Suzanne Collins - Catching Fire

There are no spoilers for the book being reviewed but there may be spoilers for previous books in the series.

Katniss and Peeta are embarking on their victory tour. Having won the hunger games they should be safe but there are rumours of an uprising and Katniss is at the heart of it which puts her in even more danger.

Having finished The Hunger Games I jumped straight into Catching Fire, I wasn’t too sure where it was going to go but was interested to see what would happen to Katniss after winning the Hunger Games and I wasn’t disappointed. The book begins about six months after the events of The Hunger Games.

Again the book was pacy and action packed and I read it pretty much all in one sitting. We saw the return of many key characters and the introduction of some new ones which was interesting. The ending is a cliff hanger so straight onto book three for me. (I’m glad I’m reading them all at once, I’d hate to have to wait for the next one to be released)!

Looking back at 2011

I realise we are already six days into 2012 but I still wanted to do a roundup of 2011 despite it being a bit late! Personally 2011 was a terrible year for me in general but surprisingly it actually turned out to be a pretty good year reading wise. I managed to read 56 books in total for the year. I have no idea how that compares to previous years as this is the first time I have ever kept count but I think it’s probably better than my average. I was aiming for 50 so I managed to beat my target which is good.

I took part in three reading challenges in 2011. The Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge The Stephen King Reading Challenge and The Criminal Plots Reading Challenge.

The one I thought I would find most challenging was the Speculative Fiction reading challenge. I was worried that I would struggle to read 12 speculative fiction books in the year but in actual fact I read 35, almost triple the original target! I really enjoyed this challenge and was even lucky enough to win one of the prize packs!

I just managed to complete the Criminal Plots reading challenge in time. I had read five of the six books by July but then struggled to find a book for the debut author category. Eventually I found one and managed to complete the challenge.

The Stephen King reading challenge was the only one I didn’t manage to complete. I ended up reading just a pitiful two out of six books. I thought I would have done well with this one seeing as King is my favourite author but I just felt too guilty re-reading when I have so many never read books sitting in my to read pile! I do intend doing at least one King re-read during 2012 though as it has been many years since I read some of his books and it would be nice to revisit them at some point.

I have read quite a wide range of books over the past year including crime, thrillers, horror, science fiction, urban fantasy and biographies and on the whole I really enjoyed them. I read quite a lot of young adult in 2011 which is not the norm for me. Some I wasn’t so keen on (House of Night) and others I really enjoyed (Morganvile Vampires series and the Hunger Games trilogy – two of which I still need to review!).

My target for 2012 is 52 books. I have already read one and am three quarters of the way through another so doing well so far! I also want to get my reviews up quicker but that’s not going so well yet as I am currently three reviews behind! I have decided not to take part in any reading challenges this year and just see where my reading takes me on it’s own!

Suzanne Collins – The Hunger Games

Sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12, an area of the country that was previously North America but is now known as Panem. Every year the Capitol run the Hunger Games. A brutal reality TV show where the participants aged between 12 and 18 are picked by lottery from the surrounding districts to compete to the death. The last person alive is declared the winner. When Katniss’ sister is picked to take part Katniss volunteers to take her place and begins the battle for her life in the arena.

I had heard a lot about The Hunger Games so when I saw the books on special offer I bought them and jumped them to the top of my to read list. I read a little bit of YA but not a huge amount. Most of the time when reading YA I personally feel it suffers for it and would be better had it been written as an adult book. With The Hunger Games I would say the opposite is true, it works perfectly as it is and it would have suffered had it been written for adults.

Katniss is an interesting character, flawed but likeable, tough but not without weakness. The other supporting characters are also good, I did find Peeta a little annoying though! The story is fast paced, I pretty much sat and read it in one sitting. I liked the imagery of the future world and the difference in living conditions between the Capitol and the districts.

It's straight on to book two for me, looking forward to finding out what happens!

Niki Valentine – The Haunted

Sue and Martin visit Scotland for a holiday for a holiday ten years after visiting the same area on their honeymoon. They decide to trek to a remote boothy to spend a night in the wilderness but get cut off and stranded there by bad weather. There seems to be some kind of presence at the boothy and the couple soon start bickering. The disagreements become more nasty as time wears on and they couple start to think that they may not make it out alive.

I was drawn into this book quite quickly, however, I did find it a little slow and repetitive at times. Martin and Sue would probably have been better off getting a divorce rather than a second honeymoon as their relationship seems a little rocky before they even set off into the wilderness. Neither character is particularly likeable but they were still readable despite that fact that I wasn’t too bothered if they made it out alive or not.

I did enjoy the story and read it quickly but ultimately it was pretty forgettable. There was nothing particularly scary or memorable about it. I may read some more Niki Valentine in future but she is not an author I will actively make an effort to read, although if I see a book by her and like the sound of it I will most likely give it a go.

Adam Nevill – The Ritual

Four old friends decide to go on a reunion holiday walking in the Swedish wilderness but they realise that they have little left in common and two of them are not as fit as they should be for a trip like this. They decide to take a shortcut through some woods but find a gutted animal hanging from a tree then they end up lost, wet and scared in a strange old building which has ancient religious artefacts in it.

Having read Adam Nevill’s short story “On All London Underground Lines” in the collection The End of the Line I was keen to read a full length novel and The Ritual sounded interesting so I picked myself up a copy.

We are plunged straight into the story and the pacing remains pretty quick throughout. The characters were interesting with Hutch and Luke being the most likeable. My favourite characters were Loki and Fenris though and I had to keep googleing the bands mentioned as I like metal (although mostly they were too shouty / screamy for my taste, I prefer the more melodic, softer stuff).

I really enjoyed the story and found Nevill to be good at building tension and creating atmosphere. I will definitely be reading more of his books in the future and will be getting a copy of Apartment 16 to add to my to read pile!

Tom Fletcher – The Leaping

Jack is fed up of his job in a Manchester call centre so when he meets Jennifer and has the opportunity to move away with her to Fell House in a remote part of the Lake District he jumps at the chance. He misses his friend though and feels that perhaps there is something not quite right about the house. When his friends arrange a huge birthday / housewarming party it seems like a great idea. However, as the night progresses and some uninvited guests turn up it seems that there may be something lurking in the fells that Jack and his friends really don’t want to meet.

After reading The Thing on the Shore earlier in the year I was keen to read Tom Fletcher’s first novel, The Leaping. The two books are apparently supposed to be a series but there are only minor links between the two so reading out of sequence didn’t matter.

Tom Fletcher has a very unique and distinctive writing style that I personally really like. I liked the characters and felt that the characterisation was one of the strongest elements of the book. I love the fact that they are just normal people like you or I that are put into a scary situation.

The story itself was good, slowly building throughout. The narration switches between Jack and Frances and it’s interesting to get the two different viewpoints. I should have read this book when I was on holiday in the Lake District in November, that would have been quite creepy.

I’m very much looking forward to the next book Ravenglass Eye. I’m not sure when it’s released but when it it it will be jumping up my to read pile!

Stephen King – 11.22.63

Jake Epping is a normal thirty-five year old teacher going about his business until the day a dying friend lets him into a secret and asks him a huge favour. Al discovered a time portal back to 1958 in the store room of his diner and had been using it to buy cheap meat for the diner and to try and change history by stopping the assignation of JFK. However, Al develops cancer and is not fit enough to continue with the task so he passes the information on to Jake and asks him to carry out his final wish. Jake is not entirely convinced but decides to take up the challenge and begins a journey to change the course of history.

I’ll be completely honest here, when I heard that Stephen King’s new book was about someone going back in time to stop the JFK assassination I was disappointed. Being English I have little knowledge or interest in American history (we studied the Native Americans / the gold rush in history at school, which was actually quite interesting, but that’s about it) and I have no interest or knowledge whatsoever about American politics (I have very little interest in UK politics so anywhere outside the UK stands no chance!) But it’s Stephen King, he’s my favourite author and he knows how to tell a good story so I was still keen to get my hands on a copy. The second problem I had with the book is the title. It has taken me AGES to actually remember it. At first I was referring to it as “umm, it’s the date that JFK was shot.” Eventually I did actually manage to remember the date but in the UK format so I am still having to make a conscious effort not to call it 22.11.63 and to be honest, in a year’s time I’ll probably have forgotten the date again and reverted back to “umm, it’s the date that JFK was shot.”

But anyway, despite all of that I bought my copy and jumped it straight to the top of my (huge) to read pile. I was immediately drawn into the story and the characters (characterisation being one of King’s strongest talents). Most of the story is not about the assassination at all but about Jake’s journey through the past, the problems he encounters and the people he meets along the way.

One of the things I loved about this book was the references to King’s other works. He often does include little references but there seemed to be a lot this time. As part of the story takes place in Derry I suppose that helps as there is a big IT reference which is great. There are also several smaller references to other works dotted throughout the book.

I really enjoyed the book for the most part. There was a section towards the middle that I was less keen on as it was mostly Jake carrying out surveillance of Lee Harvey Oswald which was not very interesting and could probably have done with being a little shorter. Apart from that the book was brilliant with lots of things going on.

I’m now considering doing some King re-reads again (although I always feel guilty re-reading books when I have at least 150 books that I haven’t read yet sitting on my shelf awaiting my attention).

Alex Scarrow – Last Light

Oil engineer Andy Sutherland has bored his family for years with scare stories about how one day the oil supply could get cut off and disaster would follow. Following some unrest in the Middle East his predictions start to become true. Andy is stranded in Iraq at the time while his wife Jenny is in Manchester desperately trying to get home to their children who are in London surrounded by looters and lawlessness.

I love post-apocalyptic fiction and this book had been on my wish list for a while. It’s actually more apocalyptic than post-apocalyptic but that doesn’t matter, in fact I think it’s probably the better for it.

The narrative follows the Sutherland family who are all in different locations. Andy is working in Iraq, Jenny is in Manchester for a job interview Leona is at university and has to go and collect her brother Jake from boarding school and return to the family home in London, the chapters switch between the different family members. Leona and Jake’s chapters were my favourite although I did enjoy the whole book.

The book is quite disturbing as it is a potentially realistic situation that could occur. Having witnessed the riots across the country this summer it shows how fragile our society really is, so if there was some kind of major disaster that cut off the oil supply things could potentially break down pretty quickly if handled the wrong way by those in charge.

I liked the writing style and that fast pace of the book. I also liked that it was set (mainly) in the UK. The characters were interesting and the story engrossing. I’ll definitely be adding the sequel, Afterlight to my to read pile.

Right I’m off to stock up on tinned food …

Simon Morden – Equations of Life

It’s twenty years after Armageddon. Samuil Petrovitch is a Russian immigrant living in the London Metrozone and researching at the university. He tries to keep to himself to avoid any unwanted attention but when he intervenes to prevent a kidnapping he puts himself onto the radar of the police and two separate gangs which causes big problems.

I’ve had this book in my to read pile for a little while. My Dad lent it to me as he said it was really good but the cover blurb wasn’t really grabbing my attention. My Dad started to badger me for it back so I bumped it up the to read pile and I’m really glad I did.

One of the big things that I loved about this book was the imagery of a post Armageddon London. Clapham Common and Regents park piled high with shipping containers acting as housing for the millions of people crammed into the metrozone, the area within the boundary of the M25 and the only habitable city in the country.

The story itself was interesting and engaging and I was hooked almost immediately. The pacing is fast throughout and the characters are varied and well written. Samuil is a flawed but likeable protagonist with an interesting back story that is lightly touched upon. Sister Madeline is a rebellious nun. In the post-armageddon world the job of a nun is to protect her priest so Madeline is good with guns. The other supporting characters are also interesting.

I’m really pleased I read this book and am very much looking forward to reading the following two books in the trilogy (they are currently in my to read pile awaiting my attention).

Christopher Ransom – The People Next Door

When the seemingly perfect Render family move in next door to the Nash family strange things start to happen. Mick Nash quickly realises that all is not as it appears to be and starts to take steps to protect his family. But what is the Render’s secret?

I enjoyed Christopher Ransom’s previous two novels so I was looking forward to this one and it jumped up my reading pile. The premise was interesting and the story was fairly creepy. I liked the different viewpoints from the various characters. The pacing was good most of the time although there were a couple of places where it did feel a little slow.

Whilst the characterisation was pretty good I didn’t particularly like any of the characters which was a shame as it meant that I didn’t care too much what happened to them. This is probably what let the book down for me. I like to have some kind of emotional investment in the characters that I am reading about.

The cover and the book blurb mention a big twist to the book. I actually liked the twist and didn’t manage to guess it. My favourite part of the book was the ending, I thought it was well done and interesting and could make for a good sequel.

If you’re new to Christopher Ransom then I would advise against starting with this one (start with The Birthing House) as it is definitely not his best. I did enjoy it, just not as much as I enjoyed his previous work.

Rachel Caine – Fade Out

There are no spoilers for the book being reviewed but there may be spoilers for previous books in the series.

Book seven of the Morganville Vampires series. Things seem to have settled down a bit in Morganville and the inhabitants are returning to something resembling normal life. Eve is excited as she is cast in one of the leading roles in the town’s annual play but when one of her co-stars goes missing Claire and her friends need to find her fast. This is not helped by Ada, the vampire computer who has taken a strong disliking to Claire.

This book had a slightly slower pace than the other books in the series so far and it’s a bit more stand alone than many of the other books since the Bishop storyline ended in book six. That’s not a bad thing though it feels like to characters have a chance to get their breath back a bit (but not much, this is Morganville after all!) after the relentless action of the previous three books.

This book sees the introduction of new character Kim, another goth who immediately gets on Claire’s bad side by becoming super pally with Eve and having some kind of history with Shane. It’s interesting to see how Claire reacts.

The storyline was interesting and quite different to the previous books. It’s actually quite nice to be away from the Bishop storyline (even though I did enjoy it). There are some very interesting developments towards the end of the book so I’m looking forward to seeing where they go over the next few books.

Rachel Caine - Carpe Corpus

There are no spoilers for the book being reviewed but there may be spoilers for previous books in the series.

Book six of the Morganville Vampires series. Carpe Corpus picks up a few months after the events of Lord of Misrule. Bishop has taken control of Morganville and life is pretty miserable for Claire and her friends. A small uprising is forming against Bishop but will they be able to defeat him?

This book has been my favourite of the series so far. As normal it’s fast paced and full of action. The battle with Bishop is finally coming to a head and the characters have to go through a lot.

This book sees the death of one of the characters which I really liked as I felt it added to the book. Up until now everyone had been coming out of really dangerous situations pretty much unscathed which was a bit annoying, so I felt this added something to the story and brought back a real sense of danger to the characters because they can die and the author is willing to kill them off.

No Cliff hanger ending this time. I believe this book was originally planned as the last in the series so everything is tied up pretty nicely.

My edition of the book included the short story Murdered Out at the end. The story focuses mainly on Shane and was enjoyable. It’s nice to get a little more insight into Shane without the usual fast pace and huge amount of danger!

Rachel Caine – Lord of Misrule

There are no spoilers for the book being reviewed but there may be spoilers for previous books in the series.

Book five of the Morganville Vampires series. This picks up pretty much where Feast of Fools ended. After the disastrous ball Morganville is in chaos. Bishop in tightening his grip on the town and as if that wasn’t bad enough a lot of the vampires seem to be vanishing.

This is a series that you really have to read chronologically from the beginning. You probably would be able to work out what was going on if you did jump straight in to the middle but it wouldn’t be as good.

There’s quite a lot going on in this book and everyone is split up into different groups with different tasks to do so it’s interesting to see how the characters react to that. Myrnin is still my favourite character and he does some interesting things in this book. I also like Hannah who has a fairly big part in this book. Another cliff hanger ending on this one so it will be interesting to see where book six takes us.

Rachel Caine – Feast of Fools

There are no spoilers for the book being reviewed but there may be spoilers for previous books in the series.

Book four of the Morganville Vampires series. This one picks up right where Midnight Alley ended. Evil Vampire Bishop has come to town and he seems intent on making life difficult for human and vampire residents alike. When a formal ball is held the extent of his evil plans become clear.

There’s a lot going on in this book. That’s a good thing. The pace is fast and there are developments to many of the ongoing plot strands. I’m really enjoying the Myrnin storyline, he is a great character easily my favourite. It’s interesting to see how Michael being a vampire is continuing to affect the dynamic of the group

This book ends on a HUGE cliff hanger so it’s pretty much impossible not to dive straight in to the next book.

Various (short story collection) – The End of the Line

The End of the Line is a collection of horror short stories edited by Jonathan Oliver. The stories are all previously unpublished and are all linked to an underground railway system of some sort. Most are set in and around the London underground but there are several with different settings as well.

As I love horror and have a long running interest / fascination with the London underground this collection was perfect for me and I couldn’t wait to get stuck into it. Overall the standard of stories in the collection was very good, there was just one that I didn’t really like and several that I really loved.

The collection opens with Bullroarer by Paul Meloy. It’s not what I would have picked as the opener as I thought it was one of the weaker stories in the collection. I just found it a bit odd but it was alright. We move on to The Girl in the Glass by John Llewellyn Probert. This is a fairly traditional ghost story with a twist. Creepy, atmospheric and very enjoyable.

The next story, The Lure by Nicholas Royle was the one I didn’t really like! I found that there was far too much detail about journey routes and too much French which I just didn’t understand as I don’t speak French! It was also a little predictable, I knew exactly what was going to be on the other side of the door.

My three favourite stories in the collection were Fallen Boys by Mark Morris. A traditional ghost story set in an old Cornish tin mine. In The Colosseum by Stephen Volk, a voyeuristic story of sex, drugs, murder and CCTV and probably may favourite of them all Crazy Train by Natasha Rhodes about a musician who shoots himself and ends up taking a very interesting train journey.

Whilst it wasn’t among my favourite stories in the collection On All London Underground Lines by Adam L.G. Nevill has now made me tempted to pick up Apartment 16 as that has been on my radar for a while and I liked his writing style.

Overall a great collection that I really enjoyed. I hope there will be a volume two at some point!

Rachel Caine – Midnight Alley

There are no spoilers for the book being reviewed but there may be spoilers for previous books in the series.

Book three of the Morganville Vampires series. This picks up shortly after the events of The Dead Girls’ Dance. Claire is now pledged to Amelie, the top vampire in town. Whilst this gives Claire some protection it doesn’t come free and Claire is recruited by Amelie to take extra lessons with a particularly old and unstable vampire. On top of this there has been a spate of girls turning up dead in the town.

I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as the previous two but it was still pretty good. It was interesting to see how the characters relate to each other now that Michael is a vampire so it’s going to be interesting to see how that effects the dynamic of the group in future. We learn a little more about Eve and her past although I would still like a bit more depth here. Hopefully it will come later in the series.

The best thing about this book is Myrnin, the old vampire that Amelie sends Claire to for extra lessons. He is a great character which we are just starting to get to know. I’m looking forward to finding out more about him and his work.

Rachel Caine – The Dead Girls' Dance

There are no spoilers for the book being reviewed but there may be spoilers for previous books in the series.

Book two of the Morganville Vampires series. This book picks up immediately after the events of the first book Glass Houses. Shane’s Dad and his vampire hunting gang have arrived in town. They are determined to kill as many vampires as possible which causes a great deal of trouble for Claire and her friends.

I enjoyed this book as much as the first one and am looking forward to seeing where the series is going to go. This book had a bit more action than the first one as we know the characters now and are just thrown straight into the story without the need for introductions. The book remained fast paced throughout.

I found it interesting to find out more about Shane and his past. His relationship with Claire really starts to take shape in this book so it’s nice to know a bit more about him. We also have the introduction of Eve’s unstable brother Jason. I’m hoping this is something that will be expanded on in future books as we are given bits and pieces about Eve’s history and it would be nice to learn more.

Not such a cliff-hanger ending on this one but still plenty of questions and suspense to carry over to book three! Looking forward to reading it.

Rachel Caine – Glass Houses

Book one of the Morganville Vampires series. Claire Danvers is a sixteen year old girl genius on and early intake into college having aces all of her high school exams. She was hoping to go to one of the big well known colleges but her parents decided that it would be best if she started off at TPU, a smaller more local college in Morganville, Texas before transferring to a better college further from home when she turns eighteen. What Claire and her parents didn’t know was that Morganville is not like other towns, it is run by vampires and can be a very dangerous place. Bullied by a girl in the dorm Claire moves out of the campus accommodation and into a house with Eve, Michael and Shane, three friends who grew up in the town. Claire soon begins to learn Morganville’s secrets and finds out that it can be a very dangerous place.

I wasn’t sure about this book to begin with. It’s clearly aimed at people half my age which was a little off putting. However, I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and I’m glad I did. If you’re looking for something deep and meaningful or literary genius you won’t find it in Glass Houses, but I read for entertainment and that is exactly what I got.

The characters are interesting. Claire is a small, quiet girl of high intelligence and slightly geeky who seems to have lead a fairly sheltered life. She also seems fairly mature for her age in many respects. Eve is an outspoken goth girl who works in the local coffee shop. Michael is a slightly mysterious musician who only seems to come out at night despite not being a vampire and Shane is a bit of a tough guy who is unemployed. There is also a fairly large cast of supporting characters, many of whom as interesting and I hope we’ll find out more about them throughout the series.

There’s not a huge amount of action in this book, a lot of it is getting to know the characters and the town but it still feels fairly fast paced throughout a lot of the book and that picks up more and more as the book goes on. I was quickly drawn into the story and when it ended I was keen to start on book two.

This was a quick read for me. It’s around 350 pages of fairly large text and I read it in a day. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Dean Koontz – What the Night Knows (with bonus story Darkness Under the Sun)

Detective John Calvino’s family were brutally murdered by a serial killer when he was a teenager. John survived and managed to kill the killer. Now, twenty years on he has a family of his own and is leading a very happy life. Then a family is murdered in circumstances very similar to those of the killer twenty years ago. John is convinced that his family are in danger but how can he explain it to people when the killer is long dead.

To me this book seemed a little more like classic Koontz compared to his other recent work. I think this is a good thing. I read this book quite slowly but that was more to do with life getting in the way of reading than any fault of the book.

I liked the characters, they were all a little too perfect but I can live with that. The story was entertaining and well paced although it did require a little suspension of disbelief at times (which is not a problem for me, it is fiction after all).

I remain convinced that I would easily be able to detect Dean Koontz’s writing in a “blind” reading, he has a very distinctive style of writing and often incorporates regular themes into his books many of which were present in this book.

The bonus story, Darkness Under the Sun is a prequel to the events of What the Night Knows. I really enjoyed the story and thought it added a lot to the book. If you are going to buy this book then I would strongly recommend finding one of the editions with the story included.

Stacia Kane – Unholy Magic

Unholy Magic is book two in the Downside Ghosts series. It picks up shortly after the events of Unholy Ghosts. Chess is assigned a new task from the church looking into a reported haunting in a celebrity’s house. At the same time local drug dealer and pimp Bump wants her to investigate the deaths of several prostitutes from the area who seem to have been killed by a ghost.

I think I enjoyed this book more than the first one. In this book we get to know a little more about the characters which I found interesting. Chess is managing to mess her life up even more than she was before and her drug dependence seems to be worsening. I did have one small issue and that is if her drug addiction is as bad as it’s supposed to be then I’m sure someone from the church would have noticed by now.

The storyline in this book was a good mix of the ghosts / murdering plot and the personal lives of the main characters. I thought it was well paced and it kept me thoroughly entertained throughout. It has left me really looking forward to reading the third book.