Cy Flood – Sun, Sea and Sex: True Confessions of a Holiday Rep.

Cy worked as a holiday rep for ten years during the 1990’s in such popular holiday destinations as Spain, the Canary Islands and Greece. This book tells of some of his experiences over that time.

Having previously read and enjoyed Hotel Babylon and Beach Babylon (by Imogen Edwards-Jones) I thought I would probably enjoy this book as well as it’s a similar subject matter. Sadly though, this book did not live up to what was promised in the cover blurb.

It was interesting enough, I read it in a few days and doing so was by no means a chore but I feel that it left a lot to be desired. Most of the book was just about what the author thought of the places he had been. There was the odd amusing story but they were few and far between.

Something I noticed about the book was that there were a lot of typos. There really must have been a lot for me to notice them because that kind of thing generally passes me by. Whoever proof read it before it was sent to the printers should perhaps look for alternative employment!

I picked this book up second hand for £1 at the Book Barn which was a reasonable price, but had I paid the full cover price of £6.99 for the book then I would probably have thought it not worth the money.

Linwood Barclay – Too Close to Home

When the Langley family are murdered in their own home their neighbours, the Cutter family, are understandably worried. But what if the killer had gone to the wrong house? All of the family have their secrets so it’s a real possibility.

I really enjoyed this book and read it in just two days as it really pulled me in right from the start.

There was a good cast of characters who were well written and in the most part believable. The story was well written with good pacing that kept me gripped. As the secrets gradually come to light it’s fun trying to guess which ones are relevant and which are the red herrings. I did manage to guess who the killer was and why but not too far before it was revealed.

Too Close to Home was the first Linwood Barclay book that I have read but I will definitely be reading more in the future.

Stephen King Reading Challenge

Book Chick City are hosting a 2011 Stephen King Reading Challenge. When I saw this I just knew I had to join in as Stephen King is my favourite author and I have been looking for an excuse to re-read some Stephen King so this is perfect.
I am also following Floor to Ceiling Books' Dark Tower read along so that fits in quite nicely as well.



In fact I'd quite like to take part in all three reading challenges on Book Chick City as they all look fun but I think that this one and the Speculative Fiction one is enough for the time being!

Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge

Amanda at Floor to Ceiling Books has just announced a reading challenge for 2011 - the Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge.

I have decided to give it a go as it sounds fun. I have quite a lot of horror in my to read plie and some SF so it should be do-able. Plus I seem to be in a bit of a reading rut at the moment, gone frome reading a book a week to a book a month so hopefully this will spur me on!

Christopher Ransom – The Haunting of James Hastings

James Hastings works as a double for notorious rapper Ghost (think Eminem). When his wife Stacey is killed in a car accident he quits his job, a year later he is still struggling to come to terms with her death and when he meets a new woman, Annette, strange things start happening such as Stacey’s shoes appearing in the hallway and mysterious phone calls that originate from within the house when James is the only person there.

I had read and enjoyed Christopher Ransom’s first novel, The Birthing House, so I was interested to see what this next book had to offer. I preferred The Birthing House but I still enjoyed reading this book as well. James Hastings is a flawed character, but one with whom the reader is able to sympathise with most of the time.

The story was well paced, gradually building up the mystery and suspense. In places it was decidedly creepy. There were a few good and unexpected twists at the end (although this did make it slightly confusing at times). I think the book could have done without some of the epilogue though.

Rachel Vincent – Alpha

Alpha is the sixth and final book in the Faythe Sanders werecat series. It follows on almost immediately from where Shift left off. The pride and their allies are about to go to war against Calvin Malone and his followers, they know that it’s unlikely that they will all survive and there are some tough decisions ahead, especially for Faythe.

Rachel Vincent proved in previous books in the series that she is not afraid to kill off major, popular characters and this book was no exception to that. I had previously guessed one of the characters to be killed but that didn’t lessen the impact of it when it eventually did happen.

Faythe also has to choose between the two men she loves, Marc and Jace. There are plenty of occasions in the book where it could go either way. Personally I wanted her to choose the other one, but nonetheless the decision was made in a satisfying way and I didn’t feel that the reader had been cheated out of a proper decision which could easily have happened.

I had been really looking forward to this book and I was certainly not disappointed by it. The only downside is that this is now the end of the series!

Karin Slaughter – Fractured

Abigail Campano has her life torn apart when she returns home one afternoon to find her home broken into, her daughter dead and a man with a knife heading towards her. Agent Will Trent and Detective Faith Mitchell are assigned to the case. They have to unravel the events and find a missing girl but time is not on their side.

I have had this book in my to read pile for some time and having never read any Karin Slaughter but having heard good things about her I decided it was time to give it a go. I generally prefer British crime fiction to American. I think because I have a better understanding of how the British police work so I do tend to push the American books aside in favour of the British ones a lot of the time. That said I do enjoy American crime fiction with Jeffery Deaver being among my favourite authors.

I think Fractured is the second book about Agent Will Trent. I have not read the first but that didn’t matter, the story worked well as a stand alone book in its own right. I think there were some references to the previous book but I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything by not having read it.

The story was good and the pace was just right throughout, keeping me wanting to read on. The characters were on the whole, well written, believable and likeable.

Although I enjoyed reading the book it wasn’t spectacular. I will be reading more Karin Slaughter in the future (especially if it is a follow on to Fractured as I am interested to read more about Will Trent and Faith Mitchell) but I won’t be rushing to do so immediately.