fiction Dr George Phillips is invited to join this group of high-achievers but is used as a pawn, from the very beginning, by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to further his secret ambition to construct a world-changing piece of apparatus, an invention ..read more

In Mr Dixon Disappears author Ian Sansom gives his second outing to his character, Israel Armstrong; mobile librarian to a small Irish town and, once again, a reluctant and incapable detective. Having settled successfully the previous Case of the Missing Books and been reluctantly  accepted as part of the scenery in his adopted home in County Antrim, Israel embarks on a new project, a display of the history of the town's oldest store, only to find himself as the chief suspect in the disappearance of Mr Dixon, the owner of the store. This light-hearted story begins with an interesting an ..read more

Thanks to Linnea Mills for sending me a copy of her book I Spy With My Little Eye for reviewing. This is a non-fiction book which investigates modern life and morality in Britain, indeed, the tagline to the title is "A journey through the moral landscape of Britain". "Which direction is our society heading in? Does it provide a good enough nurturing ground for the next generation to flourish? Is it time we took a good look at our values and behaviour and changed course? Dr Linnea Mills offers a frank discussion about the prevailing norms and values in today’s Britain, interpreted through the ..read more