A.P.'s bookshelf: all en-US Sat, 29 Mar 2025 14:39:52 -0700 60 A.P.'s bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Original Sin (Adam Dalgliesh, #9)]]> 50279057 The Peverell Press, a two-hundred-year-old publishing firm housed in a dramatic mock-Venetian palace on the Thames, is certainly ripe for change. But the proposals of its ruthlessly ambitious new managing director, Gerard Etienne, have made him dangerous enemies - a discarded mistress, a neglected and humiliated author, and rebellious colleagues and staff. When Gerard's body is discovered bizarrely desecrated, there is no shortage of suspects and Adam Dalgliesh and his team are confronted with a puzzle of extraordinary complexity and a murderer who is prepared to strike again.

P.D. James, the bestselling author of Death Comes to Pemberley, Children of Men and Death in Holy Orders, once again explores the mysterious, strong and intense emotions responsible for the unique crime of murder, with authority and sensitivity. Original Sin is set in the literary world of London and possesses all of the qualities which distinguish P.D. James as a novelist.

P.D. James has been influential as a crime writer for many years and her writing is often compared to the work of authors such as Val Mcdermid, Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson.

]]> 627 P.D. James A.P. 5 4.23 1994 Original Sin (Adam Dalgliesh, #9)
author: P.D. James
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1994
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Insider (Solomon Vine, #2)]]> 36526427 The thrilling novel of espionage and murder set in the dark heart of Westminster, from the UK's most exciting new spy writerA Russian defector is found brutally murdered in a London hotel.Only four people knew he had turned - the four most important and powerful figures in Whitehall.There's only one mole has infiltrated the highest levels of the nation's security.Operating in secret from within Westminster's darkest corners, former spy, Solomon Vine, must uncover the traitor.Because Britain's future hangs in the balance.And with it, the fate of the whole world . . .Praise for Matthew Richardson'Proof that the spy genre is flourishing in the 21st century . . . [Richardson's] plotting has an old-school, Swiss-clock precision' The Guardian'Compelling, intense and sharply authentic' James Swallow, bestselling author of Nomad'A splendid tale of espionage starring an old-fashioned MI6 hero . . . Exciting spy literature' The Times 'A bang-up-to-date thriller told with old-school panache. A great read' Mick Herron, CWA Gold Dagger-winning author of the Slough House Series]]> 338 Matthew Richardson 1405924829 A.P. 4 4.22 The Insider (Solomon Vine, #2)
author: Matthew Richardson
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.22
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Talented Mr. Ripley (Ripley, #1)]]> 20798317
The Talented Mr Ripley serves as an unforgettable introduction to this smooth confident man, whose talent for murder and self-invention is chronicled in four subsequent Ripley novels.]]> 274 Patricia Highsmith A.P. 5 4.17 1955 The Talented Mr. Ripley (Ripley, #1)
author: Patricia Highsmith
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1955
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/05
date added: 2024/02/05
shelves:
review:

]]> The Skeleton Key 59415174 THIS REUNION WILL TEAR A FAMILY APART...

Summer, 2021. Nell has come home at her family's insistence to celebrate an anniversary. Fifty years ago, her father wrote The Golden Bones. Part picture book, part treasure hunt, Sir Frank Churcher created a fairy story about Elinore, a murdered woman whose skeleton was scattered all over England. Clues and puzzles in the pages of The Golden Bones led readers to seven sites where jewels were buried � gold and precious stones, each a different part of a skeleton. One by one, the tiny golden bones were dug up until only Elinore's pelvis remained hidden.

The book was a sensation. A community of treasure hunters called the Bonehunters formed, in frenzied competition, obsessed to a dangerous degree. People sold their homes to travel to England and search for Elinore. Marriages broke down as the quest consumed people. A man died. The book made Frank a rich man. Stalked by fans who could not tell fantasy from reality, his daughter, Nell, became a recluse.

But now the Churchers must be reunited. The book is being reissued along with a new treasure hunt and a documentary crew are charting everything that follows. Nell is appalled, and terrified. During the filming, Frank finally reveals the whereabouts of the missing golden bone. And then all hell breaks loose.

From the bestselling author of He Said/She Said and Watch Her Fall, this is a taut, mesmerising novel about a daughter haunted by her father's legacy...]]> 512 Erin Kelly A.P. 4 3.76 2022 The Skeleton Key
author: Erin Kelly
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/16
date added: 2023/01/16
shelves:
review:

]]> The Whistling 58652868 Alone in the world, Elspeth Swansome has taken the position of nanny to a family on the remote Scottish island of Skelthsea.

Her charge, Mary, is a troubled child. Distracted and secretive, she hasn't uttered a word since the sudden death of her twin, William - just days after their former nanny disappeared.

With Mary defiantly silent, Elspeth turns to the islanders. But no one will speak of what happened to William. Just as no one can explain the hypnotic lullabies sung in empty corridors. Nor the strange dolls that appear in abandoned rooms.

Nor the faint whistling that comes in the night...

As winter draws in and passage to the mainland becomes impossible, Elspeth finds herself trapped.

But is this house haunted by the ghosts of the past?

OR THE SECRETS OF THE LIVING...?

Chilling, twisty and emotionally gripping, The Whistling is an atmospheric page-turner with shades of the classics, yet a unique character of its own. Perfect for fans of Susan Hill and Laura Purcell.]]> 400 Rebecca Netley 1405950250 A.P. 4 3.92 2021 The Whistling
author: Rebecca Netley
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/27
date added: 2022/07/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sanatorium (Detective Elin Warner, #1)]]> 55067264 EVERYONE'S IN DANGER. ANYONE COULD BE NEXT.

An imposing, isolated hotel, high up in the Swiss Alps, is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But she's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when she receives an invitation out of the blue to celebrate her estranged brother's recent engagement, she has no choice but to accept.

Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge. Though it's beautiful, something about the hotel, recently converted from an abandoned sanatorium, makes her nervous - as does her brother, Isaac.

And when they wake the following morning to discover his fiancée Laure has vanished without a trace, Elin's unease grows. With the storm cutting off access to and from the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.

But no-one has realized yet that another woman has gone missing. And she's the only one who could have warned them just how much danger they're all in . . .]]> 391 Sarah Pearse A.P. 3 3.52 2020 The Sanatorium (Detective Elin Warner, #1)
author: Sarah Pearse
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2022/03/06
date added: 2022/03/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Heartstone (Matthew Shardlake, #5)]]> 7027569 634 C.J. Sansom 0230711251 A.P. 5 4.32 2010 Heartstone (Matthew Shardlake, #5)
author: C.J. Sansom
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/02/11
shelves:
review:

]]> A Narrow Door 58647643
It's an incendiary moment for St Oswald's school. For the first time in its history, a headmistress is in power, the gates opening to girls.

Rebecca Buckfast has spilled blood to reach this position. Barely forty, she is just starting to reap the harvest of her ambition. As the new regime takes on the old guard, the ground shifts. And with it, the remains of a body are discovered.

But Rebecca is here to make her mark. She'll bury the past so deep it will evade even her own memory, just like she has done before. After all...

You can't keep a good woman down.]]> 438 Joanne Harris A.P. 5 4.19 2021 A Narrow Door
author: Joanne Harris
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2022/01/07
date added: 2022/01/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rules for Perfect Murders (Malcolm Kershaw, #1)]]> 49866475 If you want to get away with murder, play by the rules

A series of unsolved murders with one thing in common: each of the deaths bears an eerie resemblance to the crimes depicted in classic mystery novels.

The deaths lead FBI Agent Gwen Mulvey to mystery bookshop Old Devils. Owner Malcolm Kershaw had once posted online an article titled 'My Eight Favourite Murders,' and there seems to be a deadly link between the deaths and his list - which includes Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders, Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on a Train and Donna Tartt's The Secret History.

Can the killer be stopped before all eight of these perfect murders have been re-enacted?

]]> 277 Peter Swanson A.P. 5 3.68 2020 Rules for Perfect Murders (Malcolm Kershaw, #1)
author: Peter Swanson
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/02/12
date added: 2021/02/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Rotters' Club (Rotters' Club, #1)]]> 50279173 The Rotters' Club - Jonathan Coe's iconic 1970s coming-of-age novel

Winner of the Everyman Wodehouse prize, The Rotters' Club follows Benjamin Trotter - bestselling author Jonathan Coe's most iconic character - through the hilarious and, at times, touching trials and tribulations of growing up in 1970s Britain.

Unforgettably funny and painfully honest, Jonathan Coe's tale of Benjamin Trotter and his friends' coming of age during the 1970s is a heartfelt celebration of the joys and agonies of growing up.

Featuring, among other things, IRA bombs, prog rock, punk rock, bad poetry, first love, love on the side. Prefects, detention, a few bottles of Blue Nun, lots of brown wallpaper, industrial strife, and divine intervention in the form of a pair of swimming trunks.

Set against the backdrop of the decade's class struggles, tragic and riotous by turns, packed with thwarted romance and furtive sex, The Rotters' Club will be enjoyed by readers of Nick Hornby and William Boyd and anyone who ever experience adolescence the hard way.

'One of those sweeping, ambitious yet hugely readable, moving and richly comic novels that you find all too rarely in English fiction...a masterpiece' Daily Telegraph

'Very funny...a compulsive and gripping read. Coe had achieved that rare feat: a novel stuffed with characters you really care for' The Times

'A book to cherish, a book to reread, a book to buy for all your friends' Independent on Sunday

Jonathan Coe's novels are filled with biting political satire, moving and astute observations of life and hilarious set pieces that have made him one of the most popular writers of his generation. His other titles, The Closed Circle (sequel to The Rotters' Club), The Accidental Woman, The Dwarves of Death, The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim, The House of Sleep (winner of the 1998 Prix Médicis Étranger), A Touch of Love, What a Carve Up! (winner of the 1995 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize) and The Rain Before it Falls, are all available in Penguin paperback.]]> 418 Jonathan Coe A.P. 3 4.01 2001 The Rotters' Club (Rotters' Club, #1)
author: Jonathan Coe
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at: 2021/01/31
date added: 2021/01/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Dark Web Murders (Inspector Sheehan Mysteries, #4)]]> 44129122

This is a theme running through a number of blogs on the Dark Web, written by a serial killer. He is highly intelligent and employs philosophical argument to justify a series of gruesome murders. However, he describes the killings in lurid detail, and with such gloating relish, that he utterly negates his delusion of detachment and reveals himself to be a cold-blooded, narcissistic psychopath.

Sheehan and his team rush headlong down a series of blind alleys in the pursuit of the psychopath, who continues to murder his victims with impunity. He is fiendishly clever, utterly ruthless, and tests Sheehan's famed intuition to the limit. Indeed, Sheehan only learns the truth during a horrific climax when some members of his team experience a most harrowing ‘laceration of the soul� that they will never be able to forget. It is unlikely that the reader will either.

]]> 322 Brian O'Hare A.P. 5
As is the author’s style, much of the working of the plot comprises discussion among the team, as they grapple to make sense of what is happening and who could be be the perpetrator. I always find the author’s dialogue credible and realistic. So much so that, on the rare occaasions when the inevitable repetition and forays into blind alleys occur, which could be a source of frustration to the reader if handled by a less skilful writer, they actually add to the sense that one is ‘really there� in the incident room.

O’Hare has developed his characters very successfully as they have tackled their various cases. I , for one, am eagerly awaiting their next challenge in what is a crime series which undoubtedly deserves a much wider audience. ]]> 4.23 The Dark Web Murders (Inspector Sheehan Mysteries, #4)
author: Brian O'Hare
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2020/11/07
shelves:
review:
Another gripping outing for Sheehan and his faithful team. This time, their antagonist is a cunning murderer who attempts philosophical justifications for his killing spree by means of the so called Dark Web. Whether or not such a virtual place actually exists, O’Hare makes excellent use of it in his plot.

As is the author’s style, much of the working of the plot comprises discussion among the team, as they grapple to make sense of what is happening and who could be be the perpetrator. I always find the author’s dialogue credible and realistic. So much so that, on the rare occaasions when the inevitable repetition and forays into blind alleys occur, which could be a source of frustration to the reader if handled by a less skilful writer, they actually add to the sense that one is ‘really there� in the incident room.

O’Hare has developed his characters very successfully as they have tackled their various cases. I , for one, am eagerly awaiting their next challenge in what is a crime series which undoubtedly deserves a much wider audience.
]]> A Colder War (Thomas Kell #2) 20219739
In Istanbul, Kell soon discovers that there is a traitor inside Western Intelligence. Then he meets Rachel- the dead spy’s daughter- and the stakes grow higher still.

From London to Greece and into Eastern Europe, Kell tracks the mole. But a betrayal close to home transforms the operation into something more personal. Soon Kell will stop at nothing to see it through.]]> 397 Charles Cumming A.P. 0 currently-reading 4.14 2014 A Colder War (Thomas Kell #2)
author: Charles Cumming
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/02/25
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Snap 35687802 Jack's in charge, she said. I won't be long.

But she doesn't come back. She never comes back. And life as the children know it is changed for ever.

Three years later, mum-to-be Catherine wakes to find a knife beside her bed, and a note that says: I could have killed you.

Meanwhile Jack is still in charge - of his sisters, of supporting them all, of making sure nobody knows they're alone in the house, and - quite suddenly - of finding out the truth about what happened to his mother.

But the truth can be a dangerous thing ...]]> 282 Belinda Bauer A.P. 0 currently-reading 3.80 2018 Snap
author: Belinda Bauer
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/07/26
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> A Devil of a Time 23598149 Grand Master Adventure Writer's Top-10 Finalist Award

2020 B.R.A.G Medallion Honoree

The Coffee Pot Book Club--2020 Five-Star Recommendation

Readers' Favorite Five Stars Award

Captain Niall McLane might think he has survived the worst that could happen to any man, but as the bloody American Revolution draws to a close, he finds his troubles are just beginning. When Niall becomes a suspect in a grotesque murder, his reputation as a merciless Indian fighter and scalp hunter turns the public against him. Worse, the real killer has only begun to rampage, his sights set on those close to Niall.

Now the hunt for evil is on . . .

Niall's only allies are Andrew Wade, a hopeless drunkard tormented by his act of cowardice, and Andrew's young wife, Clarice, a woman of mettle who captivates Niall’s heart. After another murder occurs, Niall manages to stay out of jail, but can he protect Clarice from the formidable creature prowling in their midst?

From the mysterious forests of Kentucky to a graceful Virginia plantation, from the fevered heat of battle to the passionate struggle for renewal, A Devil of a Time weaves a tale of courage, betrayal, and forbidden love, of three men grappling with the demons of their past, and the remarkable woman destined to change all their lives forever.

"A devilishly good novel." --The Kindle Book Review

"This is adventure at the finest level." --GoodbooksToday.com

"One hell of a fulfilling read." --E-book Planet

MATURE CONTENT: This novel borders on American Gothic, with dark themes, a strong romantic element, and integral violence that some readers might find disturbing.]]> 391 Gretchen Jeannette A.P. 4
The tale is a fairly traditional one: of bravery, cowardice, love, lust, revenge, madness and ultimately redemption. There’s even a dramatic courtroom episode. A fine array of characters, although arguably separated too frequently into obvious good and bad guys, is deployed to take the reader on a dramatic journey.

I had read in advance that the novel was somewhat violent, but that didn’t really prepare me for its frequent and graphic depiction. . It may well have been a regular feature of life back then, but I’m not convinced that the reader of today needs to have it described in detail, so frequently and with such relish. A hint or a suggestion can be just as effective.

I was also a little concerned about the depiction of the Shawnee. I’m no expert on Native American culture, but I’m sure there was much more to it, than that depicted here. I was also not convinced by the writer’s tactic of revealing the identity of the killer so matter of factly and so early. I wonder whether or not the added suspense of keeping his identity secret would have enhanced to the enjoyment of the book.

Nevertheless, a well written book that certainly retained this reader’s interest.I debated whether 3* or 4*, but in the end decided it would be unfair to penalise it because I don’t like graphic violence, So, 4* it is




]]> 4.40 2014 A Devil of a Time
author: Gretchen Jeannette
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/03/08
shelves:
review:
There is no question that the author should be commended for recreating, most effectively, life in 1780s Virginia.. Her detailed descriptions really made the location and times come to life with rare vividness.

The tale is a fairly traditional one: of bravery, cowardice, love, lust, revenge, madness and ultimately redemption. There’s even a dramatic courtroom episode. A fine array of characters, although arguably separated too frequently into obvious good and bad guys, is deployed to take the reader on a dramatic journey.

I had read in advance that the novel was somewhat violent, but that didn’t really prepare me for its frequent and graphic depiction. . It may well have been a regular feature of life back then, but I’m not convinced that the reader of today needs to have it described in detail, so frequently and with such relish. A hint or a suggestion can be just as effective.

I was also a little concerned about the depiction of the Shawnee. I’m no expert on Native American culture, but I’m sure there was much more to it, than that depicted here. I was also not convinced by the writer’s tactic of revealing the identity of the killer so matter of factly and so early. I wonder whether or not the added suspense of keeping his identity secret would have enhanced to the enjoyment of the book.

Nevertheless, a well written book that certainly retained this reader’s interest.I debated whether 3* or 4*, but in the end decided it would be unfair to penalise it because I don’t like graphic violence, So, 4* it is





]]> <![CDATA[Yellow Horse: A Sage Country novel]]> 38334338 166 Dan Arnold A.P. 5
The plot has everything such an adventure requires, thrilling action, intelligent outsmarting of villains and even a damsel in distress. In addition, it deals with the native Americans� need to adapt to modernity with sensitivity and insight.

I hope I’m not giving too much away when I say that the book ends with a real cliff hanger. I, for one, will enjoy reading the sequel, no doubt as quickly as one of Yellow Horse’s daring gallops across the desert!

]]> 4.33 Yellow Horse: A Sage Country novel
author: Dan Arnold
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/05/12
shelves:
review:
I can’t believe I’ve finished this book so quickly! Yellow Horse is a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable story which introduces the reader to a fine array of characters, some noble, some bad and some somewhere in between.

The plot has everything such an adventure requires, thrilling action, intelligent outsmarting of villains and even a damsel in distress. In addition, it deals with the native Americans� need to adapt to modernity with sensitivity and insight.

I hope I’m not giving too much away when I say that the book ends with a real cliff hanger. I, for one, will enjoy reading the sequel, no doubt as quickly as one of Yellow Horse’s daring gallops across the desert!


]]> <![CDATA[Target: Villa!: America's First Terrorist (diary series Book 2)]]> 34383193
Throughout history, the lives of ordinary men and women as well as the lives of those in power have been dramatically changed for good or bad, broken or even destroyed, by the individual ambitions and actions of just one person living among them. It was no different in New Mexico and Chihuahua, Mexico, from 1916 through 1923. Pancho Villa made sure of that.
On March 10, 1916, at 0400 hours, tiny Columbus, New Mexico, was brutally attacked by 300 Villistas. Reactions were swift, thanks in part to the latest modern communication device � the telephone. General John J. “Blackjack� Pershing at Fort Bliss in El Paso and President Woodrow Wilson in Washington were notified of the raid almost immediately. Within 36 hours, Wilson ordered Pershing to form the Punitive Expedition and enter Mexico. From across the country, 6,000 troops and recruits were hastily mobilized. On March 15, 1916, the first wave of 3,000 American soldiers entered Mexico uninvited in pursuit of Villa.
Eleven months later, General Pershing’s battle-hardened troops limped back across the border without as much as a fleeting glimpse of the Generalissimo.
On July 19, 1923, Pancho Villa was assassinated in his motorcar by unknown gunmen lying in ambush under a bridge near Parral, Chihuahua.
Using fictional and non-fictional characters, Villa! brings to vivid life the daring raid on Columbus, New Mexico, the ill-fated Punitive Expedition and the mysterious death of the Generalissimo through the eyes of ordinary men and women.
It is primarily the story of a nineteen-year-old Texan, Johnnie Mac James, who had joined Villa’s army to avoid capture on a murder warrant in El Paso. James� experiences, the places he goes and his plight, as well as that of his comrades along the way, make the actual historical events unfolding around them explode. It is a book about love and war, greed, deception, and double-cross, all played out behind one man’s lust for power.
Villa! tells the story of America’s first terrorist in a way we can all understand. Especially for those of us who were alive on September 11, 2001.

B. Duane Whitlow]]> 301 B. Duane Whitlow A.P. 4
The plot could be said to meander at times and the detailed descriptions, or mini histories, to digress rather too frequently. But for me, these contributed to the sense of a story actually being told. Indeed I imagine the author relished his role as narrator and story weaver.

The book outlines the build up to and consequences of Villa’s attack on Columbus, New Mexico in 1916. It introduces the reader to an epic array of characters, all of whom have their part to play in the sometimes savage events described.

On balance, a book with flaws. Yes, it’s arguably over long, it shifts perspective too frequently and it contains much information not strictly necessary for the plot to develop. But it was very enjoyable and, I believe, written with great feeling for the history described.
]]> 4.18 Target: Villa!: America's First Terrorist (diary series Book 2)
author: B. Duane Whitlow
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.18
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/09
shelves:
review:
While reading this book, I felt at times like I was sitting by a fire, late at night and listening to the words of a skillful storyteller. If that is the effect that B Duane Whitlow was trying to achieve, then he succeeded.

The plot could be said to meander at times and the detailed descriptions, or mini histories, to digress rather too frequently. But for me, these contributed to the sense of a story actually being told. Indeed I imagine the author relished his role as narrator and story weaver.

The book outlines the build up to and consequences of Villa’s attack on Columbus, New Mexico in 1916. It introduces the reader to an epic array of characters, all of whom have their part to play in the sometimes savage events described.

On balance, a book with flaws. Yes, it’s arguably over long, it shifts perspective too frequently and it contains much information not strictly necessary for the plot to develop. But it was very enjoyable and, I believe, written with great feeling for the history described.

]]> <![CDATA[The Coven Murders (Inspector Sheehan Mysteries, #3)]]> 38521724 457 Brian O'Hare A.P. 5
Well, times have certainly changed since then and The Coven Murders is definitely no tired rehash of The Devil Rides Out. While it is certainly a bold step in a new direction, Brian O’Hare’s latest work displays many of his familiar and praiseworthy hallmarks.

There is a strong and appropriate emphasis on police procedures and the interaction of the now familiar officers in Sheehan’s team.

Despite the necessity of the reader suspending disbelief in the existence of satanic powers, the plot is logical and well constructed, with no shortage of thrills, shocks, twists and turns.

Without over doing the description and running the risk of slowing down plot development, , the book does offer the reader a very real sense of the time and place, in which it is set.

However, what I really like is the skillful and unselfconscious way in which the author juxtaposes the essential normality of life in Northern Ireland with the utterly bizarre events of the case.

A very strong recommendation for fans of good, well written and researched thrillers.

One final thought. I do wonder how easy it will be for Brian O’Hare to take Sheehan and his indefatigable team back to more normal cases with his next book. I, for one, can’t wait to find out.
]]> 4.58 The Coven Murders (Inspector Sheehan Mysteries, #3)
author: Brian O'Hare
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.58
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/03/17
shelves:
review:
Having read Brian O’Hare’s work before, I can honestly say that, despite its title, The Coven Murders caught me by surprise. At times, I almost felt like I was back as an enthralled teenager, lapping up Dennis Wheatley’s satanic thrillers from the local library.

Well, times have certainly changed since then and The Coven Murders is definitely no tired rehash of The Devil Rides Out. While it is certainly a bold step in a new direction, Brian O’Hare’s latest work displays many of his familiar and praiseworthy hallmarks.

There is a strong and appropriate emphasis on police procedures and the interaction of the now familiar officers in Sheehan’s team.

Despite the necessity of the reader suspending disbelief in the existence of satanic powers, the plot is logical and well constructed, with no shortage of thrills, shocks, twists and turns.

Without over doing the description and running the risk of slowing down plot development, , the book does offer the reader a very real sense of the time and place, in which it is set.

However, what I really like is the skillful and unselfconscious way in which the author juxtaposes the essential normality of life in Northern Ireland with the utterly bizarre events of the case.

A very strong recommendation for fans of good, well written and researched thrillers.

One final thought. I do wonder how easy it will be for Brian O’Hare to take Sheehan and his indefatigable team back to more normal cases with his next book. I, for one, can’t wait to find out.

]]> Laurel 38228052 474 Helen Mathey-Horn A.P. 3
As the plot develops to a very satisfactory conclusion, we do discover more about the principal characters. I do, however, feel that this aspect of the novel could have been improved. By far the greatest part of the writing is in the form of dialogue, which inhibits us gaining deep insights into the minds of the main characters.

It also places a very great burden on the author to produce accuracy of tone and vocabulary. I’m not sure this was always successfully achieved.For example, modern or unEnglish words like gotten, okay or pants figure too frequently, which disturbs our sense of the place and the period.

Indeed, this is my greatest concern with the book � it actually gives the reader hardly any sense of what 1830s London or Bath were like. There is precious little description of any locations, or the sights, smells or sounds of the cities and the people in them. I never got to feel that I was there at all, which is a real pity. I think with carefully edited dialogue and more space devoted to the creation of an authentic sense of time and place, this could have been a very good book. For those who like historical romance fiction with a difference, I’m sure you’d really enjoy it as it is.]]> 4.00 Laurel
author: Helen Mathey-Horn
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2018/03/11
date added: 2018/03/11
shelves:
review:
Laurel is a very long novel, into which the author has clearly put a great deal of effort, for which she should be commended. The basic notion of the plot, that a young heiress should run away from home and try to make her way as a male painter in 1830s London, is instantly intriguing. In her guise as a man, she is befriended by several male characters and experiences an eventful life in London.

As the plot develops to a very satisfactory conclusion, we do discover more about the principal characters. I do, however, feel that this aspect of the novel could have been improved. By far the greatest part of the writing is in the form of dialogue, which inhibits us gaining deep insights into the minds of the main characters.

It also places a very great burden on the author to produce accuracy of tone and vocabulary. I’m not sure this was always successfully achieved.For example, modern or unEnglish words like gotten, okay or pants figure too frequently, which disturbs our sense of the place and the period.

Indeed, this is my greatest concern with the book � it actually gives the reader hardly any sense of what 1830s London or Bath were like. There is precious little description of any locations, or the sights, smells or sounds of the cities and the people in them. I never got to feel that I was there at all, which is a real pity. I think with carefully edited dialogue and more space devoted to the creation of an authentic sense of time and place, this could have been a very good book. For those who like historical romance fiction with a difference, I’m sure you’d really enjoy it as it is.
]]> <![CDATA[The Strange Life of Brandon Chambers]]> 35693983 This is an alternate Cover Edition for ASIN: B01MD003PU.

Ten-year-old Brandon Chambers is suddenly thrust into a national scandal when his father, a top-ranking captain in the U.S. Army, is implicated in a tragic explosion on the army base while spearheading a top-secret weapons project. During the aftermath, both his parents are labeled as traitors, and he’s haunted by visions he can’t understand.

Brandon struggles through adolescence and college, still troubled by hallucinations that are also witnessed by others, leading him to believe that someone—or something—is deliberately laying clues in his path. Doggedly pursuing one clue at a time, Brandon seeks the answers.]]> 469 Scott Spotson A.P. 3
The book certainly requires a great deal of suspension of disbelief from its readers. Having said that, it is well written and, generally captures the interest. I was less convinced by some of the secondary characters who added little to the plot line. Moreover, the approach of the author alternates between deep, detailed description and analysis of individual events, to the most cursory glossing over of months or even years in our hero’s life. Ultimately, it is that extreme unevenness which brought my rating of the book down. I would have liked to award it 3.5 stars and I wonder whether a serious edit could have moderated this issue somewhat.

On the other hand, I enjoyed the book and had no problem finishing it, though there was a sense that the author was in rush to end his story. Much could have been better explained.

I am sure that those who enjoy a mixture of the paranormal, the frankly surreal and a healthy dose of conspiracy theory, will thoroughly enjoy this book.
]]> 3.60 2016 The Strange Life of Brandon Chambers
author: Scott Spotson
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2017/12/28
date added: 2017/12/31
shelves:
review:
By describing the life of his eponymous hero as ‘strange� in his title, author Scott Spotson is surely guilty of huge understatement. I have read many examples of the Bildungsroman, but this is out there on its own in style and approach!

The book certainly requires a great deal of suspension of disbelief from its readers. Having said that, it is well written and, generally captures the interest. I was less convinced by some of the secondary characters who added little to the plot line. Moreover, the approach of the author alternates between deep, detailed description and analysis of individual events, to the most cursory glossing over of months or even years in our hero’s life. Ultimately, it is that extreme unevenness which brought my rating of the book down. I would have liked to award it 3.5 stars and I wonder whether a serious edit could have moderated this issue somewhat.

On the other hand, I enjoyed the book and had no problem finishing it, though there was a sense that the author was in rush to end his story. Much could have been better explained.

I am sure that those who enjoy a mixture of the paranormal, the frankly surreal and a healthy dose of conspiracy theory, will thoroughly enjoy this book.

]]> <![CDATA[Flash: A Death Story (The Usas #1)]]> 36305805 This is an alternate cover edition & expanded version of ASIN B01E604QM2

Kate is driving home from working a double at the hospital. She misses her turn and is crossing train tracks. There's no train signal, but she sees it coming and thinks she misses the train. All of a sudden, there is a blinding white light and she wakes up naked in a white room. Is she dead? There is a scientist conducting experiments on her. Is this hell or purgatory?

Waking up in another white room, Kate panics. She’s stronger now and easily dents the steel door keeping her in. She manages to escape the facility keeping her, but nothing is right. The world thinks she’s dead, but she’s clearly alive in a much taller, more muscular body. Lab results say this body may not be human. There is also a ghostly voice in Kate’s head claiming this body was stolen by force and she doesn’t belong there.

This is the revised and expanded edition. The short story which was expanded and revised is here.]]> 229 J.B. Trepagnier A.P. 4
The book is based on an interesting, though by no means universally accepted view of the universe and those who live in it. As such, the novel will definitely appeal more to those who like a mixture of fantasy, science fiction and ‘new age� conspiracy theory. It’s well written and the characterisation is engaging. However, I did feel at times that the plot was overburdened with exposition and the need to provide and reinforce a great deal of background information and explanation. I guess when a work is designed as the first of a planned series, such ‘scene setting� is inevitable, though it didn‘t detract from my enjoyment of the book.

While not my favourite genre, Flash won me round by the imagination of the author and the quality of the writing and story telling. Even if, like me, you’re not sure, give it a try. You may surprise yourself and love it!
]]> 3.75 2016 Flash: A Death Story (The Usas #1)
author: J.B. Trepagnier
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2017/11/29
date added: 2017/11/29
shelves:
review:
My initial reaction on reading the blurb for this book was to give it a miss. A story which requires the reader to suspend disbelief that a person could be ‘killed� in a train accident, only to regain consciousness in another body, seemed too far out for me. Then I happened to read a media report suggesting that the first head transplant operation would almost certainly take place before the end of 2017. So I returned to ‘Flash � a Death Story� with renewed interest.

The book is based on an interesting, though by no means universally accepted view of the universe and those who live in it. As such, the novel will definitely appeal more to those who like a mixture of fantasy, science fiction and ‘new age� conspiracy theory. It’s well written and the characterisation is engaging. However, I did feel at times that the plot was overburdened with exposition and the need to provide and reinforce a great deal of background information and explanation. I guess when a work is designed as the first of a planned series, such ‘scene setting� is inevitable, though it didn‘t detract from my enjoyment of the book.

While not my favourite genre, Flash won me round by the imagination of the author and the quality of the writing and story telling. Even if, like me, you’re not sure, give it a try. You may surprise yourself and love it!

]]> Corpus (Tom Wilde #1) 26859967
In Berlin, a young Englishwoman evades the Gestapo to deliver vital papers to a Jewish scientist. Within weeks, she is found dead, a silver syringe clutched in her fingers.

In an exclusive London club, a conspiracy is launched that threatens the very heart of government. When a renowned society couple with fascist leanings are found brutally murdered, a maverick Cambridge professor is drawn into a world of espionage he knows only from history books. The deeper Thomas Wilde delves, the more he finds to link the murders with the girl with the silver syringe - and even more worryingly to the scandal surrounding the Abdication . . .]]> 352 Rory Clements 1848548591 A.P. 4 3.79 2016 Corpus (Tom Wilde #1)
author: Rory Clements
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2017/10/10
date added: 2017/10/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[I've Been Watching You (The Forensic Files #2)]]> 30743514 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B01HI9W5HQ

Ben Cassidy has a hard job balancing single motherhood with her career as a Crime Scene Investigator.

While taking a course in Digital Forensics she meets the charming Jacob Tully, an ex army war veteran struggling with his past.

While the team investigate the apparent hit and run of a care home worker, Ben suspects there is more to it. As events unfold she discovers the connection to a series of murders much closer to home.

To catch the killer, can she confront the demons from her past?

Will the team piece together the evidence before it’s too late?

The hunt is on for a twisted killer and this will be their deadliest challenge yet.

The team are back in the second novel from the gripping North East Police series.]]> 290 K.A. Richardson A.P. 2 4.16 2016 I've Been Watching You (The Forensic Files #2)
author: K.A. Richardson
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2017/09/18
date added: 2017/09/18
shelves:
review:

]]> He Said/She Said 31393997 Don't be left in the dark.

In the hushed aftermath of a total eclipse, Laura witnesses a brutal attack. She and her boyfriend Kit call the police, and in that moment, four lives change forever.

Fifteen years on, Laura and Kit live in fear.

And while Laura knows she was right to speak out, she also knows that you can never see the whole something is always hidden . . . something she never could have guessed.]]> 416 Erin Kelly 1444797174 A.P. 4 3.84 2017 He Said/She Said
author: Erin Kelly
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2017/08/21
date added: 2017/08/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Woman in Cabin 10 (Lo Blacklock, #1)]]> 29918785 New York Times bestselling author of the “twisty-mystery� (Vulture) novel In a Dark, Dark Wood, comes The Woman in Cabin 10, an equally suspenseful and haunting novel from Ruth Ware—this time, set at sea.

In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong�

With surprising twists, spine-tingling turns, and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another taut and intense read in The Woman in Cabin 10—one that will leave even the most sure-footed reader restlessly uneasy long after the last page is turned.]]> 350 Ruth Ware 1501132946 A.P. 4 3.80 2016 The Woman in Cabin 10 (Lo Blacklock, #1)
author: Ruth Ware
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2017/07/23
date added: 2017/07/23
shelves:
review:

]]> The Spring of Kasper Meier 22078250
The war is over, but Berlin is a desolate sea of rubble. There is a shortage of everything: food, clothing, tobacco. The local population is scrabbling to get by. Kasper Meier is one of these Germans, and his solution is to trade on the black market to feed himself and his elderly father. He can find anything that people need, for the right price. Even other people.

When a young woman, Eva, arrives at Kasper's door seeking the whereabouts of a British pilot, he feels a reluctant sympathy for her but won't interfere in military affairs. But Eva is prepared for this. Kasper has secrets, she knows them, and she'll use them to get what she wants. As the threats against him mount, Kasper is drawn into a world of intrigue he could never have anticipated. Why is Eva so insistent that he find the pilot? Who is the shadowy Frau Beckmann and what is her hold over Eva?

Under constant surveillance, Kasper navigates the dangerous streets and secrets of a city still reeling from the horrors of war and defeat. As a net of deceit, lies and betrayal falls around him, Kasper begins to understand that the seemingly random killings of members of the occupying forces are connected to his own situation. He must work out who is behind Eva's demands, and why - while at the same time trying to save himself, his father and Eva.]]> 400 Ben Fergusson A.P. 3 3.80 2014 The Spring of Kasper Meier
author: Ben Fergusson
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2017/07/14
date added: 2017/07/14
shelves:
review:

]]> City of Gold 12913187 400 Len Deighton 0007385846 A.P. 4 3.24 1992 City of Gold
author: Len Deighton
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.24
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 2017/06/30
date added: 2017/07/14
shelves:
review:
An excellent, atmospheric spy tale. My only concerns were an arguably implausible case of changing identities and the underwhelming denouement to the search for Rommel's spy.
]]> <![CDATA[The Dark Monk (The Hangman's Daughter, #2)]]> 18652482

Following a trail of riddles, hangman Jakob Kuisl, his headstrong daughter, Magdalena, and the town physician’s son team up with the priest’s aristocratic sister to investigate. What they uncover will lead them back to the Crusades, unlocking a troubled history of internal church politics and sending them on a chase for a treasure of the Knights Templar.

But they’re not the only ones after the legendary fortune. A team of dangerous and mysterious monks is always close behind, tracking their every move, speaking Latin in the shadows, giving off a strange, intoxicating scent. And to throw the hangman off their trail, they have ensured he is tasked with capturing a band of thieves roving the countryside attacking solitary travellers and spreading panic.

Delivering on the promise of the international bestseller The Hangman’s Daughter, Oliver Pötzsch takes us on a whirlwind tour through the occult hiding places of Bavaria’s ancient monasteries. Once again based on prodigious historical research into Pötzsch’s family tree, The Dark Monk brings to life an unforgettable, compassionate hangman and his tenacious daughter, painting a robust tableau of a seventeenth-century Bavaria and quickening our pulses with a gripping, mesmerizing mystery

]]> 514 Oliver Pötzsch 1611090849 A.P. 3 4.01 2009 The Dark Monk (The Hangman's Daughter, #2)
author: Oliver Pötzsch
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2017/06/23
date added: 2017/06/23
shelves:
review:
I'm not sure whether or not my problem with this book was due to a poor translation, or that the author actually used so many modern turns of phrase. For me, it was a bit like seeing an Elizabethan play with the language updated. Interesting, sometimes enjoyable, but ultimately unsatisfactory. I really enjoyed the first book in the series but I must say that this was a step backwards for me.
]]> The Dangerous Edge 2687555 256 Ted Allbeury 0450566404 A.P. 3 3.75 1992 The Dangerous Edge
author: Ted Allbeury
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1992
rating: 3
read at: 2017/05/28
date added: 2017/05/28
shelves:
review:
In the end a fairly straightforward plot which ranged from WW2 to the 1980s. The wartime sections, recounted by some of those present, were generally superior to the 1980s conspiracy, which failed to engage. An enjoyable read, especially for those who like WW2 espionage.
]]> The Dangerous Edge 24978398 256 Ted Allbeury A.P. 0 4.19 1992 The Dangerous Edge
author: Ted Allbeury
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at: 2017/05/28
date added: 2017/05/28
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shadow and Light (Berlin Trilogy, #2)]]> 5146086
When we last met Hoffner, it was 1919, and he had taken on the disappearance and death of Rosa Luxembourg in "Rosa," a novel the critic John Leonard hailed as "a ghostly noir that could have been conspired at by Raymond Chandler and Andre Malraux." "Shadow and Light" is equally brilliant and atmospheric, and even harder to put down or shake off. Like Joseph Kanon or Alan Furst, Rabb magically fuses a smart, energetic narrative with layers of fascinating, vividly documented history. The result is a stunning historical thriller, created by a writer to celebrate--and contend with.]]> 384 Jonathan Rabb 0374261946 A.P. 3 3.50 2009 Shadow and Light (Berlin Trilogy, #2)
author: Jonathan Rabb
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2017/05/16
date added: 2017/05/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Quiet Flame (Bernie Gunther, #5)]]> 6567317 In this riveting historical mystery novel from New York Times bestselling author Philip Kerr, Bernie Gunther trails a serial killer in 1950’s Buenos Aires...Buenos Aires, 1950. After being falsely accused of war crimes, Bernie Gunther—like the Nazis he has always despised—has been offered a new life and a clean passport by the Perón government. But the tough, fast-talking ex-Berlin detective doesn’t have the luxury of laying low. The local police pressure Bernie into taking on a case in which a girl has turned up gruesomely mutilated. What’s more, her murder just might be linked to a missing German banker’s daughter and a long-unsolved case Bernie worked back in Berlin before the war. After all, the scum of the earth has been washing up on Argentina’s shores—state-licensed murderers and torturers—so why couldn’t a serial killer be among them?]]> 412 Philip Kerr 1101016477 A.P. 4 The plot, initially alternating between postwar Buenos Aries and pre war Germany is engaging, if a little rich on coincidences and I feel Bernie’s attractiveness to women is rather unlikely. All told, fans will not be disappointed and for newcomers this is a thoroughly enjoyable read.
]]> 4.41 2008 A Quiet Flame (Bernie Gunther, #5)
author: Philip Kerr
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2017/04/11
date added: 2017/04/11
shelves:
review:
It’s some time since I last read a Bernie Gunther novel and, having finished this one, I remember what I really like about this series and also what I’m not so sure about. Oddly, it’s the same thing. One the one hand, I love the noir feel of the whole thing; Bernie could easily be a hard boiled gumshoe in a Chandler novel. He has the familiar dubious hinterland and stubborn refusal to leave something alone for his own good, as well as the obligatory cynical sense of humour. On the other hand, I frequently feel that, given the people and events that he is so dismissive of, this is bordering on the inappropriate.In short, I like his way of dealing with the Nazis and Nazism, but I feel uncomfortable precisely because I like it.
The plot, initially alternating between postwar Buenos Aries and pre war Germany is engaging, if a little rich on coincidences and I feel Bernie’s attractiveness to women is rather unlikely. All told, fans will not be disappointed and for newcomers this is a thoroughly enjoyable read.

]]> The Bad Canadian 32765853 196 Leonard Mokos A.P. 5 This is a multi faceted book that is very difficult to categorise. Part police investigation, part study of small town life, ultimately it’s a story about war and what war can do to people. The first person perspective really works, in helping the reader get into the damaged mind of war veteran Marshall Geary. We suffer with and through him the agonies of the Western Front and we come to understand how his life is completely shaped by this experience. But in a way, it is the natural humour of the character, grappling with his demons though he is, which for me makes this a memorable book. Read it, you will not regret it. ]]> 4.12 2016 The Bad Canadian
author: Leonard Mokos
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2017/01/25
date added: 2017/04/07
shelves:
review:

This is a multi faceted book that is very difficult to categorise. Part police investigation, part study of small town life, ultimately it’s a story about war and what war can do to people. The first person perspective really works, in helping the reader get into the damaged mind of war veteran Marshall Geary. We suffer with and through him the agonies of the Western Front and we come to understand how his life is completely shaped by this experience. But in a way, it is the natural humour of the character, grappling with his demons though he is, which for me makes this a memorable book. Read it, you will not regret it.
]]> He Counts Their Tears 28219220 …until his secret life is threatened by a series of events he never sees coming. Will his devoted cousin, Constance, succeed in protecting him, just as she has throughout his entire life? And what exactly is it that she does to protect him? Is she a murderer, or is she simply devoted to him? Are they merely cousins (possibly, once, long ago, lovers), or are they partners in crime? Did Aaron learn his evil ways from her, or was he born a psychopath? In the end, these answers will make no difference in the lives of the women who, each in turn, are charmed into becoming his victims.]]> 199 Mary Ann D'Alto A.P. 3 This plot concerns a handsome, improbably successful and universally admired doctor, admittedly with a more than dubious back- story, whose alter ego relishes meeting, controlling and ultimately destroying a succession of women.
These destructions, it should be acknowledged, are wholly psychological. Despite his violent past, Aaron � the protagonist � never resorts to physical violence.
The story unfolds through the telling ( and retelling) of the histories of Aaron’s conquests which, while they each have a certain uniqueness, ultimately become rather repetitive. Also, the non-linear structure of the plot, engendering as it does flashbacks within flashbacks within flashbacks, does run the risk of confusing the reader. Although Aaron is the principal character, oddly his interactions are almost exclusively with females � we get no indication of how he gets on with his own gender. While the author does give many insights into the minds of her characters, arguably readers could have developed a deeper understanding of the inner thoughts or motivation of the characters, if they had experienced the action directly from the point of view of each one, rather than always through the prism of a third person narrator.
A good, professional edit would probably enhance this book considerably, although for fans of psycho terror, who are happy to miss out on graphic physical violence, this would be a good read.
]]> 3.90 2015 He Counts Their Tears
author: Mary Ann D'Alto
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/03/26
shelves:
review:
Stories about people who lead secret lives, which are often entirely at odds with their everyday existence, are always good value.
This plot concerns a handsome, improbably successful and universally admired doctor, admittedly with a more than dubious back- story, whose alter ego relishes meeting, controlling and ultimately destroying a succession of women.
These destructions, it should be acknowledged, are wholly psychological. Despite his violent past, Aaron � the protagonist � never resorts to physical violence.
The story unfolds through the telling ( and retelling) of the histories of Aaron’s conquests which, while they each have a certain uniqueness, ultimately become rather repetitive. Also, the non-linear structure of the plot, engendering as it does flashbacks within flashbacks within flashbacks, does run the risk of confusing the reader. Although Aaron is the principal character, oddly his interactions are almost exclusively with females � we get no indication of how he gets on with his own gender. While the author does give many insights into the minds of her characters, arguably readers could have developed a deeper understanding of the inner thoughts or motivation of the characters, if they had experienced the action directly from the point of view of each one, rather than always through the prism of a third person narrator.
A good, professional edit would probably enhance this book considerably, although for fans of psycho terror, who are happy to miss out on graphic physical violence, this would be a good read.

]]> Farewell Leicester Square 19220171 257 Jon Kilkade A.P. 3 3.89 2012 Farewell Leicester Square
author: Jon Kilkade
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2017/03/10
date added: 2017/03/10
shelves:
review:
There are many positive qualities of this book: the writing is competent and clear, the basic idea of the plot is interesting and there are some excellent passages of description. However, there are so many sub plots that none, especially the German conspiracy, are treated adequately. Likewise there are some interesting characters, but none are really given the space to develop fully. Had the various plot branches been pruned effectively, I think this could have been a five star effort.
]]> <![CDATA[The 11:05 Murders (Inspector Sheehan Mysteries, #2)]]> 29608974 378 Brian O'Hare A.P. 5 The denouement is thrilling and the final account offered by Sheehan is both plausible and well rooted in the plot.
I can heartily recommend this to readers who enjoy murder mysteries with an emphasis on police procedure.

]]> 4.07 The 11:05 Murders (Inspector Sheehan Mysteries, #2)
author: Brian O'Hare
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.07
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2017/03/02
date added: 2017/03/02
shelves:
review:
Brian O’Hare has produced a well crafted and engaging police procedural. He manages to portray vividly the sometimes everyday nature of detective work and creates rounded and sympathetic characters in the team, which is led by the charismatic Sheehan. Various false trails are laid, explored and ultimately rejected in the pursuit of the perpetrator of a series of grotesque murders and an explanation of how these connect to an earlier, serious sexual assault and cases of stalking.
The denouement is thrilling and the final account offered by Sheehan is both plausible and well rooted in the plot.
I can heartily recommend this to readers who enjoy murder mysteries with an emphasis on police procedure.


]]> <![CDATA[Holy Spy (John Shakespeare, #7)]]> 24688788


Shakespeare, however, is torn: the woman he loves stands accused of murder. In a desperate race against time he must save her from the noose and the realm from treachery. And then it dawns that both investigations are inextricably linked - by corruption very close to the seat of power . . .

]]> 485 Rory Clements A.P. 3 4.35 2015 Holy Spy (John Shakespeare, #7)
author: Rory Clements
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2017/02/22
date added: 2017/02/22
shelves:
review:
I have enjoyed a few of the John Shakespeare thrillers, but I must confess that I found this one a little flat. The Babington conspirators were portrayed almost as harmless eccentrics, in contrast to the amoral forces marshalled by Walsingham. The plot line around the 'damsel in distress' from Shakespeare's past was also an interference to the main story and I for one will be glad if this particular character does not reappear. I hope there will be more in the series, but I will be looking for a return to somewhat better form.
]]> <![CDATA[The Harbour Master (Detective Henk van der Pol, #1)]]> 31202111 An atmospheric Amsterdam detective investigation.

Henk van der Pol is a 30 year term policeman, a few months off retirement. When he finds a woman's body in Amsterdam Harbour, his detective instincts take over, even though it's not his jurisdiction. Warned off investigating the case, Henk soon realises he can trust nobody, as his search for the killer leads to the involvement of senior police officers, government corruption in the highest places, Hungarian people traffickers, and a deadly threat to his own family...

For fans of Euro Noir, John Harvey's Charlie Resnick series and Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch, The Harbour Master is an action-packed detective investigation set in the evocative locale of Amsterdam. Delivering for Amsterdam what fans of Scandinavian fiction have come to love, this gripping novel shines a fascinating light on the dark side of a famously liberal society, combining vivid characterisation with ice-cold suspense.]]> 321 Daniel Pembrey 1843448785 A.P. 3 3.47 2014 The Harbour Master (Detective Henk van der Pol, #1)
author: Daniel Pembrey
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2017/02/09
date added: 2017/02/09
shelves:
review:
By the time I had finished this incredibly dense and convoluted story, I really didn't care what it was about, or what happened to any of the characters. Towards the end, Henk van der Pol, a maverick Amsterdam detective closing in on an unwanted retirement, says, "I was starting to lose track of all the different arrangements and alliances.' Well, Henk, I know exactly how you felt. I'm sure there is a very good plot in here somewhere, but it was just too clever and complex for its own good. Having said that, the writing is crisp and the settings evocative, but I doubt that I will bother with Daniel Pembrey again.
]]> <![CDATA[Paris Spring (The Will Flemyng Thrillers)]]> 27280028 Paris, April 1968. The cafes are alive with talk of revolution, but for Will Flemyng � secret servant at the British embassy � the crisis is personal. A few words from a stranger on the metro change his life. His family is threatened with ruin and he now faces the spy's oldest exposure. Freddy Craven is the hero and mentor Flemyng would trust with his life, but when he is tempted into a dark, Cold War labyrinth, he chooses the dangerous path and plays his game alone.As the streets of Paris become a smoke-filled battleground, Flemyng, like his friends and enemies, discovers that where secrets are at stake, lives are too...]]> 403 James Naughtie 1784080187 A.P. 2 3.74 2015 Paris Spring (The Will Flemyng Thrillers)
author: James Naughtie
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2017/01/23
date added: 2017/01/23
shelves:
review:
I really don't like to give such a poor rating, but I must admit that I was very happy to finish this book. Perhaps it's because Naughtie is well known and admired, but I kept hoping that the book would improve.... it didn't. A tedious and unnecessarily dense plot, leaden characters about whom this reader cared little, if at all and a damp squib of a denouement. Even the Paris setting failed to engage. Most disappointing.
]]> <![CDATA[Moriarty (Horowitz's Holmes, #2)]]> 22535533
Days after Holmes and Moriarty disappear into the waterfall's churning depths, Frederick Chase, a senior investigator at New York's infamous Pinkerton Detective Agency, arrives in Switzerland. Chase brings with him a dire warning: Moriarty's death has left a convenient vacancy in London's criminal underworld. There is no shortage of candidates to take his place—including one particularly fiendish criminal mastermind.

Chase is assisted by Inspector Athelney Jones, a Scotland Yard detective and devoted student of Holmes's methods of deduction, whom Conan Doyle introduced in The Sign of Four. The two men join forces and fight their way through the sinuous streets of Victorian London—from the elegant squares of Mayfair to the shadowy wharfs and alleyways of the Docks—in pursuit of this sinister figure, a man much feared but seldom seen, who is determined to stake his claim as Moriarty's successor.

Riveting and deeply atmospheric, Moriarty is the first Sherlock Holmes novel sanctioned by the author's estate since Horowitz's House of Silk. This tale of murder and menace breathes life into Holmes's fascinating world, again proving that once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however im- probable, must be the truth.]]> 285 Anthony Horowitz 0062377183 A.P. 5 3.75 2014 Moriarty (Horowitz's Holmes, #2)
author: Anthony Horowitz
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2017/01/08
date added: 2017/01/08
shelves:
review:
An excellent adventure which captured the mood and spirit of the genre perfectly.
]]> <![CDATA[Late Bite (Toronto Chronicles, #1)]]> 22035362 229 John Matsui A.P. 4 This is the first vampire book I have read since Bram Stoker’s classic and I must say that I approached it with some trepidation. However, it soon became clear that Matsui has written a clever book, much in the hard bitten style of the classic gumshoe thriller. The use of the present tense serves to build up and maintain a sense of tension which never seems to conflict with the wordly wise humour of the narrator in what is a generally well written and fast paced piece.

Given my personal distaste for violence and its description, I must admit that I much preferred the first two thirds of the book, encompassing the trial and the following period of stardom.

All in all, a really good book, which, by the time I reached the end, left me very much debating with myself what I should feel towards Dragul Mangorian. I still haven’t quite decided!
]]> 4.14 2014 Late Bite (Toronto Chronicles, #1)
author: John Matsui
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2016/12/29
date added: 2016/12/29
shelves:
review:

This is the first vampire book I have read since Bram Stoker’s classic and I must say that I approached it with some trepidation. However, it soon became clear that Matsui has written a clever book, much in the hard bitten style of the classic gumshoe thriller. The use of the present tense serves to build up and maintain a sense of tension which never seems to conflict with the wordly wise humour of the narrator in what is a generally well written and fast paced piece.

Given my personal distaste for violence and its description, I must admit that I much preferred the first two thirds of the book, encompassing the trial and the following period of stardom.

All in all, a really good book, which, by the time I reached the end, left me very much debating with myself what I should feel towards Dragul Mangorian. I still haven’t quite decided!

]]> <![CDATA[The Thief Taker (The Thief Taker #1)]]> 21888226 The year is 1665. Black Death ravages London. A killer stalks the streets in a plague doctor's hood and mask...

When a girl is gruesomely murdered, thief taker Charlie Tuesday reluctantly agrees to take on the case. But the horrific remains tell him this is no isolated death. The killer's mad appetites are part of a master plan that could destroy London and reveal the dark secrets of Charlie's own past.

Now the thief taker must find this murderous mastermind before the plague obliterates the evidence street by street. This terrifying pursuit will take Charlie deep into the black underbelly of old London, where alchemy, witchcraft and blood-spells collide.

In a city drowned in darkness, death could be the most powerful magic of all.]]> 432 C.S. Quinn 1477824936 A.P. 2 3.56 2014 The Thief Taker (The Thief Taker #1)
author: C.S. Quinn
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2016/08/05
date added: 2016/12/28
shelves:
review:

]]> The Convenience of Lies 22056506 A brilliantly artistic young girl, Ruby Ross, is kidnapped near her council estate home and Francis McCall, a journalist in crisis, chances upon her aunt - a woman who was also his first great love. McCall is persuaded to investigate Ruby's disappearance. But he is drawn into a dangerous conspiracy of spies, double agents and corrupt politicians whose intrigues will have him running for his life. The Convenience of Lies is both a love story and a taut, literary thriller. It is a follow up to the author's acclaimed debut novel, A Place of Strangers - a book which one American reviewer said put him "...in the line of successors to Le Carré." Praise for Geoffrey Seed 'Seed is a brilliant Writer.' - Valerie Byron. Geoffrey Seed is an ex-Daily Mail journalist who later specialised in producing major TV investigations for programmes such as BBC Panorama and Granada's World in Action.]]> 360 Geoffrey Seed A.P. 3 3.85 2014 The Convenience of Lies
author: Geoffrey Seed
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2016/10/25
date added: 2016/12/28
shelves:
review:

]]> The Unburied 661208
There are three separate tales interwoven in this novel-three tales that could be called ghost stories, for their mysteries can never be resolved, the victims and the perpetrators never laid to rest.

Dr. Courtine, an unworldly academic, is invited to spend the days before Christmas with an old friend. Twenty years have passed since Courtine and Austin last met, and the invitation to Austin's home in the cathedral close of Thurchester is a welcome one. When Courtine arrives, Austin tells him a tale of deadly rivalry and murder two centuries old. The mystery captures Courtine's donnish imagination, as it is intended to do.

Courtine also plans to pursue his research into another unresolved and older mystery in the labyrinthine cathedral library. If he can track down an elusive eleventh-century manuscript, he hopes to dispose of a deadly rival of his own. Doubly distracted, Courtine becomes unwittingly enmeshed in the sequence of terrible events that follows his arrival, and he becomes witness to a murder that seems never to have been committed.]]> 432 Charles Palliser 0743410513 A.P. 4 3.51 1999 The Unburied
author: Charles Palliser
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.51
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2016/12/27
date added: 2016/12/28
shelves:
review:
I read this for the third time over Christmas. It's a perfect Christmas read for those who like their mysteries literary, foggy and traditional. I imagine I will turn to it for a fourth time in 2022 or thereabouts.
]]> False Impression 78971 538 Jeffrey Archer 0312939779 A.P. 3 3.71 2005 False Impression
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2016/12/19
date added: 2016/12/19
shelves:
review:
Typical fast paced thriller, high on action and low on characterisation and detail.
]]> <![CDATA[Holy Island (DCI Ryan Mysteries, #1)]]> 24273148
When former local girl Dr Anna Taylor arrives back on the island as a police consultant, old memories swim to the surface making her confront her difficult past. She and Ryan struggle to work together to hunt a killer who hides in plain sight, while pagan ritual and small-town politics muddy the waters of their investigation.]]> 421 L.J. Ross A.P. 4 3.96 2015 Holy Island (DCI Ryan Mysteries, #1)
author: L.J. Ross
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2016/11/30
date added: 2016/12/13
shelves:
review:
An atmospheric setting and interesting characters, though the final twists were a little far fetched. Also slightly spoiled by a lack of good editing, however, it will be interesting to read how the author attempts to develop the characters in later books.
]]> The Traitor's Story 28180153
Sensing the story runs deeper than anyone yet knows, Finn reluctantly agrees to make some enquiries. He has little to go on other than his instincts, and his instincts have been wrong in the past - sometimes spectacularly wrong.

But he gets involved anyway, never imagining that Hailey’s disappearance might be linked to the tragic events that ended his career six years earlier, drawing him back into a deadly world that has neither forgiven nor forgotten.]]> 384 Kevin Wignall 1503988139 A.P. 4 4.08 2016 The Traitor's Story
author: Kevin Wignall
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2016/11/14
date added: 2016/11/14
shelves:
review:
A well written thriller which handled the two time frames competently. I did, feel, however, that the plot and characters became less engaging as the body count began to pile up. In the end, the only truly synmpathetic character had been killed off! However, a good read for lovers of action thrillers.
]]> Rosa (Berlin Trilogy, #1) 867781 416 Jonathan Rabb 0307336190 A.P. 4 3.73 2005 Rosa (Berlin Trilogy, #1)
author: Jonathan Rabb
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2016/10/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Heretics (John Shakespeare, #5)]]> 16093526
As John Shakespeare desperately searches for answers, England's secret defences begin to crumble as, one by one, his network of spies is horribly murdered. But what has all this to do with Thomasyn Jade, driven to the edge of madness by the foul rituals of exorcism? And what is the link to a group of priests held prisoner in the bleak confines of Wisbech Castle?]]> 448 Rory Clements 1848544332 A.P. 5 4.14 2013 The Heretics (John Shakespeare, #5)
author: Rory Clements
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2016/10/15
date added: 2016/10/15
shelves:
review:

]]> Our Kind of Traitor 7839766 vory (Russian criminal brotherhood) compatriots and expose corruption throughout the so-called legitimate financial and political worlds. Soon, the guileless couple find themselves pawns in a deadly endgame whose outcome will be determined by the victor of the British Secret Service's ruthless internecine battles.


The unrivaled master of spy fiction returns with a taut and suspenseful tale of dirty money and dirtier politics.

For nearly half a century, John le Carré's limitless imagination has enthralled millions of readers and moviegoers around the globe. From the cold war to the bitter fruits of colonialism to unrest in the Middle East, he has reinvented the spy novel again and again. Now, le Carré makes his Viking debut with a stunning tour-de- force that only a craftsman of his caliber could pen. As menacing and flawlessly paced as The Little Drummer Girl and as morally complex as The Constant Gardener, Our Kind of Traitor is signature le Carré.]]> 306 John Le Carré 0670022241 A.P. 4 3.42 2010 Our Kind of Traitor
author: John Le Carré
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2016/09/26
date added: 2016/09/26
shelves:
review:

]]> Trigger Mortis 23347686 New York Times bestselling author Anthony Horowitz returns literary legend James Bond to his 1950s heyday in this exhilarating and dashing thriller.

The world's most famous spy, James Bond, has just returned victorious from his showdown with Auric Goldfinger in Fort Knox. By his side is the glamorous and streetwise Pussy Galore, who played no small part in his success. As they settle down in London, the odds of Galore taming the debonair bachelor seem slim—but she herself is a creature not so easily caught.

Meanwhile, the struggle for superiority between the Soviet Union and the West is escalating. In an attempt to demonstrate Soviet strength, SMERSH plans to sabotage an international Grand Prix in the hot zone of West Germany. At the Nürburgring Racing Circuit, Bond must play a high-speed game of cat and mouse to stop them, but when he observes a secretive meeting between SMERSH's driver and a notorious Korean millionaire, it becomes clear that this is just the infamous organization's opening move.

An orphan of the Korean War, he has a personal reason for wanting to bring America to its knees. He's helping SMERSH decisively end the white-hot space race—but how? With the help of an American female agent, Bond uncovers a plan that leads first to Florida and then to New York City, where a heart-stopping face-off will determine the fate of the West.

This thriller has all the hallmarks of an original Ian Fleming adventure and features welcome familiar faces, including M and Miss Moneypenny. Horowitz delivers a smooth and seductive narrative of fast cars and beautiful women, ruthless villains and breathtaking plot that will leave readers hanging until the very end.]]> 304 Anthony Horowitz 0062395106 A.P. 4 3.69 2015 Trigger Mortis
author: Anthony Horowitz
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2016/08/25
date added: 2016/08/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Winter Men 28695962
Following Germany’s eventual defeat, Karl and Gerhard are haunted by their insurmountable guilt, and each seeks a way to escape from wounds that will never heal. They survived the war and its revelation of systematic horrors, but can they survive the unshakable knowledge of their own culpability?]]> 340 Jesper Bugge Kold 150399757X A.P. 3 3.84 2014 Winter Men
author: Jesper Bugge Kold
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2016/08/15
date added: 2016/08/15
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Winter: A Berlin Family, 1899-1945 (Bernard Samson, #0)]]> 880271
Winter takes us into a large and complex family drama, into the lives of two German brothers - both born close upon the turn of the century, both so caught up in the currents of history that their story is one with the story of their country, from the Kaiser's heyday through Hitler's rise and fall. A novel that rings powerfully true, a rich and remarkable portrait of Germany in the first half of the twentieth century.

In his portrait of a Berlin family during the turbulent years of the first half of the century, Len Deighton has created a compelling study of the rise of Nazi Germany.

With its meticulous research, rich detail and brilliantly drawn cast of characters, Winter is a superbly realized achievement.]]> 544 Len Deighton 0586068953 A.P. 5 ww2 4.13 1987 Winter: A Berlin Family, 1899-1945 (Bernard Samson, #0)
author: Len Deighton
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1987
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/08/04
shelves: ww2
review:
Perhaps a little over long, but an excellent and thoroughly engrossing account of a very significant part of modern German history.
]]> <![CDATA[The Man From Berlin (Gregor Reinhardt, #1)]]> 15985343
Assigned to the case is military intelligence officer Captain Gregor Reinhardt. Already haunted by his actions in war and the mistakes he’s made off the battlefield, he soon finds that his investigation may be more than just a murder.

Maneuvering his way through a minefield of political, military, and personal agendas and vendettas, Reinhardt knows that someone is leaving a trail of dead bodies to cover their tracks. But those bloody tracks may lead him to a secret hidden within the ranks of the powerful that may destroy the very country Reinhardt has sacrificed so much to protect�

But it will certainly destroy him first.]]> 435 Luke McCallin 0425263053 A.P. 3 thriller, ww2 3.85 2013 The Man From Berlin (Gregor Reinhardt, #1)
author: Luke McCallin
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2016/07/26
shelves: thriller, ww2
review:

]]> The Overseer 2007625 And time is running out.

It has long been rumored in academic circles that a sixteenth-century monk named Eisenreich took Machiavelli several steps further, writing a masterplan for world domination so dangerous the Pope had him killed to suppress it. But Eisenreich's text, On Supremacy, survived. Some scholars even believed the Third Reich had a copy. But when the bullet-riddled body of a young girl is found in Montana and "Eisenreich" is her dying word, it becomes terrifyingly clear that not only is the document real--someone is planning to use this explosive piece of history in the late twentieth century.

This deadly document is at the heart of The Overseer, a chillingly authentic, compulsively readable thriller of global intrigue and political conspiracy that follows a desperate search for a fabled manuscript, one with frightening modern-day implications. Beautiful, troubled government agent Sarah Trent is given just enough information by her covert office to begin digging into the murder of the young girl. Her search takes her to Columbia University and a brilliant young political theorist named Xander Jaspers, who agrees to help her. But neither Xander nor Sarah fully understand the dangerous situation into which they've been thrown. For On Supremacy has fallen into the hands of a cabal intent on using it as a blueprint for ripping apart society as we know it and creating a new world order out of the ashes of the old.

The cabal, led by a coldly intelligent mastermind called the Overseer, begins its campaign of terror. As the acts of terrorism--assassinations, bombings, the collapse of the grain market--go off like clockwork, Sarah and Xander realize the only way to prevent total chaos is to find another copy of the manuscript and uncover the identity of the Overseer--and so the race is on.

This intelligent, full-throttle thriller is the extraordinary literary debut of a young political theorist, author Jonathan Rabb, who What if such a sophisticated and dangerous sixteenth-century document resurfaced at the turn of the millennium? Would it be the most thrilling discovery of the twentieth century...or the most terrifying? Read On Supremacy at the end of this provocative novel and judge for yourself.]]> 358 Jonathan Rabb 0609602535 A.P. 5 thriller 3.40 1998 The Overseer
author: Jonathan Rabb
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.40
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/07/26
shelves: thriller
review:

]]> The Book of Q 1666740
Bosnia, 1992: Ian Pearse, a young American relief worker destined for the priesthood, has his faith tested by the horrors of war, but is jolted from his despair by a passionate affair with a Croatian woman named Petra.

Rome, present day: Father Pearse, now a researcher at the Vatican Library, comes into possession of an ancient scroll after the mysterious death of one Vatican priest and the disappearance of another. His scholar's curiosity aroused, he has the document translated by an old friend in Rome. He is stunned to learn that the scroll contains ingeniously coded letters and the text of the "Perfect Light," a Manichaean prayer that has never been found in its written form.

In the early days of the Christian church the Manichaeans had been an overly zealous, highly organized secret society, scorned by the church and seemingly driven out of existence. But these newly discovered documents indicate an earth-shattering alternate history, a long-dormant, highly evolved conspiracy carefully nurtured for centuries, and an even more important scroll hinted at in the letters that will facilitate "the great awakening."
When the pope dies of a sudden illness, Pearse is roughed up by Vatican security, who want the scroll, and when the woman who translated the prayer for him is kidnapped, he realizes that "the great awakening" is not an academic concept but something very real and dangerous. With his friend's life at stake, Pearse must find the document that holds the key to this Manichaean conspiracy.

Racing from the Vatican to Greece and back to Bosnia, Pearse has to decipher the cryptograms and codes that have been passed down for centuries from one Manichaean sect to another in the documents he finds. He is also reunited with Petra, the passionate, determined Croatian woman who has lingered in his mind since their time together in Bosnia years earlier. Together they must face a heresy that has been vigilantly guarded and cared for throughout the centuries until the time is right to unleash it on the world. And the time is now. . . .]]> 377 Jonathan Rabb 060960483X A.P. 4 thriller 3.48 2001 The Book of Q
author: Jonathan Rabb
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2016/07/26
shelves: thriller
review:

]]> VIII 11723911
"Succeeds brilliantly in portraying the troubled soul of Henry from youth to old age." Bookseller Pod

"A real page-turner for older readers." Bookseller]]> 399 H.M. Castor 1848774990 A.P. 4 3.58 2010 VIII
author: H.M. Castor
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2016/07/24
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Short Drop (Gibson Vaughn, #1)]]> 27239265
For legendary hacker and marine Gibson Vaughn, the case is personal—Suzanne Lombard had been like a sister to him. On the tenth anniversary of her disappearance, the former head of Benjamin Lombard’s security asks for Gibson’s help in a covert investigation of the case, with new evidence in hand.

Haunted by tragic memories, he jumps at the chance to uncover what happened all those years ago. Using his military and technical prowess, he soon discovers multiple conspiracies surrounding the Lombard family—and he encounters powerful, ruthless political players who will do anything to silence him and his team. With new information surfacing that could threaten Lombard’s bid for the presidency, Gibson must stay one step ahead as he navigates a dangerous web to get to the truth.]]> 397 Matthew FitzSimmons 150395241X A.P. 5 4.18 2015 The Short Drop (Gibson Vaughn, #1)
author: Matthew FitzSimmons
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/07/24
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Study in Murder (Dr John Watson, #3)]]> 23209566 480 Robert Ryan 1471135063 A.P. 2 3.60 2015 A Study in Murder (Dr John Watson, #3)
author: Robert Ryan
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2016/07/24
shelves:
review:

]]> In Winter's Grip 23440504
Two years after the end of the war, the northern city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne is caught in the grip of the worst winter in a thousand years. As blizzards rage and the country grinds to a frozen standstill, on Tyneside a young German woman, Elsa Platten, goes on trial for her life, accused of deliberately burning a man to death...

Alexander Galbraith is the lawyer hired to defend her, a man undergoing a personal crisis of his own, since his vengeful wife, Virginia, has discovered evidence of a homosexual affair and is threatening to ruin him...

Jack Raisbeck is the owner of the Tyneside shipyard where the murdered man, a Dutchman called Jeroen van Rijn, worked. Jack is a physically scarred and cynical survivor of the war in the North Atlantic but his developing romantic relationship with Elsa in the months before the murder has rejuvenated him. Yet, as Elsa begins her trial, Jack is also struggling to keep his shipyard business alive, beset with a rebellious workforce led by union leader Ernie Wilmot, and with the financial future of his yard hanging in the balance after a recent arson attack and an act of embezzlement by his former chief accountant, George Hetherington.

As the evidence against Elsa unfolds in the course of the trial, she re-lives her past life in Germany and the rise of the Nazis and the invasion of Holland, her subsequent betrayal and deportation to the East, and her escape and struggle to survive the fall of Berlin.

Both Jack Raisbeck and Alexander Galbraith believe in Elsa’s innocence, but that belief is sorely tested as the evidence against her grows. The trail to find the truth leads both men in unexpected directions. For Jack it leads to a confrontation with his brother-in-law on a frozen cliff top, and to other disturbing family revelations. For Galbraith it is something even worse - he has to make the ultimate choice between preserving his own career and reputation, or saving his client from the hangman...]]> 288 Gordon John Thomson A.P. 4 4.11 2014 In Winter's Grip
author: Gordon John Thomson
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2016/07/24
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Secret World of Christoval Alvarez (The Chronicles of Christoval Alvarez, #1)]]> 21800152 283 Ann Swinfen 0992822831 A.P. 4 3.89 2014 The Secret World of Christoval Alvarez (The Chronicles of Christoval Alvarez, #1)
author: Ann Swinfen
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2016/07/24
shelves:
review:

]]> SS-GB 510539 1941, and England invaded � and defeated � by the Germans...

The King is a hostage in the tower, the Queen and Princesses have fled to Australia, Churchill has been executed by a firing squad, Englishmen are being deported to work in German factories and the dreaded SS is in charge of Scotland Yard. London is in shock. The very look of daily life is a walking nightmare of German uniforms, artifacts, regulations. There are collaborators. There are profiteers. But there are others working in hope, in secret, and desperate danger, against the invader. And still others are living strangely ambiguous lives � none more so than Detective Superintendent Douglas Archer ("Archer of the yard" as the press like to call him), trying to maintain a peculiarly, almost sacredly, British institution under a Nazi chief. Archer has started work on what seems, at first, a routine murder case. But suddenly an SS ٲԻ岹ٱԴü from Himmler's personal staff flies in from Berlin to supervise the investigation, and Archer is plunged deep into an espionage battle for which he is completely unprepared, and where the stakes are incredibly high. "We’re dealing with something that could prove so deadly that not even the Black Death would compare with the consequences", the SS man tells him.

Setting forth on a tight rope trail of violence, betrayal and danger, Archer moves into worlds within worlds of intrigue. The British resistance, wealthy collaborators, high-level scientists, German army and SS factions and vicious rivalry, a beautiful American reporter on assignment for the still-neutral papers back home � these are the players that Deighton's treacherously shifting drama, as it races toward its chattering climax that involves the fate of the King, and of England itself.

–G is fascinating in its premise, utterly authentic and convincing in its detail. It is the most gripping novel we have had from the author of The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, and Bomber. Already, in England, it has become Len Deighton's greatest best seller.]]> 375 Len Deighton 0345304543 A.P. 5 3.73 1979 SS-GB
author: Len Deighton
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1979
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/07/24
shelves:
review:

]]> Sh*t My Dad Says 7821447 "That woman was sexy. . . . Out of your league? Son, let women figure out why they won't screw you. Don't do it for them."

"Do people your age know how to comb their hair? It looks like two squirrels crawled on their heads and started fucking."

"The worst thing you can be is a liar. . . . Okay, fine, yes, the worst thing you can be is a Nazi, but then number two is liar. Nazi one, liar two."More than a million people now follow Mr. Halpern's philosophical musings on Twitter, and in this book, his son weaves a brilliantly funny, touching coming-of-age memoir around the best of his quotes. An all-American story that unfolds on the Little League field, in Denny's, during excruciating family road trips, and, most frequently, in the Halperns' kitchen over bowls of Grape-Nuts, Sh*t My Dad Says is a chaotic, hilarious, true portrait of a father-son relationship from a major new comic voice.]]> 159 Justin Halpern 0061992704 A.P. 1 3.97 2010 Sh*t My Dad Says
author: Justin Halpern
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2010
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2016/05/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Germany and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia, Turkey--and Even Iraq--Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World's Most Popular Sport]]> 6617185
These are questions every soccer aficionado has asked. Soccernomics answers them.

Using insights and analogies from economics, statistics, psychology, and business to cast a new and entertaining light on how the game works, Soccernomics reveals the often surprisingly counter-intuitive truths about soccer.]]> 336 Simon Kuper 1568584253 A.P. 4 3.95 2009 Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Germany and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia, Turkey--and Even Iraq--Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World's Most Popular Sport
author: Simon Kuper
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2016/05/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Fever Pitch 4264
For Nick Hornby, his devotion to the game has provided one of few constants in a life where the meaningful things - like growing up, leaving home, and forming relationships, both parental and romantic - have rarely been as simple or as uncomplicated as his love for Arsenal.

Fever Pitch is his tribute to a lifelong obsession. Part autobiography, part comedy, part incisive analysis of insanity, Hornby's award-winning memoir captures the fever pitch of fandom � its agony and ecstasy, its community, and its defining role in thousands of young men's coming-of-age stories. Fever Pitch is one for the home team. But above all, it is one for everyone who knows what it really means to have a losing season.]]> 247 Nick Hornby 1573226882 A.P. 3 3.78 1992 Fever Pitch
author: Nick Hornby
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1992
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2016/05/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany]]> 767171 No other powerful empire ever bequeathed such mountains of evidence about its birth and destruction as the Third Reich. When the bitter war was over, and before the Nazis could destroy their files, the Allied demand for unconditional surrender produced an almost hour-by-hour record of the nightmare empire built by Adolph Hitler. This record included the testimony of Nazi leaders and of concentration camp inmates, the diaries of officials, transcripts of secret conferences, army orders, private letters—all the vast paperwork behind Hitler's drive to conquer the world.

The famed foreign correspondent and historian William L. Shirer, who had watched and reported on the Nazis since 1925, spent five and a half years sifting through this massive documentation. The result is a monumental study that has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of one of the most frightening chapters in the history of mankind.

This worldwide bestseller has been acclaimed as the definitive book on Nazi Germany; it is a classic work.

The accounts of how the United States got involved and how Hitler used Mussolini and Japan are astonishing, and the coverage of the war-from Germany's early successes to her eventual defeat-is must reading

]]> 1147 William L. Shirer 0671728687 A.P. 4 4.20 1960 The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany
author: William L. Shirer
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1960
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Alienist (Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, #1)]]> 40024
The newly appointed police commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, in a highly unorthodox move, enlists the two men in the murder investigation, counting on the reserved Kreizler's intellect and Moore's knowledge of New York's vast criminal underworld. They are joined by Sara Howard, a brave and determined woman who works as a secretary in the police department. Laboring in secret (for alienists, and the emerging discipline of psychology, are viewed by the public with skepticism at best), the unlikely team embarks on what is a revolutionary effort in criminology-- amassing a psychological profile of the man they're looking for based on the details of his crimes. Their dangerous quest takes them into the tortured past and twisted mind of a murderer who has killed before--and will kill again before the hunt is over.

Fast-paced and gripping, infused with a historian's exactitude, The Alienist conjures up the Gilded Age and its untarnished underside: verminous tenements and opulent mansions, corrupt cops and flamboyant gangsters, shining opera houses and seamy gin mills. Here is a New York during an age when questioning society's belief that all killers are born, not made, could have unexpected and mortal consequences.]]> 498 Caleb Carr 0812976142 A.P. 4 4.06 1994 The Alienist (Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, #1)
author: Caleb Carr
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1994
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Lady in the Lake (Philip Marlowe, #4)]]> 776159 266 Raymond Chandler 0394758250 A.P. 5 4.06 1943 The Lady in the Lake (Philip Marlowe, #4)
author: Raymond Chandler
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1943
rating: 5
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]]> Double Indemnity 56616 Double Indemnity gives us an X-ray view of guilt, of duplicity, and of the kind of obsessive, loveless love that devastates everything it touches. First published in 1935, this novel reaffirmed James M. Cain as a virtuoso of the roman noir.

Walter Huff was an insurance salesman with an unfailing instinct for clients who might be in trouble, and his instinct led him to Phyllis Nirdlinger. Phyllis wanted to buy an accident policy on her husband. Then she wanted her husband to have an accident. Walter wanted Phyllis. To get her, he would arrange the perfect murder and betray everything he had ever lived for.]]> 115 James M. Cain 0679723226 A.P. 5 4.07 1936 Double Indemnity
author: James M. Cain
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1936
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Templar Legacy (Cotton Malone, #1)]]> 75024
Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts–and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he’d left behind.

It begins with a violent robbery attempt on Cotton’s former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who’s far from home on a mission that has nothing to do with national security. Armed with vital clues to a series of centuries-old puzzles scattered across Europe, she means to crack a mystery that has tantalized scholars and fortune-hunters through the ages by finding the legendary cache of wealth and forbidden knowledge thought to have been lost forever when the order of the Knights Templar was exterminated in the fourteenth century. But she’s not alone. Competing for the historic prize–and desperate for the crucial information Stephanie possesses–is Raymond de Roquefort, a shadowy zealot with an army of assassins at his command.

Welcome or not, Cotton seeks to even the odds in the perilous race. But the more he learns about the ancient conspiracy surrounding the Knights Templar, the more he realizes that even more than lives are at stake. At the end of a lethal game of conquest, rife with intrigue, treachery, and craven lust for power, lies a shattering discovery that could rock the civilized world–and, in the wrong hands, bring it to its knees.]]> 511 Steve Berry 0345476166 A.P. 2 3.84 2006 The Templar Legacy (Cotton Malone, #1)
author: Steve Berry
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2006
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe, #1)]]> 2052
This is an alternate cover edition.]]> 231 Raymond Chandler 0394758285 A.P. 5 3.96 1939 The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe, #1)
author: Raymond Chandler
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1939
rating: 5
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]]> Death Comes to Pemberley 12875355
It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy’s magnificent estate. Their peaceful, orderly world seems almost unassailable. Elizabeth has found her footing as the chatelaine of the great house. They have two fine sons, Fitzwilliam and Charles. Elizabeth’s sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby; her father visits often; there is optimistic talk about the prospects of marriage for Darcy’s sister Georgiana. And preparations are under way for their much-anticipated annual autumn ball.

Then, on the eve of the ball, the patrician idyll is shattered. A coach careens up the drive carrying Lydia, Elizabeth’s disgraced sister, who with her husband, the very dubious Wickham, has been banned from Pemberley. She stumbles out of the carriage, hysterical, shrieking that Wickham has been murdered. With shocking suddenness, Pemberley is plunged into a frightening mystery.

Inspired by a lifelong passion for Austen, P. D. James masterfully re-creates the world of Pride and Prejudice, electrifying it with the excitement and suspense of a brilliantly crafted crime story, as only she can write it.]]> 291 P.D. James 0307959856 A.P. 2 3.32 2011 Death Comes to Pemberley
author: P.D. James
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.32
book published: 2011
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[Wolf Hall (Thomas Cromwell, #1)]]> 6101138 This is an alternative cover edition for ISBN 9780007230181

England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?]]> 653 Hilary Mantel A.P. 4 3.90 2009 Wolf Hall (Thomas Cromwell, #1)
author: Hilary Mantel
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2009
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Revelation (Matthew Shardlake, #4)]]> 820480 550 C.J. Sansom 1405092726 A.P. 4 4.34 2008 Revelation (Matthew Shardlake, #4)
author: C.J. Sansom
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2008
rating: 4
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]]> Sepulchre (Languedoc, #2) 498835
More than a century later, Meredith Martin, an American graduate student, arrives in France to study the life of Claude Debussy, the nineteenth century French composer. In Rennesles-Bains, Meredith checks into a grand old hotel-the Domain de la Cade. Something about the hotel feels eerily familiar, and strange dreams and visions begin to haunt Meredith's waking hours. A chance encounter leads her to a pack of tarot cards painted by Léonie Vernier, which may hold the key to this twenty-first century American's fate . . . just as they did to the fate of Léonie Vernier more than a century earlier.]]> 550 Kate Mosse 0752860550 A.P. 4 3.80 2007 Sepulchre (Languedoc, #2)
author: Kate Mosse
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2007
rating: 4
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]]> The Historian 10692
Late one night in 1972, as a 16-year-old girl, she discovers a mysterious book and a sheaf of letters in her father's library—a discovery that will have dreadful and far-reaching consequences, and will send her on a journey of mind-boggling danger. While seeking clues to the secrets of her father's past and her mother's puzzling disappearance, she follows a trail from London to Istanbul to Budapest and beyond, and learns that the letters in her possession provide a link to one of the world's darkest and most intoxicating figures. Generation after generation, the legend of Dracula has enticed and eluded both historians and opportunists alike. Now a young girl undertakes the same search that ended in the death and defilement of so many others—in an attempt to save her father from an unspeakable fate.
(Fall 2005 Selection)]]> 704 Elizabeth Kostova 0751537284 A.P. 5 3.78 2005 The Historian
author: Elizabeth Kostova
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2005
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Revenger (John Shakespeare, #2)]]> 7031035 429 Rory Clements 1848540833 A.P. 4 4.00 2010 Revenger (John Shakespeare, #2)
author: Rory Clements
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2010
rating: 4
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]]> Prince (John Shakespeare, #3) 11284827 432 Rory Clements 1848544251 A.P. 4 4.03 2011 Prince (John Shakespeare, #3)
author: Rory Clements
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2011
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Bones of Avalon (John Dee Papers #1)]]> 6430073 445 Phil Rickman 1848872704 A.P. 2 3.68 2010 The Bones of Avalon (John Dee Papers #1)
author: Phil Rickman
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2010
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[Sacrilege (Giordano Bruno, #3)]]> 12414623
London, summer of 1584: Radical philosopher, ex-monk, and spy Giordano Bruno suspects he is being followed by an old enemy. He is shocked to discover that his pursuer is in fact Sophia Underhill, a young woman with whom he was once in love. When Bruno learns that Sophia has been accused of murdering her husband, a prominent magistrate in Canterbury, he agrees to do anything he can to help clear her name.

In the city that was once England's greatest center of pilgrimage, Bruno begins to uncover unsuspected secrets that point to the dead man being part of a larger and more dangerous plot in the making. He must turn his detective's eye on history—on Saint Thomas Becket, the twelfth-century archbishop murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, and on the legend surrounding the disappearance of his body—in order to solve the crime.

As Bruno's feelings for Sophia grow more intense, so does his fear that another murder is about to take place—perhaps his own. But more than Bruno's life is at stake in this vividly rendered, impeccably researched, and addictively page-turning whodunit—the stability of the kingdom hangs in the balance as Bruno hunts down a brutal murderer in the shadows of England's most ancient cathedral.]]> 432 S.J. Parris 0385535473 A.P. 4 4.00 2012 Sacrilege (Giordano Bruno, #3)
author: S.J. Parris
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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]]> Jack Maggs 640900 344 Peter Carey 2259187692 A.P. 4 3.71 1997 Jack Maggs
author: Peter Carey
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1997
rating: 4
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]]> Stone's Fall 6182702 New York Times bestseller An Instance of the Fingerpost, Iain Pears tells the story of John Stone, financier and arms dealer, a man so wealthy that in the years before World War One he was able to manipulate markets, industries, and indeed entire countries and continents.

A panoramic novel with a riveting mystery at its heart, Stone’s Fall is a quest to discover how and why John Stone dies, falling out of a window at his London home.

Chronologically, it moves backwards–from London in 1909 to Paris in 1890, and finally to Venice in 1867� and in the process the quest to uncover the truth plays out against the backdrop of the evolution of high-stakes international finance, Europe’s first great age of espionage, and the start of the twentieth century’s arms race.

Like Fingerpost, Stone’s Fall is an intricately plotted and richly satisfying puzzle–an erudite work of history and fiction that feels utterly true and oddly timely–and marks the triumphant return of one of the world’s great storytellers.]]> 594 Iain Pears 0385522843 A.P. 4 3.85 2009 Stone's Fall
author: Iain Pears
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2009
rating: 4
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]]> The Quincunx 824986 Wuthering Heights. The suspension of disbelief happens easily, as the reader is led through twisted family trees and plot lines.

The quincunx of the title is a heraldic figure of five parts that appears at crucial points within the text (the number five recurs throughout the novel, which itself is divided into five parts, one for each of the family galaxies whose orbits the narrator is pulled into). Quintuple the length of the ordinary novel, this extraordinary tour de force also has five times the ordinary allotment of adventure, action and aplomb.]]> 787 Charles Palliser 0345371135 A.P. 5 4.08 1989 The Quincunx
author: Charles Palliser
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1989
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Dissolution (Matthew Shardlake, #1)]]> 138685 456 C.J. Sansom 0330411969 A.P. 5 4.05 2003 Dissolution (Matthew Shardlake, #1)
author: C.J. Sansom
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2003
rating: 5
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]]> An Instance of the Fingerpost 15888
We are in England in the 1660s. Charles II has been restored to the throne following years of civil war and Cromwell's short-lived republic. Oxford is the intellectual seat of the country, a place of great scientific, religious, and political ferment. A fellow of New College is found dead in suspicious circumstances. A young woman is accused of his murder. We hear the story of the death from four witnesses: an Italian physician intent on claiming credit for the invention of blood transfusion; the son of an alleged Royalist traitor; a master cryptographer who has worked for both Cromwell and the king; and a renowned Oxford antiquarian. Each tells his own version of what happened. Only one reveals the extraordinary truth.

With rights sold for record-breaking sums around the world, An Instance of the Fingerpost is destined to become a major international publishing event. Deserving of comparison to the works of John Fowles and Umberto Eco, Iain Pears's novel is an ingenious tour de force: an utterly compelling historical mystery with a plot that twists and turns and keeps the reader guessing until the very last page.]]> 704 Iain Pears 1573227951 A.P. 5 3.93 1997 An Instance of the Fingerpost
author: Iain Pears
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1997
rating: 5
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]]> The Name of the Rose 119073 552 Umberto Eco 0156001314 A.P. 5 4.13 1980 The Name of the Rose
author: Umberto Eco
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1980
rating: 5
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]]> Atonement 6867
On a hot summer day in 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses the flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant. But Briony's incomplete grasp of adult motives—together with her precocious literary gifts—brings about a crime that will change all their lives.

As it follows that crime's repercussions through the chaos and carnage of World War II and into the close of the twentieth century, Atonement engages the reader on every conceivable level, with an ease and authority that mark it as a genuine masterpiece.]]> 351 Ian McEwan 038572179X A.P. 5 3.94 2001 Atonement
author: Ian McEwan
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2001
rating: 5
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]]> All the Light We Cannot See 18143977
In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here]]> 544 Anthony Doerr 1476746583 A.P. 2 4.31 2014 All the Light We Cannot See
author: Anthony Doerr
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2014
rating: 2
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]]> Catch-22 168668
Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy—it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he’s assigned, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.

This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller’s masterpiece with a new introduction by Christopher Buckley; a wealth of critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos from Joseph Heller’s personal archive; and much more. Here, at last, is the definitive edition of a classic of world literature.]]> 453 Joseph Heller 0684833395 A.P. 5 3.99 1961 Catch-22
author: Joseph Heller
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1961
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1)]]> 2429135
An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.]]> 480 Stieg Larsson 0670069019 A.P. 4 4.17 2005 The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1)
author: Stieg Larsson
name: A.P.
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2005
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)]]> 960
A devastating new weapon of destruction.
When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol -- seared into the chest of a murdered physicist -- he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati...the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati has now surfaced to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta against its most hated enemy -- the Catholic Church.

Langdon's worst fears are confirmed on the eve of the Vatican's holy conclave, when a messenger of the Illuminati announces they have hidden an unstoppable time bomb at the very heart of Vatican City. With the countdown under way, Langdon jets to Rome to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to assist the Vatican in a desperate bid for survival.
Embarking on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra follow a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome toward the long-forgotten Illuminati lair...a clandestine location that contains the only hope for Vatican salvation.

An explosive international thriller, Angels & Demons careens from enlightening epiphanies to dark truths as the battle between science and religion turns to war.]]> 736 Dan Brown 1416524797 A.P. 3 3.95 2000 Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)
author: Dan Brown
name: A.P.
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2000
rating: 3
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]]>