Category: Books

Review: The Dead by Charlie Higson

The Dead
The Dead by Charlie Higson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Absolutely superb. I found the first book (The Enemy) a little slow going, trying to be a little too large in scale. This second in the series is a bit more focussed and significantly better for it.

There’s no escaping the gore and bad language. This is a young adults’ book with the emphasis on “adult”. Don’t expect all the characters to survive, either. As Higson made clear in the first book, nobody is safe! This makes the book all the better as it’s very difficult to work out who’ll make it to the end.

The final couple of chapters tie up with the first novel (the events in this one take place – up until that point – prior to The Enemy) nicely without spoiling that book too much if you’ve not read it.

A very good read and highly recommended. And as a bonus, you don’t have to have read The Enemy to enjoy it. I’m going to have to get hold of The Fear now!

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Review: We Can Be Heroes

We Can Be Heroes
We Can Be Heroes by Catherine Bruton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A slow burner to start with, which seems aimed at younger kids but in the last quarter it changes into something a little more mature. Told from the perspective of Ben, a young boy who doesn’t remember his father who perished in the 11/9 attacks in New York, we pass the summer with him as he tolerates his cousin and befriends an Asian girl from over the road.

The cousin, Jed, seems like a bit of a dick. Priti is a know-it-all who is sure there are conspiracies going on left, right and centre. Ben himself is struggling as his mother comes to terms with the loss of her husband and he spends the holiday with his grandparents.

Countless themes are covered, and covered well from a child’s perspective. The characters are well-rounded and complex, not the two-dimensional ones far too often used in literature, both children’s and adult.

It took a while to get into, and over the first 100 pages or so I really did wonder if I would make it all the way through. The pace accelerates as it goes through, and although the end is a little predictable I like the way it’s broken up with lists of questions the central character has about his friends and relatives.

I think if it has an issue it’s that the author doesn’t quite know who to target it at. Some young adults might be put off by the opening few chapters being a little childish. Older readers likewise. Younger readers may enjoy the banter between the characters, but the themes may be a little beyond them. Also, it’s quite a long book at over 400 pages which I think may be a little too long for the age range who I think would otherwise be drawn into it.

Worth a look if you fancy trying something different.

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Judgement and Wrath by Matt Hilton

Judgement and Wrath
Judgement and Wrath by Matt Hilton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A great second novel from a a writer who deserves far more recognition than he’s already got. On the basis of the two I’ve read I’d put him up there with Stephen Leather and Lee Child – though Child *just* nudges it as the Reacher books are insanely good.

Joe Hunter is a great lead character. The background given to him in Dead Man’s Dust has been fleshed out a bit in this second novel, and the addition of a character biography at the back is a little like the aforementioned Reacher novels. Other than that, he’s a different individual with different skills. Unlike Reacher and Leather’s Sam Shepherd, he does work as part of a (small) team so don’t go thinking this is some kind of rip-off.

It didn’t get the full five stars only as I managed to guess one of the “twists” a good few chapters before it was revealed. Other than that, it’s a great book which ploughs through the plot without drawing breath. Even the chapters are an ideal length with that “just one more” feel to them.

I only picked this novel up (and the previous and following novels) as Asda had them on sale for a quid some months ago. Definitely worth the money and I’m really glad to hear that Hilton is currently working on the ninth episode with the eighth due for release in February. Plenty more adventure to go!

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This year’s books

For the last couple of years I’ve been struggling to get through many books as I used to. Partly down to watching more TV (damn you, torrents), partly due to work and study. When I was travelling I did a fair bit of reading, mainly on buses and flights – but still nowhere near as much as I did when I was at school.

I would reckon when I was in my late teens I was managing something like 80+ books a year, and that’s a conservative estimate. What with a paper round and public transport to and from school, I had a fair bit of time to walk/sit with a book in my hand. There was no internet either, so less time sat on blogs/facebook/games than I do now as well.

I discovered a very useful site during the year called GoodReads. Primarily I used it as a way of ensuring I didn’t re-purchase a book I already had sat on a shelf somewhere, but spotted that they do an annual “challenge”. You set yourself a target number of books to get through by year end and log them as you progress.

I initially set myself a target of 20, and am glad to say that I managed to finish number 29 last night. Now I think you can see them by following this link to my 2011 challenge on Goodreads, but I’m not certain. So just in case, here they are:

Title Author Mark
The Sacred Vault (Nina Wilde & Eddie Chase, #6) Andy McDermott 4
Empire Of Gold (Nina Wilde & Eddie Chase, #7) Andy McDermott 4
42 – Douglas Adams’ Amazingly Accurate Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything Peter Gill 3
On the Edge Charlie Carroll 4
Scorpia Rising (Alex Rider #9) Anthony Horowitz 5
Rough Justice (Dan Shepherd, #7) Stephen Leather 5
Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet Volume 1 HC Kevin Smith 3
Odd Hours (Odd Thomas Novel, Book 4) Dean Koontz 2
The Lost Symbol Dan Brown 3
Road Trip to Hell: Tabloid Tales of Saddam, Iraq and a Bloody War: Tabloid Tales of Saddam, Iraq and a Crazy War Chris Hughes 5
Lifeguard James Patterson 4
Dave Gorman Vs the Rest of the World: Limited Edition with Bowling Voucher Dave Gorman 3
The 39 Steps (Richard Hannay, #1) John Buchan 3
Self-Defense (Alex Delaware, #9) Jonathan Kellerman 2
Playing with Fire (Skulduggery Pleasant, #2) Derek Landy 4
Risk Dick Francis 3
Dead Men’s Dust (Joe Hunter, #1) Matt Hilton 3
The Faceless Ones (Skulduggery Pleasant, #3). Derek Landy 5
Dark Days (Skulduggery Pleasant, #4) Derek Landy 5
Mortal Coil (Skulduggery Pleasant, #5) Derek Landy 5
The Templar Salvation Raymond Khoury 4
Twice Shy Dick Francis 3
Undead Kirsty McKay 4
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Samuel Taylor Coleridge 2
The Greek Who Stole Christmas (Diamond Brothers, #7) Anthony Horowitz 3
To the Hilt Dick Francis 5
Silverfin: A James Bond Adventure (Young Bond) Charlie Higson 4
Horowitz Horror: v. 1: Nine Nasty Stories to Chill You to the Bone Anthony Horowitz 3
The Enemy (The Enemy #1) Charlie Higson 3
The marks are out of 5 so not a bad year. Yes, there’s a lot of “teen” and “young adult” stuff on there, but that’s because it’s a world better than the equivalent when I was that age. On the other hand, I’ve discovered that much as I’m not a fan of horse racing, Dick Francis was a brilliant author of thrillers. I’m glad he left such a sizeable legacy as far as number of published titles goes.
So with 29 read in 2011, I’m going to aim for 35 in 2012. I currently have three on the go – one paperback, one on my phone and a Kindle one… although I don’t have a Kindle. I’m waiting until I get my tablet in January (with luck) to start reading that.
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Review: Dave Gorman Vs the Rest of the World

Dave Gorman Vs the Rest of the World: Limited Edition with Bowling VoucherDave Gorman Vs the Rest of the World by Dave Gorman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Much as I like Dave Gorman, this is his weakest book to date. Not that it isn’t well-written, just that it’s a bit disjointed and not as “madcap” as his earlier works.

There just doesn’t seem to have the drive of Googlewhack of I’m Dave Gorman, probably as both of them had a deadline he was racing towards. This one is based around a series of meetings he had over some time which happen to have a common theme.

If there’s any build-up, it’s to the game he plays with one individual towards the end of the book who he corresponds with via email in the lead-up. This chapter is excellent, by far the best in the whole book, but it mainly stands out as it’s the most different.

The other pages are all about Dave meeting nice people, playing a game you may or may not have heard of and heading home again. It just doesn’t grab the reader the way his other works do.

It’s a shame as it is nicely written and Gorman’s got a good way with words, while being nicely honest about the foibles of those he meets.

If you need something you can pick up, blast through a chapter of and put down, knowing you won’t get a chance to read it again for a couple of days then it’s fine. The chapters are nicely standalone.

It would pass the time on the beach, and it did make me think how nice it would be to get involved in some kind of games again, too. Having said that, so did the Dungeons and Dragons episode of Community I just watched last night.

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